"One of the inspirational films for me, Cool Hand Luke. Paul Newman. He’s just phenomenal. I mean, really. It’s the template for many films. You know, Jack Nicholson in [One Flew Over the] Cuckoo’s Nest, it’s the same kind of thing, the individual against the system. “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate. Some men, you just can’t reach.” I love that film. Love it."

"Narrative films will never grow stale as long as filmmakers have tricks like Rashomon structures in their bag. Not only filled with fantastic acting, tremendous cinematography, and a haunting soundtrack, Rashomon attempts what great films always strive for—to express an inexpressible . . . in this case, the nature of truth, or . . . the nature of humans’ inability to realize the fallibility of their own perception, their own stories."

"There are loads of films that I’ve enjoyed. Zorba the Greek. Great! I like feel-good films. In Zorba the Greek you have this way of bringing these logs up a mountain – I don’t remember much – but the whole thing falls apart and it’s this huge catastrophe in the end and Zorba winds up dancing. It’s like, there’s nothing – what do you do? You dance!"