"I love a lot of Bernard Hermann’s work, but his soundtrack to Taxi Driver is really extraordinary. I actually watched the movie for the first time very recently, during the past year, and I was struck by how brilliant the music was. “The way that it changes from being something that’s so threatening and dark to being very melodic and lovely always surprises me, which I guess represents the protagonist’s mind. The idea of ugliness and beauty – and how it can shift very quickly, going back and forth – is another thing that I wanted to explore on the new record. I found this one to be very inspiring."

"Mean Streets — Robert De Niro is so gorgeous. Again, the beginning of all these people’s careers. What a full, well-rounded movie. Then you go to Goodfellas, it’s hard. [Picking five] really is hard. I also loved Wolf of Wall Street, I have to say. That was a fun movie. Matthew McConaughey, so good. I think [what I love about Mean Streets is] just seeing the world, seeing the costumes, the relationships these guys have with each other. I think also just the stories behind — knowing that these actors, this was so many of their first movie breakout performances; it’s unbelievable watching it and the performances are so great."

"An obvious influence on Food Party. That was the first food film I ever saw. It was really exciting for me to see someone focus a whole movie on food, you know? I’ve never seen that before. I like making my own art and [that is Tampopo‘s] subject matter, but with food. But I also like the tangents that it takes. Basically there’s a main story, and there’s a love story. And the subplots are really incredibly visual, too. Two lovers are passing raw egg yolk back and forth. Then he’s, like, dipping her boob in fresh egg whites. There’s a sausage fight. It’s a really joyful movie."

"As a screenwriter first and foremost (and a director with little to no innate visual sense), I tend to prize narrative and story over most other elements in film. Amarcord arguably has neither. And yet I love it. I want to live in this town, wander among these streets, live with these characters. It also has an oddly casual sense of horny humor that remains surprisingly shocking. A throwaway moment of a car full of teenage boys masturbating never fails to make me laugh out loud. It also revels in odd details—a priest smelling his fingers, for example. It’s so gross. And yet so awesome."

"First is The Devil Wears Prada, which I watched a million times over. I’m a fashion fanatic, and I love how it’s like a character in the film. I think it’s one of Meryl Streep‘s most amazing performances. I don’t know, there’s just something about it, the subtleties like the little purse of her lips that she does. I think it’s just really cool, and it’s a bit of a guilty pleasure. And the soundtrack on it is fabulous. I loved watching the way in which they used fashion through it, the dedication to keeping it very fashion-forward. I loved it. I thought it was brilliant."