"Andrea Arnold’s films in general, and particularly this one, just feel so real. They gaze at women living on the outskirts of society, behaving outside conventional morality, without seeming sensational. The way the camera follows its protagonist in this film is so gentle and so unlike the cinematography in films with similar subject matter that are trying to give a piercing revelation of what it’s like for women in desperate circumstances. In Arnold’s film, no matter how deep into the pits we go, I never feel like I’m watching poverty porn. I feel like I’m watching flawed characters play themselves out to their logical conclusion."

"There are certain bands that are hard to talk about, OMD, Simple Minds, where their earlier records were just phenomenal, and later on they made records that were too commercial and not quite as strong as their earlier ones. The first OMD album, Dazzle Ships and Architecture & Morality were flawless. They were beautiful, experimental, inspiring records, then a few years on they were making music for John Hughes movies, and they were good at it and I'm glad that they had success with it, but it wasn't nearly as creatively inspiring as the first three records. Architecture & Morality, I mean it's not hard to overdo the hyperbole, but it's a perfect album, so cohesive, and every song perfectly speaks to the other song, the unapologetic emotional quality of it is really inspiring. Even the artwork by Peter Saville, everything about it is perfectly crafted. One of my very odd musical moments was years ago when I was at South By South West in Austin and OMD were doing a reunion show at a BBQ at three in the afternoon, and they asked me to play bass with them. I found myself playing bass with OMD on 'Enola Gay' at a BBQ at three in the afternoon in Texas. It was one of those moments where you told me that actually I'd just done way too much mescaline and I was currently lying on a bed somewhere and making up the whole thing, I'd believe you. It's a shame that a lot of people came to know of OMD through the last couple of records that were more commercial. It's like Simple Minds, the first five albums are amazing, and then they became a stadium rock band. Now you mention Simple Minds and people think about 'Alive And Kicking' and 'Don't You Forget About Me' which aren't terrible songs, but the earlier stuff was experimental and textural and weird. Maybe someone sees OMD on this list and immediately thinks of a John Hughes movie, maybe they'll be inspired to back and listen to Architecture & Morality."

"I love how thought-provoking that film is. I love that there’s a lot of great laughs in it, but there’s a lot of pathos. Alan Alda has never been better at being a douchebag than in this. It’s just got so much humanity, and it’s a comedy but it’s not pushing the comedy, it just is. There’s so much I like about that movie, I just thought it was a great combination. Sometimes Woody gets a little jokey and slapstick and sometimes he gets a little lost up in his head a little bit; this movie had a lot going on. I felt like it explored morality and the human condition."

"I revisited this recently after telling some friends to watch it. When you think of the time this was made, and you realize this is a story about a pregnant girl who decides to get her own place and make best friends with a gay man, it’s pretty astonishing. Everything about her life and the morality depicted in it is so 1950s, but she’s this outcast, and is not even very likable. But you’re completely on her side. Can you think of another female role like that? It’s a really complicated portrait of a young woman who doesn’t want to get married and just wants to live in her weird house with her friend."