"Mother and Child by Rodrigo García, because he’s really incredible about dealing with human relationships and he’s not afraid to go as dark as you need. He’s one of my favorite directors of all time, and I think he can write for a woman almost better than he can for a man. (laughs) And he’s a straight man. His father is actually Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He’s got just a nice touch with women and the performances are outstanding. Annette Bening and Naomi Watts and Britt [Brittany] Robertson, just f***ing everybody in that movie is… oh, it’s just f***ing one of the most beautiful, flawless films I’ve ever seen."

"Let’s see, number two… see I don’t know what order to put these in, but let’s have [laughs] — it’s going to be a really weird top five — Muppet Christmas Carol. It’s just so good. It’s got a bit of everything: brilliant characterization, great songs; just beautifully shot. A warm, cozy, nice feeling, I think is what that film is. And Michael Caine is good. I think it’s great the way they used a lot of the different Muppet characters in the story, and they kind of fit with the characters — you know, you’ve got the old guys as the ghosts; it just all worked so well. Beautifully done. Love it."

"Big Night, the Stanley Tucci movie. Yeah, it feels like a play. It feels like you are watching this beautiful bare bones version of filmmaking. Especially after all of the big event or spectacle films, it just feels so simple and so beautiful, and it’s a heartbreakingly beautiful story about learning what’s important. Also, I love to cook, and cooking is such a big, pivotal part of that movie, and Tony Shalhoub is amazing in it, as is Stanley Tucci. It’s just a great cast, a great film, superbly written, superbly directed, and just nice and simple and bare bones, and I love that about it."

"The novel begins “Long ago in 1945 all the nice people in England were poor, allowing for exceptions.” It’s in the bombed out London of 1945 at the end of the war in a shabby, genteel boarding house for young ladies called the May of Teck Club. We meet the various girls of slender means and follow their lives and love affairs. I love all Muriel Spark’s books and think she is witty and elegant and spiky and weird. I met her once in Italy when I was a teenager and she told me, “For the next ten years all you should do is sleep and go to parties.”"