"This is going to sound ridiculous because it’s going to sound like I’m doing a bunch of ass-licking but Pulp Fiction. And I shouldn’t hesitate, because it’s good cinema, but… I remember watching Pulp Fiction — whatever age I was, teenage years somewhere — and really struck at the cleverness of it and loving that you can have something as violent, but as humorous and as… I could feel — you know, because I didn’t know him as a person at that point; he was just the director — but I could feel his brain working in the conversations in his head, and his opinions about stuff. The conversations that were like, “I’ve had conversations like that about why you call it a quarter pounder or a royale with cheese.” It was so clever and reachable by me. And I wasn’t a film buff, I wasn’t sort of like a fan about any of that stuff. It just really spoke to me, it was so clever. Then I went back and watched Reservoir Dogs. I think I’d seen it before but I went back and watched it again. But yes, Pulp Fiction was definitely… Actually, it’s cool that I get to say that; I’m happy to be able to say that."

"I never tire of using this film in the classroom, because there’s always more to glean from it, and I say this as someone who has seen it many, many times. Before I saw it, I had already read Todd’s script, and I did not have any understanding of what it was going to be. I just remember seeing it in New York City at a small screening, and I was in the movie for so long after that—I couldn’t shake it. I came out so hyperaware of every little thing. At the time I was living above a dry cleaner, and I became obsessed with every smell around me. Julianne Moore is amazing in the movie—is there a better performance? This is a film that, if you don’t know anything about it, you certainly won’t know where it’s going. I remember riding in a cab with some big film critic at the time who said, “You won’t believe what I saw today! Some story about a housewife who gets sick—can you believe it?” He had no idea what to make of it, but people have really revised their opinions since then. It’s so masterful, and it’s some of my favorite Todd Haynes writing—it’s so darkly funny."