"I just really responded to the performance of Zbigniew Cybulski. This is the story of someone who spends their young life in the sewers of Warsaw knowing nothing but war, and then carrying that life without any real reason for living other than continuing on as an urban warrior, falling in love with a bar maid, too late in your life, and essentially discovering lust and passion and maybe the love of his life — in the same day that his life catches up to him and kills him. [Director Andrzej] Wadja is one of my favorite filmmakers. I love Canal and all of the whole trilogy, but Ashes and Diamonds is a film I still think about."

"Once, visiting friends in San Francisco, a bookcase came loose from the wall and fell on me. Three people came running in from another room when they heard the crash and saw me sprawled on the floor beneath a mountain of books. Did they say, “Are you all right?” No. In unison, they all said, “Howards End!” That memory, and a recent PBS re-doing (even better than the excellent Merchant Ivory film) of Forster’s novel, have renewed my passion for this book. Its searing depiction of class differences, the wit of its dialogue, and the description of that vine-covered house—no wonder they fought over it!—go together to make this one of my favorites."

"When I was a boy I dreamed of sailing and exploring the the open seas. I know my inspiration arose from watching episodes of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. This almanac was the first gift I received from my then girlfriend, now wife, and why I still love her. She saw my passion for the ocean and presented me with a book by my hero. Cousteau gives many examples of how we have been destroying our shared environment for thousands of years. But more importantly, he always leads us to solutions we can implement to save and restore our planet. “We have one planet. We have to take care of it.”"

"My first film would be Braveheart. I love that film. I have Scots-Irish ancestry, and I was very intrigued with it. I’m actually a part of the Wallace clan on my grandmother’s side, so I was very intrigued with the portrayal of William Wallace, even though I’m not a direct descendant. The subject matter interested me, and I thought that Mel Gibson did an exceptional job. It’s my favorite film. It’s one of those films I can watch over and over and over again. It has comedy, there’s romance, love, passion, love of your country, the pursuit of freedom, and I just think he did an incredible job directing that film and also starring in it."