"This is the single most underrated film of the entire French New Wave. Its near obsessive tracking of Maurice Ronet through the wet Paris streets as he retraces the steps of a wasted life makes for one of the most tightly focused of the era’s film portraits of a desperate man at the end of his rope. Its slow build toward an inexorable end is Louis Malle’s most nuanced work—this from a director who was already noted for his almost classical discipline. Ronet, until then largely thought of as a lightweight romantic film actor, surrenders himself to the downhill yet strangely transcendent fate that awaits him on the mirror of his room."

"This book is about the principles of timing and repetition—about preparing yourself for luck, really. He talks about a hockey team, and how the players born in January had a year up on the guys born in December. They were fortunate that their birthday was early, but they also practiced—they put the work in. The book resonated with me because I was born at a time when there was an influx of incredible music into the culture, and I was lucky that my mom and pop were huge record collectors. In my house, I had music by Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Prince, and the Commodores, and I'm listening to it every single day."

"I think the fifth greatest movie I ever saw was The Last Emperor. Again, it really happened. I mean he [director Bernardo Bertolucci] also could make a movie. The thing I’m leaving you with is this: I’m a runner. When you run, it’s about your training, and it’s the same way with filmmaking. If you miss a day as a runner, only you know it. If you miss two days, your opponent knows it. And if you’ve missed three days, the crowd knows it. All the movies I mentioned, you had, I don’t know, 60 to 150 shooting days. And every single day, everybody on the set brought it to work – everybody."

"One of the first movies I saw on a date after my marriage fell apart. My date and I, both single parents, were glued to the performances of Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette–parents doing the best they can with the tools they have, all while the clock of their son’s childhood ticks on. I know other people were amazed at Richard Linklater’s feat of filming over twelve years. But I would have been sold on the story if there were twelve different actors: I loved the longitudinal look at how the decisions or mistakes that parents make can define their son’s childhood. And, like The Ice Storm, Boyhood never loses touch with our constituency: the boy."

"These are my three favorites for pure entertainment. I’ve lumped them together under “professional comedy.” And these are the best. Though, if you want to crack into journalism or daytime television after watching them, perhaps you should watch them again. Broadcast News and Tootsie make me put my hand to my heart, just thinking about them. I can’t think of a single thing I’ve ever written in any book that doesn’t aim to have that ideal blend of humor and heart, that pacing. Sweet Smell of Success is more of a perfect script than a perfect movie, but it’s phenomenal. “I’d hate to take a bite outta you. You’re a cookie full of arsenic.” Who says these things?"

"These are my three favorites for pure entertainment. I’ve lumped them together under “professional comedy.” And these are the best. Though, if you want to crack into journalism or daytime television after watching them, perhaps you should watch them again. Broadcast News and Tootsie make me put my hand to my heart, just thinking about them. I can’t think of a single thing I’ve ever written in any book that doesn’t aim to have that ideal blend of humor and heart, that pacing. Sweet Smell of Success is more of a perfect script than a perfect movie, but it’s phenomenal. “I’d hate to take a bite outta you. You’re a cookie full of arsenic.” Who says these things?"