"City of God is kinetic and visceral. The active camerawork is gorgeous. City of God really did try to find those moments where we can pause and view these characters without any judgment. No character in City of God is black-and-white. There are moments when, even though we know some of these dudes are ruthless killers, they show us little hints that showcase their youth and make it clear to us that they’re still 16-, 17-, 18-years-old at the end of the day. One scene in particular I remember is Li’l Zé. He was this ruthless overlord, but he gets turned down at that dance party. And you just see his face where he’s smiling at first, and then you just see the embarrassment wash over him. Oh my God! Literally everyone in the world knows that moment; everyone in the world knows what it’s like to get rejected. But considering that we’ve seen this man brutally kill people at this point, I think it’s so interesting how the filmmaker also never intended for you to judge those characters. But he also never wanted to give a romanticized view of their life. He wanted you to fully understand how difficult and horrifying some of those realities can be. City of God is a masterpiece. Really quick though, I also want to take the time, and give a special mention to Ava DuVernay’s work. Ava makes the most culturally important work of our time as a filmmaker. 13th is what taught the entire world that we’re essentially living in a re-engineered version of slavery. Ava is committed to promoting awareness. Outside of her being an extraordinarily talented filmmaker, she makes incredibly formative and culturally impactful work. I just want to shout her out as well."

"When I first heard that “Little Women” was being made as a film yet again, I thought to myself; why? I honestly never understand remakes, especially when there are great versions that have already been made. And in the case of “Little Women,” some very dull ones as well. The simple fact that Louisa May Alcott never actually wanted to write “Little Women” and that she and her editor thought it was flat at the time that it was published in 1868, has been obvious in several of the film and television versions of this story. However, when I read that Greta Gerwig had written a new screenplay based on the novel and that Gerwig was going to direct, my interest was piqued. Perhaps I had been wrong about the merits of a remake of “Little Women.” Perhaps the fact that an incredibly talented and wholly contemporary female writer-director had decided to take this on meant that I had overlooked something. And indeed I had. There is nothing dull or flat about Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women.” It is at once a classic and yet completely contemporary. It is lush and fresh. The exceptional screenplay, the brilliant casting, the nuanced and original performances, the sets, the costumes, the rhythm and pace are all exactly right. The film speaks to the struggles of women in our culture to break free from the conventions that in many ways still attempt to ground them. It is a coming of age tale, but it is not a coming-of-age tale mired in the mid-19th century; it is a coming-of-age tale for all time. After “Lady Bird” I was of course impressed with Ms. Gerwig’s directing, but with “Little Women” I’ve become jealous. Very jealous. Which for me is always the greatest compliment. Brava. "

"Sam Cooke’s voice on this song is just absolutely... It guts you, it's so emotional. It was written around the time of the civil rights movement, really addressing the struggle and trying to maintain hope throughout that struggle and to push through and to persevere. “""A Change Is Gonna Come"" is something that I sang years ago in this thing called The Zodiac Show in L.A. It was the first time that I was stepping out of the world of musical theatre, singing how I wanted to sing and dressing how I wanted to dress and expressing myself. “The song took on a slightly new meaning for me because I’d been struggling within the theatre world, believe it or not, for sort of being perceived as 'too gay' for a lot of these roles and the things that I was auditioning for. It became a bit frustrating and I thought “Well, fuck, I thought I was in theatre, all the weirdos are in theatre and we're supposed to support each other.” I didn't feel that sense of community as much as I wanted to. “I also ended up signing it on American Idol and it kind of came back around as a full circle thing. Funnily enough, I sang it in the finale and didn't win. Many would say “Oh, maybe that's because of how they perceived you to be.” It was this repeated concept for me, both times. “My interpretation of the song was my personal change, that things were going to get better and things were going to become different hopefully, and that I was going to not give up, and strive towards that. This song has that personal meaning to me."

"I'm just realising as we're going through them - so many of these songs are about loss aren't they? ‘To the East’ isn’t just straight-up melancholy, it’s a song of hope as well; it might be completely redundant, impotent hope, but there is still hope in there. “She's singing to somebody to come back and that the East could be home, but the whole time you're listening to it you suspect the truth of the situation is that those words will never actually be said. Or maybe that's just the way I'm feeling it, I don't know. Again though, it's a very easy song to empathise with; I really believe the voice that's singing it to me. I don't know whether it's about a personal experience or if they're just imagined characters and to be honest, I don't care. I'm right there with them - I'm feeling it too. “I think either our first or second ever show outside of Britain - I can't remember which - was with Electrelane, in Barcelona at that club, Razzmatazz. It was quite the thrill, to be leaving the country to open up for this band we loved. I was really sad when they split up - again, another loss. I wish they were still performing. I think the last time I saw them was at Field Day in 2011 and they were still so great. They did a cover of 'I'm on Fire' by Bruce Springsteen and it was really something else. “They're one of those bands where you only need to hear a few seconds of any given song to know it's them, which means they've also got that trick of being able to make a cover sound like they wrote it themselves.”"

"Following on nicely from “Just What I Needed”, I went to see my Dad in Florida and he had the 12” of “Stand and Deliver” which had “Beat My Guest” on the B-side. “I was into rap at that time, Run DMC and that kind of stuff, so for a ten-year-old it was ‘What the fuck is this?’ I was blown away. I was floored by the riff and “Beat My Guest” has the ultimate guitar riff, it’s so badass. I was into the make-up as well because I was into KISS too, so I thought that was cool. I was mesmerised by the whole look. “My Dad was always one step ahead of me. I remember being with him in Michigan once, we had this cottage we’d go to with my grandparents and he joined us one year, which was really fun. He was looking in the paper to see who was playing in Detroit - which was two hours away - he found out The Dead Kennedys were playing in some tiny little club and he left to go and see them. “I remember thinking my Dad was the coolest, I was ‘What the hell does that mean? He’s into some weird shit.’ He taught me everything. He spoke to me about music, but he doesn’t play music. I acquired a lot of his records when my parents split up, he gave me that Adam Ant record and I was bawling on the plane. “The next time I went to visit my Dad I’d discovered more Adam and The Ants and I wanted to talk to him about all of these other songs I’d heard, but he was already onto the next thing, which was Devo."