Dogfight

“I was really excited to see that Criterion released Nancy Savoca’s Dogfight. And there was something about the idea of this movie that feels so relevant today, this idea of casual misogyny needing to be interrogated by men themselves, that, in this case, it’s not Lili Taylor’s character who has to do the work of explaining herself to him, it’s this kid played by River Phoenix who has to do the work of recognizing something in himself.”

“Dogfight. Oh my god, Dogfight. Lily Taylor in this movie completely affected how I thought about acting. The movie is basically about these bunch of young lads are heading off to fight in Vietnam... River Phoenix, oh he's so brilliant in it. There's a scene where she's playing The Piano and she's singing a song and he's watching her and there's no dialogue... It is so beautiful because it affected me as an actress but also about love.”

“Okay, Dogfight, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor. And those actors are some of the finest actors that have ever lived, but certainly, like, of my generation. Handsome boy meets, you know, we’re not supposed to think very beautiful girl, but come on, who are we kidding? Star-crossed lovers and empathy and love where you least expect it.”