Paul Rudd

“Withnail and I is right at the top of that list. I was about 22 years old and a friend of mine had a videotape and said, 'I think you'd like this movie.' And I watched it and then I rewound it and watched it again. I'd never done that before. It's proof that you can make one of the funniest movies ever and it's tragic, it's sad, and heartbreaking, and everyone in it is brilliant.”

“I think Richard Linklater is the great American director. Boyhood is like the Michael Apted Seven Up series in a narrative form, in a fictional movie. I saw it at Sundance and it destroyed me because to focus on all of the connective tissue between major events in people's lives and you just see it unfold over the course of many, many years. It's stunning and I'm a massive fan.”

“Defending Your Life, four movies that Albert Brooks did in a row... Is maybe a murderer's row. It's Meet the Beatles to Sergeant Pepper. But Defending Your Life I'm picking because it might be the most high-concept comedy that I know of and all of the performances, Rip Torn is amazing, Meryl Streep is unreal, but every single minor actor that has maybe one scene... They're all perfect. He can take a joke that's hilarious and then make it even a little bit better.”

“I do love Mike Leigh, I love his films. But there was a moment in this film from Timothy Spall where he has such an emotional outburst after kind of sitting on emotions throughout a lot of the film, I thought. And when he did this, I burst into tears and I thought, I don't know of a Performance that was so restrained that just exploded. I've thought about that moment for years and the power of restraint.”

“I must say, I actually haven't seen Opus, I have wanted to. But I wanted to bring this up because Ryuichi Sakamoto is somebody I share with my son who is a massive fan. My son heard Last Emperor and said, 'Wait a minute.' He's an exceptional artist. Everyone should know who he is. It's a tragedy that we lost him recently, but what a treasure that we get to experience him through Opus, Coda, and every other incredible piece of art that he created.”

“Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Amy Heckerling, who I adore and made the movie Clueless, also made this. I can't think of another person who has their finger on the pulse of what kids are going through and what they're saying. You have a scene where Sean Penn is ordering a pizza to class, which is like a big funny sequence, and then you also have a young girl in high school getting an abortion and this exists in the same movie. And it does so with care and dexterity and elegance.”