Ben Sinclair

“Short Cuts. I watched Short Cuts. I do love Altman. I do love it. It's no surprise there. I remember watching Short Cuts while I was trying to stay together with my first love and it was our last weekend together. We decided, alright, it's over after this, and we spent and we watched Short Cuts together, and I thought to myself, man, that movie was long and I could have been spending quality time with her, but we just watched a screen for three hours. And I remember more about Short Cuts than I do about why I loved that person, so I think I made the right choice then. I, what, this is essentially High Maintenance. It's a, it's just short stories connected by an earthquake, I guess, is what connects everybody in this film. It's funny how things slip into your consciousness.. Thank you, Short Cuts. And, and Lindsay, I miss you, I hope you're okay.”

“Have you guys seen Bad Timing? Whoa. So here's the story. I moved into this apartment, it was on Grand and Graham, there were five bedrooms in it, I didn't know anybody. It was supposed to be a sublet that lasted from mid-September to the end of October, at which point we were told by a note slipped under our door that we'd all have to move out. And then so we all moved out, but one of the only friend I made there was this guy, he was a total cinephile who made me watch Bad Timing with him alone in his house. And then when Art Garfunkel fucks the corpse, I'm like, oh my god, this is a lot. And then it turned out that we all moved out, but it was because one of the roommates in the place pretended to be the landlord and got us all to move out so her friends could move in. And while I didn't feel good about being tricked, I was really like, good job, good job. That was great timing on her part.”

“We have Close-Up. So this movie, eh, we use this chromatic aberration font for High Maintenance. I, I stole it from Close-Up. Also from Close-Up, I stole a moment where there's a, a can rolling down a hill. It's just a moment where there's this can rolling down a hill and it's just like a little pause. I stole that moment directly from this film and put it in season 4, episode 6 of High Maintenance.”

“Somebody told me that Punch-Drunk Love, I heard a theory that it's actually the story of Superman.”

“Being John Malkovich. I look like John Malkovich. It's true, if you do this, I get really angry and I enunciate. I don't, I don't speak like him. This movie rocked my world when I first saw it. If you read the, the original screenplay for it, it's much more bananas than the film was. I think they made, where they, the Kaufman experience reached a nice middle ground with this film.”

“Michael Haneke, huh? Really puts people through it, this. I, I would be interested in going on a road trip with this person and, and not letting him go to the bathroom and being like, what does it feel like, Michael? What does it feel like when somebody is making you feel constrained like this, you know?”

“Old Joy, Kelly Reichardt. If John Malkovich, Will Oldham, and I were on a road trip together, and Michael Haneke was in the back, that's a lot of energies. That's a lot of different energies to deal with. I would like to make, and, and maybe like in Old Joy, which is a road trip movie, we will all give each other massages in an outdoor bathhouse somewhere in the Northwest. Kelly, you make a good film. I'll take it.”

“I just want a copy of The Princess Bride for myself just because, look at that, dude. Look at this box. It's like a fairy, it's literally like a fairy book. This is incredible. Good work, guys. Whoever thought about this really was putting their, their thinking cap. I know it's not like the most esoteric choice, but I chose Close-Up, so I get one for me, one for you.”

“You know, Midnight Cowboy. I love this movie. Art, look at that art. God damn it.”