Franklin Leonard

“We’re going to start with To Sleep with Anger, Charles Burnett. If you don’t know, ask somebody. Find out. It’s a classic.”

“Oh, on a similar theme, Devil in a Blue Dress, Carl Franklin. It’s not often that you see people go face to face with Denzel Washington and come out unscathed. Don Cheadle’s performance. Legendary one. Underappreciated. I think the film, just overall, underappreciated.”

“Okay, Memories of Murder, Bong Joon Ho. This is strangely difficult to find. And so part of the reason I’m drawing it here is so I always have access to it. Physical media is important. And really everything Bong Joon Ho does is brilliant. So, can’t go wrong there.”

“Spike Lee, Bamboozled. Saw this movie before I worked in Hollywood. Loved it. Terrified me. Having worked in Hollywood for more than 20 years, it’s scary how accurate and prescient it is. If you want to work in Hollywood, everybody should see this movie before doing so. Also annoyingly hard to find, so get the DVD.”

“4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. Also topical. I’m not going to say anything more about the film, other than that it’s brilliant and everyone should see it, especially in this country today.”

“Tootsie, Sydney Pollack. I had the great pleasure of working for Sydney Pollack in the last year of his life. A legendary filmmaker with legendary… just a record of brilliant films. And also just a really good man, so RIP Sydney, RIP Teri Garr. Yeah, Tootsie.”

“Anatomy of a Fall, Justine Triet. It won the Oscar for a reason. If you haven’t watched it, do. It’s just a… I’m just very excited to see what she does next. And Sandra Hüller is just an incredible actress. Just doesn’t miss a moment. There’s an oblique 50 Cent reference, which you don’t really get in French cinema on a yearly basis.”

“Last but definitely not least, Alice Diop’s Saint Omer, one of the great new, exciting filmmakers on this planet. Anytime she does anything, I’m excited for it. This is another underappreciated classic, which I guess is the theme here. So watch this movie. But also watch anything that Alice does because exciting new voice. Not even new anymore, but exciting voice period. She’s got a lot to say about the world and we all should listen.”

“I know absolutely nothing about this box set, but one of my holy grail projects is a Paul Robeson biopic. And if I can’t make it, somebody else should. So I’m taking this, mainly so I can ask everybody on Earth to seriously consider figuring out a Paul Robeson biopic or, more likely, a limited series because his life is so incredible over so many different eras and so long-term impactful that someone should figure it out. If it’s not me, that’s fine. Then I can watch it without having to make it. Very, very excited about this. Oh, featuring essays by Hilton Als, Charles Burnett, and Paul Robeson. So great reading in addition to film stuff.”