Hideo Kojima is back at it again talking about his favorite French movies

If there’s one thing Hideo Kojima loves, it’s movies. The acclaimed creator of Metal Gear and Death Stranding takes every opportunity he can to talk about his favorite films and their impact on his life and career, be it in his collection of essays, his “Brain Structure” podcast, or excitedly recommending movies from none other than the fabled Criterion closet.

On Thursday, the 61-year-old video game designer appeared in a new video produced by the French pop culture outlet Konbini as part of its ongoing celebrity-focused “Video Club” series. The video features Kojima walking through JM Vidéo, one of the oldest and one of the few remaining video rental shops still in business in Paris, recommending his favorite films by French directors.

“During my childhood, Japanese ’50s and ’60s movies were awesome, as were the French ’50s and ’60s movies, and most creators of today originate from those movies,” Kojima said when asked why he chose to focus specifically on recommending French directors. “The French Lumière brothers created movies about 120 years ago, and there was a golden era of French movies, Japanese movies, etc. and then Hollywood movies came in. Even when I rewatch them now, they are great, new, and original, so that’s why I wanted to introduce these French movies to the younger generation. I was really influenced by them myself, so most are classics.”

Kojima’s energy is positively infectious throughout the video as he buzzes through the shelves, cherry-picking his selections and giving brief yet passionate explanations behind why he likes a particular film and what it means to him. 

The biggest takeaways? His favorite Léa Seydoux film is 2012’s Sister directed by Ursula Meier, and he really, really wants to meet Leos Carax some day. “I really love his works, but I haven’t met him yet,” Kojima says. “So if you are seeing this, please contact me!” Here’s hoping he gets his wish.

You can find a list of Kojima’s recommendations below and where you can stream or rent them, in case you’re looking for something to watch this weekend:

• Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête) — Dir. Jean Cocteau
  • Available to stream on Max and Criterion Channel
• The Hole (Le Trou) — Dir. Jacques Becker
  • Available to stream on Criterion Channel
• The Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la peur) — Dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot
  • Available to stream on Max and Criterion Channel
• Alphaville (Alphaville: une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution) — Dir. Jean-Luc Godard
  • Available to rent on Amazon and Apple
• Nouvelle Vague — Dir. Jean-Luc Godard
• The Night Is Young (Mauvais Sang) — Dir. Leos Carax
  • Available to stream on Hoopla
• Eyes Without a Face (Les yeux sans visage) —- Dir. Georges Franju
  • Available to stream on Max and Criterion Channel
• La Jetée — Dir. Chris Marker
  • Available to stream on Criterion Channel
• Le Samouraï — Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
  • Available to stream on Max and Prime Video
• Elevator to the Gallows (Ascenseur pour l’échafaud) — Dir. Louis Malle
  • Available to stream on Max
• Enter The Void — Dir. Gaspar Noé
  • Available to rent on Apple
• Barbarella — Dir. Roger Vadim
  • Available to rent on Amazon and Apple
• The Deep Dark (Gueules noires) — Dir. Mathieu Turi
• Sister (L’Enfant d’en haut) — Dir. Ursula Meier
  • Available to stream on Kanopy and rent on Amazon and Apple
• Fantastic Planet (La Planète sauvage) — Dir. René Laloux
  • Available to stream on Max and Criterion Channel