RT: You said there are hundreds of other movies you love. What are some of the others?

RJ: That's really tough. My mind is like blazing through a thousand right now. Well, I guess, you know, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is one of my all-time favorites. Also kind of a sentimental favorite of mine because it's a movie I've been watching since I was a kid. It's one of my dad's favorites. 8 ½, which probably could have fit in with this list, actually, is another one of those films that I... I don't have the film contained in my head. I can't sit down and analyze it. I can't pull it apart. It's an experience that completely absorbs every time I watch it. There's so many of them, though. Pick any Scorsese movie, pick any Kubrick movie, you know? The Coen Brothers' stuff. We'd be here for an hour. [laughs]

RT: What's up with your next project, Looper?

RJ: It's kind of a science fiction movie, and it's almost the exact opposite of Bloom. It's kind of dark and violent. I'm having a really good time doing something 100 percent different than what I just did. But I'm writing it right now, so I'll get the script done and we'll see if we can con somebody into letting us make it.

RT: So what is it about con men that you like? I mean, obviously there's a certain likability there and there's a camaraderie there, but is that basically what draws you in to that sort of thing?

RJ: Well, no, it's a lot of different things. I mean, I think that there's an appeal. One of the appeals for me is that the con man, in pulling off these ruses, is basically a storyteller. You know, the things that con men do in order to take a mark are the same things that a storyteller does in order to take in an audience. So that's very interesting. But also I think there's an appeal to the idea of the gentleman thief, which is something that the con man has always been. He's the aristocrat of criminals.

RT: You have to be smart and bad.

RJ: Exactly. Actually, you have to be much more smart than bad. That's one of the badges of honor, being a con man, because you don't use violence. You're not a common thug. You're much more of a gentleman when you steal people's money. [laughs]

RT: You've described several filmmakers as con men. Do you think that's part of the deal?

RJ: Oh, yeah, absolutely. Isn't it? I mean, that's the appeal of it. When you go into a movie, you can have the thrill of being conned and only lose $10. [laughs] I think that's kind of why we go to the theater. I know that's why I do it. I sit down hoping to be completely fleeced, you know? Hoping to be taken for a ride and turned on my head, and confused, and then not confused. All the same things that a con man does, a filmmaker does, I guess. The filmmaker just lets you off a little bit easier in terms of your wallet.

RT: But only a little.

RJ: Only a little. With today's theater prices, my God.

Check out this clip from The Brothers Bloom, in theaters this Friday. Plus, read our interview with Johnson for Brick. For more Five Favorite Films, visit our archive.