A pitfall of making a comedy with a studio-and it's also an American cultural thing-is that I get tired of being encouraged to go always for laughs.

The kindest thing a director can do is look with open eyes at everything.

There is an audience out there for literate films - slower, more observant, more human films, and they deserve to be made.

A pitfall of making a comedy with a studio-and it's also an American cultural thing-is that I get tired of being encouraged to go always for laughs.

I think about what movie I would like to see. I don't think of them as a correction or palliative. I certainly am irritated by anything that's shot in the Midwest and filled with these noble people. "Oh, they're so good, and they're so honest..." I'm not interested in that. I just think of what's right for a movie.

I mean, look, I love movies, not just the ones I make... In fact, I don't like the movies I make very much.

If you have your movies so that everyone understands everything, I think that's probably not a very good movie.