One of my favorite movies of all time is 'It's A Wonderful Life', which is a pretty interesting choice for a seasonal Christmas favorite, because it's about a guy who wants to commit suicide and is presented with reasons not to.

I am fascinated with times past.

The only person who can, with impunity, make the movie he wants to make, has got to be Steven Spielberg.

I've never been a big fan of the music-video style of editing movies that crept in the last few decades. I like stuff that's able to take its time.

To me, length is an artificial and arbitrary factor in a film.

Stanley Kubrick was a big inspiration. People accuse me of never using my own material. But when did Kubrick? You look at his films and they are completely unique... completely separate entities.

I'd like to think that my films are personal enough to exist without hearkening back to their respective novels.