I probably would have made [films] anywhere. Every city has something they're ashamed of. I would have made films about it and turned it into something positive.

If your kid comes out of the bedroom and says he just shut down the government, it seems to me he should at least have an outfit for that.

My hobby is extreme Catholic behavior - before the Reformation.

Even illegal weapons have lost their panache. Zip guns and shanks were at least homemade. Where is the craft in a grade-schooler firing a magnum? What is the world coming to? It's not even bad to be a communist anymore!

As far as socially redeeming value, I hope I don't have any.

If you think someone's trying too hard, that's the worst thing they can do. To me, it's just desperate, never funny and never witty. It's kind of really old hat because just being shocking isn't enough. It has to change how you think about something. It has to startle you. It has to make you look at something and reconsider whether you're right. That's the whole point.

You have to think of a new way to completely surprise people who think they're hip. I always said you could make an NC-17 movie with no sex and no violence. Now I don't know what that could possibly be, but if you could think it up, you'd have a hit.