The whole film business was built on immigrants: Billy Wilder and Michael Curtiz and all these hefty lads.

I feel like we are so used to CGI [computer-generated imagery] and thank god because it is a wonderful tool, but there is an element of everything you are looking at has been created in the comfort of a studio. I want to return to a world where I can celebrate when you are really interacting with the world.

I really think in life there is a lot of mystery and things we just can’t understand and your brain has to adapt... We all have to deal with the twists of fate whether they are explained or not and it’s how you react in life to these curveballs that is really the measure of a man.

I always loved horror as a kid. On the one hand, I really love monsters, because in a way I feel like I related to their outsider status and like the sentimental romantic plight of the monster. More importantly though I feel like people are completely motivated by fear, especially with our political system here in America which is just degenerating into more and more fear mongering and it gets in the way of real discourse, plus it's just something I'm obsessive about and have always been a little bit of a paranoid guy.

I've gotta be honest, it is a little of a mystery to me. I consider myself very sentimental, very sensitive, but obviously my outward appearance is a bit scruffy-haired, and I have a general tendency toward snarling at people, and a sort of misanthropic nature. Maybe that is what people actually read. I do actually believe that misanthropy and sensitivity go hand in hand, because I have a tremendous disappointment in the ways of the world.

The worst thing that could happen to a filmmaker is growing up wanting to be a filmmaker.

I feel very strongly that a film isn't just a story, but the WAY that a story is told. It's why I am such a great fan of Hitchcock because it really is all in the filmmaking.