There is an amount of abstraction in my movies, and sometimes they don't really understand it until the film is finished.

I don't like those shows where people get eliminated every week, and then they have to get meaner to survive.

The problem is when you get forced to use ideas that aren't good. When I can filter the ideas and use the best of them, I am happy to collaborate.

I don't thrive on control. I'm not looking for control. I think I get better results when I don't control things.

The MTV Video Awards were never about the video, but about the song. Most of the time it was just to glorify people for the wrong reason.

It's a very American thing that everything has to be a business. Americans think... I like America, or I would not be here. There are great qualities to this country. But this sense that everything has to be a business is sometimes overwhelming.

I hate cynicism. I wipe it from me. I don't like cynical people. I don't like cynical movies. Cynicism is very easy. You don't have to justify it. You don't have to fight for it.