For a while in the twenties and thirties, art was talked about as a substitute for religion; now B movies are a substitute for religion.

The words "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" which I saw on an Italian movie poster, are perhaps the briefest statement imaginable of the basic appeal of movies

Great movies are rarely perfect movies.

It's sometimes discouraging to see all of a director's movies, because there's so much repetition. The auteurists took this to be a sign of a director's artistry, that you could recognize his movies. But it can also be a sign that he's a hack.

Irresponsibility is part of the pleasure of all art; it is the part the schools cannot recognize.

a steady diet of mass culture is a form of deprivation.

if you think it so easy to be a critic, so difficult to be a poet or a painter or film experimenter, may I suggest you try both? You may discover why there are so few critics, so many poets.