The first prerogative of an artist in any medium is to make a fool of himself.

For perhaps most Americans, TV is an apppliance, not to be used selectively but to be turned on - there's always something to watch.

McLuhanism and the media have broken the back of the book business; they've freed people from the shame of not reading. They've rationalized becoming stupid and watching television.

Movies are our cheap and easy expression, the sullen art of displaced persons.

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.

I live in a rather special world. I only know one person who voted for Nixon. Where they are I don't know. They're outside my ken. But sometimes when I'm in a theater I can feel them.

Economy, speed, nervousness, and desperation produce the final wasteful, semi-incoherent movies we see.