I don't think there's anything to be afraid of. Failure brings great rewards - in the life of an artist.

My parents said, Oh, he's going to be a director someday. I wanted to be an actor.

Instead of critics reviewing my movies, now what they're really doing is trying to match wits with me. Every time they review my movies, it's like they want to play chess with the mastermind and show off every reference they can find, even when half of it is all of their own making.

You know what the funniest thing about Europe is? It's the little differences.

If I really considered myself a writer, I wouldn't be writing screenplays. I'd be writing novels.

When I'm writing in my bedroom, in a bar, at my kitchen table or wherever, I'm conjuring it all up on the page. That's all well and good, but it is going to be a limited perspective at that point and time. Occasionally, what I write might read really well initially, but then you change your mind while hunting for locations when you discover settings which offer even better opportunities for drama or dramatic staging.

Pigs are filthy animals. I don't eat filthy animals.