Teen movies often have an unspoken underlying premise in which high school is seen as less serious than the adult world. But when your head is encased in that microcosm it's the most serious time of your life.

Writing sucks. I think it's terrible. Writing is not fun, and don't trust anyone who claims to enjoy it. Liars!

You come out of each movie just thinking, "God, if we can fool them into letting us make just one more, we can get it right."

The fanboy community can smell in an instant, like smelling fear, when something was tailor-made in order to reach them as a demographic.

Much of directing [a movie] is not directing but just listening and being present in the moment and just keeping your eyes open.

It's best if I stay out of future plans and let time go on.

I'm definitely a big believer in the notion that a heightened style can get you closer to an authentic human experience than so-called realism on film. There are films I love that have kind of a muted or realistic style, but for me on any given day I have more moments during the course of a day that feel like a Fellini movie than I do a Cassavettes movie.