Open-heart surgery is now part of a typical life experience for many people. Folks talk casually about 'having a stent put in,' as if they had their tires rotated.

If a movie isn't a hit right out of the gate, they drop it. Which means that the whole mainstream Hollywood product has been skewed toward violence and vulgar teen comedy.

A remarkable documentary that's also one of the most beautiful nature films I've seen.

While I am usually in despair when a movie abandons its plot for a third act given over entirely to action, I have no problem with the way Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ends, because it has been pointing toward this ending, hinting about it, preparing us for it, all the way through. What a glorious movie.

It is hard enough to be good at all, but to be good in comedy speaks for your character.

Because of the rush of human knowledge, because of the digital revolution, I have a voice, and I do not need to scream.

Of all the arts, movies are the most powerful aid to empathy, and good ones make us into better people.