Beguiled by George S. Bush's easy smile and casual indifference to the details, we are on the brink of electing him to office. This isn't choosing a president, it's casting the lead in a sitcom about the presidency.

I begin to feel like I was in the last generation of Americans who took a civics class.

Reese Witherspoon is as cute as a button on Raggedy Ann's overalls, but irresistible raw sex appeal is not one of her qualities.

Movies are like a machine that generates empathy.

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

The movies that are made more thoughtfully or made or with more ambition often get just get drowned out by the noise.

My motto: 'No good movie is depressing. All bad movies are depressing.'