Movies are like a machine that generates empathy.

I like smart movies about smart people, and enjoy it when most of the facts are on the table and we can contemplate them together.

One, don't wait for inspiration, just start the damned thing. Two, once you begin, keep on until the end. How do you know how the story should begin until you find out where it's going?

It's the same the world over. A Hollywood production comes to town, and the locals all turn movie crazy.

You can't just tell actors, especially young ones, to 'act happy' and expect them to do it. They must in some essential way be happy.

There are two things you can't argue in film: comedy and eroticism. If something doesn't make you laugh, no one can tell you why it's funny, and it's difficult to reason someone out of an erection.

Why do alcoholics begin down the same hazardous road day after day? They are in search of that elusive window of well-being that opens when you drink your way out of a hangover and aren't yet drunk all over again. The alcoholic's day consists of trying to keep that window open.