If you pay attention to the movies they will tell you what people desire and fear. Movies are hardly ever about what they seem to be about. Look at a movie that a lot of people love, and you will find something profound, no matter how silly the film may be.

Nothing ever seems straightforward in Venice, least of all its romances.

To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts.

We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try.

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

I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same state.

What we have here is a rousing boy's adventure story, adapted from stories that Edgar Rice Burroughs cranked out for early pulp magazines. They lacked the visceral appeal of his Tarzan stories, which inspired an estimated 89 movies; amazingly, this is the first John Carter movie, but it is intended to foster a franchise and will probably succeed.