I never understood the concept of showing everything in the trailer. Why go to a movie if there's no surprise? I can't do it like that.

As we move toward the millennium, the year 2000, the most powerful nations are not those that have nuclear bombs, but those that control the media. That's where the battle is being fought; that is how you control people's minds.

Critics like to build you up, tear you down, and then, if you're lucky, build you up again.

I collect names for characters. Names are valuable; they can be your first source of insight into a character.

'25th Hour,' like a lot of my films, takes place in New York City. I've been very fortunate to make films in the city that I live. I mean, it's great going home at night instead of being on location.

You have to do the research. If you don't know about something, then you ask the right people who do.

There's an unwritten law that you cannot have a Jewish character in a film who isn't 100 percent perfect, or you're labeled anti-Semitic.