My working life is me doing what I want to do. This is that. I've made movies that people don't go to see.

There's a difference between failures and things that are bad.

I recently decided that I'm not an originator. I'm a synthesist.

The ought to be a worldwide cultural taskforce that just stops you when you have ideas like combining The Red Desert with an armored car heist movie.

Stuff I like is getting trashed and stuff that is being praised I think is terrible. I don't really feel in sync with what's happening, but at the same time, what I think keeps me afloat is that I try not to be, and don't want to be, very indulgent. I try to make the films as lean as possible, and to not spend a lot of time crawling up my own ass creatively.

I make every movie like it's the last one. "If this was the last movie, what decision would I make?" That's how I make my decisions.

I find myself in situations a lot where I have to say to someone, "This can be better," and it's hard to say that.