There were so many odd, strange things about Abraham Lincoln that I think nobody knew how to pigeonhole him.

I love history. It was the only thing I did well at in school. I'm not ashamed to admit that I was not a good student but I was great at history.

If the world ran the way a crew runs a set, we'd have a better, more progressive world.

'The Color Purple' is the kind of character piece that a director like Sidney Lumet could do brilliantly with one hand tied behind his back.

I'll probably never win an Oscar, but I'll sure have a lot of fun! I really believe that movies are the great escape.

People have forgotten how to tell a story.

In the re-creation of combat situations, and this is coming from a director who's never been in one, being mindful of what these veterans have actually gone through, you find that the biggest concern is that you don't look at war as a geopolitical endeavor.