You are not an active creator of the film.

OK, I know this is going to disgust you, Michael, but a lot of people are in this business to make money.

Three Days of the Condor is still an interesting film to watch not because it's political. It happens to be political. But that's not why the sales of the DVDs are as high as they are. It's because it's an entertaining thriller. In my opinion, Tootsie is a very political movie but truck drivers can go and laugh at it.

I tend to be what I would call more progressive than conservative, but I think either extreme is excessive.

There's a religious basis to their [Bush and Chaney] kind of conservatism. It's rooted in a kind of fundamentalism. I'm afraid of that. I don't like that idea. I think all extremism is suspect.

You mustn't regret decisions that you make. Because the decisions are made out of your gut in a way and you have to stick with them.

I'm not going to be an interpreter at the U.N. I'm not going to live in Africa on a farm or whatever, but I am going to see the world through those eyes when I make those films.