Well, the wonderful thing about making movies, oddly enough, is that they're sort of highly motivated graduate studies in one or another field.

There isn't any question that Hollywood is profit driven. Anybody that thinks it isn't is a fool. It's a business. Hollywood was never philanthropy. The only purpose it had was making money; the only purpose it still has is to make money.

When you make a film you usually make a film about an idea.

I mean, movies are like your kids or your fingers and toes or something, it's pretty hard to pick favorites.

I make films, and I hope that people come to see them. If they don't, I pay a big price. But I can't make decisions where I would change my own standards or my own taste in order to court the public in some way.

Burt Lancaster was largely responsible for me becoming a director.

The dance that happens, between actor and director, is a very delicate thing...it's why people tend to work together on many films over and over.