The studios are never going to make $200 million a picture with those types of movies. It's not familiar to them, and it's not a model that can necessarily be sustained. Now, if they go back to making movies about people ... well, I hope they do that.

Sometimes the shots serve as homages to other movies and other directors, like Hitchcock.

A good [film] director is talented, imaginative, and does his homework.

It's all about special effects and explosions now. It leaves me just cold when I walk out of the theater. There's no heart; there's no soul. Movies used to be about people. It's as though we don't tell stories any more. The studios have to make money, and if you want to make $20 million, you have to spend $200 million.

I really like to work with people who know a lot, but they also give me space so I can add something to the movie.

I like to say that lighting is about taking the light away. I often like to use the shadows more than the light.

As an actor, Sean [Penn] is brilliant. And he's really an excellent director, as well. We got along really well.