The volcano itself wasn't that interesting, but the man who refused to be evacuated - the only one of 75,000 people - was what set the tone for the film ["Encounters at the End of the World"] that we made together [with Clive Oppenheimer] ten years later.

Civilization is like a thin layer of ice upon a deep ocean of chaos and darkness.

In private I'm not. You will have to ask my wife. She maintains I'm a fluffy husband.

The universe is not harmonious: you know that by looking outside.

When you look at my film you see footage that is unbelievably awesome and beautiful and dangerous looking. It's something that is very, very cinematic.

I'm one of the few reading and thinking people who loves Las Vegas for the vulgarity and omnipresence of the dream. The collective dream. There's something enormous about it. Let me say one thing: Las Vegas and cinema have similar roots. The country fair. The magician at the country fair. The vulgarity of the country fair.

I think a state should not be in the capacity of killing anyone with the exception of warfare.