A pitfall of making a comedy with a studio-and it's also an American cultural thing-is that I get tired of being encouraged to go always for laughs..

If you have your movies so that everyone understands everything, I think that's probably not a very good movie..

I like actors who, when you see them on screen, you sense a person, not just an actor..

I think cynicism lasts. Sentimentality ages, dates quickly..

What science-fiction premises do is it gives you a "what-if" prism to look at the contemporary world with a wack on the side of the head..

The biggest fear I have is to die with regrets, and of course that will come true..

I think a badly crafted, great idea for a new film with a ton of spelling mistakes is just 100 times better than a well-crafted stale script..

When you're a houseguest and you leave, it's nice to straighten something up or send your hosts a useful gift. And when you leave the planet, it's ni….

I've always approached screenplays and so forth with, "How would it really happen?" Not "What's the movie version?" but "What's the real-life version….

This is how good movies get made and always have: from the gut instinct of the financiers, not just by committee and research..

The better a novel is, in literary terms, the more you can't be faithful. The novel succeeds on terms exclusive to literature. A good film succeeds o….

The thing is, right now the films don't need to be overtly political to be about our times. We also need films that are just human, that are about pe….

The kindest thing a director can do is look with open eyes at everything..

What is filmmaking but groping in the dark?.

My flag is always flying. My shingle is always out. I'm always looking for movie ideas. The hardest part of this whole movie-making endeavor is findi….

It seems that our politicians see the world in black and white, so why not our artists? Did Woody Allen's 'Manhattan' have to be in black and white? ….

There is an audience out there for literate films - slower, more observant, more human films, and they deserve to be made..

I'm attracted to short screenplays. Nobody really wants a film to be over two hours, or at least I don't..

A book suggests a whole world and story that I could have never thought of in a million years..

I think about what movie I would like to see. I don't think of them as a correction or palliative. I certainly am irritated by anything that's shot i….

I want studios to be financing director-driven, auteurist cinema, as they did in the '70s. I think it's starting to happen now. Plus, because of how ….