Screenwriting is like ironing. You move forward a little bit and go back and smooth things out.
No, really. Just do it. You have some kind of weird reasons that are okay.
Acting is the hardest job in the entire world. By far. Harder than ditch digging.
How do I respond to criticism? Critically. I listen to all criticism critically.
It's a gamble you take, the risk of alienating an audience. But there's a theory - sometimes it's better to confuse them for five minutes than let them get ahead of you for 10 seconds.
But I'd be lying if I didn't say that every time you go to make a film, you're desperate to either do it better than you did it last time or to not repeat yourself.
I don't think it's a director's job to peek behind the curtain too much.
The films that I love are very straightforward stories, like really old-fashioned stuff.
I think my job is to try and be as honest as I can with what is in my mind and how I feel - I think that's what you're supposed to do, if you're a good writer. So I try to do that. I know I do that. I do do that.
You have to be a brat in order to carve out your parameters, and you have to be a monster to anyone who gets in your way. But sometimes it's difficult to know when that's necessary and when you're just being a baby, throwing your rattle from the cage.
Film school is a complete con, because the information is there if you want it.
I had never read Upton Sinclair. I didn't read 'The Jungle' in high school or anything like that. But it's pretty terrific writing.
I always had a dream about trying to make a movie that had no dialogue in it, that was just music and pictures. I still haven't done it yet, but I tried to get close in the beginning.
No matter how many times you do it, you don't get used to the sadness - for me at least - of coming to the end of a film.
I remember being taught in school that you would underline things that you liked. I remember just underlining everything as a kid, thinking, 'This has all gotta be important!' I would just underline the whole thing!
I don't get a sense of American pride. I just get a sense that everyone is here, battling the same thing - that around the world everybody's after the same thing, just some minor piece of happiness each day.
I am always looking for that nuance, that moment of truth, and you can't really do that fast.
I have a feeling, one of those gut feelings, that I'll make pretty good movies the rest of my life.
I've never been a fan of whimsical or confusing storytelling.
My writing has a lot to do with who I am, and what my life is like, and my relationships to people.
