I think public intellectuals have a responsibility - to be self-critical on the one hand, to do serious, nuanced work rigorously executed; but to also be able to get off those perches and out of those ivory towers and speak to the real people who mak...
Things don't just fall into place because you have a dream. You're always going to have those negative thoughts. Our minds love to play with us - we're going to be our own worst critics - but I just say to myself, 'File it back.' I just try to bring ...
To me, constructive criticism is when people take ownership of their ideas. That's why I don't listen to anything that's anonymous. But it's hard; when there's something hurtful out there, I still want to read it over and over and memorize it and exp...
When you are criticised don't ignore it, but don't get overpowered by it, and certainly there is no need to be defensive about it. Rather, wait for a while and then weigh up its merits and demerits, balance it out and chart out your approaches and ac...
I started making houses for ants because I thought they needed somewhere to live. Then I made them shoes and hats. It was a fantasy world I escaped to where my dyslexia didn't hold me back and my teachers couldn't criticize me. That's how my career a...
I was scouted at the age of 10 by a Hollywood agent. I was a really shy, geeky-looking thing, and started in the industry by doing 'extra' work on films.
I was speaking to Ridley Scott the other day and he makes a film every 18 months. He's amazing really.
'Pulp Fiction' is an amazing film, and I haven't made one nearly as good.
I loved filming in Morocco; it was amazing. I'd never been anywhere like that. The culture was phenomenal. I was so blown away by the spirit of that country.
I was able to do To Sleep with Anger, a very powerful film about African Americans, their spirituality, and the things that happened within a small community and a family.
I think a smart person today realizes that you have to be part of the art films that are done just for the sake of the art.
What you do in your art - TV, music, film stuff - touches people. And they want to touch you. So that's a blessing. I'm okay with it.
I grew up in the heat of '70s postmodern fiction and post-Godard films, and there was this idea that what mattered was the theory or meta in art.
Fashion, for me, is anything that's aesthetic and beautiful. Art, food, film. It's something that I appreciate and really like.
Toy Soldiers was my introduction to film. I certainly didn't think I was doing art by any stretch of the imagination.
The last time I was this confused I was watching a Fassbinder film.
Sometimes the best thing you could do is a real bad film... you could improvise all over the place and probably only improve the script.
All we try and do is make the best films we can. If you do that then hopefully the audiences will come, and they have. Everything else is gravy.
In terms of doing another franchise after 'Transformers,' I don't know if that would be best for me. I'm really happy to inhabit the world of independent film.
'The Jungle Book.' It's one of the best animated films ever. I saw it when I was small at a cinema in Tehran.
'Uncharted' is the best job I've ever had. Film, television, whatever - it's without doubt the best. It's changed my life.
