Film is an emotional medium; it's not a logical medium. It's not an intellectual medium, so every decision you make as a filmmaker and an actor has to be emotional in some way, even in the rejection of logic.
I'm a filmmaker, and I was most influenced by Hitchcock's films. How he could plant such deep enriched characters and then make us care both about the antagonist and protagonist was masterful.
I can only go places because I know that I can go away from them, if that makes sense. I like the gypsy lifestyle that filming affords.
If chess has any relationship to film-making, it would be in the way it helps you develop patience and discipline in choosing between alternatives at a time when an impulsive decision seems very attractive.
A spine to my films that's become more evident to me is that many are about the choices people make, and the reverberations of those choices. You go this way, or that way, and either way, there's going to be consequences.
Bad impulse buys make you feel grim, don't they? It's like having consumer Tourette's. I gravitate towards austere foreign-language film DVDs when insecure.
People who actually tell stories, meaning people who write novels and make feature films, don't see themselves as storytellers.
I think producers are more interested in backing concepts than directors and writers. I don't think that's the right way of making a decision about whether you're going to back a film or not.
I made some probably very cringe-worthy short films that shall hopefully never make the light of day.
There are many films and TV shows I make where people find themselves in fantastical situations; as often as possible, their reactions to it are very normal.
When my agents tell me how much I'm going to be paid for a film, instead of quoting a figure, they'll say: 'You're going to make ten pairs of Christian Louboutins.'
Take my wife... please. I'm not saying she's ugly, but when she went to see a horror film, the audience thought she was making a personal appearance.
I have no regret about making 'Heroine'; rather, I am happy I made it. I never shun my films; I stick to it.
I wouldn't have wanted to miss the opportunity to make those three films that didn't do well. They were really important to me, and the things I learned doing them were important to me.
I'd always done family-friendly stuff. I wanted to do a film where I could show my darker side and make people uncomfortable.
I am definitely writing letters to lots of directors in my mind when I'm making a film. I'm chasing Woody Allen and Godard and Milos Forman and all these people.
If I make two films in a year, they'll be different. This is my style - I can't have just one way.
I'll be honest - I never saw myself making a ninja movie, never entertained the idea. I think ninja films can be quite cheesy unless you do them in feudal Japan.
Nudity, in the right way, can enhance a film or a TV program or a TV commercial. If it's done tastefully it can make it more of an interesting product.
People want to classify and say, 'OK, this is a gangster film.' 'This is a Western.' 'This is a... ' You know? It's easy to classify and it makes people feel comfortable, but it doesn't matter, it doesn't really matter.
I like the idea of making big budget films with a heart. I like graphic novels more than comic books.
