In my opinion, the vast majority of scripts written - as well as most movies that are released - are not very original, well-written, or interesting. It has always been that way, and I think it always will be.
Viggo Mortensen
Related Every year I hear people complain that the quality of screenplays and movies is declining. In my opi... VIGGO MORTENSEN You see a lot of good ideas or well-written scripts that are bad ideas. JOHN MCTIERNAN I always heard it musically, and I guess it's written rhythmically as well ... It's very similar to ... NICK CAVE I always heard it musically, and I guess it's written rhythmically as well, NICK CAVE I always look for interesting, complex characters. You know, interesting, well-written material. SAM UNDERWOOD I try to choose the projects that I think are the most well-written and well-executed, and the rest ... JACK DAVENPORT Self-confidence has always been one of my good qualities. I am always very confident. It is in my na... MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI The vast majority of that deal was written on my desk. WILLIAM MOFFITT This is too much reality for a Friday. AS GOOD AS IT GETS I think the tradition of well-written history hasn't been squashed out of the academic world as ... ADAM HOCHSCHILD There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That... OSCAR WILDE The treasurer will follow the law as it is written, as he has always done. ALBERT MARTINEZ There is no such thing as a moral book or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. ... OSCAR WILDE There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written.... OSCAR WILDE There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. OSCAR WILDE There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. OSCAR WILDE I think you have to be in an insane stratosphere in terms of fame in order to get offered really wel... AMANDA PEET I do think I'm country, but your definition of that word might be different from my definition. ... SAM HUNT To me, the zombies have always just been zombies. They've always been a cigar. When I first made... GEORGE A. ROMERO If we could have the ability to change the past and right our wrongs would it make us learn from any... GARY F EVANS... I think that there are fiction writers for whom that works well. I could never do it. I feel as if, ... SHARON OLDS I've written fiction for as long as I can remember; it's always been my preferred form of pl... TAIYE SELASI But the vast majority of books ever written are not accessible to anyone except the most tenacious r... SERGEY BRIN It's hard to be objective about it, ... But it's one of the movies I most like. It's the most comple... VIGGO MORTENSEN If a book is well written, I always find it too short. JANE AUSTEN Basically, I would like to be considered for roles that are well-written. I think that part of the p... RUBEN BLADES Well it kind of is project to project because as a writer I think you always write to some degree ab... CAMERON CROWE Medicare people are working very hard to smooth out the bumps in the road and I think we are making ... JACK CHEEVERS [I]f a book is well written, I always find it too short. JANE AUSTEN A lot of the songs are written on piano or guitar, so I contribute, and I have done so since the beg... CAROLINE CORR but for my own part, if a book is well written, I always find it too short. JANE AUSTEN In humanity, each individual's story was written well before time. It cannot be manipulated, it cann... MARK CRANE Music has always been a huge part of my life from a very young age, and today it remains a very powe... THALIA I always work only with friends, but it must be about them and myself. Because I film only very pers... JONAS MEKAS All my life I have written letters - to our mother, our relatives, a wide circle of friends and acqu... DELIA SHERMAN The cost of living has become very important and as prices rise -- which they will -- it will become... BERT SPERLING Look at the Coen brothers. All their minor characters are as interesting as their protagonists. If t... BRENDAN GLEESON I have never, for a single moment, been aware of pressure from anyone in television about how I dres... ANNE ROBINSON A lot of the songs are written on piano or guitar, so I contribute, and I have done so since the beg... CAROLINE CORR I think it will be, as always, interesting to compare different portrayals of Hitchcock. I'm ver... TOBY JONES Some very plausible stuff is being written by women in a way that most men are not doing. AMY CLAMPITT Others are writing my biography, and let it rest as they elect to make it. I have lived my life, wel... CLARA BARTON And I think it's very rare to have good stories, well written comedies. SOPHIE MARCEAU What another would have done as well as you, do not do it. What another would have said as well as y... ANDRE GIDE I think it will do very well ... As with most compromises, there are parts they like and parts they ... MIKE SIMPSON I've written poetry since I was a kid. As the years went on, I got into writing stories and scre... BLAKE JENNER Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the... ANONYMOUS Cemeteries are full of unfulfilled dreams... countless echoes of 'could have' and 'should have'… c... STEVE MARABOLI It's a beautiful thriller, very, very well written, ... I don't go to work unless I feel I really ha... ARMAND ASSANTE The very best impromptu speeches are the ones written well in advance. RUTH GORDON I think that reading is always active. As a writer, you can only go so far; the reader meets you hal... RUTH REICHL I write about people I think are interesting, and then I discuss it with my editor, and she decides ... DAVID A. ADLER I genuinely don't feel that anything that's been written or said about me has overshadowed m... NORAH JONES Most scripts that get written in Hollywood don't go anywhere. EVAN DAUGHERTY I like films that are well-written and concise and with not a lot of room for improvisation. PATRICE LECONTE My father has always written with Mont Blanc pens. It's very chic and elegant and classic. EVA GREEN [I]t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. ... JUDY BLUME I think there's a lot of interesting stuff on TV. I feel much more optimistic about TV than I do... ALAN BALL We're always trailing, as far as the amount of roles that are written for us and the films that are ... DON CHEADLE I think that we as a people are always prone to think about, well, tomorrow will be a better day. We... BOBBY KNIGHT Well, I think for those of us that are in it, as we make our profession this way, we're not probably... ALAN CULPEPPER The vast majority of human beings dislike and even actually dread all notions with which they are no... ALDOUS HUXLEY I think there's always been singers like that and i've done my fair share of cheese as well. MARC ALMOND I'm not in the least surprised that Andy is doing really well as he has always been single-minded an... JAMIE MURRAY To me, the single most important thing to me is that he has the right judicial philosophy, ... He wi... DAVID VITTER I always have a story in my head that needs to be written, or at least I think I do. But I usually c... ETGAR KERET I increasingly fear that nothing good can come of almost any adaptation, and obviously that's sw... ALAN MOORE It gives them an incentive to market the film aggressively to their constituents. Then they can use ... JOSHUA ABBEY Student cartoonists as well as professionals should always be careful that they're not doing a c... WALT HANDELSMAN ...it is very well worth while to be tormented for two or three years of one's life, for the sake of... JANE AUSTEN It is certainly the case that the vast majority of endowment funds are restricted for very particula... DAVID BASS It so happens, in Malaysia, the people who are in a way not doing as well constitute the majority of... NAJIB RAZAK That's SHIT! How do you remove it? You just put it inside the trash, easy as that. DEYTH BANGER Because my writing time has always been very limited, I try to be very choosy about which stories I ... KEN LIU I know what my limitations are as an actor, but my strength is putting myself into a well-written pa... GEORGE CLOONEY It has always seemed to work and the guys understand that as well. DOUG DEXHEIMER I think my attitudes about the past are very traditional. You can't ignore history; you can'... FRANK GEHRY Applause is interesting, but I'm a monster with or without it. Something is either well written ... GRACE SLICK I've always written songs that were confessional, acoustic, wordy - my writing style matches my ... CAMILA CABELLO Whether labeled as such or not, I think every book I've ever written has been, more or less, a r... MAGGIE SHAYNE I don't write all my stuff. Everybody always thinks that. But in just about every album I've... ALAN JACKSON If a film is very clever and well-written, that's what gives you freedom as a director. PATRICE LECONTE Take me to the height where success would seek my help to succeed! I ARE When the past is always with you, it may as well be present; and if it is present, it will be future... WILLIAM GIBSON Shakespeare often writes so ill that you hesitate to believe he could ever write supremely well; or,... WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY Well, the very best operas are the ones written by the very best composers. JOHN EATON One of things that drives me nuts is you rarely get bad guys who are written very well. ERIC JOHNSON I don't think our young defensive linemen played very well, or as well as they can. That was the mos... MIKE STOOPS The pleasure from acting comes from having great writing to work with. If it's well written and ... AASIF MANDVI Who you really are is Nonphysical Energy focused is a physical body, knowing full well that all is w... ABRAHAM HICKS The law of God, and also the way to life, is written in our hearts: It lieth in no man's supposi... JAKOB BOHME If you go all the way back, I've always written science-fiction, I've always written fantasy... GEORGE R. R. MARTIN In a world filled with poets, it was always you. You are my pen, my paper, my written word. LAUREN VALENCIA Well-written words are music. WILLIAM SHATNER A well-written life is almost as rare as a well-spent one. THOMAS CARLYLE Making a show is such a long process. You go through a TV production house that will commission scri... WHIT STILLMAN Well, as an artist, I think that Elvis's generosity to me he always talked very highly about me,... JACKIE DESHANNON I suspect that no matter what happens I will allow it to hurt me. Eat away at my insides, as it were... CARRIE FISHER One day there was a fly and a feather fly said to the feather buzzing about i am better than you are... GARY F EVANS... Samuel Beckett's estate will not license productions of his plays that are not performed as writ... TERRY TEACHOUT
More Viggo Mortensen
It's just like with people. You're going to get along better working with them - human or eq... VIGGO MORTENSEN Photography, painting or poetry - those are just extensions of me, how I perceive things; they are m... VIGGO MORTENSEN There's no sense in doing something, especially if it's a hard job, if you can't have a ... VIGGO MORTENSEN In a movie, you're raw material, just a hue of some color and the director makes the painting. VIGGO MORTENSEN I'm not afraid of death, but I resent it. I think it's unfair and irritating. Every time I s... VIGGO MORTENSEN I have never been in a natural place and felt that it was a waste of time. I never have. And it'... VIGGO MORTENSEN I suppose a good director is like a teacher. I think that someone like David Cronenberg was very muc... VIGGO MORTENSEN When I have a day off, I won't spend it at a Hollywood party. I'd rather be at home with pai... VIGGO MORTENSEN I'm not afraid of death, but I resent it. I think it's unfair and irritating. VIGGO MORTENSEN I'm not that involved in personal grooming. But I try not to be offensive to people. VIGGO MORTENSEN I have a multicultural background, so I tend to have an open mind about things, and I find other cul... VIGGO MORTENSEN Life is short and the older you get, the more you feel it. Indeed, the shorter it is. VIGGO MORTENSEN Be kind. It's worthwhile to make an effort to learn about other people and figure out what you m... VIGGO MORTENSEN I like stories that leave you wanting more, leave you wondering, but don't tell you everything. VIGGO MORTENSEN I try to avoid conflict. I don't want people to be unhappy. VIGGO MORTENSEN It's hard not to get depressed when you pay attention to the world and how strangely and corrupt... VIGGO MORTENSEN I think every family is dysfunctional, and some manage to control it better than others. VIGGO MORTENSEN If you don't find some way to discuss what's going on inside you, it can come out in other w... VIGGO MORTENSEN If you're trying to please everyone, then you're not going to make anything that is honestly... VIGGO MORTENSEN I have a work ethic. If I say I'm going to do something, I do it. VIGGO MORTENSEN I don't have a BlackBerry or whatever you call it. And there is something to be said for being i... VIGGO MORTENSEN We live as though there aren't enough hours in the day, but if we do each thing calmly and caref... VIGGO MORTENSEN This basic thing I always do: 'What happened between the character's birth, and page one of ... VIGGO MORTENSEN I try to research or make up for myself what happened in any character's life. From when he was ... VIGGO MORTENSEN One of the most effective tools that the Cheney-Bush junta has used to marginalize dissenting or eve... VIGGO MORTENSEN I don't think Adam Sandler or Will Ferrell fear competition from me in their arena. VIGGO MORTENSEN You know, real life doesn't just suddenly resolve itself. You have to keep working at it. Democr... VIGGO MORTENSEN There's no excuse to be bored. Sad, yes. Angry, yes. Depressed, yes. Crazy, yes. But there's... VIGGO MORTENSEN One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from a horse master. He told me to go slow to go fas... VIGGO MORTENSEN Life is short and the older you get, the more you feel it. Indeed, the shorter it is. People lose th... VIGGO MORTENSEN Be kind. It's worthwhile to make an effort to learn about other people and figure out what you m... VIGGO MORTENSEN At the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century in Austria, there was a lot of... VIGGO MORTENSEN Like most people - unless they're very practised at it or have no warm blood at all in their vei... VIGGO MORTENSEN I really enjoyed working with New Zealanders as crew members, as teammates. They're great, and i... VIGGO MORTENSEN It's amazing to me that Glenn Beck can be on the cover of 'Time,' and there can be a who... VIGGO MORTENSEN Ignorance breeds antipathy. Until I got to know how computers worked, I didn't want anything to ... VIGGO MORTENSEN Travel is one of the best anti-war weapons that there are. I've been to Iran, and if you're ... VIGGO MORTENSEN I've never played a Dane in a movie. I've had offers to be in Danish movies, including for s... VIGGO MORTENSEN I'm not a great fan of monarchy in general, but I have to say the Danish monarchy is closer to t... VIGGO MORTENSEN I think that people who get to a certain position, and then try to ferociously defend it or build on... VIGGO MORTENSEN You don't have to make something that people call art. Living is an artistic activity, there is an a... VIGGO MORTENSEN I like a twisted sense of humour. On 'A History of Violence,' David Cronenberg and I would b... VIGGO MORTENSEN Toronto Film Festival is one of those festivals where there are 400 movies, and unless you have a di... VIGGO MORTENSEN I hate divers, like Cristiano Ronaldo, who might be the greatest athlete in the sport, but he's ... VIGGO MORTENSEN You know, 'Viggo' is a pretty dorky name in Denmark. It's like 'Oswald' or somet... VIGGO MORTENSEN Jung viewed Freud as a mentor, but he never wanted to be anybody's disciple. VIGGO MORTENSEN I have never been in a natural place and felt that was a waste of time. I never have. And it's a rel... VIGGO MORTENSEN I've been told that I've arrived many times over the years so I take it with a grain of salt. It's a... VIGGO MORTENSEN You get all these things, there are all these letters and gifts, sometimes strange ones; most of the... VIGGO MORTENSEN To be an artist, you don't have to compose music or paint or be in the movies or write books. It... VIGGO MORTENSEN In a movie, you're raw material, just a hue of some color and the director makes the painting.' VIGGO MORTENSEN I grew up with horses when I was a kid in Argentina. I like them. I respect them. I'm careful ar... VIGGO MORTENSEN 'The Road' was a movie that has a good reputation, even though it wasn't released very w... VIGGO MORTENSEN More often than not, the experience of shooting the movie has been disappointing and the end product... VIGGO MORTENSEN I have a publishing company of books by me and books of others. It drew people to poetry readings an... VIGGO MORTENSEN There's no excuse to be bored. Sad, yes. Angry, yes. Depressed, yes. Crazy, yes. But there's no excu... VIGGO MORTENSEN [(Entertainment Weekly) -- Anyone who has seen the attention-grabbing trailer for] A History of Viol... VIGGO MORTENSEN If you're trying to please everyone, then you're not going to make anything that is honestly yours, ... VIGGO MORTENSEN Sometimes a scene works and acting is the easiest thing in the world and you don't have to do mu... VIGGO MORTENSEN Being an actor, imitating to the point of inhabiting the lives of others, may simply be a way of con... VIGGO MORTENSEN As a kid I read Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, and a few others. As an adult have admired Leonardo da Vin... VIGGO MORTENSEN I like the detail work of telling a story in small pieces, as is done in movie-making, and also the ... VIGGO MORTENSEN What´s the most especial thing about being a father? Everything. VIGGO MORTENSEN It brought up real emotion, real fear, a fear of not knowing what exists in me. VIGGO MORTENSEN It's hard to be objective about it, ... But it's one of the movies I most like. It's the most comple... VIGGO MORTENSEN When you say mainstream, that usually implies mediocre. And this is not mediocre. There's probably a... VIGGO MORTENSEN It's a simple narrative on the surface, ... The setting, certainly. And there are certain things tha... VIGGO MORTENSEN See you at church. VIGGO MORTENSEN Lord of the Rings. VIGGO MORTENSEN I mean, I've been around a long time compared to a lot of other actors. I mean, I've been working on... VIGGO MORTENSEN It's also just weird getting that much fan mail from strangers. I may just have to say that if I'm d... VIGGO MORTENSEN Freud was the son of a Jewish merchant who had to move his whole family to Vienna because he couldn&... VIGGO MORTENSEN I have no idea what 'method actor' means. VIGGO MORTENSEN It's one of the best roles I've ever played, VIGGO MORTENSEN When we shot 'The Lord of the Rings,' we had special permission to film in wild areas of New... VIGGO MORTENSEN It comes down to the fact that you supply the blue, and they supply the other colors and mix them wi... VIGGO MORTENSEN I think that people who get to a certain position, and then try to ferociously defend it or build on... VIGGO MORTENSEN What´s the most especial thing about being a father? Everything. VIGGO MORTENSEN Any ordeal that you can survive as a human being is an improvement in your character, and u... VIGGO MORTENSEN I definitely need to sleep more. But as they say, you can sleep when you're dead. VIGGO MORTENSEN We all experience many freakish and unexpected events - you have to be open to suffering a little. T... VIGGO MORTENSEN I have friends who I get along with who I know get very uncomfortable being alone, unless they're wi... VIGGO MORTENSEN Any ordeal that you can survive as a human being is an improvement in your character,and usually an ... VIGGO MORTENSEN I know people who prepare their roles in such a way that they technically look ahead and memorize th... VIGGO MORTENSEN Yes, I would agree that America, just like Spain was in the 17th Century, is the main empire of the ... VIGGO MORTENSEN Pinochet and Barack Obama both have the same primary goal, and that's to be president and stay p... VIGGO MORTENSEN In a lot of ways, I envy someone like Omar Sharif who lived in a hotel for decades. VIGGO MORTENSEN When I make a movie, I don't break it down and analyze it. I could but it would get in the way o... VIGGO MORTENSEN People like to pigeonhole you. It's easier. VIGGO MORTENSEN Every year I hear people complain that the quality of screenplays and movies is declining. In my opi... VIGGO MORTENSEN It's true that I have a wide range of interests. I like to write and paint and make music and go... VIGGO MORTENSEN When you're under stress as a human being, you behave oddly and your relationships with people b... VIGGO MORTENSEN I have no idea what they'll think of us. The game starts zero to zero. Who knows what can happen fro... CRAIG MORTENSEN Coach Nutt was gracious enough to allow Alex back into the Razorback family. Alex is very humbled by... CHRIS MORTENSEN Striving for the impossible is better than striving for nothing. SCOTT MORTENSEN (Regis) established themselves right away. Their tempo was tough for our girls to match. CRAIG MORTENSEN Courage is serving a cause that is greater than yourself. SCOTT MORTENSEN Unfortunately, a lot of coaches have grasped the concept of self promotion and Tom never cared about... CHRIS MORTENSEN For what Angie does, she's probably the best in the league. If coaches didn't prepare for her they w... CRAIG MORTENSEN It's obvious how much they've improved and made this team what it is. They've been consistent for a ... CRAIG MORTENSEN Their press hurt us. Glen�--wood was playing well; we wanted to keep it close. CRAIG MORTENSEN Foul trouble can hurt us. We don't have a lot of depth. CRAIG MORTENSEN We went to the Green River tournament with the hope there would be more competition. Unfortunately t... CRAIG MORTENSEN The second time around we need to stay focused and stay disciplined. We could still have a big game ... CRAIG MORTENSEN (Montrose) missed their chance to win it, and we gave a sigh of relief. Then we got the tip and went... CRAIG MORTENSEN We have to break the first line of their press. If we do that, we'll be OK. If we don't, we won't be... CRAIG MORTENSEN You never know if that means anything until you face each other. Maybe we were just that dominant be... CRAIG MORTENSEN Markie is going to outwork her opponent. To go from playing a couple of minutes a game last year to ... CRAIG MORTENSEN When I was covering them, they had nothing and the league knew it. I mean, in 1986 David Archer led ... CHRIS MORTENSEN I would think this labor shortage is limited enough where it can be solved by moving the labor into ... ERIC MORTENSEN What happens when we encounter a culture whose norms are very different from our own? Can we impose ... ERIC MORTENSEN So you walk into them and say, 'This is wrong! Take it away!' But wrong according to whom? ERIC MORTENSEN It will be tough to qualify for that one. . . . You get to state, there are tons of fast girls. RACHELLE MORTENSEN 'Stunning' is a word. But you really can't describe it. TONY MORTENSEN It's going to be a long, long bye week. Two weeks to think about this. TONY MORTENSEN The 1970s was the decade of developments in the new area of information economics. Search theory, wh... DALE T. MORTENSEN I grew up listening to my father argue politics into the night and taking trips every Saturday to th... DALE T. MORTENSEN Economics is a strange science. Our subject deals with some of the most important as well as mundane... DALE T. MORTENSEN My co-winners, Peter Diamond and Christopher Pissarides, and I wish to thank the Royal Swedish Acade... DALE T. MORTENSEN I was a good student with mathematical ability and interests. As such, I took the usual college prep... DALE T. MORTENSEN Unemployment is 'involuntary' when the price is above its market clearing level. Workers are... DALE T. MORTENSEN Over the years, the technology of trade has changed in response to advances in the ability to commun... DALE T. MORTENSEN I became a member of the faculty at Northwestern University in 1965 but did not complete my thesis u... DALE T. MORTENSEN In response to the drop in wealth suffered as a consequence of the 2008 financial crisis, homeowners... DALE T. MORTENSEN As the future is never known with certainty, the evaluation of the prospective benefits requires the... DALE T. MORTENSEN Every great achievement is but a small peak in the mountain range of contributions. DALE T. MORTENSEN Although labor income is by far the largest component of gross national product, a job is not just a... DALE T. MORTENSEN