Woody makes a movie as if he were lighting 10,000 safety matches to illuminate a city. Each one is a little epiphany: topical, ethnic, or political.

Just watching them wrestle . . . they have that aura about them. They've been there, they know what is going on and they know how to take charge. They will be tough for any of us to defeat.

Great art direction is NOT the same thing as great film direction!

When you're safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you're having an adventure you wish you were safe at home

Making movies is a little like walking into a dark room. Some people stumble across furniture, others break their legs, but some of us see better in the dark than others. The ultimate trick is to convince, persuade. Every single person out there is an idiot, but collectively they're a genius.

My mother was suffering every day of her life, and what right did I have to be happy if she was suffering? So whenever I got happy about something, I felt the need to cut it off, and the only way to cut it off was to pray. 'Forgive me Lord.' For what, I didn't know.