“Shooting a film is really enjoyable because you are present—beat by beat, shot by shot, moment by moment. I’m more present on set than almost any...
“I go into a movie with a certain set of conscious ideas and things that I want to communicate. A story I wanted to tell, a character I wanted to put...
“To invite someone into your home feels very intimate. It’s like a fast track to intimacy, in a way that nothing else really is. People’s memories...
“I think a lot of films are love/hate letters to the place you came from. Shaun of the Dead is about North London where we lived at the time, Hot...
“One of the things writing can do is get to the pain. All of us have pain; you can’t live a human life without it. Much of that pain is very deep and...
“Making your own life fodder for your own art… there’s something very fundamental about that. You have to make that leap mentally and think...
“There has always been this interesting dance happening between men and the way that we array ourselves, what we put forth into the world through our...
“I work with the best materials I can find. In today’s world, quality has decreased in everything—from food to movies to clothes. I’m determined to...
“I see the film as this extraordinary creative expression that Mary Bronstein had to get out. The story is not even linear; it’s very abstracted and...
“Performance is fleeting. I like acting, and part of what I love about directing is that I love performance. There’s something incredible about...
“Either writing and books are powerful, or they’re not. And if they are—and I’ve argued that they are—then the era made in The Case for Reparations...
“Each time I write something, it leads to something else. It’s not just jail sentences for me, but I’ve seen my friends jailed, dying, being killed...
“As I think back, when I was working on The Godfather, I had no power at all, but I had used the sort of Machiavellian ability that I developed to do...
“I think a lot of what art is about is finding your life reflected back with words or stories that you wouldn’t have thought of yourself. There can...
“There’s always an existential crisis in Hollywood because, at its core, it is a conflicted industry. It’s art and commerce trying to coexist...
“I think a lot of what art is about is finding your life reflected back with words or stories that you wouldn’t have thought of yourself. There can...
“This new book, Good Things, is a picture of me in this moment in time. It’s me sharing my love and value of the handmade. It’s a time capsule and a...
“I always look to history. I always look to my ancestors, what people had to endure in this country. It is such a privilege to be the mayor. This is...