Jason Statham is one of my favorites. I've watched basically every single one of his action movies, and they're all creative.
Most of the time, I don't even watch what I do on TV. I go in, get the job done, and just know it's nothing. It's a job. Sometimes, I try something different, and I'll watch out of curiosity. Generally, I don't watch too much of what I do. Movies are basically the same, except it's more money spent on sets.
Everyone loves the seventies because that's when movies were character-based, and you saw great characters and you saw very interesting filmmaking. There are interesting movies being made now, but it's harder and harder to make them.
My father was an inspiration to me; I made a few movies with him and I loved working with him. Everything about him - his whole approach to work, as well as his love, enthusiasm and respect for it and other people in the business - was inspiring. I was very lucky to have him as a role model.
I really love the independent movies and I just think that sometimes when they throw a lot of money into it and a lot of special effects and a lot of stunts that you lose the connection, the human connection and I personally love movies that are about the human connection.
Everybody just asks me 'Are you going to make Hollywood movies now?' First, I don't know. Second, I never dreamed about that; I just dreamed about making movies with Tarantino. So if I can make movies with a lot of amazing directors - yes.
They're making so few movies that you really just have to make it. It's going to be the only way you end up getting work. I don't believe anyone's going to really go out on a limb and just throw millions of dollars on someone that's not been proven. They're going to have to show somebody something at some point.
I saw some Pixar movies like 'The Incredibles' and thought, 'This is extraordinary. These are some of the best movies I've seen.'
I still like the run and gun action movies and how truly dangerous it can be to make these films.
Westerns were always my favorite things when I was little. And it always bothered me when cowboys were too clean in movies, or when they wore their guns like they had an outfit on. It always worked better when a guy looked sweaty and smelly; I hadda believe, I hadda believe that.
Up until doing this movie, I hadn't really paid a huge amount of attention to those genres, but after finishing this movie, it really gave me a different sense of appreciation of the way the movies play out.
While I always thought of making sequels to movies like 'Ghayal,' the filmmakers would almost always veto the idea.
Movies portray men as tough guys.
What I remember most about the 'Road' movies is my enjoyment at watching the two characters sparring with each other. But more important than that was my feeling that Hope and Crosby were enjoying the sparring, too.
Making movies is a dangerous job. Because you are always the one who stands at the center of the universe when making movies.
'Close Encounters of the Third Kind.' Big, big, big smash for me. My birth of the love of cinema was born with 'Close Encounters' and '2001.' Those sci-fi movies I saw when I was a little kid.
I choose movies that I think will speak to what's important.
In a way, novel writing is such a permanently student lifestyle. When it comes to movies, and you have to go to these meetings and try and impress people and get money out of them, I feel as though I'm playacting at being somebody who's grown up.
I'd done a ton of movies here in Hollywood, and I realized that every movie I'd done was somebody's else's work and someone else's vision.
You can make a thousand different movies about the same subject.
The thing about romance and romantic movies is that they can be somewhat melodramatic. For a lot of actors, there's a certain cringe factor that's involved with that.
When I watch movies with my kid like 'Shrek,' I'm like, 'Wow, this is pretty funny.' That's why I wanted to start doing movies like that - so my kid would laugh at my jokes.
The movies and TV shows I like to watch tend to put their characters in situations where they have to dig deeper.
It didn't matter that Charlie Chaplin may not have been a great director or a great anything else. He made great movies.
Not only are drinking, smoking, swearing, dancing and going to movies not issues... they simply do not matter. They matter to fundamentalists, of course, but to anyone else outside the church, they could care less whether we smoke or attend movies. Absolutely no one gives a tinker's damn whether I say 'tinker's damn' or not.
In my career, I've never been a box office name. Granted, a couple of my movies have made a lot of money, but I'd do other movies which make very little money, or they're not seen that much.
You do get very tired sometimes, when you're sitting around for hours in movies. You get depleted.
When I was growing up, the top movies dealt with grown-up, complex emotions.
Through most of my career, I've made a decent living making movies no one wants to see.
It's ironic: In movies, the most successful films of all time have been sci-fi or fantasy. By far. But a lot of people won't even read science fiction books.
I just fight in my movies, never in real life.
For me, modern technology has ruined romance and movies - nobody can run to the airplane gate anymore.
I love doing serious movies for adults.
Photoshop makes things look beautiful just as you have special effects in movies. It's just a part of life.
I haven't seen Clones, which has been during this period when I haven't seen much of anything, but I did see Phantom Menace, and see my feelings about it - see, first of all, I think that when you make a lot of movies, your attitude about the movies changes.
I've been lucky to be a part of many blockbuster movies... in which it's hard to get to that level of being memorable, but I still have fond memories of 'Independence Day,' to be sure. There are also many small ones I've had that give me many fond memories.
