James Gunn Quotes

I don't even know if I can call myself a director.

To make great movies, there is an element of risk. You have to say, 'Well, I am going to make this film, and it is not really a sure thing.'

Every actor wants to direct.

I think you don't do work for controversy alone, and whenever you do new work which people don't understand and they say it is done to create controversy.

It's dangerous to think too much about how a film will be received. Filmmaking is not a popularity contest. Some would disagree.

I love Daredevil. I thought it was enjoyable. Okay? There were critical issues with it, and that's why I wear black, some people wear red - we are entitled to our opinions.

One of the disconcerting things about writing for publication is that you're trying to clear your little parcel of land in a field where Taste is king - and, as we all know, there's no accounting for Taste.

I don't have a problem with Werner Herzog.

Signature film-making seems rather dull to me; it's about finding something you can do something with and running with the ball.

Story is the primary factor any day. If I believe that a particular director would do justice to it, I will accept an offer.

Atanu is one of my favourite directors. His script, style of storytelling and characterisation are always very different.

You write a story, you do a TV show, and if people don't like it, well, you're going to do it again tomorrow.

As a filmmaker, every tool you get to tell the scene better is important.

The frustration of a movie is that you are creating a new business every time you go off to make one, and in a funny way, that's what's exciting.

Somebody has to make good artistic films. Somebody has to break open the doors so that others also will follow and make good and meaningful films.

If you make something interesting, inevitably not everybody is going to like it.

If you're not [Federico] Fellini you might make something very vulgar. Animation made it possible to maintain unity with all these different narratives.

A little bit of one story joins onto an idea from another, and hey presto, . . . not old tales but new ones. Nothing comes from nothing.

The best critic needn't be right, just interesting.

It is popular to believe that in order to see clearly one must believe nothing. This may work well enough if you are observing cells under a microscope. It will not work if you are writing fiction. For the fiction writer, to believe nothing is to see nothing.

I think about art a lot only in two contexts. One is narrative... The other thing that I'm interested in, which is tangential, but not unrelated... All art to me is about problem solving.

I am a storyteller, and I do love ideas.

I'm interested in storytelling. I love being an artist now and connecting through art.

The facts, even the real ones, must be imagined before they can be stated.

To tell you the truth, I am rather perplexed by the concept of 'art'. What one person considers to be 'art' is often not 'art' to another. 'Beautiful' and 'ugly' are old-fashioned concepts that are seldom applied these days; perhaps justifiably, who knows? Something repulsive, which gives you a moral hangover, and hurts your ears or eyes, may well be art. Only 'kitsch' is not art - we're all agreed about that. Indeed, but what is 'kitsch'? If only I knew!