Daniel Handler Quotes

You tell me that 'Date Night' was good? I'm not going to see it. I will debate you on it, having no knowledge of the footage in the film. I was next to someone on the plane watching it, and they were dozing off.

I loved that these two guys argued with each other as if movies actually mattered. Nobody I knew talked about movies that way, but Siskel and Ebert took each movie as it came and talked about whether it was a success on its own terms.

I don't mind other guys seeing movies I want to see and then writing about them. That's fine, especially when it's the 'New Yorker''s Anthony Lane, because he knows this stuff pretty well.

I don't really say much about reviewers. It's a very tough job to get all of the depth of a movie all at once.

'The Hangover' was, like, solid. I laughed a bit, you know. Seven out of 10, maybe. But I made it 32 minutes into 'Hangover 2' before I walked out.

I like a good, strong statement. I walk out of movies all the time saying, 'That was terrible!' or 'That sucked!'

'Boat Trip' is more tiresome and dumb than actually bad.

Movie criticism is very subjective and everyone has the right to voice their opinion. You go to a movie and decide whether you like it or not.

Reviewers are entitled to say if they liked the screenplay, performance, and execution of a film or not. But when they say things like the film doesn't cater to a certain audience, it leaves people wondering if they should watch it.

Confession: When I went to see The Empire Strikes Back I found myself glancing at my watch. The Force is with us, indeed, and a lot of it is hot air. It's a measure of my mixed feelings about The Empire Strikes Back that I'm not at all sure that I understand the plot. The Empire Strikes Back is about as personal as a Christmas card from a bank.

I would rather turn my head and cough than see any part of 'Patch Adams' again.

Yeh Tera Ghar Yeh Mera Ghar' is a well made film.

'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani' is a huge hit, but as far as the story of the film goes, there wasn't much to it.

I've seen 'Legend'. I like a different kind of cinema, but when done with conviction, anything looks good.

I don't judge director on the basis of their last film.

'Aiyyaa' was a bizarre film.

I did like 'Despicable Me.' I thought it was quite good.

Whatever the critics make of 'Maestro,' I hope they don't call it a reality show.

Well, I thought the opening of 'Hatari!' was pretty good. And 'The Pink Panther' wasn't half bad either.

'Lootera,' though not commercially successful, was a beautiful film.

If a movie has three decent scenes and a decent character, I think, 'OK, at least they got that guy right.'

'Aliens' was a brilliant movie, but you still wanted to see the Alien come to Earth.

You make a lot of mistakes. I haven't seen that movie [The Lost World] in 20 years. But if I saw it, I'm sure I could pick out a whole lot of mistakes.

It's so miserable and so easy to keep slamming Titanic -- I'll shut up.

Pauline Kael had seen Nashville, and she loved Nashville. When I called her, she immediately responded to me because we had become friends, and I told her how great this film was, and she told me, "Well, I'll have to see it for myself." So I showed it to her, and she flipped.