I don't want ever to appear in a film that would embarrass a viewer. A man can take his wife, mother, and his daughter to one of my movies and never be ashamed or embarrassed for going.
What's very important for me is that I want family audiences - all kinds of audiences - to watch my films, and the more people who watch the movies, the better. So I want to be part of popular cinema.
I know my audience, and they, in turn, know my cinema. When I pick a subject, it's for a family audience. I shoot and edit my films keeping them in mind. I'm dead sure about the product that bears my name.
I don't think 'This Means War' is an appropriate picture to do in 3-D.
It's great that we have commercial filmmakers who make family films and understand the aesthetics well, taking this route. They know how to bring the emotions out there without being vulgar. After all, it's a natural instinct.
In 'Expendables 2,' there was a lot of vulgar dialogue in the screenplay. For this reason, many young people wouldn't be able to watch this. But I don't play in movies like this. Due to that, I said, 'I won't be a part of that if the hardcore language is not erased.'
I won't go to movies with permissiveness, four-letter words, or violence. Show me 'E.T.' and 'Chariots of Fire' instead. That's entertainment, not exploitation of the human body.
I have a small child. Being a parent takes a lot of time. People always ask me, "What movies have you watched lately?" I tell them, "Finding 'Nemo' ... 'Shrek'.
Yeah, I definitely wanted to do a kids' movie because I have a kid. I want to do things that my daughter can see soon - when she is old enough to know what a movie is.
My children can't see many of the films that I've been in because I'm always either dying or taking my clothes off.
The ratings system is so bogus and people know it. Fewer and fewer people care. The ratings board has sort of exposed itself. But my problem is, as a parent, there's this area of film that my daughters want to see. They're not my kind of films, I don't want to go see them, but I really want to know whether my daughters can see them or not. The morality of what the ratings board is doing now escapes me. I don't get it.
I've done my "mind over matter" movies, and I think probably that people aren't really interested in seeing me do that anymore. I think I'm kind of past my prime to do dramatic films. I think it'd become kind of like almost a pathetic cry out to be recognized as a serious drama actor.
I want to do movies that I'm proud of where my kids, at some point, can see and I can feel comfortable sitting there watching it with them. And just that move people. That make people feel a little bit better about themselves when they leave the theatre.
My problem is I can't show any of my movies to my daughters. It's tough. 'Beauty and the Beast'... they liked it. But that's the only one, really. Otherwise, they've always been dark or violent.
The films I've made for children have been my hardest work, my best, because kids deserve the best.
I did 'Are We There Yet?' because I wanted to do a movie for my fans' kids. Black kids don't really see movies on this budget for them, starring them. And there's so many white kids that love that movie.
If you look at my track record, I have only done saaf-suthri family movies.
The most meaningful movies I can make are the ones where parents can share them with their children and children can look forward to sharing them with their parents, a ritual if you will, where they get to spend time together and the kids are smiling.
You go to a theater now and you literally see parents watching the movie and they suddenly cover their kid's ears. I figured I'd make one movie where they didn't have to do this.
I love the idea of making movies that kids and adults can go to together and both get something out of it, and not just, 'Oh, I've got to take my kid to the movie because they want to see the next, you know, 'Hannah Montana' movie or whatever.'
I work on the types of movies that I would have loved watching as a kid.
In Ski Party we are reading up on how to have fun without sex. That was the theme of every AIP picture!
The highest grossing films have great, moral messages - not dirty, base themes, so we're trying to get producers to make more of the uplifting movies.
Like a lot of people my age, I grew up on Amblin movies. They're a part of who I am as a filmmaker and, arguably, as a person.
I'm not sure I like making movies that my kids can't go to, but that's just how it is.
