Even within escapist cinema, if you find a good story to tell, it will do well.
The kind of people that love 'The Rocketeer' are the kind of people that love good storytelling and innocence and a better world, so to speak, so they're almost always nice people to bump into.
Over the years, if you look at the films of people like Billy Wilder, Preston Sturges, Frank Capra, their supporting characters, even if it's a doorman with two lines, always seem three-dimensional. To me, that's a sign of good storytelling.
You have to think about good storytelling and characters first. Then hopefully, the rest of that stuff will follow, some more than others. But if you don't have a good film and strong characters, then you don't have anything down the road.
I mean to say, whether a yarn is tall or small I like to hear it well told. I like to meet a man that can take in hand to tell a story and not make a balls of it while he's at it. I like to know where I am, do you know. Everything has a beginning and an end.
Good writing is everything.
Just because good films don't work does not mean we should stop making them.
No Time For Goodbye is a deliciously smart thriller, full of surprises and perfect pacing. I'm jealous I didn't write it.
Good scripts have always been, I think, hard to find. Good storytelling, good writing - it's just not easy. I have made it a point that - if I'm going to put the energy into doing this work - I will wait until I find something I'm really happy with.
Actors that don't look like they're acting and stories that are told well inspire me.
I loved ghost stories. I love horror stories. I love all of that stuff, but I really yearn for something to actually frighten me. It's more of a yearning for that than something that has to necessarily be cerebral or sophisticated. Good storytelling and something that actually frightens you.
I love when a TV show, or entertainment in general, makes me feel something; be it positive, be it negative, be it happiness, be it awkward, uncomfortable if it can make me feel, it's done it's job.
My favorite films are the ones that I walk away from and I know I saw a story.
Great writing makes great television.
Don't commit to being a columnist unless you're willing to do it right. Report your behind off, so you have something original and useful to say. Say it in a way that will interest someone other than you, your family and your sources.
If I'm going to make a genre film, it has to be personal and it has to be good.
I think the genre of comics sometimes overtakes the medium, and people assume that they are kind of frivolous. If you have a good, strong story teller, they can be as affecting as any character in literature. Period.
'True Blood' is one of those shows that is so deep and good that you can't have it on in the background. It's one of those shows that you have to dedicate time to.
I never choose a genre over quality. I never think, 'I want to do that,' and sacrifice the fact it might not be very good.
It was unpredictable, good storytelling that brought you back each week.
A good story will keep you wondering about what's happening, what's going on, where does this go? Now it's going to go that way, now it's going to go that way. It has to do that. If it's predictable, it's just boring.
The marketplace tells us that good, visceral storytelling has a place. But there are lots of questions about the format that stories take.
There's no such thing as easy, but it's easier when a script is good.
I've always felt that really good prequels should be original movies.
I don't think the 'what' distinguishes a good novel from a bad one but rather the 'how.'
