Once, in London, the BBC asked me what was my favorite English book. I said Alice in Wonderland.
'Classic.' A book which people praise and don't read.
'Beatrice Cenci' was an amazing film. If it were released today it'd win Best Picture. It's so well done, it's so contemporary, and the filmmaking is so smart.
Sometimes a legend that endures for centuries... endures for a reason.
The first time I saw 'Sunset Boulevard' I was probably eight or nine years old, and it really struck me how it's so simply put and elegant, yet there's so much going on.
Comparing 'Christmas Vacation' to 'It's A Wonderful Life' is the silliest thing. That film starred the greatest movie actor of all time, and the idea that our movie could ever be connected in some fashion to something so brilliant and beautiful always made feel like, 'That's all they had to write about?'
'The Thing from Another World' was the first movie that really scared me. But the one that made me want to make movies was 'The Tales of Hoffman.' That's my favorite film of all time. It's a fantasy film. It's an opera. I never get tired of it.
The original 'About Last Night' was phenomenal.
A tale begun in other days, When summer suns were glowing - A simple chime, that served to time The rhythm of your rowing - Whose echoes live in memory yet, Though envious years would say 'forget.
Any consideration of the story we call 'Cinderella' for simplicity's sake must acknowledge that 'Cinderella' has had a dizzying array of personae over hundreds of years, in several cultures. There is no one authoritative tale of 'Cinderella,' only a hall of mirrors with a different face in each reflection.
'Once Upon A Time In America' is one of the cleverest films of all time, because you can get out of it whatever you want to get out of it.
Tell me a story. In this century, and moment, of mania, Tell me a story. Make it a story of great distances, and starlight. The name of the story will be Time, But you must not pronounce its name. Tell me a story of deep delight.
'Peter Pan' is tried and true - it's a story that everybody knows.
I love 'The Princess Bride.' That is a movie that, no matter how I'm feeling, I can turn it on and it makes me feel good.
With 'Stardust', I hope what I was doing is giving 30-year-olds and 40-year-olds and 25-year-olds and 60-year-olds a chance to get the same sense of wonder, the same feeling, the same magic, that they got in reading the classic fairy tales as children.
'Star Wars' is mythology. It's like Greek mythology or Shakespeare. It's the story of good versus evil over a very long span of time. The storytelling is universal and timeless.
A good story never dies.
Here's the thing with 'When Harry Met Sally,' it doesn't matter how many times you watch it, it's always interesting, and you're always identifying with a different scene in the movie - at least I am.
Once upon a time' lasts forever.
In terms of romantic films, all-time romantic films, I really like 'Gone With the Wind.' And I realize I sound so cliched saying that, but there's something so absolutely romantic about it.
I want to keep 'A Star Is Born' with the greatest reverence ever.
My all time favourite films - one is 'Mary Poppins,' and the other one is 'Pakeezah.' 'Pakeezah' was an Indian film. The beauty of 'Pakeezah' was that it had a soundtrack which was pure poetry.
The book that made a lasting impression was the one my mother gave each of us when she decided we were ready for our first 'adult novel,' Lucy Maud Montgomery's 'The Blue Castle.'
It is an ancient story Yet is it ever new.
'Romeo & Juliet' is still relevant and real.
