When people go to the theater, people say they want something different, but what they really want is something the same with slight permutations. To really not know what is going to happen next is a hard thing.
When I write a screenplay – and I think it’s one of the reasons why it was frustrating for me just to be a screenwriter – I’m not thinking of it in terms of words on a page; I’m thinking in terms of visual images – basically, a comic book. I’m thinking of it in a series of shots.
If I get a gig or I don’t get a gig, I really have never, ever, ever cared.
Science fiction always has had strains of pessimism and optimism weaving through its historical development, sometimes one dominating and then the other, usually depending on the state of the world.
I guess I am an optimist in a pessimist brain, if that makes any sense. I believe in the innate goodness of most people in this world, and yet I’m a damaged soul like many other people and have my own demons and things I struggle with.
My life isn’t just one genre. It’s a romance one minute, an action movie the next – it’s actually rarely, rarely an action film, to be frank.
I saw ‘Fifth Element’ once when it first came out and never thought much of it.
It’s hard making a movie because it’s like… you lose your life. I mean, really, I like being alive; I like having friends, going out, watching other people’s movies, and all these things I can’t do for a year while I make a movie.
I am not into this old-school way of doing things, where you kill characters, and you bring them back, and then you kill them again, and then you bring them back, and their deaths mean nothing.
I think of the Avengers as The Beatles, and the Guardians are the Rolling Stones. That is really how I feel about the groups.
In a way, metafiction breaks down the story and makes it less real. But in another respect, by that very breaking down, it actually makes things feel more real than they would to begin with.
I have to say, I feel a weird sort of calling in filmmaking that I didn’t feel with other things. I feel like there are things in life you want to do, and then things you are called to do, and hopefully you can allow yourself to want to do whatever you’re called to do.
I love the attention and I hate the attention, you know? It’s not always good for your soul.
Getting so much attention all at once, with so many people who want something from you or want to talk to you… for someone who is overly sensitive to other people’s needs, that can be difficult.
I always felt restrained by lower-budget films. I enjoyed making them, and I felt fulfilled, but I really did always want to make bigger movies.
Getting so much attention all at once, with so many people who want something from you or want to talk to you… for someone who is overly sensitive to other people’s needs, that can be difficult.
I like the Nova Corps; I just don’t like Nova that much! He’s okay, you know? I just don’t like that helmet!
I always like to think that I make movies that are like Nirvana songs. They have a slow verse, and then they pop into high gear, and then they go back into slow, and then they pop into high gear again.
I like to be able to feel as many parts of myself while watching a movie at one time. I think that’s what ‘Super’ is – it’s funny, but it’s also sad. It’s very touching in certain ways, and it’s also got a very dark sense of humor. So it’s allowed to go anywhere.
When you’re on an independent film, you have a lot of great people there who are telling really true and authentic stories. But you also have a lot of con artists and people who think they can do something that they can’t.
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