In my films that I've directed, and my work in commercials and videos, I've rarely used handheld. It's just not something I'm drawn to, but I've seen it done very well.

The more you travel, the better you get at it.

When I'm in London, Claridge's is a great favourite. I'm a big fan of art deco architecture and the rooms are extraordinary.

Recently, I was in Bernalda, my dad's ancestral home town in Italy. He has just refurbished a palazzo and turned it into a hotel, so we had my sister's wedding there. It was beautiful.

As a director myself, you really appreciate collaborating with people who are trying to help you find what you need and what you want.

I really value distinctive movies, movies that feel that they came from a person that was really something that they had conceived and they made and is a reflection of who they are.

I love 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' and I love 'Bugsy Malone.' I haven't seen 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' in a long time, but I remember loving it as a kid.

A movie that I'm involved with and have a lot of love for, which is On The Road, does use a lot of handheld. It can be done beautifully. I'm proud of that. It's a very beautiful movie.

Sometimes in writing you have difficult periods and then other times it just flows.

Relationship movies are often made for a female audience.

As a director myself, you want to have colleagues and collaborators that respect your authority as the director. I'm very comfortable with that, and I've done a lot of work in second unit.

Money is our madness, our vast collective madness.

Voluntary self-directed religion was more dangerous to the Church than any number of infidels.

Pocahontas was the reason the Virginia colony didn't disappear, unlike some earlier attempts

All writing is communication; creative writing is communication through revelation-it is the Self-escaping into the open.

It's really not important what my personal life is.

Blog-based businesses have lower cost structures and are more 'authentic,' and as a result are drawing larger shares of ad budgets.

An endless number of green buildings doesn't make a sustainable city.

Maternity is a glorious thing, since all mankind has been conceived, born, and nourished of women. All human laws should encourage the multiplication of families.

There's no other place that exemplifies a fanatic as much as Chicago. I feel like sports fans have bred out of Chicago.

Killing is like riding, you see. One never really loses the knack.