When I had been a film critic for ten minutes, I treated Doris Day as a target for cheap shots. I have learned enough to say today that the woman was remarkably gifted.

Every great film should seem new every time you see it.

No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough.

One difference between film noir and more straightforward crime pictures is that noir is more open to human flaws and likes to embed them in twisty plot lines.

To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts.

You can have a movie with hardly any cuts, or very few cuts, that is fascinating, you can't take your eyes away from it... Look at some of the long takes in Citizen Kane.

I lost faith in the Oscars the first year I was a movie critic - the year that Bonnie and Clyde didn't win.

I believe empathy is the most essential quality of civilization.

I think we have to get beyond the idea that we have to categorize people.

What every human being should do is eat a vegetarian diet based on whole foods. Period. That's it. Animal protein is bad for you. Dairy is bad for you. Forget the ads: Milk and eggs are bad for you.

I do not fear death. I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear.

As sensory experience junkies, we have been blinded to the majesty in the common.

If self-employment is the opposite of employed-by-other, than a job is outsourcing your freedom (time and talent) to a boss.

It's always been the children who have saved the universe from the previous generation and remade the universe in their own image.

There's a certain level of realness in Philly. You know, just - people are people. You know, it doesn't matter who you are or who you think you are, you're just a person in Philly.

David Duchovny is a dream; a dreamboat and a dream. He was so kind... He held my hand after we were done shooting and told me I did great. He's so good at what he does.

You could get the money, you can get the power, but keep your eyes on the final hour.

As for what you're calling hard luck - well, we made New England out of it. That and codfish.

I was in three of the Harry Potter films without reading one of those book, quite thankfully.

It is as if the ordinary language we use every day has a hidden set of signals, a kind of secret code.