“It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it.”

“It's the movies that have been running things in America ever since they were invented. They show you what to do, how to do it, when to do it, how to feel about it, and how to look how you feel about it.”

“Every time I go to a movie, it's magic, no matter what the movie's about.”

“This is a painful movie to watch. But it is also exhilarating, as all good movies are, because we are watching the director and actors venturing beyond any conventional idea of what a modern movie can be about. Here there is no plot, no characters to identify with, no hope. But there is care: The filmmakers care enough about these people to observe them very closely, to note how they look and sound and what they feel.”

“Americans just don't know what being a movie star's all about.”

“How does one make a movie about decadence these days? Now that we're allowed to do it, it's too late.”

“I write movies about mavericks, about people who break rules, and I don't like movies about people who are pulverised for being mavericks.”

“The song is about knowing the end result of every situation you're in, and being able to play it out in your mind and see it before it happens. It's about addiction, really, about knowing how it's all going to end up. In that sense, you're watching a movie of yourself all the time – and then you want out of that movie.”

“What's disgusting about the Dirty Harry movies is that Eastwood plays this angry tension as righteous indignation.”

“You can't be pretentious about what we do, because at the end of the day, movies are about entertainment, and if people get 10 dollars' worth, then that's okay.”