Even some of us who make movies underestimate their influence abroad. American movies sell American culture. Foreigners want to see American movies. But that's also why so many foreign governments and groups object to them.
I think the American people in many cases want to transform our energy system.
The American taxpayers are a powerful force. They don't want their taxes raised.
'Heroes', 'Desperate Housewives', 'The Sopranos' - they're all very stylised. 'The Wire' is much more rooted in realism and honesty. In American television, I can't think of anything I'd rather have been in because it has got something to say and that is the kind of thing I want to do.
The American way was for commerce, personal relationships, and religion to be voluntary. No one was forced to participate in something he didn't want.
There was reference made to our leaders being stupid. It's not a question of stupidity. It's that they don't want to enforce the immigration laws. That there are far too many in the Washington cartel that support amnesty.
Readers, like writers, are essentially amoral. Arm's length will never do. We want to get closer.
I don't just do a movie to do a movie. Of course I want to amuse people, but some of Madea's greatest moments are when she gets to talk about child rearing and bullying and all kinds of things like that.
I've been an Amy Winehouse fan since her first album, 'Frank.' I always listen to her music when there's a lot going on and I want to be a bit grounded. It's like my musical warm fuzzy blanket.
What we want to be is something completely new. There is no physical analog for what Amazon.com is becoming.
I take a situation, analyse it, break it down, put it in the form I want it to be in, and then I toss it away. Let somebody else go deal with it.
I just want my films to work. The hit or flop verdict really affects me. I seriously analyse what went wrong if a film turns out to be a dud!
I don't like talking about myself; I'm not good at analysing myself. I don't want to analyse myself.
If an NSA, FBI, CIA, DIA, etc analyst has access to query raw SIGINT databases, they can enter and get results for anything they want. Phone number, email, user id, cell phone handset id (IMEI), and so on - it's all the same.
I'm not a pundit. I'm not an analyst. I don't want to participate in the existing debate that's going on about whether or not you should be able to have as many guns as you want to have or that guns are even the problem.
I built websites for myself. I didn't want to work for anyone else. I came from a science background, so I approached things fairly analytically.
As a teenager I was more of an anarchist, but now I want people to thrive and be harmonious.
People are looking for stability in a shaky world. They want something they can get hold of that's firm and sure and an anchor in the midst of all of this instability in which they're living.
America is this incredible mosaic of immigrants, so people really want to be anchored in some kind of culture as well as the one they are living in.
I want to do films and have my name mentioned next to Wes Anderson and Quentin Tarantino. I don't want my name mentioned next to other rappers at all.
