I really like Gwyneth Paltrow a lot as far as her career because I think she's done a lot of small movies but she's also done great big movies and she's a really great actress.

Shooting this one was kind of like a two month party we would literally play music between takes and other movies that were shooting on our lot would play hookey come over and hang out and stuff. We had a great time.

You know when Hollywood does a great big blockbuster that really wraps you up in a world and lets you believe in extraordinary things that move you in some way in an almost operatic sensibility? That to me is the most fun I have at the movies.

Awards were made in Hollywood in whatever the time it was created. They're to promote each other's movies. You give me an award I give you an award and people will believe that we are great movies and they'll go to see them. It's still the same.

I don't think we're living in great times for movies to tell you the truth.

The thing about the UK is we don't really make that many great movies.

And if people come up and say they like the movies you're in it's a great compliment.

I grew up when I was 15 when I had my first opportunity in movies. I watched every great movie for a year and a half and since then I've asked myself how I can emulate such artistry. That's really my motivation. I want to do something as good as my heroes have done.

I'm an enormous admirer of Christopher Lee. He's somebody along with Vincent Price who I celebrate and I wanted my movies to show that celebration and that honoring of these great film stars that were unafraid to go into horror and Grand Guignol and the macabre.

I've had such a great track record in making a huge profit when the movies are smaller.

When people ask me what makes movies great it's the material.

As far as writing I like watching bad movies. Nothing stops me in my tracks more than watching a great film like 'The Godfather' or 'Dog Day Afternoon' or 'The Graduate.' You watch one of those and you never want to write again. Whereas with bad movies it makes you think If that counts I certainly could write.

I'm not going to have a perfect career. It's better to be Billy Wilder and make lots of movies and have five or six great ones than to make so few movies that when you make a bad one it crushes you.

I like the George Romero films which were really great social satire movies really twisted.

Movies such as 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' in 1939 to 'Dave' in 1993 portray Washington leaders as the ultimate Everymen - decent people just like you and me only thrust onto greatness.

The movies I made early on may not have been great but they were all commercially successful.

A lot of the struggle I had with movies is I really loved moments and tones and feelings in a scene and I loved creating those but I never really had great stories to string them together.