“They want to let the audience figure things out and let the reaction shot get the laugh.”

There is something about being a director where, for me personally, I get to . . . it’s the closest I’ll ever come to being able to be a stand up.

By definition a sequel can’t be original. So you’ve got to figure out what worked the first time around.

I haven’t read a review of one of my films for the best part of 10 years.

And then through editing, and finishing the effects and adding music, you get to make the movie better again. So I’m really hard on myself and on the movie.

And my feeling was if I was going to succeed as a director, I had to just be a director and give up the safety net of being a cameraman.

I’m not the one or two take guy, but I’m not the 20, 30, 50, 70 take guy either. If I do a bunch of takes, like more than five or six, it’s usually for some technical reasons.

These movies are like my kids. I just love them to death. Some of them go to Harvard and some of them can barely graduate high school.

I was seeing a lot of really good things about Get Shorty when it came out, and my wife pointed out that if you validate the good reviews, you also have to validate the bad reviews.

Michael Jackson wanted to be in Men in Black II. He told me he had seen the first Men in Black in Paris and had stayed behind and sat there and wept.

Michael worked one day. Everybody was a little freaked out and nervous because he’s a really big star. We were already working with really big stars, but Michael is Michael.

When I move from being a cameraman to being a director I looked at a lot of other cameramen who tried to make the move. And in each case they moved up their camera operator to be the DP, which really meant they didn’t want to give up being the DP, and really wanted to do both.

It felt scary because there was no auditioning, no rehearsing.

And to use my particular sense of humor, and hear people laughing, without me having to stand up in front of an audience and tell jokes.

I had to explain to him that it was a comedy.

The first cut I do is usually between five and 10 minutes shorter then the cut that we release.

The weird thing is that I hate to fly, and the quote that I give people is that every time I get off a plane, I view it as a failed suicide attempt.

If we figure out the supports and infrastructure to make all of that possible – and it is completely within reach.

To the media, I have become a symbolic figure, critical of China. According to the government, I am a dangerous threat.

You are an incredible mystery that you will never figure out. To be this mystery consciously is the greatest joy.

Professors could silence me then; they had figures, diagrams, maps, books.

I worked at Prescriptives. My uncle [Leonard Lauder, chairman emeritus of the Estée Lauder Companies] smartly had wanted me to go into a small brand – to figure out what part of the company I loved.

I figure if I take my children’s work seriously, maybe they will too. And it reinforces the idea that art is not something alien and esoteric. Anyone can make art.

They figure out what you need and they give it to you – without you asking.

My number one beauty secret is to stay true to yourself and figure out what works best for your body.