I never feel like a smug or a smart-alec film director, and there are plenty of those around.

'Pulp Fiction' is an amazing film, and I haven't made one nearly as good.

I loved 'The Master' a lot. I'm not going to get to work with Daniel Day-Lewis, but Joaquin Phoenix is one of the best around, I think.

I try to naturally keep things to a manageable storytelling length, which is about two hours, so you try to cut out anything extraneous.

I never, ever drink while writing. Never have from the start, and I'm happy that I never have to. A lot of my stuff is plot-driven and mathematical, and I think you need a clean and sober mind to pin down the logistics of that.