I'd love to be a director-for-hire and get a nice paycheck and captain one of those big ships, but I think studios… — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
I like voice-over in films, and most of my films have been voice-over films. — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
In the moment of making films, I want to share my observations of life, not of other films. — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
I want studios to be financing director-driven, auteurist cinema, as they did in the '70s. I think it's starting to happen now.… — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
Just because I make films doesn't mean I think they're great. I just make them and then when I'm done with them… — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
But it's just that the whole country is making generally lousy films these days and has been for quite a while. That's… — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
'Independent' means one thing to me: It means that regardless of the source of financing, the director's voice is extremely present. It's… — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
I always think about visual comedy. I was raised watching silents, and I'm always thinking about how to make cinema, not good… — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
I'm considered to some degree a successful director working in Hollywood, making films my way but using studio financing. But with almost… — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
The kindest thing a director can do is look with open eyes at everything. — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
You begin a film more with questions than with direct intentions. It's more of an exploration and discovery. — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
I could never be a part of an adaptation of a film where there's pressure to not disappoint the immense fan base.… — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
I don't think so much about verbal comedy. I always think about visual comedy. I was raised watching silents, and I'm always… — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
I don't think so much about verbal comedy. I always think about visual comedy. I was raised watching silents, and I'm always… — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
There is an audience out there for literate films - slower, more observant, more human films, and they deserve to be made. — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
I'm attracted to short screenplays. Nobody really wants a film to be over two hours, or at least I don't. — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
The novel succeeds on terms exclusive to literature. A good film succeeds on terms exclusive to the cinema. That's why so many… — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
I like action films, not exclusively, but I like Samurai films. I like Westerns. Not so much war pictures, but a few.… — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
When I'm introduced as a two-time Oscar winner, I'm happy that a film of mine has found an audience and some acclaim… — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
I spend a long time casting, but once I've cast a film there's a reason why I selected those people. So I'm hands-on in… — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
I don't feel despair because I am able to make the films I want to make, and that gives me hope. — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
Forgiving yourself may be for many people, at least for myself, extremely difficult. And then in a larger context, I will say that I'm… — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
In a general sense, to convert any short story, novel, play, or opera into a movie, you have to re-rig it. Even though they're… — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
If you have your movies so that everyone understands everything, I think that's probably not a very good movie. — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
I like actors who, when you see them on screen, you sense a person, not just an actor. — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
If you're trying to recreate life, the life that you best know is the one you grew up with. — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
I think about what movie I would like to see. I don't think of them as a correction or palliative. I certainly am irritated… — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
If you were falling in love and you could go back in time and relive a day and see the banal things you did… — Alexander Payne Copy Share Image
