Alexander Payne Quotes & Sayings

“Marketing has supplanted story as the primary force behind the worthiness of making a film, and that's a very sad thing. It's film only as a function of consumerism rather than as an important component of our culture, and that's everywhere around the world.”

“My flag is always flying. My shingle is always out. I'm always looking for movie ideas.”

“You just never know when you're living in a golden age.”

“If you were falling in love and you could go back in time and relive a day and see the banal things you did that you'd forgotten about, you'd weep, looking at that day.”

“The kindest thing a director can do is look with open eyes at everything.”

“I definitely in filmmaking more and more find writing and directing a means to harvest material for editing. It's all about editing.”

“I think a badly crafted, great idea for a new film with a ton of spelling mistakes is just 100 times better than a well-crafted stale script.”

“The best cinema is about ethics.”

“I think cynicism lasts. Sentimentality ages, dates quickly.”

“When you're a houseguest and you leave, it's nice to straighten something up or send your hosts a useful gift. And when you leave the planet, it's nice to have made a positive contribution.”