Bennett Miller Quotes
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If something is to be quietly powerful, it requires more balance than a film that allows for more freneticism.
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I think, when I meet a person, in general, it's not my habit to conclude anything about people. Not completely. Even people you know well constantly remain open.
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I'm attracted to stories of people who don't belong together, who embark on something and find themselves in places they don't belong.
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I like to rehearse. We did a lot of rehearsals for 'Moneyball,' but it is really individual to the actor. It's not like, 'Here is my process, everybody. Fit in.'
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You make a movie and you'd like it to be appreciated, respected, embraced.
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If you talk to anybody, among the first things you'll hear is, 'Steve Carell is the nicest guy in the world.' And he is. 'Steve Carell is the greatest guy to work with.' And he is. But all of that belies other aspects that are as true with him.
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My business life is really simple. It's like, get check. Put check in bank. Pay rent. I've never bought a stock in my life. I never got caught up in that trip. And the truth is, I don't obsess about money ever.
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It couldn't be more satisfying to work on something almost anonymously for years, then to have it received affectionately with support.
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If you find yourself considering a project that seems like a layup, then you're diluted, or that movie's probably not the right movie for you to be making.
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I am nostalgic for those man-behind-the-curtain days when someone could get away with impersonating Kubrick because nobody had any idea what Kubrick looked like.
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As a filmmaker, you want people to understand and get what you do, and it's a lot to ask for.
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People are attracted to entertainment, for sure, or jokes, excitement and romantically heightened stories that might be false, but are still attractive fantasies.
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I don't have many rules, but one of them is, 'Do not make a movie you yourself would not want to see.'
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The silence of a room when someone enters with a gun is very different from the sound that room makes when empty.
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If you track something like a political campaign and parcel out what's being communicated in a literal and narrative sense, and what's being communicated by means of emotional and symbolic language, you might find that it's the latter elements that absolutely dominate and move people. It makes me want to take that language and expose it.
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You can recognize almost immediately if the film you're watching is the product of some kind of a hive mind or the result of a personal vision and genuine collaborations. 'Manchester by the Sea' reminds us of the potential of the latter and, for that reason, is the kind of work that makes me, as a filmmaker, want to continue. It's inspiring.
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I'm not going to take something based on budget and do something just for the sake of it. I want to make good films.
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I don't want to sound too spiritual, but when you are true to yourself and follow through with things that connect with you meaningfully, somehow things fall into place.
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It's about creating an atmosphere so that characters can just live in front of the cameras. And to be sensitive, and for the actor to know the sensitivity that they are being observed with.
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I've never even watched one of my films since they're completed.
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Mark Ruffalo is Mark Ruffalo - no explanation needed. He has the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met, and he's sort of the Dave Schultz of the entertainment industry.
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The version of 'Moneyball' I pitched - and we made - is about a guy, Billy Beane, who thinks he's trying to win baseball games. But it's deeper than that.
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It's important for an actor to feel like they're really being watched and to receive feedback and encouragement about the aspects of what they're doing that feels truthful - and also to raise awareness when they might be resorting to habits and tricks, which every actor has.
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I'm interested in telling stories that add up to more than the entertainment of the story. That's what does it for me.