Alexander Payne
Alexander Payne
Alexander Payneis an American film director, screenwriter, and producer, known for the films Citizen Ruth, Election, About Schmidt, Sideways, The Descendants, and Nebraska. His films are noted for their dark humor and satirical depictions of contemporary American society. Payne is a two time winner of the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and a three time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth10 February 1961
CityOmaha, NE
CountryUnited States of America
Even if we die at 100, we're still dying young. I want at least 700 years. There's a lot of travelling and books to read and movies to see. I'm not going to squeeze it all in in 85 years.
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.
I don't want all of American cinema to be big cartoons that are just made to be digested by the entire world.
Acting is a lot easier than people think it is.
Somewhat dramatic things happen, and you don't even always notice them — that's what life is.
I'm hoping one day I can make one really good film.
I still have energy and some degree of youth, which is what a filmmaker needs.
I like action films, not exclusively, but I like Samurai films. I like Westerns. Not so much war pictures, but a few. I like kinetic cinema.
I never wanted money worries to slow me down or make me take a job I didn't want.
I mean, look, I love movies, not just the ones I make... In fact, I don't like the movies I make very much.
I like voice-over in films, and most of my films have been voice-over films.
Cinema really lends itself well to big, archetypal stories, you know, classic old stories and you need kind of a weird, big terrain like the Japanese plains for Samurai movies or the West. You need that for these giants to walk around.
I like to think of film-making not just as an act of personal self-aggrandisement but rather as an act of public service.
I think cynicism lasts. Sentimentality ages, dates quickly.