Thr-224x109The Hollywood Reporter sits down with many of the leading candidates for this year's Best Director award (take your pick of the particular awards show). Here's the lineup: Alexander Payne (The Descendants), Mike Mills (Beginners), Steve McQueen (Shame), Jason Reitman (Young Adult), Bennett Miller (Moneyball) and Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist). There are a lot of terrific moments here:


Some of my favorite quotes/exchanges:

Alexander Payne: "editing is the ongoing process of disguising how bad the film really is."

Jason Reitman: "Watching The Godfather makes me not want to make movies... why would I possibly try to make a movie after watching something as brilliant as that?... The instinct to make movies doesn't come from watching movies, it comes from experiencing life."

Steve McQueen: "I'm running, I"m not chasing... I'm trying to do as much as I can before I fall down. I'm interested in stuff which is in the air, that you can't see. But how can you put it on film? It's like catching butterflies."

Mike Mills: "If I'm going to die tomorrow, this is the best story I've got. This is my best chance to try to communicate something about being human."

I'll let the directors speak for themselves on film school... there is no wrong answer. Any favorite quotes of yours?

[via THR]