Home
Authors
Tags
App
Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App
" After 'Mandy Lane,' I didn't really know what to do because I didn't know anyone who'd made a feature yet. "
Jonathan Levine
After
Really
Made
Related Quotes:
" I have about 100 gigs of music, and I'm always going through thinking about what song I can match to a scene and all that. "
Jonathan Levine
Song
Thinking
Music
" For whatever reason, the films I gravitate towards do have these strange sort of tonal balances to them... I kind of realized on '50/ 50' why I liked these blending of tones, because I think it's kind of what life is like: funny one minute, sad the next, scary the next. "
Jonathan Levine
Strange
Think
Sad
" I love subverting expectations or playing with the sort of unspoken kind of connections that the audience has. "
Jonathan Levine
Connections
Expectations
Kind
" I was actually shooting 'Warm Bodies' on the day that '50/50' came out, which I don't recommend to other filmmakers because I was sort of a wreck. Actually, it was good for me, because I had work to do, so I couldn't obsess all day and be checking how '50/50' was doing! "
Jonathan Levine
Good
Doing
Warm
" Genre is a really great shorthand you can have with an audience. In the same way you can use music to create a connection with an audience, it brings so much of their knowledge of what genre really is to the table. You have a shortcut to connect with them. I really like that. "
Jonathan Levine
Great
Music
You
" For me, I just value my friendships so much. I mean, I love my family, too, but my friends - I have a really special connection with my friends. "
Jonathan Levine
Family
Value
Mean
" I was intimidated by Malkovich for, like, a couple of days, and then I wasn't. He's awesome. He's so cool. He was so wonderful to work with. "
Jonathan Levine
Awesome
Like
Work
" To be a director, you have to think you're the best. Ever since I went to film school, I imagined that you have to think deep down that you want to be Martin Scorsese or you want to be P.T. Anderson. Like, am I as good as those guys? Absolutely not. I feel like I keep learning, and I feel like I keep getting better. "
Jonathan Levine
Deep
Good
You
" I'm a writer and director. And the movie I've seen a million times is 'Coming Home,' directed by Hal Ashby and starring Jon Voight, Jane Fonda and Bruce Dern. "
Jonathan Levine
Writer
Home
Hal
" Any time I hear certain songs I put in a movie, I have to not listen to them anymore because I associate them with that movie. They take on that association rather than the association I had when I first heard them. So it's kinda bittersweet to put a song in a movie, honestly. "
Jonathan Levine
Time
Song
Listen
" As a director, your expectation and reality don't always match up, and I think that that's... I think it's a little jarring. "
Jonathan Levine
Up
Reality
Director
" I love Jamaica so much. I've been there so much, and I think it would be great if we could shoot a movie there. "
Jonathan Levine
Much
Love
Think
" There are things that I can tell my friends that I just can't tell my family, just as far as how I'm feeling about things. My friends know me the best in a certain way. I just think old friends are really, really important. "
Jonathan Levine
Old Friends
Me
Family
" I used to drive a convertible around L.A. a lot. "
Jonathan Levine
Around
Drive
Lot
" 'Warm Bodies' - I was contractually obligated to deliver a PG-13 movie. But, like, I wanted it to be PG-13 because it's for younger people, and I don't want them not to be able to see it. I mean, you have to kind of think about the marketplace as well. "
Jonathan Levine
People
You
Want
" I think Giuliani started a trend that Bloomberg continued with rampant gentrification, and I think it's tough because why would any city choose not to do that? "
Jonathan Levine
Started
Tough
City
" On '50/50,' even though it was 8 million dollars, it was all acting-intensive. "
Jonathan Levine
Though
Million Dollars
Million
" I definitely think for up and coming filmmakers, people graduating from film school, people that want to do their own movies, horror movies are a great way to go. "
Jonathan Levine
Great
Movies
Think
" Right after 'The Wackness' came out, it was a really exciting time, and then it was a bit disappointing when it came out. Even though not that many people saw it, I was still getting offered some movies. I was thinking that people would just stop calling me since it didn't do very well at the box office. "
Jonathan Levine
Me
Movies
People
" I always look at myself as kind of a work in progress. I hope that's not always the case. But for me, every film is a learning experience. "
Jonathan Levine
Learning
Work
Myself
" Do I wish I was Martin Scorsese? Yeah. But am I really proud of the movies I've made and really happy that I get to keep making them? Yes. "
Jonathan Levine
Proud
Happy
I Wish
" It's rare that movies can sort of capture the tone of life; movies always feel like they have to be one thing or another. "
Jonathan Levine
Movies
Capture
Always
" I'm always walking around with headphones on, creating my own soundtracks to whatever the day is. I think I have a poppy sensibility. "
Jonathan Levine
Day
Creating
Think
" I like to branch out as much as I can, but I feel like the movies that are closest to my heart are 'The Wackness' and '50/50' - the ones that are dramedies that have that human element to them. "
Jonathan Levine
I Can
Like
Movies
" 'Warm Bodies' was a more long-term thing; I had to write the script, who knew if it was every really going to happen, if I'd find the right actors, and so on, so I grabbed '50/50' because I just fell in love with it. "
Jonathan Levine
Find
Going
Warm
" I just think a lot of movies are too long. I want to know how to make my movie as tight as possible. "
Jonathan Levine
Know
Long
Movies
" That's the great thing about being a director. You have your list of things you have to worry about and things you don't have to worry about. If you can hire someone or cast someone who equates to not having to worry about, it's great! "
Jonathan Levine
Great
Worry
You
" I've been a huge fan of Hal Ashby forever. And I think that the distinctive thing about 'Coming Home' is the love story, and how - kind of emotionally real it is, and how these two characters allow each other to see their - kind of vulnerabilities. And it's great because it's a love story that's not really that cheesy, either. "
Jonathan Levine
Kind
Home
Think
" I think people will always want to go see a movie, whether it's a comedy and you want to see it and laugh with people, or whatever. "
Jonathan Levine
You
Comedy
Want
" I grew up with Woody Allen and early Spike Lee movies in which New York was such a specific character. The city has a certain vibe and beat which really informs your entire existence. "
Jonathan Levine
Early
City
New York