John Landis Quotes

#1. For some reason, people think of me as someone who can do anything I want. And I'm not. You know, I need someone to put up the money.

John Landis

#2. In my career, my movies tend to polarize critics.

John Landis

#3. I've been all over the world, and to be in Milan and see guys dressed as Jake and Elwood is amazing. They really have become a part of the culture.

John Landis

#4. Well, the bottom line is that I'm extremely pleased with 'The Stupids.' I'm pleased that it's coming out, and it should look good. It's nice looking, with the colors and stuff. I made it for kids, and I really would like them to see it.

John Landis

#5. I'm following a real event and real people.

John Landis

#6. I would very much like to make Westerns. I love Westerns. I've worked on many Westerns in my youth, in Spain and here, and I love working on them.

John Landis

#7. After 'The Blues Brothers,' I wanted to do a good musical number with real dancers and shoot it correctly.

John Landis

#8. Universal rushed us. We started shooting without a script that was totally completed.

John Landis

#9. Rock 'n' roll started to make so much money and generated so much income for the record companies that suddenly it was no longer evil.

John Landis

#10. Because of the cumbersome nature of filmmaking, it's only recently that it has become available to the masses, with digital equipment and laptop computers. You can now actually make a pretty serviceable movie for very little money by yourself.

John Landis

#11. I grew up thinking of snow as a luxury you visit.

John Landis

#12. Truthfully, most directors don't direct actors. Every actor is different, so when you're asked, "How do you approach an actor?," it depends on the actor. With some, you do nothing. With some, you're very specific.

John Landis

#13. It's strange how extras have become such a big part of the business. I don't know what I think of it. I mean, some of them are great, most of them are filler.

John Landis

#14. I have always loved you.

John Landis

#15. I grew up in Los Angeles, and I've made movies all over the world ... I've been in New York, Norway, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, London - I've been in all these cities, shooting away in the winter, thinking, 'People who choose to live here are insane.'

John Landis

#16. Directors, like actors, get typecast. And because I've had great success with comedy and horror and TV shows, that's basically what I'm kind of offered.

John Landis

#17. But what's interesting is now - and not only in horror, but across the board - the studios basically only make B pictures with A budgets. That's the biggest difference.

John Landis

#18. I'm very lucky to have worked in the '70s. It's a different industry and distribution is in a state of flux. It's all different platforms, they're doing this video-on-demand thing and also playing the film theatrically. It's funny to me: In the States it's an arthouse movie.

John Landis

#19. Movies are brand new. Film is less than 150 years old. It's brand new, compared to any other art form, all of which are thousands of years old.

John Landis

#20. You always want to do something different. I enjoy the process. I like making movies, and it's increasingly hard to find a movie you'd want to make.

John Landis

#21. Material comes all kinds of ways, and it's never a question of a lack of material or a lack of projects - I have tons of projects. The issue is to convince someone to give you the money. And it's a very different business than it was just 8 years ago.

John Landis

#22. The guy that I worked on 'Thriller ' was a genius and he was 20 years old, but it was like working with a gifted 10-year-old. The guy who I worked on with 'Black Or White' was crazy. Michael had gone mad.

John Landis

#23. One of the challenges of the movie is there are no apologies or excuses.

John Landis

#24. The field (of filmmaking) is suddenly sexy, ... so it's deluged with these wannabes who say 'I don't want to be a secret agent, I'll be a filmmaker.' I think a lot of people are really kind of naive.

John Landis

#25. The idea of doing a children's film is different, but quite honestly I like doing anything - any genre. I've only made one Western, which was 'Three Amigos,' but I would love to make a serious Western. I'm just wide open.

John Landis

#26. The pedigree's pretty high. For people who are really scary movie fans, this is nirvana. If you're in the mood to get scared, just watch this every week. It'll creep you out.

John Landis

#27. They sought out rap music to attack, but you don't hear that anymore because it made too much money. They use Che Guevara to sell soft drinks. If something comes out that is radical and it's successful, then it's no longer radical. It's co-opted.

John Landis

#28. There have been 14 versions that I can find of Burke & Hare movies. They have all been horror films and all the movies have taken place in Victorian times, which doesn't make any sense.

John Landis

#29. I am very direct and I tend to treat everyone exactly the same, which sometimes gets me in trouble because some movie stars feel like they should be treated differently. But, when you're dealing with good actors, they really appreciate it.

John Landis