Top 94 Quotes & Sayings by Rob Reiner - Page 2

I was also a congressman. I had decided to run for office and had become a congressman with Queen Latifah.

I think for every parent, they know their kids better than anybody else, and they have to just trust their own instincts.

For the last five, 10 years, you're seeing the best things happen on television.

Usually, I have in mind what I want to do. I shoot pretty economically, so I'm not shooting tons of stuff that I could change, all that much. I'll cut something or add a little something back, but not too much. This is maybe the producer part of me, but I'm always worried about the budget, so I shoot what I know I need to shoot for the film.

I think there's great stuff on television. I'm hooked on all these shows. I love watching these shows.

The movie studios, they only like to make - I make a joke, but it's true - if the movie has the word "man" and a number in the title, they'll make it. If it doesn't have that, it's an R-rated raunchy comedy, and that's it. Any other movie that you're going to make is going to be an independent one. So for filmmakers who want to do something other than "man" and a number, it's either independent films or television, which is like the place for real creative filmmakers to go.

I'm always running around trying to raise money to make the films. Fortunately, I've been able to do that, but if I can't, at this point, it's not like I wanted to spend a lot of time putting together, you know, you spend a year of your life on something, you go, "What the hell am I doing that for?"

If you've ever made up something on the spot and made somebody laugh, you can credit Jonathan Winters with inspiration.

You work with every actor differently. It's like if you're a mother, if you have children, some children need more discipline. Other children you back off of a little bit and let them be. It's the same way with actors. Some actors need a lot of hand holding. Other actors like to be let be and you let them go. Some actors like to be nudged just a little bit. Some actors don't mind line readings.

I hate those movies where hundreds of people get blown up and there are jokes afterward. They poison the soul.

I was certainly a child of the '60s, and I came out of that era, and as a young actor, I got cast as a lot of counterculture hippie types.

I think Jews are the smartest people in the world

I was already interested in directing when I was very young. I knew that was something I was going to be doing.

Anytime a movie lasts, it's really a thrill. I mean, that people can still pick up on it, and still enjoy it, that makes you feel great.

I act once in awhile if something comes up that seems fun. I like to do it - its a lot of fun because theres no responsibility. You let other people have the headaches. The director has all of the headaches.

For me, the only type of guilty pleasure fun that I have in terms of my career is I act once in awhile. And I don't have any responsibility.

This is about the daily ins and outs of a marriage. I don't want to give away the ending, but they are trying either to make the marriage work or make the separation work. Our job is to make that interesting.

When you do improv, you're everything. You're a performer, writer, and director, because you're moving the scene in the direction you want it to go, you're making it up as you go, and you're acting it.

I make the joke, all the time, that if you have the word "man" and a number in the title, like Batman 2, Spider-Man 2 or Iron Man 12, you'll get it made. The kind of movies I make, studios don't make them. I've made a lot of movies, and at Castle Rock, we've made 125 movies. None of them get made at a studio. I've got to scrounge around for money, every time. I just like to tell stories. I'm a storyteller, so I want the most people to see it.

When you do improv, you're everything. You're a performer, writer, and director, because you're moving the scene in the direction you want it to go, you're making it up as you go, and you're acting it. You're all of those things, so I always viewed myself that way. And with the films I've done, I've written on them, I've acted in some of them. And even ones I haven't acted in, I've acted them out just to be sure another actor can do them.

Harry [Shearer] and I had an idea to do a movie about rock 'n' roll from the roadies' perspective, from backstage. Then Meat Loaf came out with a movie called Roadie and we thought, "Oh, we can't do that now." So we kind of discarded the idea.

I love thrillers. I've never made them, but I would say a really good thriller is my favorite kind of a movie. If I can get a really great thriller, you know.

I was a kid who was really unhappy with being bussed. I was one of the angry people in the halls.

Hollywood is one of those places where, traditionally, money has come from - along with New York, Texas, Florida, Silicon Valley in northern California and the unions. But because of the Internet and the way campaigns are financed these days, you don't need traditional financing as much as you used to - and Barack Obama has tapped into that in a big way. But at the end of the day, people in Hollywood care more about [the presidency] than just the trappings of it and the surface type stuff. They care about the issues.

Usually I don't like to act in movies that I direct because it's kind of confusing.

It gives you more freedom, the digital camera.

I decided to not just be about protesting or speaking out against certain things, but actually trying to get things done. That has been tremendously fulfilling for me.

You never know if anything is going to stand the test of time or going to be successful.

I've known Alan Zweibel since 1975, and I've always had this sneaking suspicion that he might possess a sense of humor. After reading CLOTHING OPTIONAL, I'm almost sure he does.

Under the current system, all children under 17 are treated equally. However, while some films may be appropriate for older children to see with parental accompaniment, some are inappropriate for younger children under any circumstances. This problem needs to be addressed.

I'm a huge fan of Jonathan Winters. He's influenced everyone who's ever done improvisational comedy. You look to Jonathan Winters for inspiration. He paved the way. If you've ever made up something on the spot and made somebody laugh, you can credit Jonathan Winters with inspiration.

Most people are in marriages, and there are very few movies made about what it really is like to be married for a length of time. You always show the romantic part and all that. Or the divorce, and the horrible split, and the guy's having an affair, or she's having an affair, and they're going to get split up, whatever. But very few people just look at what actually happens in a marriage.

TV's great. I think the best stuff is happening on television.

I love working with my dad, but I need to be independent and do my own stuff.