"We were raised in an Italian-American household, although we didn't speak Italian in the house. We were very proud of being Italian, and had Italian music, ate Italian food."

"When I was sixteen or seventeen, I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to be a playwright. But everything I wrote, I thought, was weak. And I can remember falling asleep in tears because I had no talent the way I wanted to have."

"When a movie is about to come out on its initial debut, there are a lot of people involved - the financiers, the studio and the producers and also, many times, the foreign distributors. So it is a time of tremendous pressure and uncertainty."

"Steven Spielberg is unique. I feel that the kinds of movies he loves are the same kinds of movies that the big mass audience loves. He's very fortunate because he can do the things he naturally likes the best, and he's been very successful."

"I wrote the script of Patton. I had this very bizarre opening where he stands up in front of an American flag and gives this speech. Ultimately, I was fired. When the script was done, they hired another writer and that script was forgotten."

"I landed a job with Roger Corman. The job was to write the English dialogue for a Russian science fiction picture. I didn't speak any Russian. He didn't care whether I could understand what they were saying; he wanted me to make up dialogue."

"I've been offered lots of movies. There's always some actor who's doing a project and would like to have me do it. But you look at the project and think, 'Gee, there are a lot of good directors who could do that.' I'd like to do something only I can do."

"People feel the worst film I made was 'Jack.' But to this day, when I get checks from old movies I've made, 'Jack' is one of the biggest ones. No one knows that. If people hate the movie, they hate the movie. I just wanted to work with Robin Williams."

"I don't go on set with an army of people because the most expensive elements of a movie production are the plane tickets, the hotel rooms, food and gasoline. If you're willing to discover new colleagues in the place that you are, you can save a ton of money."

"I wanted to be a film student again, as a man in my 60s. To go someplace alone and see what you can cook up, with non-existent budgets. I didn't want to be surrounded by comforts and colleagues, which you have when when you're a big time director. I wanted to write personal works."

"Without a doubt, I was born to want to make cinema, but the kind of cinema I want to make is not like commercial movies, which I enjoy myself, but I wanted to be the kind of filmmaker who wrote original work, sort of like a novelist would who deals with who we are and our times or our relationships."

"Reconstruction work is not possible while the fighting is going on or while the insurgents have been in charge of the town. But once it's back in government hands, we'll be able to get on with these projects very quickly."

"Clearly, the continuation of the fighting creates concerns and complicates that. So alongside the movement toward deployment has been an effort to try to get the parties to abide by the cease-fire."

"They report that the conditions of detention are fine and that the people are in good health."

"At least 27 American citizens have been abducted along the border over the past six months."

"Ms Tanaka said she understood the need for the United States to pursue this area, to conduct the research,"

"We're told the session was useful. Preliminary reporting indicates that they made some progress."

"What we're trying to do now is get the parameters accepted in a way where the reservations are reconcilable and, therefore, we know that both sides are in a position to negotiate seriously."

"We are actively considering all these legal issues and trying to work with the other governments involved to make sure that their concerns are satisfied,"

"The steps that need to be taken now are steps by Chairman Arafat to stop the violence,"

"Anyone with information on this attack is encouraged to contact local law enforcement, the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate, the nearest FBI office or the Diplomatic Security Service immediately,"

"There is, again, credible information about a threat to the embassy compound."

"After careful consideration of the law and all the information that's available ... we came to the conclusion that the U.N. Population Fund monies go to Chinese agencies that carry out coercive programs."

"Anyone with information on this attack is encouraged to contact local law enforcement, the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate, the nearest FBI office or the Diplomatic Security Service immediately."

"At the time, he was not prepared to provide any information. So certainly all of us who are concerned about the issues of missiles in North Korea...are looking for concrete action by the North Koreans, and are looking for clarification of what this means."

"Syria maintains a sizable presence of military and intelligence officials in Lebanon in contravention of the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559."

"We have made quite clear that the influence that Syria has, and others have, on Hezbollah needs to be used in a positive direction and needs to be used to try to restrain these kinds of attacks."

"We have no intention of sitting down and bargaining again (with North Korea)."

"the United States will respect decisions of the sovereign Iraqi government regarding the presence of the multinational force."

"We'll look at it when it comes out and see if there are any ideas we want to deal with at that point."

"I think the secretary has made quite clear over the past few days that the ideas and parameters that were discussed in the last few months were President Clinton's parameters, ... And therefore, when he left office, they were no longer a U.S. proposal or a presidential proposal."

"We understand that conceding to terrorists will only endanger all members of the multinational force as well as other countries who are contributing to Iraqi reconstruction and humanitarian assistance."

"a Libyan government operation from start to finish."

"Its charter says that they should explain U.S. government policy and present responsible discussion about it. We don't consider Mullah Omar to be responsible discussion."

"And, as I said, this has been something the whole U.S. government has worked on."

"We strongly urged those involved to release the arrested government officials."

"We would expect a retraction from the Libyan government,"

"Carrying the interview would be confusing to the millions of listeners to what is essentially a U.S. government broadcast, paid for by the U.S. government."

"They're free to say what they want when they're no longer in government. So we expect people to have views and express their views."

"The determination is there, the effort has not slackened in any way, ... We wouldn't be here if we didn't think there was some potential."

"The minister expressed appreciation for the offer, and our embassy in Uzbekistan will be following up in more detail with them,"

"expressed appreciation for the tremendous effort China has put into this matter."

"reestablish a certain sense of local authority and policing without involving the remnants of the regime or the torturers who once plagued the lives of ordinary Iraqis."

"We are discussing the circumstances of their detention with Colombian authorities, but do not have any additional information to provide at this time."

"We would hope that the governments involved -- that would be Australia, Norway and Indonesia -- would cooperate to resolve the issue."

"I can't program every step of the way of what would, we would hope, be a coordinated series of steps. But the intention is to go to the next round of talks and to begin addressing these issues in a way that's appropriate for the beginning of the process."

"We've made clear that we would like to see all these people released and able to return home."

"We urge all parties to fully honor the agreements negotiated by NATO and the European Union,"

"It's a big border and bad guys try to come across. The question is what we, in cooperation with the Canadian government, can do to make both our countries safer."

"We've long urged all governments, all people, not to cooperate in military ways, not to engage in any military cooperation with countries like North Korea [that] pose a threat to U.S. national security interests."