"I have a feeling, one of those gut feelings, that I'll make pretty good movies the rest of my life. And maybe I'll make some clunkers, maybe I'll make some winners, but I guess the way that I really feel is that Magnolia is, for better or worse, the best movie I'll ever make." "My dad was one of the first guys on the block to have a VCR. So along with all the videotapes that I would rummage through, I would find porno movies. Not that it twisted me into some maniac or anything. I was watching porno from age 10 to 17. I had an interest in it." "I had older brothers and sisters who were doing drugs and playing rock music and doing all those insane things. I was watching." "I remember the bad outfits my parents dressed me up in and my Beatles haircut but I never watched The Brady Bunch. The Partridges? I hated their music." "You can really see a strong and distinctive line between '70s and '80s porn, not just in the quality but in the spirit behind it." "Today's movie villains often remind us of James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart and that's as cool as it gets. There's something comforting if they're hip and cool. They're not entirely real, or not entirely threatening, so it might be a little easier to swallow if they remind us of traditional movie villains." "I watch Spielberg movies, and know: Those are fairy tales. I understand what he does. And I make a film on cancer and frogs - however I want that many spectators nevertheless! I find, that is a good goal, and I consider it a weakness of mine that I haven't reached it yet." "All I wanna try and do is sing 'Melancholy Baby', y'know, but then it starts to come out like 'The Star Spangled Banner' half the time." Oh, how I hate it, when directors are supposed to explain their films. I only say this much: If I had had more cash, I would have let it rain cats and dogs. (on the meaning of Magnolia's ending)