I try to judge films—good or bad—based on what they are, not what I wanted them to be. It’s the film that matters, not my expectations/opinions about what a movie should or shouldn’t have been.

— Scott Derrickson.

The one magic bean screenwriting rule: you’re only allowed one magical element per movie that demands a leap from the audience.

— Rian Johnson.

The real importance of theaters is that it’s the only place where the audience can’t press the stop button.

— Bong Joon-ho.

Fans don’t make great filmmakers. Their reverence for what came before leaves little room for artistry or invention. And their bullying ruins the fun—both on and off camera.

— Eliana Dockterman.

In the history of cinema, masterpieces have existed without sound, without color, without a story, without actors and without music. No one single film has ever existed without cinematography and without editing.

— Alfonso Cuáron.

For certain actors, there’s an emasculating element to signing on to play a comic-book hero. It seals your stardom, but it takes away your ability to say, “I stand apart from the machine.” You’re now the machine’s biggest cog.

— Owen Gleiberman.

Every great film should seem new every time you see it.

— Roger Ebert.

I recommend movies I love. Love is subjective. You may like them or not. But you cannot make me “unlove” them.

— Sean Witzke.

Terminator, Terminator 2, Aliens, Predator, The Thing, Iron Man, Jurassic Park; Stan Winston is the reason I know what special makeup effects are. He was always the real reason all those movie worked. He brought impossible things to life. To say he will be missed is an understatement. Movies won’t be the same without him.

— Sean Witzke.

Even if we don’t agree on the movies we love, we all can agree that we love movies. Stretched out before us on the big screen, these larger-than-life stories each take us on a ride. We laugh at ourselves. We find our humanity. We explore our darkest fears. We create new worlds. We begin to understand each other.

The very best movies, of course, find a permanent place in our hearts. They capture a generation’s hopes and fears and weave those raw emotions into celluloid — or, these days, pixels. They are iconic, and despite the ways in which we are different from one another, these movies become something we can share.

— Kim Schmidt.