Andrew Sarris
I've always said to people that auteurism is nice, but it's hypothetical, and gradually you learn how much or how little influence different directors had.
Movies are as old as psychoanalysis. So if I were to put you or anyone else on a couch and say, 'Tell me your favorite movies,' it would be a way of psychoanalyzing you.
I was a solipsist and a narcissist and much too arrogant. I have a lot more compassion now, but it took a long time.
There's a part of me that looks beyond everything now.
I never argue with people about movies.
Hitchcock is the most-daring avant-garde film-maker in America today.Collection: America
The emotional elevation of the film is due in no small measure to the extraordinarily engaging performances of Anne Bancroft as the wife-mother-mistress, Dustin Hoffman as the lumbering Lancelot, and Katherine Ross as his fair Elaine.Collection: Mother
Lola Montes is, in my unhumble opinion, the greatest film of all time, and I am willing to stake my critical reputation, such as it is, on this one proposition above all others.Collection: Opinion
Tokyo Sonata speaks to us, with feeling and passion, as one of the most eloquent statements on the world today that we are likely to see in this moviegoing year.Collection: Passion
It is cynicism, and not idealism, that is generally the mark of youthful immaturity, or rather it is the cynic who is generally the most foolish romantic.Collection: Immaturity
I'm afraid you can't create tragedy out of abnormal psychology.Collection: Psychology
Lemon Tree is well worth seeing as a first-class artistic achievement bridging two civilizations.Collection: Civilization
The Window is not without a certain visual spell that makes it a first-rate artistic achievement.Collection: Achievement
I hate to go out on a limb after only one viewing, but Nashville strikes me as Altman's best film, and the most exciting dramatic musical since Blue Angel.Collection: Hate