I Still Dislike Phones, Yeah!

Michael Jackson Was Extraordinary. When We Worked Together On 'bad,' I Was In Awe Of His Absolute Mastery Of Movement On The One Hand, And Of The Music On The Other. Every Step He Took Was Absolutely Precise And Fluid At The Same Time. It Was Like Watching Quicksilver In Motion. He Was Wonderful To Work With, An Absolute Professional At All Times, And It Really Goes Without Saying... A True Artist. It Will Be A While Before I Can Get Used To The Idea That He's No Longer With Us.

I Know That I Come From Mid-20th Century America, Urban, Specifically Downtown New York, Specifically An Italian-american Area, Roman Catholic - That's Who I Am. And A Part Of What I Know Is There's A Decency To People Who Tried To Make A Living In The Kind Of World That Was Around Us And Also The Skid Row Area Of The Bowery; It Impressed Me.

You Don't Make Pictures For Oscars.

I Go Through Periods, Usually When I'm Editing And Shooting, Of Seeing Only Old Films.

I've Been Extremely Lucky To Work With Elmer Bernstein, Howard Shore Over The Years, But I've Always Imagined Films With My Own Scores, Because I Don't Come From That World Or That Period Of Filmmaking. And So How Could I Make Up My Own Score On A Film Like This Where It Isn't Necessarily Made Up Of Popular Music From The Radio Or The Period; It Isn't Necessarily Classical Music. But What If It's Modern Symphonic Music?