182 Quotes by Noah Baumbach

I don’t like when you necessarily know that this is the end of the movie. I like when a movie ends abruptly. You go through this, and some of the scenes are uncomfortable, and some are funny – and then suddenly it’s over.

I try to write ‘and it’s all very funny’ after each scene description so that the reader can imagine the movie in their head.

I think sometimes bad behaviour can be liberating for certain people. They need to behave badly to find themselves – to go off path to find their path. You see it with kids all the time: They’re testing boundaries, and I think that’s healthy.

Adaptations are fun for me because they connect to the idea of filmmaking I had when I was a kid. I would see a movie and think: ‘I’m gonna make that movie.’

Wes Anderson’s films, 6-year-olds are crazy about them.

I like to try to shoot in the city in a way that allows the city to go about its business while we’re shooting, and that’s always a challenge because unfortunately people on the street don’t know not to look in the camera or interact with the actors.

I think it’s always interesting how music means different things to different people, and people who overthink it are looking to in some ways show off with music, versus people who just respond to a song and decide to sing it.

Manhattan is so tailored. It’s driven by appealing to the very wealthy and tourists.

As a kid, I thought of myself as a funny person who secretly wanted to be serious, but now I think maybe I’m a serious person who secretly wants to be funny.