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I think certain movies work and that is part of the magic of it all. We can't truly define why something succeeds.
Barry Levinson
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Barry Levinson
Age: 82
Born: 1942
Born: April 6
Actor
Film Director
Film Producer
Screenwriter
Baltimore
Maryland
Work
Succeeds
Something
Define
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Succeed
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Truly
Magic
Movies
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More quotes by Barry Levinson
I never really wanted to be an actor. And that was the beginning of it, I began to write things down and eventually became a writer on a television show.
Barry Levinson
The interesting thing about movies, it's not always - y'know, you have to have structure etc and all those things, but an audience responds, in many ways, we walk away and certain things stay in our heads that are memorable.
Barry Levinson
I'm fascinated by documentaries, to begin with. Because of the nature of television, as opposed to theatrical, documentaries can be in this long form and take you on a journey.
Barry Levinson
It's such a funny thing. Hollywood is terrible unless you happen to be a celebrity who's a Republican. So Ronald Reagan can be a Hollywood celebrity, and he's a Republican, and then he can become the president, and that's okay. Fred Thomson, well, that's okay. But the rest we need to demonize. There's no consistency.
Barry Levinson
Ronald Reagan was this actor who was going to be president, and he was very charming. What he had was, he talked about America in ways that got people all caught up in it. He was creating this America - it could even be the mythical America - that we subscribe to.
Barry Levinson
There was a time when I said, I'm going to go do a television thing, after doing all these theatrical films, and heard, Television? Why are you going to go back to television? It's an interesting place.
Barry Levinson
I think we are seeing a radical shift in the business in general. The studios are making much more of the real big extravaganzas and there are other kinds of films that are coming out. I think you are going to begin to see more diversification that we've seen in the past.
Barry Levinson
I think when Sarah Palin opened her mouth and started talking, the more she talked, the less appealing she became.
Barry Levinson
I got involved with an acting school and studied for a couple years. They used to have improv exercises that you would work on and you would do improvs.
Barry Levinson
I don't know that you can do an absurdist film and just have everybody embrace it in terms of filling out cards. I just don't think it happens. So you have to prepare an audience.
Barry Levinson
I think test screening works at its best when the audience knows what it's getting.
Barry Levinson
I think it's a promising time which will show a lot of diversification that we've seen in the past.
Barry Levinson
I don't know that you can do it as a satire. I mean, the business is crazy enough as it is. It's like doing Wag The Dog - we took a thing that was almost completely absurd on one level, and then ultimately those things came about.
Barry Levinson
You don't always have to have the ending, but you want to have a satisfactory conclusion.
Barry Levinson
A lot of people have done things over the years and made fun of people in one way or another. When I was a kid, Vaughn Meader used to do John F. Kennedy. I don't know if that makes John F. Kennedy less credible. He would do the voice, he'd have some silly situations or whatever. I don't know if it made him less presidential because of it.
Barry Levinson
I thought a great line in the What Just Happened movie said, We're just the mayonnaise.
Barry Levinson
No one really has the power, and everybody's trying to get through the day, and everybody's nervous and desperate.
Barry Levinson
All I try to do is create an atmosphere that seems comfortable enough, that it removes tension and everyone feels free. If they feel free then behaviour happens, small moments happen and that's what ultimately works the best for me.
Barry Levinson
I've had a lot of movies that didn't get great numbers on test screening, but a lot of times the film was able to survive, or the studio still stayed and supported it.
Barry Levinson
I worked at a local television station and I got a chance to direct and do all those things - worked kiddie shows, Ranger House show with the hand puppets and things like that.
Barry Levinson
