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Films are big hits when they touch a lot of people. Things are not funny in a vacuum, they're funny because we respond to some personal dislocation, some embarrassment, some humiliation, some pain we've suffered, or some desire we have.

Harold Ramis

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Harold Ramis
Age: 69 †
Born: 1944
Born: November 21
Died: 2014
Died: February 24
Actor
Comedian
Director
Film Actor
Film Director
Film Producer
Screenwriter
Television Actor
Writer
Chicago
Illinois
Harold Allen Ramis
Desire
Suffered
Film
Respond
Things
Touch
Dislocation
People
Films
Vacuums
Personal
Vacuum
Funny
Embarrassment
Bigs
Humiliation
Pain
Hits

More quotes by Harold Ramis

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My only conclusion about structure is that nothing works if you don't have interesting characters and a good story to tell.
Harold Ramis
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Somebody once told me that if you laugh at a George Bush joke, or you send an email cartoon to your friends that makes Bush look like a fool, you feel like you've done something significant. But really, what have you actually done? Just expressing contempt for your leaders doesn't really accomplish anything.
Harold Ramis
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Analyze This is a good movie because Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal are really good. But without the material to put on the play, of course, they couldn't be good. For me, it starts with the writing.
Harold Ramis
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My characters aren't losers. They're rebels. They win by their refusal to play by everyone else's rules.
Harold Ramis
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It doesn't take any longer to improvise 10 takes than it takes to shoot 10 takes of the same thing. It turns out to be just as responsible from a business point of view as anything else.
Harold Ramis
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Most comedy is not very ambitious. You probably can't name more than a handful of comedies that would qualify for Best Picture.
Harold Ramis
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My job is to come up with something that you like and you agree with that you would play wholeheartedly. If we disagree, I may not be doing my job correctly.
Harold Ramis
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First and foremost, you have to make the movie for yourself. And that's not to say, to hell with everyone else, but what else have you got to go on but your own taste and judgment?
Harold Ramis
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I'm thinking of doing a marital comedy for one of the studios, but I want it to be so painful that it'll have a profound effect on married couples who see it together.
Harold Ramis
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I'm a writer-director-actor, which I've always kind of enjoyed. I compared it to the Olympic biathlon. Not only can he cross-country ski, but he's a terrific marksman as well. I want people to say, You mean that writer performed a tracheotomy? That's right, I do everything.
Harold Ramis
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I've never taken a script to the stage or to principal photography and said, This is perfect. This is as good as it can possibly be. It's not Shakespeare, you know you know it can probably be better.
Harold Ramis
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Whenever a critic mentions the salary of an actor, I'm thinking, He's not talking about the movie.
Harold Ramis
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You can't not have feelings about country clubs, whichever side you're on.
Harold Ramis
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I try to measure the amount of truth in a work rather than just looking at the generic distinction between comedy and drama.
Harold Ramis
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Find the most talented person in the room and if it's not you, go stand next to him. Hang out with him. try to be helpful.
Harold Ramis
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The trick with sequels is, you have to give people what they liked before, yet be innovative enough so they don't feel like they're seeing the same movie.
Harold Ramis
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No matter what I have to say, I'm still trying to say it in comedic form.
Harold Ramis
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You can't love somebody into a state of mental health.
Harold Ramis
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There's a personal story of my own that I will write at some point, and it's a film that I will happily make. It could very well be the next thing I do, unless someone shows me something great.
Harold Ramis
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You don't have to know much, just a little bit more than everybody else.
Harold Ramis