I've made movies that I thought were okay, but then I was very good. And sometimes you're in a movie and you think, 'I wish more people saw that' - because you're good. And it just works out that the movie gets lost. But that's show business.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the unpredictability of success in the film industry, where personal satisfaction doesn't always correlate with public recognition.
Christopher Walken's quote illustrates the inherent unpredictability and subjectivity in the film industry. While a filmmaker may create a movie that they believe holds great value and showcases their talents, circumstances in the ever-changing landscape of show business can lead to that film being overlooked. It underscores the contrast between personal fulfillment in one's artistic expression and the often harsh realities of audience reception and commercial success.
In practice
In a film industry panel discussion about the challenges artists face, this quote could be used to highlight the unpredictability of artistic success.
I have this theory about words. There's a thousand ways to say "Pass the salt". It could mean, you know, "Can I have some salt?" or it could mean, "I love you.". It could mean, "I'm very annoyed with you". Really, the list could go on and on. Words are little bombs, and they have a lot of energy inside them.
People think that my favorite roles to do are villains, but I find comedy to be the most challenging and rewarding.
Can I confess something? I tell you this as an artist, I think you'll understand. Sometimes when I'm driving on the road at night I see two headlights coming toward me. Fast. I have this sudden impulse to turn the wheel quickly, head-on into the oncoming car. I can anticipate the explosion. The sound of shattering glass. The flames rising out of the flowing gasoline.
I've made movies that I thought were good. I've made movies that I thought were okay, but then I was very good. And sometimes you're in a movie and you think, I wish more people saw that - because you're good. And it just works out that the movie gets lost. But that's show business.
I'm in a place in my life where I get offered parts that I didn't get offered before - fathers and uncles and grandfathers and so on. And it took me a long time to get to that place, but I'm glad because it opens up new territory.
I never know when I am being funny, and the other way too. I don't think you can think about that. I don't think you can try to be funny. Some people are just funny.
Overhead, the two moons worked together to bathe the world in a strange light.
Was it confusing because it was artistic, or artistic because it was confusing?
Though everything else may appear shallow and repulsive, even the smallest task in music is so absorbing, and carries us so far away from town, country, earth, and all worldly things, that it is truly a blessed gift of God.
Sometimes writing a novel is not unlike having a baby. You'd have to ask a female novelist to compare the pain.
In dark times, the definition of good art would seem to be art that locates and applies CPR to those elements of what's human and magical that still live and glow despite the times' darkness. Really good fiction could have as dark a worldview as it wished, but it'd find a way both to depict this world and to illuminate the possibilities for being alive and human in it.
Making music has gotten easier; selling it has gotten harder. Making music has been democratized, but the market is in the hands of fascists.
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