I think romance is a tool comedy is a tool and drama is a tool. I really just want to tell stories that challenge the viewer move people make you laugh perhaps push an idea about being open-minded but never settle on a genre or an opinion. I hate genre. I like movies that are original in their approach.

My mom was truly an iconic figure a great journalist and a pioneering woman who died at 54 of cancer without ever having revealed to viewers that she was ill.

Whether it's viewers of the show or readers of my columns and books I'm consistently impressed with their wit humor and insight. That goes for about 95 percent of the audience. The other five percent are why the 'Delete' option and restraining orders were invented.

So I decided to move that scene in the doctor's office to two-thirds into the movie after the viewers had come to know Ryan and Ali and share in their happiness.

I've come to recognize what I call my 'inside interests.' Telling stories. And helping people tell their stories is a sort of interpersonal gardening. My work at NBC News was to report the news but in hindsight I often tried to look for some insight to share that might spark a moment of recognition in a viewer.

Widespread state control over art and culture has left no room for freedom of expression in the country. For more than 60 years anyone with a dissenting opinion has been suppressed. Chinese art is merely a product: it avoids any meaningful engagement. There is no larger context. Its only purpose is to charm viewers with its ambiguity.

The fear for a network is the viewer gets tired of you. Not that you lost any credibility but they get tired of you.

I have great faith in the intelligence of the American viewer and reader to put two and two together and come up with four.

Films that are entertainments give simple answers but I think that's ultimately more cynical as it denies the viewer room to think. If there are more answers at the end then surely it is a richer experience.

Unless a reviewer has the courage to give you unqualified praise I say ignore the bastard.