To make three films out of one shortish book, they have to turn it into an epic, just as 'Lord of the Rings' is an epic. But 'The Hobbit' isn't an epic: its tone is intimate and personal, and although it's full of adventures and excitement, they're on a different scale to those of the bigger book.

Often, in horror films, the single most effective device for building a sense of scariness is the soundtrack: the clanking of chains, the groaning of off-stage ghouls, the unmistakable sound of a cannibal rustic firing up a chainsaw.

I think the Internet was invented specifically to stop people finishing their books. And it does quite a good job. I don't have blocking software, though I could easily imagine needing it. I just don't do that stuff until I've got the words done for the day.

The economics of setting up a new restaurant are scary in good times and terrifying in bad ones.

Let's be honest, I have enough money to never have to work again.

Take the time to shop for yourself and cook. All of this is an investment in yourself, and if you're not going to invest time and money in what you put in your body, then what are you going to spend money on? It's kind of the most important thing.

The political ramifications of our festering financial and economic crisis have reached the sidewalks of New York, as well as other large and small cities across the US.

People of my generation are used to collecting the heroic boys. And they're used to paying a lot of money for heroic boys. I don't make a third of what a guy would make.