PartyLines- photographs by Patrick McMullan

Do critics still get to you? “There could be 100 reviews, 99 of them raves, and if one of them is negative, I will be certain that that one is right. Welcome to being Jewish!” —AARON SORKIN

—BRAD PITT

What’s the best way to get back at a critic? “Probably just a remote explosive device, the ignition in the car blowing it up. That’s not what happened to the Cincinnati Post guy. That was an accident. Yes. He was refueling with his cell phone on.” —ALBERT BROOKS

—MERYL STREEP

Have any reviews of In the Land of Blood and Honey made you cry? “We screened it for eleven women who survived the rape camps, the concentration camps, and we showed it to them first. I got the transcript from the three-hour conversation they had about it, and I cried. I was very, very moved.” —ANGELINA JOLIE

—BÉRÉNICE BEJO

Do you have a favorite critic? “I can’t answer that, because all the rest of them will be after me!” —HARVEY WEINSTEIN

—VIOLA DAVIS

You’re doing Kathryn Bigelow’s Bin Laden movie, and there’s a rumor you’ll be playing one of Bin Laden’s wives. “I can definitely tell you I’m not going to play Bin Laden’s wife! No, no, no. A little too red! A little too pale!” —JESSICA CHASTAIN

—STEVEN ZAILLIAN

Have you ever had a fight with a critic? “Not yet! But I’m hopeful.” —JEAN DUJARDIN

—J.C. CHANDOR

Have you ever been mad at a critic? “Those that made me angry were not real critics. Some of them, instead of reviewing the film, reviewed me. They criticized my personal life, or they talked about my personal life.” —ASGHAR FARHADI

—RACHAEL HOROVITZ

You produced Tree of Life. Do you think it has a chance at an Oscar? “No. I mean, Terry [Terrence Malick, the director] didn’t get a DGA nomination, we didn’t get a PGA nomination, we didn’t get a Golden Globe nomination. You have to take those as sort of indicators.” —DEDE GARDNER