Elvis Mitchell Quotes

Yes, actually ever since I saw his films and tried to write about them, Sirk's been in everything I've done. Not Sirk himself, but what I've learned from his work.

Tony Scott, Walter Hill, Michael Mann - I'm a big action fan, full stop. And even though Michael Mann is the more celebrated film-maker than Tony Scott, I love them both in different ways.

I just finished a film with Michael Radford called Dancing at the Blue Iguana.

What always made me proud - almost blushing with pride - is that Francis Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg all told me that 'The Conformist' is their first modern influence.

In Tim's films, more than most, if you miss the tone, you don't get the film.

People use location as a language in films, and Quentin uses action as a language in his films. There's really not a lot of violence. It's more of an emotional beat than it is a physical beat.

A good film script should be able to do completely without dialogue.

There is the moral spectrum in 'Fargo,' and you see it in other Coen brothers movies, where you have a very good character on one end and a very bad character on the other.

What I learned on 'Homicide' was that each show deserves its own look.

A film engages you emotionally and intellectually.

I think 'Two Towers' is a completely distinct film from 'Fellowship of the Ring' or 'Return of the King.' I think that you can watch them as a group and watch how the story evolves, but I think each one was made in its own entirety, and each one has its own palate of sound and music and color and characterization.

'Amores Perros' is rock, '21 Grams' is jazz, 'Babel' is an opera, and 'Biutiful' is a requiem.

What I've realized is that a film operates both on the intellectual and emotional levels, and if you can find a way to tell a riveting story and draw ideas out of that, it's very powerful.

In film, you can't go into analytical explorations because the audience will reject that.

'Dark Blue' is ultimately a gritty crime drama, at its core. I don't think that is ever going to change.

I love films like 'Deliverance' where you can watch it over and over again and decode all of its many different meanings.

When I'm making documentaries, I think a lot about how fiction films play. I want them to have the pacing, the twists and the character development of fiction films.

I love 'Shattered Glass.' It's one of my favorite movies. I think it's just brilliant.

So I used formal techniques to make the film more perceptive emotionally.

I like the scene in the first 'Scream' movie where Sidney gets up, and dusk is falling, and she's looking out at the hills of Santa Rosa, there where it was filmed, and that's where you sort of hear her theme being played out. I always liked that moment because, to me, it became more than just a horror movie.

And when you look at the Turtle's movie there is something there, definitely something there.

Do we root for Michael Corleone in the 'Godfather' films? I think so, even if he is a monster.

One of the reasons I do like 'Cult' is that it plays along the same vibe as the movie 'Seven,' which I absolutely love. There was a period of cinema in the mid-'90s that I was a huge fan of, with 'Heat' and 'Seven' and the Tarantino era. If I've ever been fanatical, it was about those films, back in the day.

I'm a huge Wong Kar-Wai fan.

Cop shows are by definition melodramatic; they're larger than life. They create very stark contrasts and conflicts emotionally. They're provocative, assuming they grapple with - to the extent that cop shows are mirrors of the culture.