The road back from degradation begins with self-awareness - and sometimes, as in 'Phone Booth,' change can begin with a single phone call. Elvis Mitchell More Quotes by Elvis Mitchell More Quotes From Elvis Mitchell It's true that as Mr. Chan makes more American movies - and gets older - we will never again see the kind of fistfight choreography that the star would devote four months to shoot. Elvis Mitchell true movies will never If Mr. Chan ever makes another movie like 'The Tuxedo,' it's American audiences that will see him in court. With 'Shanghai Knights,' he has come through with one of his best. This time, it's personable. Elvis Mitchell will best see time A little of the sketch character Pootie Tang went a long way on HBO's now late, probably soon to be lamented 'Chris Rock Show.' So it's surprising how much fun the character's film debut, 'Pootie Tang,' is. Elvis Mitchell fun character long way One of the best things Gwyneth Paltrow has done in years was her mesmerized, good-sport cameo in a 'Pootie' sketch, when she was melted over him like butter on an English muffin. Elvis Mitchell sketch best things done What makes 'Pootie Tang' the motion picture enjoyable is its no-brow ambitions; it's a joke action film. It slides through enough African-American pop culture signifiers to raise laughs out of those who will appreciate the references; it revels in more cheese per square inch than a soul food diner. Elvis Mitchell picture soul food culture 'Pootie Tang' may be raw and slovenly - hey, it often is raw and slovenly - but it succeeds as a laugh getter because of the spot-on satirical notes. You might say that the movie walks it like it talks it; I'm not sure what Pootie would say. Elvis Mitchell laugh say like you 'The Third Man,' directed by Carol Reed and written by Graham Greene, is, quite simply, one of the finest movies ever made. Elvis Mitchell quite movies man made One of the funniest things about Mr. Kaufman is that all of his filmed scripts - 'Being John Malkovich,' 'Human Nature,' 'Adaptation' and now 'Sunshine' - sound like titles from REM's 'Reckoning.' Elvis Mitchell sunshine human-nature nature sound 'Va Savoir' is a lovable comedy about love that looks upon life as drama and uses the world of the theater as a staging device. Elvis Mitchell comedy love life world Music is a big part of the director's life; Ms. Coppola's previous feature, a screen adaptation of 'The Virgin Suicides,' was informed more substantially by the score by the group Air than by the narrative. Elvis Mitchell big group music life The influence of John Hughes is fully felt in the melodrama 'Donnie Darko.' This first film written and directed by Richard Kelly is a wobbly cannonball of a movie that tries to go Mr. Hughes one better; it's like a Hughes version of a novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Elvis Mitchell better go like influence