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Elvis Mitchell (born 1958 in Detroit, Michigan) is an African-American public intellectual and a former film critic for The New York Times (1998-2004).

Education and early career

Mitchel graduated in 1980 from Wayne State University , where he majored in English. Before arriving at The Times, he served as a film critic for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and The Detroit Free Press.

Style

In his reviews, Mitchell takes on a freewheeling?some might say stream of consciousness?approach, and threads a good deal of intertextuality into his work by referencing other films. As one of the most well-known African-American critics in the United States, Mitchell also incorporates various cultural issues into his reviews and essays.

Television, film and NPR

In the late 1980s, Mitchell was part of a short-lived PBS show called The Edge. On the series, he provided film commentary and general criticism. In one segment, Mitchell offered a quick run-down of all of director Oliver Stone's tropes, including "always keep that camera moving," which he said while moving a camcorder over a small model of a Vietnamese jungle and prison camp set up on a table.

In 2007, Mitchell appeared in an episode of the HBO series Entourage, playing himself. Mitchell is currently producing "The Black List" with director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, a film about race, culture and the seeds of success. The film includes Toni Morrison, Chris Rock and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar among others.

Mitchell is currently the host of KCRW's pop culture and film interview program "The Treatment". He is also an occasional film critic/commentator for Weekend Edition on NPR.

Academic career

He has recently been asked to serve as a visiting lecturer in film and African American Studies at Harvard University.

External links

• KCRW's The Treatment
• Movies reviewed for the New York Times
• New York Magazine article on Mitchell's departure from the [[New York Times]]