Here is the trailer:

[www.youtube.com]

I already miss Andy Kaufman...............never be fond of this type of movies.

__________________________

... another Baz cartoon opera ....



ROCKMAN

I think the trailer looks interesting. It won't be the same old cookie cutter biopic, and I think that's a good thing. I'll take audacious and ambitious over safe and conventional any day.

Absolutely, Jah. It looks intriguing. I much prefer the kaleidoscopic Rocketman to the pedestrian Bohemian Rhapsody.

Looks good to me and I look forward to this release . How about how fat Tom Hnaks looks to capture the vibe and essence of Col. Tom Parker ?

That's a hard gig, to play someone as beautiful as Presley was physically, and as well known. No one really knew anything about Buddy Holly when Gary Busey played him. That movie resurrected Holly's legend.

I thought Redford was the only action capable of pulling off John F. Kennedy, but sadly he never played him.

Oh my, a glam Elvis. Not that he wasn't glam, but.... I am sure it'll be interesting and I'll give it a look. For another movie regarding Elvis check out "This Is Elvis" which came out in 1981. A mix of fiction and real it's a great take on who was Elvis. There are also two great books on Elvis' rise and fall - Last Train To Memphis and Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis by Peter Guralnick.

Regarding Elvis, he still is a listen. A black friend of mine some years ago, who grew up in the South, commented to me when we were talking music one day, that he loved Elvis and as far as he was concerned, "That motherf*cker could sing". I told him I was a lifelong Elvis fan also. He asked if I could put together some Elvis songs for him. I told him it'd be my pleasure. I came up with the following which I call "Elvis- The Voice". I'm listing the songs in order. It's a great flow and fits one CD. Dig the voice.

Blueberry Hill
One Night
Blue Christmas
Santa Claus Is Back In Town
Fever
Like A Baby
Reconsider Baby
Only The Strong Survive
Any Day Now
Long Black Limousine
I'll Hold You In My Arms
True Love Travels On A Gravel Road
It Keeps Right On A Hurtin'
Heartbreak Hotel
Don't Be Cruel
Too Much
Crying In The Chapel
Suspicious Minds
That's Alright Mama
Blue Moon
Tomorrow Night
Good Rocking Tonight
Mystery Train
Money Honey
Lawdy Miss Clawdy
Love Me

It just dawned on me how many copies of this collection I've burned for people who heard it and wanted a copy. A number of them had never heard Elvis beyond the hits.

I would add this one to your list:

[www.youtube.com]


Kind of a throwaway movie track...but I've thought if I ever put together a playlist of songs to be played at my own funeral, I'd want this one to be the last!

Hard to predict how well these types of things will sell but I never thought the Freddie Mercury biopic would go anywhere and it made Queen relevant again with today's young music fans.

My teenage daughters and their friends suddenly became Queen fans at least until they got bored with the music and went back to listening to hip-hop again.

I think this will do well and we will be flooded with new Elvis recycled boxsets and junk to buy.

Quote
oldschool
Hard to predict how well these types of things will sell but I never thought the Freddie Mercury biopic would go anywhere and it made Queen relevant again with today's young music fans.

That's the thing. New generations barely know who Elvis is. He's not even played on classic rock stations. When I moved to L.A. in the 80s the local oldies station (KRTH) was playing 50s music. Now they play 90s and later. And Elvis has been dead 45 years this August. Maybe it will stir interest in the younguns for about five minutes. Then they'll go back to staring at their phones and taking selfies.

Yeah. Whoever the corporate owner of the ELVIS brand is today needs to give the investment a boost.

These biopics really do nothing for me.

I didn't expect to like the documentary The King but it was actually very good. It gave you a sense of the impact of Elvis, and what he meant to American culture.

[www.youtube.com]

I still say the 1968 Comeback Special was one of the greatest performances of all-time. Maybe the greatest.

Also, no human being - male or female - ever looked better than he did at that moment in time.

ROCKMAN

Quote
Chester
I still say the 1968 Comeback Special was one of the greatest performances of all-time. Maybe the greatest.

Also, no human being - male or female - ever looked better than he did at that moment in time.

I just wish I could remix that damn special. Some guy is banging a tambourine way too loud. Pot that thing down.

Quote
Chester
I still say the 1968 Comeback Special was one of the greatest performances of all-time. Maybe the greatest.

Also, no human being - male or female - ever looked better than he did at that moment in time.

I'd argue that he's neck-in-neck with Marvin Gaye in the TAMI Show.

I think this movie will be a major box office hit because Tom Hanks plays Col. Tom Parker . Major star power means big bucks at the box office . I can't believe how close he looks to the Col. Also the actor playing Elvis looks right .

Quote
Rockman
... another Baz cartoon opera ....

Not a fan?

Anyone seen the biggest movie in the US right now?

Or is everyone currently in full time Stones mode cuz of the tour where nothing else matters?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2022-07-01 20:14 by Justin.

The Blues and Gospel influences were highly represented, well done.
(Parker, a-little creepy.)

I saw "Elvis." I'm thinking of seeing it again next week and will definitely purchase it as soon as it comes out on Blu Ray. As you can probably guess, I liked it a lot. It wasn't nearly as anachronistic as "Moulin Rouge!" which was kind of what I was expecting. I thought the stylization was absorbing. I'm not usually a fan of fast edits, but it worked for me in "Elvis" because it helps keep up a high level of energy and pace. (It's a long movie.) The very few scenes when it slowed down were the only times my interest began to flag at all.

I didn't mind Tom Hanks as Col. Tom Parker. It's not really possible to fully suspend disbelief because of the drastic makeup and body padding, but as a character I didn't think Parker was portrayed as Pure Evil. Rather he was more just a huckster who found a popular product. I think Parker comes off as a little sad and pathetic himself.

Anyway, the main performance of Austin Butler as Elvis was amazing. Really top notch casting and performance. Somebody on Letterboxd said they didn't think Butler was acting much at all, which is honestly the best compliment an actor could ever get. He was definitely acting and doing one hell of a job at it too. It feels like anybody could do an Elvis impression, but it would be much harder to depict him in a familiar way yet still make him seem like a real person and not a caricature. Weirdly, he began to resemble Elvis more and more as the movie progressed.

The juke joint of Elvis's youth was interestingly depicted. It kinda made me want to see Baz do a whole Blues movie. Also the staging of the '68 Comeback Special was a highlight. The movie ends with real footage of Elvis singing "Unchained Melody" in one of his final performances. While he looks terrible, probably shouldn't be on stage at all, and can't hit the last note to his own intense frustration, it's still incredibly powerful to see and hear.

Anyways, excellent movie in my humble opinion.

Thanks for the review! Might watch it in London when I'm there over the weekend.

Quote
TheGreek
I think this movie will be a major box office hit because Tom Hanks plays Col. Tom Parker . Major star power means big bucks at the box office . I can't believe how close he looks to the Col. Also the actor playing Elvis looks right .

I very much enjoyed the Colonel as portrayed in the California episode of Scorsese's shortlived Vinyl series. Having Tom Hanks play him can't be a good move because people like Hanks, Depp, Pitt, Dicaprio et al only show up as themselves at that stage of their career no matter how deep they may get into character. I couldn't get "into" any big movie for a loong time because of this.

Quote
jahisnotdead
I saw "Elvis." I'm thinking of seeing it again next week and will definitely purchase it as soon as it comes out on Blu Ray. As you can probably guess, I liked it a lot. It wasn't nearly as anachronistic as "Moulin Rouge!" which was kind of what I was expecting. I thought the stylization was absorbing. I'm not usually a fan of fast edits, but it worked for me in "Elvis" because it helps keep up a high level of energy and pace. (It's a long movie.) The very few scenes when it slowed down were the only times my interest began to flag at all.

I didn't mind Tom Hanks as Col. Tom Parker. It's not really possible to fully suspend disbelief because of the drastic makeup and body padding, but as a character I didn't think Parker was portrayed as Pure Evil. Rather he was more just a huckster who found a popular product. I think Parker comes off as a little sad and pathetic himself.

Anyway, the main performance of Austin Butler as Elvis was amazing. Really top notch casting and performance. Somebody on Letterboxd said they didn't think Butler was acting much at all, which is honestly the best compliment an actor could ever get. He was definitely acting and doing one hell of a job at it too. It feels like anybody could do an Elvis impression, but it would be much harder to depict him in a familiar way yet still make him seem like a real person and not a caricature. Weirdly, he began to resemble Elvis more and more as the movie progressed.

The juke joint of Elvis's youth was interestingly depicted. It kinda made me want to see Baz do a whole Blues movie. Also the staging of the '68 Comeback Special was a highlight. The movie ends with real footage of Elvis singing "Unchained Melody" in one of his final performances. While he looks terrible, probably shouldn't be on stage at all, and can't hit the last note to his own intense frustration, it's still incredibly powerful to see and hear.

Anyways, excellent movie in my humble opinion.

Thanks for your thoughts. Glad to see you enjoyed it and are thinking of seeing it again. Out of curiosity how did you feel the movie handled the more controversial issues that surrounds Presley? In the last few months there has been a renewed conversation about Presley and his 'debt' to the culture he left behind. It's a complex thing but feel Elvis' intent and motivations were depicted correctly in the movie.

Quote
24FPS

Quote
Chester
I still say the 1968 Comeback Special was one of the greatest performances of all-time. Maybe the greatest.

Also, no human being - male or female - ever looked better than he did at that moment in time.

I just wish I could remix that damn special. Some guy is banging a tambourine way too loud. Pot that thing down.

More cowbell!!!!!!

Quote
Justin
Thanks for your thoughts. Glad to see you enjoyed it and are thinking of seeing it again. Out of curiosity how did you feel the movie handled the more controversial issues that surrounds Presley? In the last few months there has been a renewed conversation about Presley and his 'debt' to the culture he left behind. It's a complex thing but feel Elvis' intent and motivations were depicted correctly in the movie.

I guess the biggest controversial aspect would be cultural appropriation, and the movie tackled that head on in what I think was an appropriate way, no pun intended. "That's All Right Mama" and a few other early songs are played as blues versions by Black artists before we hear Elvis's versions. It's pretty clear from the film that Elvis wouldn't have been Elvis without the blues.

The movie didn't ever focus on Priscilla's age. I think only one time a voice over referred to her as a teenager, and that was it. Nor did it mention Elvis's groupies beyond one line. No depiction of any half naked girls wrestling here. There's only one scene of Elvis firing a gun into a tv, and no mention of the most sordid stories from "Elvis: What Happened?" tell-all book where Elvis allegedly wanted to have a guy he was jealous of killed. His drug use is not dwelled on apart from one scene where Dr. Nick is instructed to give Elvis something so he could get on stage and perform. The manner of his death is not addressed definitively and is kind of tossed off in one line at the end.

I don't think including much of that would have made for a better movie. There's only so many stories the film can focus on for any significant length of time. For example, Elvis's separation from Priscilla doesn't have much impact since she's really not in the film that much. The main story-driving conflict of the film is Elvis's relationship with Parker.

Anything about Elvis's appearance on the Ed Sullivan show was probably the most notable omission from the film, I would say. There's also no depiction of his meeting with Nixon, which is a little odd since I think there have now been two movies based on that one incident.

Quote
24FPS

Quote
Chester
I still say the 1968 Comeback Special was one of the greatest performances of all-time. Maybe the greatest.

Also, no human being - male or female - ever looked better than he did at that moment in time.

I just wish I could remix that damn special. Some guy is banging a tambourine way too loud. Pot that thing down.

Lots of good alternate takes here, might find a version of the songs you like better:

'68 Comeback 50th Anniversary

Watched it for the second time today. This time in IMAX. If you go see one movie this year, or ever, see this. It’s not a movie, it’s a two and a half hour emotional roller coaster ride.

Quote
Rockman
... another Baz cartoon opera ....

Haha... I was wondering what 'kind' words you would have for Ole Baz.
I liked the Ballroom dancing flic by him a lot.

It’s good

Rod