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Elvis (2022) Part Two

Discuss all things Elvis here.

by Anonymousreply 180February 4, 2023 2:34 AM

I saw it in theaters twice and look forward to watching it again on HBO Max.

by Anonymousreply 1July 14, 2022 8:03 PM

Bump

by Anonymousreply 2July 15, 2022 1:45 AM

Bump

by Anonymousreply 3July 15, 2022 1:45 AM

Why was this thread bumped bumped twice?

by Anonymousreply 4July 15, 2022 1:51 AM

There's so much to find in this movie. E.g.: Elvis's sexual proclivities.

There are three scenes of Elvis in bed with a woman/girl. IMO Baz used each to tell us of Elvis's different desires.

With the pretty fan who boldly enters his motel room, Elvis is seen disrobing her and then atop her, with bare torso. There's no dialogue. To make plain what's happening, "Fever" is playing. AKA, full-on sex.

With Priscilla, Elvis is shown brushing his teeth, keeping his bathrobe on while playfully nuzzling his wife, talking about firing the Colonel. We see a television program still on. AKA, no actual sex.

Lastly, now with drug-induced paranoia, Elvis is in bed with a girl (groupie?). I believe that this actress was chosen by Baz to let us know that Elvis liked them young, for she is very slight of build (we see her spine!), wears jeans, and has the makeup-free visage of a teen-ager. About as opposite of dyed and eyelinered Priscilla as one could get. Elvis reaches for the girl, but his paranoia interrupts. AKA, only touching.

All three scenarios as exemplifications of Elvis's compartmentalized sexual behaviors are corroborated in various written works about Elvis.

by Anonymousreply 5July 15, 2022 7:32 AM

Should be "With WIFE Priscilla...."

by Anonymousreply 6July 15, 2022 8:06 AM

Excerpts from Rita Moreno: A Memoir

Elvis asked me out several times, and things always went the same way between us. He was his “real self,’ a shy, bumbling kid from Tupelo whose favorite book was the Bible. He was also what some of his detractors accused: a mama’s boy. Our “sex” activity fell far short of my expectations and needs, typically ending up in my Sunset Boulevard apartment with the roar of traffic as our accompaniment. The red glare of the traffic lights lent a carnal glow to our activities.

More specifically, my dates with the King nearly always concluded in a tender tussle on my living room floor, with Elvis’s pelvis in that famous gyration straining against his taut trousers. I could feel him thrust against my clothed body, and expecting the next move, I knew I would have to confront my own conflicted motives when the time came, but it never did.

“We can just do this,” he’d whisper in my ear as we moved around on the floor. “We can just do this, okay?”

“This” was called “grinding,” and it was all he really wanted to do. Maybe Elvis was inhibited by inbred religious prohibitions or an oedipal complex, or maybe he simply preferred the thrill of denied release. Whatever put the brakes on the famous pelvis, it ground to a halt at a certain point and that was it.

Later, I discovered that my experience with Elvis was typical. Natalie Wood stormed out on him when he refused to “do it,” and many others claimed that all he liked to do was cuddle with teenage girls or watch them cavort girl-upon-girl. He was a fine match for his teen fans, arrested, apparently, at their level of development. I was already a fully grown woman with adult desires—and I had been with Marlon.

In a way, Elvis’s ambivalence suited my own. I was still so deeply in love with Marlon Brando that I truly didn’t want any- one else. Elvis and I were in perfect sync. We rolled around sey- eral times, and I don’t believe either of us ever found release, only that hunk-a hunk-a burnin’ love, which, when I heard the song afterward, did sound more like a hymn to sexual frustration than satisfaction.

Eventually, though, I realized that I couldn't fake it anymore. There were only so many times that I could be in a clutch with a kid whose pouty lips could hardly express an idea or recount an experience. After Marlon’s intellectual curiosity, sexual appetite, and chameleon-like changes, the truth is that Elvis bored me. He was more like a baby brother who couldn’t make interesting conversation.

One night, as I watched Elvis wolf down a bacon, mashed banana, and peanut butter sandwich that had been home-fried in — bacon fat, I realized that he probably desired that sandwich more than he desired me. I liked Elvis well enough, but there was just nothing left to say or do.

When Marlon, in a fury of passion and jealousy, reeled me in again, I sprang back into that man’s boat, hooked once more. I kissed Elvis’s Cupid’s-bow lips good-bye and never turned back.

Still, my heart ached when, twenty years later, I heard the news with everyone else that the King had been found dead in his bathroom of a prescription drug overdose. He was sad and bloated during those last years, and I was told he had to be buck- led into a girdle before he could don a costume. Elvis staggered toward his tragic end at forty-two, and I could not help thinking, “Poor boy.”

by Anonymousreply 7July 15, 2022 9:32 PM

I don't buy it, r7. Elvis had his fun and then sent her back to Marlon who eventually took a hard pass, too.

by Anonymousreply 8July 15, 2022 10:32 PM

Nice

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by Anonymousreply 9July 15, 2022 11:30 PM

170+M globally.

by Anonymousreply 10July 16, 2022 12:43 AM

Austin Butler is so fucking hot in this movie.

by Anonymousreply 11July 16, 2022 12:57 PM

R11, Thank you. That, to me, is the real bottom line, NPI.

For this old Frau, I'm not there for Elvis, Elvis's tragic life, or Baz's style.

I go to look at the most beautiful on-screen male face (Those eyes! Those lips!) since 1968's Leonard Whiting in "Romeo and Juliet"! At least Baz got it right with the many close-ups!

Especially Austin in the '68 CS. Nothing finer. NO-THING.

by Anonymousreply 12July 16, 2022 2:57 PM

After watching this movie, the conspiracy theories about Elvis faking his death, make a little more sense to me. I understand why people think he faked his own death.

by Anonymousreply 13July 16, 2022 8:51 PM

The real Elvis was pretty hot too.

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by Anonymousreply 14July 17, 2022 1:15 PM

Would've liked seeing AB in those tight jeans, r14!

That's the big flaw in the movie, noted by several critics: Too much Hanks, both on-screen and in narration, and not enough Butler (I'd like to see a comparison of the actors in Total Words Spoken)---particularly not enough singing Elvis, when we know that Baz filmed Austin performing ENTIRE CONCERTS, and all the director did with that fabulous footage was to show nanosecond snippets in screens split like a fly's eye!

In a recent interview, Baz was asked about the 4-hour version (though I'm not at all interested in the Nixon meeting because....why? What narrative purpose would it serve---to show Elvis as a hypocrite regarding drugs? Just more non-singing.), and/or more of AB singing. The director was very reluctant to pursue the topic, saying any such releases would be "years from now." Well, of course we, the world, and Austin's career will have moved on.

Baz doesn't yet understand what he had, and has. He captured lightning in a bottle, but if he let it out now he would find an audience ready to be struck.

by Anonymousreply 15July 17, 2022 1:55 PM

I dunno, r15. It seems pretty obvious there'll be a director's cut with lots of extras, inlcuding performances. Baz, the snowman, is already teasing all of it.

"will have moved on."

Possess your soul in patience, sir. People remain interested in "old" movies....

I loved the film, and AB did a fantastic job, but why people would get all excited to watch AB doing a concert imitation when there are so many recordings of the real deal is puzzling to me! I had a friend who adored DIana Ross in Lady SIngs the Blues and decided to give the real Billie Holiday a listen. He couldn't stand it and was puzzled why Holiday was such a legend with a voice like that! To each their own...

by Anonymousreply 16July 17, 2022 2:10 PM

The haters of DL sure got this one wrong. They all said it would be a flop because no one--especially young people--would be interested in Elvis anymore...

"Elvis continues to drive box office in part because younger audiences—none of whom were born during Elvis's lifetime—are embracing the film and leading the social media conversation," said Jeff Goldstein, President of Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

"Along with the film's success, the music from the movie is climbing on diverse charts, resulting in a cross-genre reverberation from dance to hip-hop and more, and sales of the Elvis Presley catalog rising, with streaming of his music up 90%."

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by Anonymousreply 17July 17, 2022 3:53 PM

It’s hard being a casual Elvis fan in 2022. If it’s ok to like Michael Jackson’s work then I should be allowed to like Elvis’s work.

by Anonymousreply 18July 17, 2022 6:10 PM

You don't need the permission of others to like what you like. You can even see nuance, complication and faults in the artists you admire and still admire them. as artists

by Anonymousreply 19July 17, 2022 6:32 PM

R19 I agree but the younger generation doesn’t seem to get it.

by Anonymousreply 20July 17, 2022 6:34 PM

Cybill Shepherd said she taught Elvis how to eat pussy in her book.

by Anonymousreply 21July 17, 2022 6:35 PM

Each one, reach one, r21.

by Anonymousreply 22July 17, 2022 8:05 PM

R16, r15 here. I have no desire to wish my life way; I won't be around that much longer! So patience it is.

I think because I lived through the Elvis 50s and remember vividly his Army enlistment as a child in elementary school, I was too young to be a real fan like my Aunts in Jersey.

And by Elvis's momentous "'68 Comeback Special," I was in college, a Beatles/British Invasions 1 (Pop) &2 (Psychedelic/Heavy Metal) fan, completely oblivious to this TV program.

So while the real EP was handsome and sexy and had a killer smile, I'd rather see more of the living AB, handsome and sexy and with a killer smile.

by Anonymousreply 23July 17, 2022 9:01 PM

I see what you're saying, r23, but either way: it's all on film, so time and who's living or dead while you're watching isn't exactly the point. Let them compete on an even playing field? Watch King Creole and .just imagne it's AB from beginning to end.

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by Anonymousreply 24July 18, 2022 1:14 AM

R24, Yes, 'tis true enough, that movies are the Rock of Eternity. I'm being inarticulate. Basically, I'm not now nor have I ever been a fan of Elvis other than casually, like for "Suspicious Minds." I don't intend to begin now. I even stayed overnight in Memphis once, on a cross-country trip at age 25. Did I visit Graceland? Nope.

However, I do plan to follow the career of Austin Butler.

by Anonymousreply 25July 18, 2022 4:01 AM

One influence on Elvis's stage presence I've not seen mentioned: The outfits of Country artists. Hank Snow and colleagues wear sparkly, spangly jackets with sequins and fringe. In Las Vegas Elvis would adorn his jumpsuits similarly.

One more movie coincidence: After expounding on his "Showman and Snowman" concept, Showman CTP tells us how his first Country Music client was Hank SNOW.

Breaking the 4th Wall: When he hears "hapless" JR Snow try to Elvis-up his own song, Tom Hanks gives his look of disdain directly into the camera to us.

Finally, no-one has noted the creepiest person in the movie: Tom Diskin, CTP's omnipresent notebook-toting accountant, clearly not a fan of the "wigglin' boy."

by Anonymousreply 26July 18, 2022 8:16 AM

As I said, there's no accounting for taste.

by Anonymousreply 27July 18, 2022 11:06 AM

This movie actually turned me into a fan of Elvis. Before I was indifferent towards him.

by Anonymousreply 28July 18, 2022 8:30 PM

Latest Box Office.

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by Anonymousreply 29July 18, 2022 8:47 PM

The photo of Elvis and BB King included in the article linked to above, does not exist in the movie. In the movie Elvis is to BB's left on the balcony; there is no "looking out the window together" moment.

Baz has done that a lot: Show us stills and snippets that exist only in ads and on the cutting room floor. Another example shows Elvis singing at the mic with Hank Snow's "Rainbow" backdrop; not in the movie.

In some ways Baz wants us to pay very close attention; in other aspects, not so much!

by Anonymousreply 30July 19, 2022 9:51 AM

Finally it hit me, embarrassingly late:

The Maenads. The "keening" (Baz's term) women are the worshippers of this Southern Dionysus. I believe that's what Baz wants us to think and recognize in a Jungian context.

This article relates closely to Elvis, even mentioning that the archetype Dionysian Child has a special birth ("You have the strength of two now") and often feels like "a motherless boy." Is led to music.

"Attracting women to him, disrupting their lives."

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by Anonymousreply 31July 19, 2022 5:21 PM

R31 here. Mentioned in the above linked article are characteristics coincidentally (??) in the movie: Drug addiction; crying; premature death; young companions as sexual partners (the TV-shooting sequence); Altamont; Charles Manson; and Elvis's musical Intro, "Thus Spake Zarathustra."

Interestingly, some Dionysian Man traits in the article fit Austin:

"The Iceman Cometh"; "motherless boy"; "several gods gave him crucial help" (for AB = Denzel, Tom H , Baz.)=

by Anonymousreply 32July 19, 2022 6:10 PM

IOW, Baz deliberately and wittingly incorporated visual homages to other directors plus mythology, symbolism, semiotics, and psychology with the obvious social commentary and biography to create, through the faithful realism of Austin Butler's Elvis framed by the phantasmagorical surrealism of the carnival, a masterpiece unlike any other "bio-pic" EVER.

Critics amateur or professional for whom much if not all of this depth is lost are not to be countenanced.

by Anonymousreply 33July 20, 2022 3:50 PM

There’s so much false info about Elvis that is accepted as fact. Growing up I was led to believe he was the most racist person ever, and while he may have been problematic in some aspects, there doesn’t seem to be any strong evidence he was.

by Anonymousreply 34July 20, 2022 6:12 PM

strong evidence he was racist*

by Anonymousreply 35July 20, 2022 6:12 PM

After watching Elvis: That’s the Way It Is, I think Elvis was a bit goofier than Austin portrayed him. He still did a great job tho.

by Anonymousreply 36July 20, 2022 6:36 PM

Austin or Baz, r36?

Austin/Elvis wasn't put into any light-hearted scenes but three, never mind being able to be "goofier": On the Ferris wheel, joking about buying "a million Cadillacs...a Rocket Ship!"; in Club Handy, when he smiles and gives a short laugh; and playing Touch Football for a three-second scene with "Dodger" Granny.

Your description, however true, didn't quite mesh with Baz's vision or story arc of a hopeful Young Elvis "all geared up" and "ready to fly" on his Star Trek to the jaded Middle-Aged Elvis "all out of dreams."

Indeed, Baz insists on Death as a key element of Elvis's life: opening the movie with the dying CTP, eager to tell his side of the saga (aka, the entire movie); the Sad Tale of Twin Jesse; Moral martinets basically forcing Elvis into the Army, of which move he later says, "That killed my mother"; the 1968 assassinations; alleged "death threats" leading to EP's violent paranoia on-stage and off; his relating of the fable of the legless bird that lands but once, "when it dies"; and finally, Elvis's own death and funeral cortege.

by Anonymousreply 37July 20, 2022 11:28 PM

I love this movie so much. I LOVE loving it.

by Anonymousreply 38July 20, 2022 11:43 PM

There's an interesting little 'subplot' (that's not really the word I'm looking for, maybe more thematic underpinning? something like that) involving the freak show that Colonel Parker manages at the beginning.

Anyone else think this? Last time I saw it, I could have sworn that it resonates again during the chaotic "Trouble" riot scene. At the height of the chaos, a scary nightmarishly surreal image flashes by for the briefest of lightning-flash moments, reflected in the window of the car that's taking Elvis out of there: the dwarf couple from the opening scene dressed up and made up as scary, almost demonic clowns. It's so fast I couldn't swear to it, but if someone goes again, please lmk if you see that!

by Anonymousreply 39July 21, 2022 12:56 AM

R39, I will look for that image! (It's just so darn difficult to take my eyes off Austin, though---even Tom Hanks said that about the rest of the cast and extras---that Austin performing on set was "electrifying"!) "Scary clowns" is a motif: We enter the carnival through an evil clown's mouth! Indeed, we enter the movie via tchotchke clowns as the opening image. The Colonel's cane handle that he is about to ambush and ensnare Young Elvis with, is a clown head.

I did make a different connection, though, to CTP's carnival: His "Dancing Chickens" for the rubes is repeated when Mama Gladys is chasing chickens out of newly-purchased Graceland.

P.S. In that "Trouble" police riot scene, did you notice the bass drummer tumbling off the stage in a cartwheel?! It's quite impressive!

Of course, the unwitting irony of the moment is the lyric, "I don't take no orders/From no kind of man." Except CTP, the Vice Squad, Uncle Sam, Dr. Nick, Hollywood studio heads,....

As the Colonel says, "We've had Elvis the Rebel...." As in, BT, DT. To him, Elvis was simply a piece of merchandise to package, like an "I HATE ELVIS" button. Musical artistry, being moved viscerally by music as Elvis was, was completely beyond the Colonel's ken. I know: I'm being Captain Obvious here!

But Elvis, after his mother died and regardless of his subsequent marriage, was lost. "And when you're lost, people take advantage."

by Anonymousreply 40July 21, 2022 3:59 AM

When Elvis turns to meet the Colonel the word Geek is seen on the tent behind him. When the Colonel is signing Elvis's life away to the hotel managers one of them calls Elvis the Colonel's sideshow.

by Anonymousreply 41July 21, 2022 4:18 AM

^^And it seems to be something that the Colonel understands and uses to manipulate Elvis..., that in spite of all the adulation and all the talent, constantly surrounded by people, Elvis still feels like something of a freak, an outsider, apart and alone.

by Anonymousreply 42July 21, 2022 11:56 AM

Latest Box Office (3 major markets opening today):

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by Anonymousreply 43July 21, 2022 4:05 PM

In a Red Carpet interview, actor Adam Dunn (Elvis's bass player) spoke of his audition.

He first played guitar for Baz. Then he waited. Got the call to come in. Asked his agent if he should take bass lessons. Agent implied, "Duh!" So he learned one song.

And passed muster!

by Anonymousreply 44July 21, 2022 4:09 PM

R43 here: Apologies for posting the exact same info that I did the other day!

As my penance, I offer this great interview with AB, in which he speaks of filming "Elvis," of Baz, Gary Clark, Jr., of how Baz found Alton Mason to play Little Richard [Note: Mason is not singing "Tutti-Frutti"; that is Les Greene.], and more.

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by Anonymousreply 45July 21, 2022 4:22 PM

James Dean nexus:

In the movie, Elvis, at the Hollywood sign and elsewhere, expresses his major admiration for and wish for the same Classic-movie immortality as James Dean, including pointing out Griffiths Observatory, setting for "Rebel Without a Cause."

In this "Vogue" interview, Austin claims the same admiration from an early age.

Meta Moment this Saturday evening:

Turner Classic Movies is showing "Rebel Without a Cause," starring James Dean.

Opposite it on FXM is "OUATIH," featuring Austin Butler.

by Anonymousreply 46July 21, 2022 7:49 PM

Link for r46:

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by Anonymousreply 47July 21, 2022 7:50 PM

Which two movies are also opposite, on Outer Max, "The Great Gatsby," directed by Baz Luhrmann!

When talents collide!

by Anonymousreply 48July 21, 2022 8:07 PM

OMG.

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by Anonymousreply 49July 21, 2022 9:48 PM

[quote] OMG

Dyatlov right?

by Anonymousreply 50July 21, 2022 10:07 PM

She sings "Hound Dog" in the movie. Tremendous talent in a great scene.

by Anonymousreply 51July 21, 2022 11:17 PM

That’s sad. RIP to her.

by Anonymousreply 52July 22, 2022 4:26 AM

Elvis died on August 16th and Austin was born on August 17th.

by Anonymousreply 53July 22, 2022 4:27 AM

R53, I noted this cosmic connection in another thread! (I hope your post isn't mine released from the ether!)

Also, in the movie's setting, because there was no instant info communication like with today's technology, the world learns of, and we the audience are shown, Elvis's death from the next morning's newspaper front pages---newspapers dated August 17.

by Anonymousreply 54July 22, 2022 10:19 AM

R39, I Iooked today. I thought the faces, if that's what I saw through the back window, were of the fans, the Maenads who would in their frenzy rip men apart ("She looked like she could eat him alive.").

But the scene is particularly Baz-esque, with some Hieronymus Bosch for good measure, very difficult to discern details.

by Anonymousreply 55July 22, 2022 11:49 PM

I've now watched all types of interviews with AB, from the Cannes ones to EW to People, plus TV Talk shows, etc.

At no time is Austin ever asked, "After your literally years of preparation and then of filming, finally seeing the finished product---Do you like the movie? And specifically, do you like your performance?"

One wonders. Because if I were Austin, I'd be severely disappointed in how much I'd worked and rehearsed and been filmed in full-length concerts only to have so little shown on-screen.

by Anonymousreply 56July 23, 2022 8:36 AM

At no time is Austin ever asked, "After your literally years of preparation and then of filming, finally seeing the finished product---Do you like the movie? And specifically, do you like your performance?"

It's not a great question imho. What's he supposed to say? It's a shitty film and I'm terrible in it? It's the movie of the year and I'm fantastic? Fuck Baz for leaving all the good stuff on the cutting room floor?

No answer would ever sound right other than just something dial tone like, "I'm so proud of the work we did together, and so happy that audiences are liking the film as much as they are..." I can almost guarantee that's the most an interviewer would get with a question like that!

by Anonymousreply 57July 23, 2022 2:31 PM

True, r57. I didn't think that through, did I?! I was projecting my own disappointment with Baz's editing!

by Anonymousreply 58July 23, 2022 3:33 PM

Do they show Elvis abusing women? Particularly the fan whose ankle he broke while showing off his martial art skills?

by Anonymousreply 59July 23, 2022 3:40 PM

When Baz has Elvis at his plane mouth the words "I will always love you" to Priscilla, he, Baz, is encapsulating the following episode.

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by Anonymousreply 60July 23, 2022 7:28 PM

"Particularly the fan whose ankle he broke while showing off his martial art skills"

Link, please.

ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzz.

by Anonymousreply 61July 24, 2022 12:59 AM

Shonka Dukureh, ‘Elvis’ Actress and Singer, Dies at 44:

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by Anonymousreply 62July 24, 2022 1:37 AM

When Baz has Elvis at his plane mouth the words "I will always love you" to Priscilla, he, Baz, is encapsulating the following episode.

And this one:

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by Anonymousreply 63July 24, 2022 1:56 AM

R62, See r49.

R63, See r60. The divorce rendition is mentioned.

by Anonymousreply 64July 24, 2022 8:55 AM

My headline's better, r64,.

by Anonymousreply 65July 24, 2022 1:35 PM

Conceded, r65! (I thought all could see the photo attached.)

I wonder when the Racial Divisiveness Brigade will attack the Beatles for "stealing Black music"?

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by Anonymousreply 66July 24, 2022 2:32 PM

Neat, r66. I didn't even know they'd recorded that song!

I don't think the brigade actually will ever move on to the Beatles or the Stones and the like, though they'd actually have an interesting point if they ever did. Elvis was poor and from the South, and he has always been and always will be a lightning rod for those unforgivable sins imho.

There hasn't been a single popular singer since Elvis who wasn't influenced by black music. And I would actually argue that there wasn't a single significant American popular singer BEFORE Elvis who wasn't influenced by black music. But Elvis has always been and must always remain a symbol for many people.

by Anonymousreply 67July 24, 2022 2:42 PM

Tantalizing omissions by Baz. Do I detect a scintilla of wistful regret from Austin?

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by Anonymousreply 68July 24, 2022 2:49 PM

They're obviously going to release all the extras and deleted scenes any fan could want. They've been talking about it so much, it's almost like the theatrical release is an extended preview for what's coming for the small screen! Not everything could get in. I think AB seems fine with it.

by Anonymousreply 69July 24, 2022 2:56 PM

I hope Baz is smart and avaricious enough to want the money many of us would throw at him for more Singing Austin! Director's Extended Cut, Bazzie Old Boy!

by Anonymousreply 70July 24, 2022 5:12 PM

Finally saw it. Too long and a real downer. The best part was the very end with the real Elvis. So sad to see him before his death. Austin was tremendous but Tom Hanks was unbearable.

by Anonymousreply 71July 24, 2022 8:23 PM

Box Office:

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by Anonymousreply 72July 24, 2022 11:08 PM

R71, Just to make sure, but you might already know:

The "Fat Elvis" at the piano Finale was Austin Butler lip-synching to Elvis, with a cast-mate holding the microphone.

At the song's end, before the famous high notes, it switches to the real Elvis, and we no longer see the person holding the mic.

You can see Austin's prosthetic change here, very briefly:

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by Anonymousreply 73July 24, 2022 11:43 PM

One thing that's been bugging me and to which I have finally been reconciled, to wit:

The "Keening Fans" are the same girls in some different scenes (e.g., Hayride and Milton Berle). Did Baz goof? Hope we wouldn't notice? I've concluded neither.

Baz sets the entire movie in the fevered memory of a dying man. Chronology might suffer. Events might be jumbled, sometimes seen as happening all at once, which we see as a split-screen or kaleidoscopic vision. The Colonel's mind might "fill in the blanks," as psychology tells us the mind often does.

So do we get the unvarnished truth about "Mr. Presley" from the Colonel? Hardly. Do we get the unvarnished truth from Baz? No.

Instead, from both memory and movie we get impressions, visions, emotions and truth more profound than "reality."

As but one small example, the Farewell at the Plane scene: Look at Austin's bowed head after his last wave goodbye to little LM. Look how his hand lingers in its losing grasp of Priscilla's. Watch how his sorrow and his sad expression morphs easily into a smile for his adoring fans.

It's both brilliant acting and brilliant directing. And it is all told as the memory of a dying man whose final wish is not to be remembered as the person who killed Elvis, but rather as The Man Who Made the King.

by Anonymousreply 74July 25, 2022 8:53 PM

TCM ain't stupid.

Monday, August 1, 6:00 a.m.---Beginning of an "ELVIS MARATHON"!

First up, "This Is Elvis," a 2-hour documentary from 1981.

Then two more documentaries interspersed with 9 (nine!) movies, including "VLV"!

by Anonymousreply 75July 27, 2022 4:22 PM

THIS IS ELVIS is a really good documentary.

by Anonymousreply 76July 27, 2022 4:31 PM

Got it set to record, r76!

by Anonymousreply 77July 27, 2022 7:56 PM

Cher @cher

SAW”ELVIS”LAST NITE,IT WAS AMAZING‼️HE WAS MY HERO,MOM♥️HIM 2. ELVIS WAS MY 1ST CONCERT,I WAS 11. MOM TOOK ME 2 SEE HIM.HE WAS WEARING HIS”GOLD SUIT“.HE WAS A SEXY🌪.GIRLS STOOD ON CHAIRS & SCREAMED. MOM & I SCREAMED 2. FILM IS WRITTEN

DIRECTED,ACTED BRILLIANTLY. DP,& EFFECTS🙌🏼

8:30 AM · Jul 25, 2022·Tweetbot for iΟS

by Anonymousreply 78July 29, 2022 5:52 AM

Starting to think Austin Butler will win the Oscar. He also has people like Brad Pitt in his corner.

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by Anonymousreply 79July 29, 2022 6:03 AM

Are Pitt and Butler anything alike?

by Anonymousreply 80July 29, 2022 6:14 AM

R79, Safe bet. Because really---Rami?? Austin acts the proverbial rings around him, never mind actually singing and playing the guitar.

The subtle 20-year aging (yes, makeup, but there's body carriage, attitude, voice etc.), his nuanced drugged effects, the expression of the entire range of human emotions, the sheer physicality of the performance scenes, and, let's be real, Austin's beauty (no other descriptor suffices) shown by Baz to great effect in huge closeups (no Rami bug-eyes!)---well, see list below!

Serious (non-Twitter) movie reviews have used the following terms to describe Austin's performance, and this is only a representative sampling:

Brilliant; bravura; charismatic; dazzling; electrifying; fantastic; hypnotic stage presence; jaw-dropping; magnetic; movie magic; nails it; Oscar-worthy; phenomenal; performance of a lifetime; a revelation; will leave you shaken; in stunning command; sexy and hypnotic; seductive; spectacular; soulful; sublime; show-stopping performance; sensational; brilliantly succeeds; truly transformative; undeniable.

Find any other reviews of any other actor in 2022 that come anywhere close to those above.

by Anonymousreply 81July 29, 2022 10:57 AM

R80, Here they are together.

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by Anonymousreply 82July 29, 2022 10:58 AM

Another detail:

Elvis loved wristwatches. And throughout the movie Catherine Martin has Austin wear different watches to suit the stages of Elvis's career. They are never mentioned, never showcased. But they are there.

She will win the Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

by Anonymousreply 83July 30, 2022 11:46 AM

Updated Box Office:

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by Anonymousreply 84August 1, 2022 12:17 PM

Baz is pressing forward with more PR. On August 8 he will reprise his "Elvis Mondays," sharing unseen footage (apparently movie-goers' comments about wanting more have sunk in) and BTS moments.

He has said that the 4-hour version includes the Nixon meeting (Elvis was high), more with gf Dixie, and more interaction with Scotty and Bill---but these vignettes aren't why we seek the extended version!

We want more of what is driving people to multiple screenings, to wit:

Concert Austin/Elvis. From Wigglin' Boy to Thrusting Man.

by Anonymousreply 85August 3, 2022 12:36 PM

Elvis has made 3x its budget.

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by Anonymousreply 86August 7, 2022 11:14 PM

I really love this movie. I’m glad it didn’t flop like so many people were hoping and expecting.

by Anonymousreply 87August 7, 2022 11:44 PM

I recently watched Girls! Girls! Girls on Amazon Prime. It was fun and Elvis looked great in it. You can see his visible erection in one scene. He also gave off sexually ambiguous vibes, like he wasn’t afraid to be come off as “gay.”

by Anonymousreply 88August 7, 2022 11:46 PM

This thread is full of one MARY!! after another.

by Anonymousreply 89August 8, 2022 12:18 AM

Better a Mary!! than a Monkeypox!

by Anonymousreply 90August 8, 2022 4:42 AM

Buy the digital "Elvis" on Amazon now!

Also available on Video On Demand!

I purchased the Amazon one, but IDK. It won't be nearly the same experience, as I don't have seating that allows for sitting comfortably while also tapping out the beats! So tomorrow I'll go to an afternoon show (#35! 3-5.).

by Anonymousreply 91August 9, 2022 11:20 AM

"This thread is full of one MARY!! after another."

Yeah. All leading up to the biggest Mary who ever Mary-ed at r89. So thanks for your brilliant input, Mary.

by Anonymousreply 92August 9, 2022 11:25 AM

In the middle of the film, in that white jumpsuit, in 4K UHD HDR+, with the see-through effect and zooming, you can really his lovely dong.

Great movie!!!!

by Anonymousreply 93August 9, 2022 11:29 AM

I'm tempted to order On Demand but I'm holding out for one more big screen showing.

Next Tuesday, August 16th, 2022 is the anniversary of Elvis' death.

Marcus Theatres have weekly Tuesday $5.00 shows all day And I checked. "Elvis" is still scheduled!

by Anonymousreply 94August 11, 2022 5:46 PM

And next Wednesday, August 17, is Austin's 31st birthday.

A detail I caught only after many viewings: At the end, right before the lights go out and we hear "Elvis has left the building," we see a quick shot of the breathing apparatus being removed from the Colonel's face; i.e., he dies.

The Colonel's mind, the source of our movie, is the "building" that Elvis---along with everything else---has "left."

Finis.

by Anonymousreply 95August 11, 2022 6:44 PM

I hope Austin wins the Oscar

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by Anonymousreply 96August 11, 2022 7:22 PM

I'll have what you're having, r93!

Can't see a dang thing (thanks for nothin,' BAZ) on my regular SmartTV!

by Anonymousreply 97August 11, 2022 8:44 PM

AND, r96, according to both star and director, the '68 CS was the FIRST scene Austin filmed. The movie's equivalent of being thrown right into the deep end.

Austin said that he "related" because in 1968 it was Elvis's career on the line, and when Austin was filming it was HIS career on the line. Truer words....

by Anonymousreply 98August 11, 2022 8:50 PM

Some of the clips on twitter seem to be making new fans.

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by Anonymousreply 99August 11, 2022 9:34 PM

I bit, r99, but Twitter is an insufferable, dumb rabbit-hole. If you have a point, can you just make it?

by Anonymousreply 100August 12, 2022 3:11 AM

Another example of why many are swooning over Austin Butler. And are unhappy with Baz for all he filmed and kept from us!

This is the song Elvis sings on the couch as CTP tells the family that EP's options are "the Army...or jail." However, the movie version's lyrics are muffled.

Watch to the very end. The look.....

"Crawfish":

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by Anonymousreply 101August 14, 2022 1:24 PM

Just watched it last night. Pretty much ambivalent reaction. I thought Butler was okay, Hanks was incredibly annoying with that bizarre Euro-accent, and my head was spinning from its breakneck, ADD style of presentation. I've liked some other Luhrman movies (namely Moulin Rouge) but didn't think his style was a good fit for this subject and it's timeframe. And at 2.5 hours, I was definitely checking my watch at points.

But happy for those of you who enjoyed it. I didn't hate it, but I don't plan on seeing it again. It was an odd mix of cold and emotionally vacant while also managing to be mawkish.

by Anonymousreply 102August 14, 2022 1:40 PM

Best thing on the soundtrack

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by Anonymousreply 103August 15, 2022 12:56 AM

I'd go with "Trouble" (Austin) and "The King and I" (Cee-lo Green/Eminem), but it's all great!

by Anonymousreply 104August 15, 2022 6:37 AM

For now, to give me time to properly compose my thoughts and examples, you'll need to humor, if not trust, me on this, a theory and analysis I've seen nowhere else, and I've read every review. To wit:

Baz Luhrmann made "Elvis," in both techniques (quick cuts; montages) and imagery, an homage to Alfred Hitchcock in general and to "Strangers on a Train"* specifically.

And the most significant support for the latter assertion is that, not once but TWICE, Baz shows ONLY the B&W shoes of Elvis as he alights from his "Crown Electric"** truck, a direct and unsubtle replication of how we meet Bruno the Psychopath (same shoes!) in "SoaT." As in, "Do you GET it, people?!"

*Watched in a movie theatre today and on TV yesterday, as refreshers. Also have been reading Hitchcock film criticism.

**Bruno's taxi is from "Diamond Cab." Life imitating art.

Suffice here to say that Self-Knowledge and Identity are the twin (!) themes, IMO.

"Aren't you Guy Haines?"

"And who are you, Elvis?"

"Colonel, who are you?"

by Anonymousreply 105August 15, 2022 8:11 PM

"Best Actor" current Oscar candidates predictions:

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by Anonymousreply 106August 16, 2022 5:48 AM

R105, Skipping the "Strangers On a,Train" allusions for now to add a new topic:

Baz presents the story of Elvis as a modern example of the Hero's Journey, elucidated by Joseph Campbell in "The Hero With a Thousand Faces."

Slide top picture to the right for the major elements, beginning with "Unusual Birth."

I think if you've seen the movie you can identify for yourself how Baz shows Elvis fulfilling the rest of this universal archetype, step by step.

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by Anonymousreply 107August 17, 2022 2:09 PM

Twitter is ruining my enjoyment of this movie. I get Elvis was problematic but I don’t understand the intense hate for him when he never claimed to invent rock n’ roll, rejected the king title, and credited the black artists who influenced his sound.

by Anonymousreply 108August 18, 2022 12:27 AM

Flip the script, r108. Tell yourself, "This movie is ruining my enjoyment of Twitter."

And then you'll say, "Enjoyment of Twitter? When was that?! Give me 'Elvis'!"

As for the ignorant users who, ironically, want to re-write the life and legacy of Elvis and make him a racist thief, when he was neither, well, stupid is as stupid does.

Racism: It isn't just for Whites anymore.

by Anonymousreply 109August 18, 2022 4:15 AM

R109 That’s a good perspective to have. Elvis has ruined my enjoyment of Twitter, which is full of obtuse and ignorant assholes.

by Anonymousreply 110August 18, 2022 5:15 AM

Latest Box Office:

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by Anonymousreply 111August 18, 2022 9:28 AM

R111 - And thanks to creative Hollywood accounting, it still won't make a profit...

by Anonymousreply 112August 18, 2022 11:47 AM

In movies as in life, r112, perception is everything.

by Anonymousreply 113August 18, 2022 12:08 PM

For you, Della/r38:

THE FULL SCRIPT!

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by Anonymousreply 114August 23, 2022 2:30 AM

You're my Teddy Bear, r114!

Smooooches, Doll.

by Anonymousreply 115August 23, 2022 2:33 AM

And how's about THIS?!

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by Anonymousreply 116August 23, 2022 4:01 AM

Do you guys think Austin can win the Oscar? He’s got everything going for him right now.

by Anonymousreply 117August 23, 2022 7:33 PM

Will win, r117. Will.

by Anonymousreply 118August 23, 2022 10:48 PM

Elvis's red RCA tie (seen on the Russwood Park stage) (Austin duplicates the black and red, including socks) was sold at auction in 2014. He was given this, or at least one just like it, when he signed his contract for, according to Scotty Moore, $9600.

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by Anonymousreply 119August 24, 2022 8:10 PM

But Elvis's wristwatches were another story altogether!

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by Anonymousreply 120August 24, 2022 8:11 PM

I suspect there's one or two guys in this thread talking to each other/himself.

by Anonymousreply 121August 24, 2022 11:05 PM

I suspect r121 was shamed somewhere upthread for saying something blisteringly stupid or demonstrably false.

by Anonymousreply 122August 26, 2022 12:53 AM

R121, I freely own up to probably the majority of posts, but when I reply to another, the other is a real other. Capisce?

by Anonymousreply 123August 26, 2022 5:30 AM

Omg

by Anonymousreply 124August 26, 2022 6:41 AM

R122 - As usual, your suspicions are wrong.

by Anonymousreply 125August 26, 2022 11:45 AM

I doubt it, r125, but if am wrong, then you tell me:...What keeps you returning and commenting to a thread in which you profess no interest?

I suspect I'm correct. Were you the dumbass who said that people who fall victim to addiction are stupid? Or did you say something dumber? Just fess up.

Either way, I'm sorry you don't like this thread. I'm sorry you don't like Elvis. I'm sorry the film was a giant hit seen by millions of people and people want to discuss it.

Can you ever learn to just let it be? Try to pick up the shattered pieces of your life and move on? Find joy in other things, open other threads and let people here discuss the film without your noxious presence? Thanks!

by Anonymousreply 126August 26, 2022 12:36 PM

[quote] Omg

Dyatlov right?

by Anonymousreply 127August 26, 2022 1:35 PM

[quote] Either way, I'm sorry you don't like this thread. I'm sorry you don't like Elvis. I'm sorry the film was a giant hit seen by millions of people and people want to discuss it.

WTF are you even going on about? Jesus Christ, do you have a personal stake in this fucking movie? I'm replying because I keep getting tagged you lunatic. And yes, it's obvious that half the posts on here are yours. No big deal to me, but it's well, weird. And no, I did not make that post or any other that got slammed. You type crazy.

by Anonymousreply 128August 26, 2022 9:02 PM

"Do you have a personal stake in this fucking movie"

No. I have more of a stake in giving a shitty, bullying, insulting cunt a taste of her own back right back to her. I won't tag you, so you can kindly fuck off from this thread forever. I'm sure I'm not the first one to ever ask you to just please leave the room?

by Anonymousreply 129August 26, 2022 9:24 PM

R128, I am not r126.

My latest are r118, r119, r120, and r123.

I have posted mostly about the film's style, imagery, details, and so on. The Box Office updates. Austin Butler.

by Anonymousreply 130August 26, 2022 9:30 PM

Gosh, r130. It sounds like there are so many people posting on this thread the poor dear is having trouble keeping them straight.

by Anonymousreply 131August 26, 2022 9:33 PM

Like this detail, r128/r129:

In an interview with a magazine based in Dubai, Austin mentioned his viewing Elvis's television performance of "Hound Dog" that, in Austin's opinion, included a sexual gesture. He demonstrated it, but said no more

My being a detective sort of person, I checked the movie. Sure enough, in the scene where Austin performs "Hound Dog" on "The Milton Berle Show," seen on the TV screen in the bigoted Senator's living room, there in B&W is Austin re-creating that gesture.

This is Elvis. The "suggestive" hand gesture on his thigh is at the countdown mark of 1:26.

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by Anonymousreply 132August 26, 2022 9:42 PM

And in the movie, which cannot be linked to, Austin's gesture is at 37:57.

Link to Dubai interview. Third paragraph.

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by Anonymousreply 133August 26, 2022 9:46 PM

Good eye, r132. Did you know that Elvis' performance from about 1:28 on is all totally improvised?

He and the musicians had never performed, rehearsed, or even discussed ending the song that way. When he finished the song (at about 1:26), Elvis just decided to add on that bluesy ending verse, and the musicians did their best to keep up. They did it so well it all just looks like a planned part of the performance!

He killed it.

by Anonymousreply 134August 26, 2022 9:50 PM

He did kill, r134. He had great instincts and feel for the music.

Elvis also choreographed the iconic dance sequence in "Jailhouse Rock." Given criminally short shrift in "Elvis," where all we get is the '68 CS vocal snippet.

by Anonymousreply 135August 27, 2022 12:21 PM

R131 - No one on this thread comes remotely close to straight. My bad, I'll leave you to fawn and obsess from the safety of your momma's basement. I'm sure poor Austin Butler is terrified by your fandom.

by Anonymousreply 136August 27, 2022 2:33 PM

"I'll leave you"

You have no idea how much everyone who encounters you longs to hear these words. Thank you!

by Anonymousreply 137August 27, 2022 4:09 PM

R137 - Oh honey, I know you're obese and all, but surely all of your fatness would not you account for everyone.

by Anonymousreply 138August 28, 2022 6:07 PM

Latest Box Office:

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by Anonymousreply 139August 28, 2022 7:29 PM

Fun new tidbit:

Austin's filming for "The Bikeriders" (post-"Elvis" he's already filmed "Masters of the Air" and maybe even "Dune: Part Two") will commence soon.

Just added to the cast is Michael Shannon. Michael Shannon played Elvis in 2016's "Elvis and Nixon."

TWO Elvises on motorcycles!

by Anonymousreply 140September 3, 2022 10:32 PM

Elvis is now on HBO Max and so are a bunch of Elvis movies.

by Anonymousreply 141September 3, 2022 11:00 PM

The movie is on regular HBO as well. Or was, 8:00 p.m.---10:40 p.m.

Haha---Instead, I've been watching "The Blues Brothers" and they're singing "Jailhouse Rock" over the credits!

Elvis is everywhere!

by Anonymousreply 142September 4, 2022 3:35 AM

The movie was not at all what I expected. They made an Elvis movie for the gen z addhd summer movie watcher. I didn’t care for it.

Fast edits with CGI

Flashback story told through Tom Hanks character narrative

by Anonymousreply 143September 4, 2022 7:29 PM

I thought it was unwatchable and turned it off in half an hour. If you're looking for a movie about Elvis the person, this ain't it. Just a bunch of fast edits, CGI and Tom Hanks doing some kind of bizarre accent. Loud, with no substance.

by Anonymousreply 144September 4, 2022 7:31 PM

A review from Peter Canavese sums up my thoughts….

Gaudy, glitzy, histrionic, relentlessly ADHD and dumb as dirt, but as a musical biopic thrill-ride it's kind of okay. (It almost feels like it was directed by an alternate-universe Michael Bay who's queer).

by Anonymousreply 145September 4, 2022 7:36 PM

Review from Todd Gilchrist of AV Club

Luhrmann's fast-cutting super-montage style overpowers the subject matter, and the result is an impressionistic, jumbled highlight reel of Presley’s many accomplishments, despite vivid recreations by actor Austin Butler as The King.

by Anonymousreply 146September 4, 2022 7:39 PM

Finally saw it. It was like an impressionist painting. Gorgeous, blurry, reminiscent of the real thing but detached.

Austin Butler was fantastic. Tough to capture Elvis' generational charisma and I feel he did. Hanks was...fine.

While I enjoyed it overall, I felt it moved too fast and, most importantly, the battle between Elvis and the Colonel never gained steam and urgency for me. It was all to easy.

I don't know. I am not an Elvis fan at all, he died a few years before I was born, maybe that's why? (That said, I do love Suspicious Minds and this film reminded me of that!)

by Anonymousreply 147September 4, 2022 10:13 PM

R145/r146, Please stop. You will force me to link to many more positive reviews.

YOU might be the one with ADHD, for you clearly have missed every bit of imagery, symbolism, allusions to other movies, the importance of colors, the psychological notions of identity, the Mythological Hero's Journey, and more, not to mention the nuanced brilliant performance of Austin Butler, whose every glance conveys meaning.

But as my father taught me many moons ago: De gustibus non est disputandum.

by Anonymousreply 148September 5, 2022 3:24 AM

Oh look, Baz has joined the conversation.

by Anonymousreply 149September 5, 2022 4:50 AM

Best movie I've seen this year... The editing is fast, but you can keep up with it if you try, gramps.

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by Anonymousreply 150September 5, 2022 12:30 PM

It’s not a good movie r150. It’s a carnival ride of gaudy artificial effects.

by Anonymousreply 151September 5, 2022 2:14 PM

R151, Yes, you have repeatedly opined; we understand.

Many, many others disagree with you.

Might you expound on "a carnival ride [clever] of gaudy artificial effects"?

IOW, what---beyond the accurately-replicated Elvis outfits, the accurately-replicated settings of Graceland and Las Vegas, that is, beyond the real life of Elvis that required depiction if a movie is to be ABOUT ELVIS---would you consider "gaudy"?

IOW, what---beyond normal modern movie-making, not unique either to this film or to Baz---would you consider "artificial effects"? Because if you are anti-"artificial effects," you are basically saying you hate movies.

Now, if you want to argue that the term cannot be bisected, that it must be taken as "gaudy artificial effects," where are they? Which "artificial effects" are "gaudy" AND how do they hurt the film?

Please don't focus solely on Tom Hanks, if that's one.

by Anonymousreply 152September 5, 2022 6:36 PM

R151 - You're upsetting someone who has an unhealthy interest in this movie. Best to just slowly back away, and not disturb the disturbed.

by Anonymousreply 153September 5, 2022 6:52 PM

WHY do people keep bitching that this is not a traditional biopic??!! Think outside the goddamned BOX for once! And stop shitting all over Tom Hanks' performance as well!

by Anonymousreply 154September 5, 2022 7:23 PM

This is not art you single cell r154

by Anonymousreply 155September 5, 2022 7:56 PM

R152 is not r154, but nonetheless....

Why are you still posting here, r153 and r155? Do you think your ad hominem remarks are signs of a HEALTHY mind? An EVOLVED mind?

R155, Oh, look at YOU, La Gioconda!! Just drop what I'm sure you think is a bon mot plus insult and depart without so much as a cogent argument!

by Anonymousreply 156September 6, 2022 9:44 AM

R156 - "Agree with me or go away" - typical libtard.

by Anonymousreply 157September 6, 2022 12:09 PM

R157, Trying again without a cogent argument.

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by Anonymousreply 158September 6, 2022 6:59 PM

^^ Wow. Elvis-haters are MAGAts. Who knew?! Are you going to call Elvis a race-mixer next, r157?

by Anonymousreply 159September 7, 2022 12:10 AM

I love this movie but I get why people don’t. Still, I can’t remember the last time a movie affected me as much as this one has. The transition from Austin Butler to the real Elvis at the very end singing Unchained Melody made me tear up.

by Anonymousreply 160September 7, 2022 12:33 AM

If Rami Malek can win for Bohemian Rhapsody and Renee Zellweger can win for Judy, then Austin Butler deserves an EGOT for Elvis.

by Anonymousreply 161September 7, 2022 12:35 AM

Jailhouse Rock and It Happened at the World’s Fair are on HBO Max for anyone interested.

by Anonymousreply 162September 7, 2022 12:36 AM

R159 - Still making stupid strawman arguments. Figures, he generally talks to himself anyway.

by Anonymousreply 163September 7, 2022 1:05 AM

R158 thinks memes and clip art make for a cogent argument. Oh dear.

by Anonymousreply 164September 7, 2022 1:06 AM

Latest Box Office: $281 Million.

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by Anonymousreply 165September 8, 2022 12:03 PM

Well, well. Sofia Coppoloa is about to make the counter-point called "Priscilla."

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by Anonymousreply 166September 13, 2022 2:09 AM

"Elvis" as an original film:

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by Anonymousreply 167September 14, 2022 12:38 AM

Latest Box Office: $284 Million. Still wigglin'!

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by Anonymousreply 168September 17, 2022 2:11 AM

R168 here. Somebody at Billboard cannot add. As other news reports state, "Elvis" ranks SECOND, not 3rd, to the untouchable "Bohemian Rhapsody." 🙄 And that's even before today's numbers.

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by Anonymousreply 169September 17, 2022 2:16 AM

SO disappointed that my favorite Elvis song wasn't included - Don't Be Cruel. That song is everything.

by Anonymousreply 170September 17, 2022 2:22 AM

As one reviewer put it, Baz did not have (in sufficient time) enough trust in Austin Butler to really carry the movie.

At Cannes I think he finally understood that error. (His slogan is "A life lived in fear is a life half-lived." Ironically, he directed this movie in fear, including his insistence on including current-day music and/or singers for key scenes; his not showing Elvis making decisions on changes, even in his personal style [why did he become slicked-back and sleek? Why the glitter and sequins? I mean, it's not hard to figure some things out, as the observer, but surely Elvis was motivated by more than people's deaths!]; his flippant zip through Elvis's movie career.

But Baz had his narrative, or the Colonel's narrative, and no other Elvis songs fit it. Nor, apparently, did any full, uninterrupted song sequences by Austin.

It does no-one any good, not Baz but definitely us movie-goers, for both him and Tom Hanks to tell interviewers how fantastic Austin's deleted manifold full-concert scenes were, how the extras would gladly have paid to be there, or how Baz's long-time camera guy said, "Boss, I've never seen anything like it!"

Hanks had the name, but Austin was the game.

by Anonymousreply 171September 17, 2022 3:38 AM

I thought Butler looked bizarre in a lot of scenes. Like a space alien with an Elvis wig.

by Anonymousreply 172September 24, 2022 9:34 PM

I had to give up an hour into it. I think it's time I accept that I don't like Baz Lurman movies. I always end up feeling assaulted by them rather than being entertained by them.

by Anonymousreply 173September 24, 2022 9:40 PM

R173 - Baz is like Busby Berkeley on crack after a head injury

by Anonymousreply 174September 24, 2022 11:18 PM

I've only seen, besides "Elvis," "Strictly Ballroom." R173, This wasn't so very Bazified beyond the normal glitz and glamor of....ballroom.

However, the utter triteness of the plot shocked me! I kept waiting for something beyond the banal, but nope; Ugly Duckling Girl Dancer Gets Pretty Boy When She Removes Her Specs. Pretty Boy Dances HIS WAY, DAMMIT, and Enchants All. Father of Girl Warms to Pretty Boy Over Shared Interest in Spanish Dance. Older British Dancers Dress Their Mutton Up As Lamb.

All very charming and colorful and sweet, but the cliches!

Well, at least he didn't write the script for my next Baz, "Romeo and Juliet."

by Anonymousreply 175September 25, 2022 3:52 AM

Oh, r172, he did not. Please, describe one scene that fits your description.

by Anonymousreply 176September 25, 2022 3:54 AM

Lovely photos of Elvis and Sophia Loren

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by Anonymousreply 177September 26, 2022 2:06 AM

I watched Jailhouse Rock and Elvis wasn’t a bad actor. His performance felt ahead of his time. You can see that he was the proto type for a lot of the heartthrob actors and singers that came after him.

by Anonymousreply 178September 26, 2022 3:14 AM

And a re-creation of the iconic "JR" dance scene would have been epic with Austin Butler. That era Elvis wasn't afforded enough time in the movie.

by Anonymousreply 179September 26, 2022 10:06 AM

R154: "And stop shitting all over Tom Hanks' performance as well!"

I am NOT a Tom Hanks fan, and was prepared to hate-- WANTED to hate-- him in this film. But I didn't. In fact, I thought he was great. I'm not understanding the criticism that's like, "He was so phony and over-the-top!" Um, Colonel Tom Parker was a man who literally had no legal identity, dictated every moment of the entire adult life of the most famous man on earth, and made millions of dollars doing it. You have to be pretty damn phony and over-the-top to get away with that. Hanks nailed it.

by Anonymousreply 180February 4, 2023 2:34 AM
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