"Elvis" (2022) - Baz Luhrmann Film Reviews/Discussion!

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by EternalReturn, Feb 14, 2022.

  1. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Elvis Presley most defining record - 45rpm?
    Heartbreak Hotel
     
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  2. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI
    I recall hearing one of those phone in discussions back when I had Sirius/XM and 'Elvis Radio': I'm pretty sure it was with Larry Geller, and George Klein was doing the interview... Anyway, they both mentioned how much Elvis read in his spare time, and one of them (probably Larry) said that all the reading Elvis did, he probably read enough to be the equivalent of a college education.
     
  3. People perceived as being much more intelligent than Elvis have lost far more money than he ever had.
     
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  4. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI
    The thing about Dolly is she is fully open about it: She never tries (or tried) to hide it/deny it.

    She says words to the effect of "If it's baggin', draggin' or saggin', it gets nipped, tucked, or sucked." That and she also always says "It costs a lot of money to look this cheap"...

    I give Dolly credit for being so open about it... Cher on the other hand, I have never heard her actually confirm she had anything done, though she probably did.
     
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  5. MrBigFan

    MrBigFan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scandinavia
    Heard most of the soundtrack today and must say its not for me.
    I dont mind it or if younger/other can relate to it more than me then great :)
    But not something I will play in the future.
     
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  6. ClausH

    ClausH Senior Member

    Location:
    Denmark
    I think the soundtrack is well done and it worked very well in the film. I'll buy the hires download.
     
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  7. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI
    I'm *not* singling you out on this, but so many people say he was a simple, quiet country boy and the like, which I'll agree with as far as when he was living in Tupelo... However, once he moved to Memphis, he was no longer a 'country boy'. Even in the 40s when the Presley family moved there, Memphis was a metropolitan area.

    Once he was in Memphis, while he may have kept a lot of his manners, he took to a lot of the big city ways. He had humble beginnings for sure, but he adapted to the big city pretty well.
     
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  8. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI
    Mr. Presley graduated from Humes High School in 1953.
     
  9. mBen989

    mBen989 Senior Member

    Location:
    Scranton, PA
    Just thought I'd post my friend's review of the film.

     
  10. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI

    You would think with all the promotion this film is getting that they would have at least had the soundtrack ready to go (in physical form) right away and not having people wait over a month for it to be released to stores.
     
  11. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    Rave reviews this morning . . .
     
  12. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    I live an hour from Memphis, I’ve been Memphis dozens of times, and, to this day, Memphis is a big small town, not a “metropolitan area.”
     
  13. Vinyl_King

    Vinyl_King Forum Resident

    I dont care for the soundtrack,its all about the movie here
     
  14. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI
    A city with a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census is *not* a metropolitan area?

    A city that, when combined with the suburbs surrounding the city, has a combined population of 1.163 million people isn't a metropolitan area?

    A city that is the second most populous city in TN (after Nashville), that is the fifth most populous city in the Southeastern US, and is the country's 28th largest city over-all isn't a metropolitan area?

    Heck, even in 1950 its population was 396,000...

    You're right, Memphis, TN is about the same as Hooterville or Bugtussle. ;) :)
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2022
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  15. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    The hold Mr. Parker had on Elvis Presley is, to me, not too hard to grasp. As far as Elvis Presley knew, he was rich and Mr. Parker was the one who got him there.

    And as someone else pointed out in a previous Presley thread, the only thing poor people enjoy more than being rich is not being poor. Poverty is terrifying.

    The threat of an instant return to poverty -- however disingenuous and temporary -- would have been enough to snap almost anyone with a visceral memory of being poor back into line.
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2022
  16. clashcityrocker

    clashcityrocker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Great White North
    I went to this last night. I have been all over this film. I've read the reviews, watched the hype machine, followed this thread etc. I completely went into the film ready to love it. I am an Elvis fan, with more of a lean towards Sun Elvis. I think the 68 Special is one of the greatest musical performances ever. I am however not a Baz fan, I have not watched a minute of his films. So that being said, I loathed this experience.

    So where did it go wrong? Firstly, Austin Butler is no Elvis (especially younger Elvis) but who can be really? His gyrations didn't make the girls love him, it was his other worldly looks and a voice sent from the heavens. The utter trashing of Hank Snow is repugnant to me as a country fan and a Canadian. I could go on with inaccuracies etc. but the main reason is the editing and directorial choices. There are no extended scenes, just when a scene gets interesting we move on to more crying or screaming. I had to refrain from leaving the theatre due to my friend wanting to stay. What remained was a bit better, Butler fit into the older Elvis much better, better costumes, make-up. But the story again was so superficial that I was laughing at the film. The ending reminded you that the real Elvis still is an icon whose story cannot be replicated by Hollywood. Seeing this garbage makes me love the real Elvis more. His magic is his music, and that voice. Long live the King!
     
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  17. Dougthesnail

    Dougthesnail The Big Gabagool

    Location:
    Winnipeg
    Everyone he surrounded himself with certainly was not a psycopath. The memphis mafia, Vernon, and Tom Parker all leeched money off of him. His chemical dependancy and lavish spending also contributed.

    I'm not trying to trash Elvis, he was a great entertainer and larger than life, but you can't seriously say that his lack of knowledge and naivety didn't contribute to his demise. He put his trust into the wrong people who led him down a bad path.
     
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  18. Not sure what versions you have but the sit-down shows have been released in their entirety without editing and Elvis comes across as very witty IMO. Maybe it’s my style of humor? But to this day friends and I still quote Elvis from those sessions, as nerdy as that is.

    As far as interviews, I think he just didn’t like shining the spotlight on himself in that format. Elvis was self-effacing even on the stage in concert. He just didn’t have a big ego like some rock stars who shall remain nameless to think every word of theirs was akin to the words of a god and must all be recorded for posterity.

    Have you ever been interviewed? I have, and it’s not particularly fun (at least for me… and I’m definitely not a shy person nor afraid of crowds/public speaking). If you haven’t, think of being on a job interview - guessing none of us ever come across as brilliant on all of those yet I wouldn’t put down any of our intelligence because of that.

    At the end of the day he was a single person who if not invented was surely a pioneer in creating a new musical form. Let that sink in for a moment. And he shaped popular culture immensely. He musical genius is apparent on so many session reels effectively producing his own sessions. Someone capable of these feats is an intellectual in my book.
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2022
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  19. raveoned

    raveoned Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ambler, PA
    I agree. I've seen it with other movies as well, but this movie should have had the soundtrack worked out to be in shops on or around the film's release date.

    All I can think of is that it was set up that way to boost income for the movie if it drops in a month. But to me I'd rather have it in physical form on day of release.
     
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  20. Dougthesnail

    Dougthesnail The Big Gabagool

    Location:
    Winnipeg
    I didn't see Snow as being trashed but being portrayed as not with the times and the film needed to create friction to explain why Parker left him for Elvis. It might be untrue but the film, I'm sure took many artisitic liberties.

    I'm not a Luhrmann fan. Romeo + Juliet and The Great Gatsby are films I dislike because of Luhrmann's style, but I do think his style and Elvis' lifestyle fit well.

    I think Butler did the best on screen portrayal to date. He embodied Elvis, he talked like Elvis, and he walked like Elvis.
     
  21. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    You can cite all of the Wikipedia statistics you want. I live here, I’ve spent a great deal of time in Memphis, and, however many people live there, Memphis is not the same kind of “big city” as New York, L.A., or even Atlanta. In the 1950s, the downtown/Midtown world Elvis lived in was even smaller and more insular.
     
  22. Did you live there in 1950, and in other US cities to be able to compare? Even then one person’s perception is, well, one person’s perception. As it stands, Memphis was the 26th most populous city in the US in 1950. Ahead of Atlanta, Miami, San Diego and Oakland at that point in time.

    Largest US Cities: 1950
     
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  23. garyt1957

    garyt1957 Forum Resident

    Location:
    mi
     
  24. garyt1957

    garyt1957 Forum Resident

    Location:
    mi
    I agree, that's a good one. Like I said the earlier ones were better. As for when did he go into detail about anything, you'd think when someone is interviewing you for the expressed purpose of getting some comments for a documentary about you, you'd open up a bit and not answer in one word .
     
  25. garyt1957

    garyt1957 Forum Resident

    Location:
    mi
    It's not that he wouldn't, she said she had to teach him HOW. Not sure I buy that
     
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