Elvis (2022) (1 Viewer)

[Chuck Mayer]

Elvis got a new trailer today as well, and it is looking quite exceptional. Thrilled that Baz has this coming out, and it’s only a month away.

 

[Jake Lipson]

That's the same trailer I've seen in theaters the last couple times I went to my multiplex. I don't think there's anything new in it. I had it on The Secrets of Dumbledore and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. But I agree that it looks good and I'm very excited to see it.

Has Luhrmann directed anything since The Great Gatsby? It feels like that came out a long time ago.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Yup. I screwed up.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Well that's certainly new. I'm on board.

 

[Mikael Soderholm]

Having Baz Luhrmann as the director is enough to put me off seeing it. I have never been a fan of Baz as a director. His woeful, tedious and overlong flop AUSTRALIA will be re - issued as a mini series with unseen material added to it. Heaven forbid.

Really? I liked Australia and would definitely check out an extended mini series. Do you have any more info?

 

[Jake Lipson]

Cannes audiences liked it:

Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis’ Rocks Cannes With 10-Minute Standing Ovation

Baz Luhrmann's Elvis had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival tonight, drawing a rocking 10-minute standing ovation

deadline.com

A two-hour 39 minute running time (!) mentioned in Variety's review will make this over a three hour sit with trailers and all the preshow nonsense added in.

 

[cinemiracle]

The Australian made film has been getting the thumbs down from critics in Australia where it opened to-day.
Will it be another Baz's flop?

 

[Ross Gowland]

I’m seeing it next week, but I wonder if it has much appeal for younger cinemagoers. The king has been dead 45 years, unfortunately.

It’s like expecting teenage me in the 80s to be interested in a Glenn Miller biopic.

 

[Malcolm R]

I can't believe this will do much business in theaters. Then again, I've been surprised by the success of other recent rock biopics like Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody.

Budget seems very high for this type of film at $85 million. Both films above were in the $40-50 million range for production.

 

[Joe Bernardi]

I am not a fan of Baz Luhmann. He almost always camps up his films and stage shows.. I am a great fan of Elvis however so maybe he will finally have a film that will engage me? One can't tell by watching the trailer as they are made to lure you into the cinema and generally on false pretences. Few people know that Baz also directed Joan Sutherland's last opera on stage at the Sydney Opera House.

The trailer doesn't lure me in. The skinny kid does not resemble Presley in the least. And I'm not interested in a film that features the evil Tom Parker.

 

[Tino]

The Australian made film has been getting the thumbs down from critics in Australia where it opened to-day.
Will it be another Baz's flop?

Hmm

Strictly Ballroom…hit
Romeo and Juliet…hit
Moulin Rouge…hit
The Great Gatsby…hit
.
Australia..flop

I think that’s a pretty good track record.

 

[Clinton McClure]

My wife and I both really like Elvis post ‘68 but neither of us care for his earlier career. I got tickets to see this Saturday night so hopefully I’m Covid free by then. I’m not expecting much from this film and kind of expect it to be three hours of boring but I hope I’m wrong and maybe it’ll actually be good.

 

[Indy Guy]

I saw Elvis last night at Warner's with Baz and Austin Butler attending for Q&A after. Butler's performance is astonishing, while Hanks delivers one of the most manipulatively evil characterisations to ever grace a screen! Your body will feel the nearly 3 hour running time, but your mind will be riveted as the pace is at lightning speed!

 

[cinemiracle]

I can't believe this will do much business in theaters. Then again, I've been surprised by the success of other recent rock biopics like Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody.

Budget seems very high for this type of film at $85 million. Both films above were in the $40-50 million range for production.

Both ROCKETMAN and BOHEMIAN RHAPOSDY were suburb movies?

 

[Tino]

Both ROCKETMAN and BOHEMIAN RHAPOSDY were suburb movies?

I don’t think they were set in the suburbs. Mostly in major cities I would say.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

The king has been dead 45 years, unfortunately.

OR HAS HE??????

 

[cinemiracle]

The film got panned in the New Zealand press to-day for being bloated among other things.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I saw Elvis this afternoon with my mother. There might have been ten or so people in the theater.

Austin Butler is phenomenal in this role. I think he would win Best Actor if the ceremony was held next week. Whether the Academy remembers him by next March remains to be seen, but he should be in the conversation. Win or not, Butler is easily the best thing about this movie and he deserves to become a star from it. He really made me feel for Elvis.

To his credit, Tom Hanks is really trying something here. But I'm not sure how effective it is. He has an insane amount of prosthetics on and doesn't look remotely like himself. Even more distracting is the accent. I don't know if this was his choice or if this was how he was directed. All of this together prevents him from being able to be subtle. I'm not sure this particular role really works for his strengths as an actor.

It seems really strange to cast Tom Hanks just to turn him into whatever this is. I felt more genuine emotion from Hanks' voice work as Woody than I did from him actually being a physical presence in this movie. The movie seems like it wants you to hate his character, and in that respect they certainly succeeded. But it is extremely broad. The only thing that stops him from being a mustache-twirling supervillain here is that he doesn't have a mustache to twirl.

The movie overall is a fairly standard music biopic, but there's nothing really wrong with that because it is a good one. I'm not an Elvis historian or anything and he passed away before I was born, so I never got to experience the mania while he was alive. But the movie seemed to be reasonably accurate to what little I know of his life. I was invested in him as a character because Butler made him empathetic. Baz Luhrmann's frenetic visual style makes it seem more unique than it would have been from a less distinctive filmmaker. It probably could have used a trim for more effective pacing, but there was so much going on visually throughout that I was never bored.

All of the music is really well integrated here. I know some of it is Austin Butler and some of it is Elvis, but I couldn't easily pick out which is which. They are that seamless. The first time Elvis performs "Suspicious Minds" in Vegas is my favorite scene in the movie. I won't spoil any of the context, but that scene to me was the movie at the peak of its powers.

My local theater is a Cinemark. This weekend, they are dividing the premium "Cinemark XD" auditorium three ways. Elvis rotates with Lightyear and Jurassic World: Dominion with each one having different showtimes. If you can see it in a premium format, I would recommend it. Having it on the biggest screen available helped a lot with such a visually packed movie. It is just gorgeous to watch. And the sound mix was terrific. Minions will get our premium auditorium beginning Thursday and I'm guessing it will grab most of them. So you might not have long to see Elvis that way. But I thought it was worth paying the extra to do so.

I’m not expecting much from this film and kind of expect it to be three hours of boring but I hope I’m wrong and maybe it’ll actually be good.

Respectfully, why would you want to pay to go see something that you expect to be boring?

 

[Clinton McClure]

Respectfully, why would you want to pay to go see something that you expect to be boring?

Date night. Because my wife wants to go see it. Same reason I suffered through the entire Twilight saga.

 

[Clinton McClure]

To get in the mood, I think I’m going to spin up my Aloha from Hawaii dvd this afternoon.