Elvis (Baz Luhrmann)

El Duda

Not an Elvis fan at all, and normally wouldn't have bothered seeing this, but I recently got an unlimited card so thought why the hell not?

Elvis – 9/10

I’ve never been an Elvis fan and I don’t care much for his music, but I left the cinema feeling completely elated. It’s just fantastic.

It does an incredible job of recreating what it must have been like to be in the room seeing a world class, break-out talent like Elvis emerge. Most directors would simply ask the female extras to start screaming when Elvis starts shaking, but Baz Luhrmann goes much further. He gets proper performances out of the screamers. He ensures that it all looks involuntary, like they’re being possessed. At times they even look confused and scared by the emotions that Elvis’s swinging hips stir up in their loins. The whole scene is electric and completely wins you over. 

m Hanks puts in an absolute Jared Leto of a performance, delivering every line like cross between a vampire and Frankie Four Fingers from Snatch. Oddly though, it doesn’t drag the film down at all. 

 Austin Butler already has the #OscarInTheBag but I’d be surprised if it doesn’t win for editing and sound mixing too. Sparkly goodness.

Yeah, first 30mins I wasn't sure where it was going. All over the place editing wise. Tom Hanks ruins every single scene he's in but Butler saved it. Great performance.

3.5/5

Lefty2Guns

Seen it last night. Really enjoyed it, is it Austin Butler that played Elvis? What a performance.

I had only recently watched the two part documentary on Netflix about Elvis so was aware of the 68 Special and other key moments in the movie.

10/10 for me. I won't let Tom Hanks accent bring the film down as I'm sure thats how the Colonal sounded or close enough to it. (Must check out some real footage of him talking)

Brilliant film.

greenspurs

Really enjoyed it.

As was said before, i just thought he was too 'pretty' for Elvis, but did a great job.

Loved the typical Luhrman cinematography , and the performances.

Felt the latter end/death was a bit glossed over , and might have been to 'down' to fit the rest of the movie.

sporina

Q...

Can someone help me out please?

I have watched half of this movie - but i'm not clear on something.. seems even his fans turned against him after he joined RCA records.. the girls with the posters "we want the old Elvis back".. so he was being too vulgar/sexual etc..

But wasn't he wiggling his legs, hip and bits when he was performing from the start? rem the scene when he was on stage and he was booed at first but then the girls practically started to climax watching him? and he was with Sun records then...

Don't know much about him obv.. would like some clarity on the above b4 I watch the rest

TIA

sporina

loved Bohemian Rhapsody - mess?

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120158086#Comment_120158086

That was entirely the point, they wanted sexy Elvis back, they weren't interested in the sanitised version.

sporina

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120159731#Comment_120159731

no - the outrage seemed to be after he joined RCA records.. the newspaper articles "vulgar/sexual" etc..

but I recall him shaking his bits from the start so I am unclear

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120159812#Comment_120159812

That was just because he got more famous once he was signed to RCA and drew the attention (and ire) of Conservative politicians and the press.

JP Liz V1

I saw Austin on Graham Norton and his voice seems ravaged from the role

Slydice

Googled "Austin on Graham Norton" and this was the top result. Definitely a bit hoarse sounding

Austin Butler Can't Get Rid Of His Elvis Presley Voice | The Graham Norton Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffgvc-ztf5c

santana75

Went to see this again as its playing in my local cinema in the run up to the oscars and it holds up really well to repeated viewings, the time flew by even though I knew what would happen. One interesting thing to note though, the cinema was pretty much full, which is a good thing, but a good percentage of the audience were groups of teenage girls. I cant figure this, I mean there were older people for sure and Elvis came and passed before my own time, but why would teenage girls be interested in a film about Elvis?

speedboatchase

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120290956#Comment_120290956

Austin Butler has a huge fanbase with girls and young women. Great casting.

santana75

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120291797#Comment_120291797

Thats interesting. Dont think I've ever gone to see a film just because there was an actress I fancied in it.

speedboatchase

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120293975#Comment_120293975

I think Baz really knows how to shoot actors and make them look like a million dollars. I imagine the teenagers seeing Elvis for Austin Butler is similar in percentage to those who went to see Baz's Romeo + Juliet for Leo.

santana75

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120325654#Comment_120325654

I think it highlights a difference in the genders(broadly speaking anyway). I know a lot of women who'll watch male sports just because they fancy the men, they have no real interest in the sport itself. But most men would never do this, they'd never watch a womens football match because theres a player they fancy, that would never happen. I guess its why boybands will draw legions of female fans but girlbands dont draw any kind of male following. Yes, very astute casting by Baz then

amf78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120158086#Comment_120158086

A bit late to the party, but here we go.

Elvis actually joined RCA very early in his career, in late 1955. His first major hit, "Heartbreak Hotel," released in early 1956, was under the RCA label and propelled him to national (and shortly thereafter international) stardom. Prior to that, one could argue that Elvis was still a regional act, primarily known in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Texas. If I'm not mistaken, his first TV appearance was also in 1956. As for radio, I'm not sure if any Memphis-based stations broadcasted nationally in the mid-1950s. By that point he probably toured extensively, but even that was mostly in the south. So the very first Elvis most people had a chance to see and listen to was already an RCA-signed artist.

However, what turned many of his fans away was a string of subpar movies; all his 30 or so films were either laughably bad or boring, with the exception of "King Creole" (and perhaps "Jailhouse Rock"). These movies were matched only by ridiculous soundtracks, which began to dominate his music output as the 60s rolled in. Between "Pot Luck" (1962) and "From Elvis in Memphis" (1969), the only non-soundtrack albums were "How Great Thou Art" (1967) and the "Comeback TV Special" (1968).

While his stint in the army earned him a new level of respectability, especially among older audiences, teenagers weren't interested in the same kind of music their parents started tuning to. Additionally, Elvis was no longer a novelty act, nor was he as controversial as he had once been. By 1963 he had been in the music business for nearly a decade. At the age of 28, teenage audiences most likely saw him as old.

For some unclear reason, many people, especially Beatles fans, seem to think that the Beatles dethroned Elvis. The reality is that by 1964, when the Beatles took America by storm, Elvis's music career was - to quote Baz Luhrmann's Steve Binder - already in the toilet.

gym_imposter

Only got round to seeing this last night, Tom Hanks ruined it for me

Best description of his character I've read was " Kentucky fried Goldmember"