unbelievable confidence
― corrs unplugged, Tuesday, 9 August 2022 07:23 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdYYcMH4dmw
― I’d Rather Gorblimey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 31 August 2022 00:39 (one year ago) link
The movie's gonna be on HBO Max starting Friday. Asked my wife if she had any interest in watching it with me, she said no, so I'll probably pass.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Wednesday, 31 August 2022 01:09 (one year ago) link
You don't know what you are missing.
― I’d Rather Gorblimey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 31 August 2022 01:13 (one year ago) link
i’m in!
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 31 August 2022 02:54 (one year ago) link
another great performance, fun tune too
― corrs unplugged, Thursday, 1 September 2022 13:06 (one year ago) link
Does anyone else like to do an Elvis number as karaoke? Have we discussed before?
― I’d Rather Gorblimey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 1 September 2022 21:00 (one year ago) link
Also trying to find this article from the Village Voice called “Elvis Presley: Rhythm and Ooze,” by Gregory Sandow.
― I’d Rather Gorblimey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 1 September 2022 21:57 (one year ago) link
Don't know if this helps, but if you have access to a library's archives, it's the Aug. 18, 1987 issue, page 71
― birdistheword, Thursday, 1 September 2022 22:00 (one year ago) link
(Actually it may be Aug. 16 not 18 - I see it listed as both)
― birdistheword, Thursday, 1 September 2022 22:01 (one year ago) link
Thanks. Saw that date.
― I’d Rather Gorblimey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 1 September 2022 22:09 (one year ago) link
Snippets are quoted here.
― I’d Rather Gorblimey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 1 September 2022 22:11 (one year ago) link
Also want to see that Kiri Te Kanawa interview.
Here's a brief roundup of a few classical singers talking about him: https://alainrozan.wordpress.com/
― I’d Rather Gorblimey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 1 September 2022 22:15 (one year ago) link
Including Bryn Terfel. Seems like the quote is from here:
― I’d Rather Gorblimey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 1 September 2022 22:17 (one year ago) link
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/10/arts/music/10bryn.html
Also something here: https://www.classicfm.com/artists/bryn-terfel/guides/bryn-terfel-hall-valley-king/
"Return to Sender" his Desert Island Disc!
― I’d Rather Gorblimey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 1 September 2022 22:19 (one year ago) link
I know, I know, I don't need these opera stars to validate him, but it still makes me happy for some reason.
― I’d Rather Gorblimey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 1 September 2022 22:23 (one year ago) link
I particularly enjoyed this
― I’d Rather Gorblimey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 1 September 2022 22:30 (one year ago) link
Elvis is now streaming
― I’d Rather Gorblimey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 3 September 2022 01:28 (one year ago) link
:D
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 3 September 2022 05:00 (one year ago) link
i do if i can dream a lot
― kurt schwitterz, Saturday, 3 September 2022 06:41 (one year ago) link
if i did i would do From a Jack To A King
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 3 September 2022 06:59 (one year ago) link
I often do “Polk Salad Annie,” which is fun for various reasons.
― I’d Rather Gorblimey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 3 September 2022 14:18 (one year ago) link
Trying to think of another one to mix it up.
― I’d Rather Gorblimey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 3 September 2022 15:44 (one year ago) link
film was entertaining, started and ended kind of horribly but the entire middle section is excellent.
― akm, Saturday, 3 September 2022 16:25 (one year ago) link
The Vegas part was when I really, really believed he was actually Elvis, but thought a lot of the rest of it was pretty good too.
― When Harpo Played His ARP (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 4 September 2022 01:58 (one year ago) link
god butler really inhabits the mannerisms that scene on the ferris wheel when he flashes the little kid grin talking about comic book hero - i was like whoa and the early dance moves, the way he’ll just flail his arms loose like he’s a rag doll but his core is pure iron & controlled so fkn goodugh i am ON BOARD and i’m barely an hour ini hate the music overlays but luhrman gotta luhrman
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 4 September 2022 03:35 (one year ago) link
When you get to the 1968 TV special and then the Las Vegas opening the recreations become uncanny (although I don't believe for a second the Colonel didn't know what Elvis was going to perform in the TV special ahead of time... I guess you gotta give the movie star something to do)
― Josefa, Sunday, 4 September 2022 04:33 (one year ago) link
yeah i think even the beale street/memphis fairground stuff kinda kicks it into gear but the comeback/vegas stuff for sure killerbutler’s 1/4 profile is ridiculous- there are times you’d swear it was E himself (aside from the irl footage i mean)that first Vegas show was like ~dayum~plus giving the cadences of a couple of the songs, the vibe of all of it is so perfect
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 4 September 2022 04:39 (one year ago) link
The music overlays are the most obvious problem. I can live with pretty much everything else and feel that this is as about as good as it was gonna get.
― When Harpo Played His ARP (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 4 September 2022 04:53 (one year ago) link
I mean if the Colonel really spoke with an accent like that he'd have been deported before he even met Elvis, but on the whole the film was fun and kinetic and captured a lot of Elvisness
― Josefa, Sunday, 4 September 2022 04:57 (one year ago) link
Ha, exactly.
― When Harpo Played His ARP (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 4 September 2022 04:58 (one year ago) link
yeah i agreei dont even have much of a problem with what hanks did as parker - like it’s too broad for sure but the irl parker was only slightly less broad imo lolmy main gripe such as it is is that E gets off too lightly given that he was violent w almost every woman in his life incl priscilla but i expected as much since the estate is involved but overall i am super impressed by the story they’ve told here & butler’s perf is insanely legit
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 4 September 2022 05:07 (one year ago) link
Also the film focuses on Elvis's rocking uptempo material and downplays his balladry (iirc). So there's a lot about his black music influences, but nothing about, say, his deep respect for the stylings of Dean Martin. But I was fine with that. It's a feature length film, not a miniseries, and you have to make choices like that.
― Josefa, Sunday, 4 September 2022 05:17 (one year ago) link
yeah there’s nerdy shit i wish was included, like how DJ Fontana used to play strip joints & worked up the beats that Elvis could time his wiggles to or how much he liked talking abt music w musicians or that Streisand opened his first Vegas show, or that Tom Jones used to hang out w him in Vegas
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 4 September 2022 05:35 (one year ago) link
i lost it when they cut to the irl footage at the very end though. that rapid city (?) footage fucks me up, hell anything from those shows tbh
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 4 September 2022 05:40 (one year ago) link
Other than Butler's performance in every respect and his set pieces, I don't know what to think. Some of the montages make such strange connections that I laughed out loud at their offense. But!
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 4 September 2022 16:39 (one year ago) link
the performance scenes are what stick with me the most. whatever story Luhrmann was trying to tell about Elvis and the Colonel, or whatever points he hoped to make about Elvis's sincere engagement with Black musical culture, the movie's most compelling achievement is cutting through all the impersonators and Elvis jokes and Weekly World News updates i grew up with, and restoring to Elvis his life as a performer. every one of those live show scenes was electric, barnstorming, fire.
― Doctor Casino, Sunday, 4 September 2022 17:16 (one year ago) link
i am curious about the story that Luhrmann possibly ~wanted~ to tell vs the story he was permitted to tell by the estate — or if the estate was always involved from the getgo i also think it’s funny that Parker’s line in the movie is like oh no I didnt kill him - you all killed him but the Snowman stuff was good to see included because it helps (i think) kill the idea that Elvis was an unwilling participant in his own career, that he didn’t know Parker’s angle & was fully aware of the many snowjobs (to a degree)
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 4 September 2022 17:43 (one year ago) link
All right, fine, I'm watching it. Thoughts on Substack later this week.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Sunday, 4 September 2022 17:50 (one year ago) link
Doctor Casino otm.
― When Harpo Played His ARP (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 4 September 2022 17:56 (one year ago) link
yeah def agree, could watch a whole movie just of butler recreating vegas shows
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 4 September 2022 18:25 (one year ago) link
otm, that Vegas sequence was so killer. And the actor playing Ronnie Tutt, Alex Knight, had those moves DOWN. Either Alex is a drummer, or he studied like hell for that role.
(Also, the drum hardware was period-correct. An insanely minor point, yes, but nothing takes me out of a music biopic faster than seeing gear that didn't yet exist.)
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Sunday, 4 September 2022 18:45 (one year ago) link
The beginning of Death on the Nile where she walks into the club using a wireless guitar transmitter in 1937,smh.
― change display name (Jordan), Sunday, 4 September 2022 18:57 (one year ago) link
LIttle Egypt?
― When Harpo Played His ARP (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 4 September 2022 20:01 (one year ago) link
Who was also on Star Trek: TOS.
― When Harpo Played His ARP (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 4 September 2022 20:02 (one year ago) link
Yeah, they didnt miss a note with the 1968 special and Vegas stuff. I wonder if it's even possible to play "CC Rider" in a film without a split screen montage of traffic and showgoers all speeded up.
THAT SAID, what's the point of devoting so much time to how faithfully a film recreated something? Everyone raved about how spot-on the Queen movie re-did Live Aid, and I thought, "How bout I just stay home and watch THAT on Youtube then?"
I kinda went Wow at the detail down to the Coca-Cola wax-paper cups during "Unchained Melody," but then when they switched to "The Real Thing" (swidt?), I figured they might as well have just gone with that version the whole time. Except I guess it was the final layer of the movie getting peeled back to reveal its subject.
I enjoyed the movie for what it was, and I enjoyed watching the 1968 special from inside the studio itself, I guess. There was no way I was going to go with my Dad, who grew up in the Lauderdale Apartments and would've been going THAT'S NOT THE WAY IT IS. (swidta?)
― pplains, Sunday, 4 September 2022 21:26 (one year ago) link
For me it's not so much that the performances are recreated, altho I do also love period details for their own sake. But I'm just impressed with how the magic of movies gives the performances this fullness and saturation and emotional conviction that would be hard to get without attending the concert in person (and even then...?). Editing, closeups, little flourishes (the tiny shakes to the camera when Elvis leans in close to one of the other musicians and waves his hand to emphasize the beat)... Lots of ways that someone like Baz, who has no fear of going too cheesy or too maximalist, can try and make the whole theater seem to pulse when Elvis takes the stage.
Obviously these are things lots of filmmakers have weighed, both for fiction films and concert docs. And fair, Luhrmann takes a VERY specific approach here; I can accept that it's not gonna work for everyone!
― Doctor Casino, Sunday, 4 September 2022 21:46 (one year ago) link