Elvis

[AndyC]

Who around here watches Elvis movies?

I've been avoiding them since I was a kid, but have recently been enjoying a few on TV. An added benefit is that unlike many cheesy movies, my wife actually has as much fun watching these as I do.

We've seen two together so far, and we're still laughing at Ann-Margret's epileptic dancing in Viva Las Vegas and Elvis' playground antics in Clambake, not to mention seeing the king hard at work in a laboratory, perfecting his secret polymer to win the boat race.

Funny that today's crop of singers can't make an entertaining movie to save their lives, but Elvis' movies are really fun and entertaining. I wonder if it's because they are try too hard to uphold an image, while Elvis wasn't afraid to be a little goofy. Could also be that they try too hard to be actors. Elvis basically played Elvis in all his movies. Different name, sure, but always Elvis, and he basically went around doing what he was good at. The real actors kept the plot rolling along, such as it was. I would sort of liken it to a Marx Brothers movie in that respect.

So, anybody else love a good (bad) Elvis movie?



Post Edited (02-07-04 19:11)

[trekgeezer]

Watch King Creole if you want to see Elvis actually act.  I think he could have had another career with right  guidance.  When he came back from the Army he  signed a multi  picture deal  to do all those dumb movies in the 60's.

[raj]

I've watched them occasionally, not in years though.  You've hit the nail on the head, they were goofy movies and didn't pretend to be anything but.  Today's crop of, um, "singers" seem to feel they have to do "important" movies, with "messages".  C'mon, just entertain us.  It is a nasty world out there, we want a 90-120 minute escape.

[Deej]

I like all of his 1950's movies, although Love Me Tender is pretty dull. I agree that most of the stuff he put out post-army was pretty crappy, though Flaming Star is good, and Change of Habit was pretty decent.

Best Elvis flick....King Creole.... sings Trouble...messes up Vic Morrow, CLASSIC!

[Eirik]

Elvis movies are interesting for me.  I enjoy them...  but only for ten or twelve minutes at a time.  I can come into any one of them at any point in the movie, know what's going on, enjoy the music, the pretty girls and the bright colors, and then turn away from it without feeling like I'm missing a thing.  I've never seen one in its entirety, in fact I've probably not seen more than 30 minutes of any given one.  But I have thoroughly enjoyed every second of Elvis movie I have watched.  Strange.