A Negromancer October 2022

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Review: Baz Luhrmann's "ELVIS" Reveals That White People Ruined Presley

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 55 of 2022 (No. 1867) by Leroy Douresseaux

Elvis (2022)
Running time:  159 minutes (2 hours, 39 minutes)
MPA – PG-13 for substance abuse, strong language, suggestive material and smoking
DIRECTOR:  Baz Luhrmann
WRITERS:  Baz Luhrmann, Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner; from a story by Baz Luhrmann and Jeremy Doner
PRODUCERS:  Baz Luhrmann, Gail Berman, Catherine Martin, Patrick McCormick, and Schuyler Weiss
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Mandy Walker (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Jonathan Redmond and Matt Villa
COMPOSER:  Elliot Wheeler

BIOPIC/HISTORICAL

Starring:  Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., David Wenham, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Luke Bracey, Dacre Montgomery, Leon Ford, Gary Clark, Jr., Yola, Natasha Bassett, Xavier Samuel, Adam Dunn, Shonka Dukureh, and Chaydon Jay

Elvis is a 2022 biopic, musical drama, and historical film from director Baz Luhrmann.  The film is an overview and fictional account of the life of Elvis Presley (1935–1977), the singer, songwriter, performer, and actor best known as simply “Elvis” and also as the “King of Rock and Roll.”  Elvis the movie examines his life – from his childhood to his rise to cultural icon status – and his complicated relationship with his notorious manager, Colonel Tom Parker.

Elvis opens in 1997 and introduces Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks).  After suffering a stroke, he is on his deathbed.  His gambling addiction has left him broke, but once upon a time, he was somebody.  He was both famous and infamous.  He was the manager of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll.

Early in his life, Elvis Aaron Presley (Chaydon Jay) was a just a kid whose family had moved into a housing project in the white section of an African-American neighborhood in Memphis, Tennessee (1948).  Elvis' family was poor, and his father was in prison.  Elvis, already familiar with country music, became steeped in the gospel music of the nearby Black churches and also in the rhythm and blues of the Black clubs and music halls on Memphis' Beale Street.

Later (1955), when Colonel Parker meets the now adult Elvis Presley (Austin Butler), he is making waves as a young singer and guitarist.  Parker is already partnered with country singer, Hank Snow (David Wenham), when he hears Elvis, a young white artist who sounds black, especially on the groundbreaking single, “That's All Right.”

Soon, Parker is managing Elvis, and the young man's stage performances are making him very popular with young people, especially young women, who are driven crazy by Elvis' salacious wiggling legs, swinging hips, and thrusting pelvis.  Under Parker's management, Elvis begins a meteoric rise to stardom, but his stage act is drawing the ire of white people who don't want their kids exposed to Black music and culture.  To save Elvis from trouble, Colonel Parker exerts more control over Elvis' music, performances, and life, but what will that do to Parker and Elvis' already complex relationship?

Hard as it is to believe, Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann has only directed six films in his thirty-year career, beginning with his 1992 debut, Strictly Ballroom, which I have never seen.  Other than Elvis, I have only seen Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Moulin Rouge! (2001), and I have only reviewed the latter.

Elvis is like Moulin Rouge!, a flashy, fast-moving musical drama with excellent production values.  Everything about Elvis is lavish, spectacular, fabulous and beautiful.  The production design, art direction, and sets are the most beautiful that I have seen this year and maybe in a long time.  The costumes, regardless of the characters' wealth and social status, are gorgeous (the only word I can think of).  The cinematography and lighting create a world of fantasy, and the film editing manages to convey the seemingly incalculable number of moods and emotions that Luhrmann wants the audience for Elvis to experience.

The soundtrack is filled with Presley's iconic recordings, including some sung by Austin Butler.  There are a number of famous gospel and blues songs performed by their legendary originators.  There are also modern jams, some reinterpretations of classic songs, including the work of Elvis.

Simply put, Austin Butler makes you believe that he is Elvis Presley.  Butler seems to channel everything that made Elvis an icon and a legend.  Even Elvis' ex-wife, Priscilla, and daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, were awed by Butler's performance.  For anyone to beat Butler to the Oscar this year, they will have to be as amazing as him.

As for the entire film:  Elvis is at its best when it chronicles Elvis' rise before he enters the military service (the U.S. Army 1958-60).  When Elvis is close to his Memphis roots and hanging around Black singers and performers, he is happy and so is the film.  Post-military, the film is still beautiful to look like, but the film takes a darker turn as Elvis is disconnected from his roots and becomes surrounded by white people, most of whom are parasites.  And the ones that are not parasites are manipulators.

Tom Hanks' Colonel Tom Parker is one of the most ridiculously awful and awfully ridiculous film characters that I have ever seen.  Hanks' Parker is like a mix of “Pennywise the Clown” from the It films (based on the Stephen King books) and a mangy elf.  Parker epitomizes the morass that drags at the film for most of its running time.  Hanks' Parker does make one of the film's themes obvious and true.  Maybe, Elvis and Parker snowed themselves as much as they snowed each other.

My grade reflects how much I like this film's production values, music, and Austin Butler's performance.  Butler is the shining light of Elvis.  I could watch him play Elvis Presley again – in a better film.

6 of 10
B
★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, September 29, 2022


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Negromancer News Bits and Bites from September 25th to 30th, 2022 - Update #6

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

BUSINESS - From Deadline:   We're not for sale, says Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav - with rumors that Comcast is eying them.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Matthew Broderick has joined Jennifer Lawrence in Sony's R-rated comedy, "No Hard Feelings."

HARRY POTTER - From HuffPost:  The diaries of the late actor, Alan Rickman, who died in 2016 of pancreatic cancer, will be published in the upcoming cook, "Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman."  Excerpts from the book reveals his true feeling about the "Harry Potter" film franchise.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Nine-time Grammy winner Rihanna will be the headliner at the next Super Bowl Halftime Show for Super Bowl LVII, which is set for February 12, 2023 in Glendale, AZ.  Fox will broadcast.

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:   The winner of the 9/23 to 9/25/2022 weekend box office is "Don't Worry Darling" with an estimated take of 19.2 million dollars.

NETFLIX - From BusinessInsider:  Netflix insiders reveal to "Media Insider" the "contentious" debates over how data drives creative decisions, and why beloved series don't always get renewed.

OBIT:

From NYTimes:  The rapper and actor, Coolio (born Artis Leon Ivey, Jr.), has died at the age of 59, Wed., September 28, 2022.  He was best known for his hit song, "Gangsta's Paradise," which was featured on the soundtrack for the film, "Dangerous Minds" (1995), and on his second album, "Gangsta's Paradise" (1995).  "Gangsta's Paradise" earned Coolio a Grammy Award for "Best Rap Solo Performance."

BRITTNEY GRINER:

From Reuters:  Russia says that it is ready to talk prisoner swamp for Brittney Griner and U.S. Marine veteran Paul Whelan, but also scolds the U.S. Embassy.

From TheDailyBeast:   Legendary NBA bad boy and champion (Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls), Dennis Rodman claims that he has been given permission to go to Russia and help free imprisoned hostage, WNBA star, Brittney Griner.

From Vox:  Vox's Jonathan Guyer talks the Brittney Griner case with Danielle Gilbert, a Dartmouth professor who is writing a book about states and rogue actors that take hostages.

From ESPN:   A Russian court sentenced WNBA star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison Thursday, Aug. 4th.  Griner was arrested Feb. 17 for bringing cannabis into the country and pleaded guilty July 7, though the case continued under Russian law.

From ESPN:  The Biden administration has offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing home WNBA star Brittney Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday.

From RSN:  "Will Support From LeBron James, Joe Rogan, Kim Kardashian, and Other Celebrities Help Free Brittney Griner From a Russian Prison?" by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar via Substack

From ESPN:  Detained WNBA star Brittney Griner pleaded guilty on Thursday to bringing hashish oil into Russia, telling a judge that she had done so "inadvertently" while asking the court for mercy.

From CBSSports:  The Brittney Griner situation explained.

From RSN:  According to The Washington Post Editorial Board: "Brittney Griner is a hostage, plain and simple."

Comics Review: "FANTASTIC FOUR: Full Circle" Celebrates the Past, Present, and Future

FANTASTIC FOUR: FULL CIRCLE
ABRAMS COMICARTS

STORY: Alex Ross
ART: Alex Ross
COLORS: Alex Ross and Josh Johnson
LETTERS: Ariana Maher
EDITORS: Charles Kochman and Tom Brevoort
COVER: Alex Ross and Josh Johnson
ISBN: 978-1-4197-6167-6; hardcover with dust jacket (also an eBook); 8 1/2 x 11 (September 6, 2022)
64pp, Color, $24.95 U.S., $31.99 CAN, £17.99 U.K.

Fantastic Four created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee

The Fantastic Four #1 (cover dated: November 1961) is the comic book that basically started what we know of today as Marvel Comics and the “Marvel Universe” of superheroes.  The Fantastic Four was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, with Lee writing the story for the first issue and Jack Kirby drawing that first issue.

Returning to the Lee-Kirby era, Fantastic Four: Full Circle is a new original graphic novel from writer-artist Alex Ross.  Published in an oversize format, 8½ x 11, Full Circle features the Fantastic Four (FF):  Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards), the Invisible Woman (Susan Storm Richards), the Human Torch (Johnny Storm), and the Thing (Ben Grimm).  In a story that is a sequel of sorts to a classic issue of the Fantastic Four, the members of the team find themselves fighting for survival in the Negative Zone, an alien universe composed entirely of anti-matter.  The rest of Full Circle's creative team is comprised of Josh Johnson, who colors this comic book with Ross, and letterer Ariana Maher.

Fantastic Four: Full Circle opens on a rainy night in the Baxter Building, the Manhattan home of the FF.  Ben is making himself a sandwich when an intruder suddenly appears in the team's living quarters.  Upon investigation, they discover that the intruder is a man who once masqueraded as Ben Grimm.  They soon discover that the man is a human host, used to deliver a swarm of invading parasites – carrion creatures composed of “Negative Energy.”

What is the purpose behind this invasion, and who is behind it?  Now, the Fantastic Four have no choice but to journey into the heart of the Negative Zone, an alien universe that is parallel to Earth's universe and is composed entirely of anti-matter.  They not only risk their own lives, but also the fate of the cosmos?  Is there any hope for this journey, or will they discover hope?

THE LOWDOWN:  I like that Fantastic Four: Full Circle has a direct connection to the Fantastic Four's vintage era (as I call it) when it was produced by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.  Full Circle directly connects to and is a resolution of Fantastic Four #51 (cover dated: June 1966).  Entitled “This Man... This Monster!,” the story pit Reed Richards against an unnamed scientist who gives himself the powers and appearance of The Thing.  The scientist's plan is to kill Richards, but those plans ultimately force him to save Reed's life while condemning himself to a sorry fate.

Full Circle returns to “This Man... This Monster!” in a deeply intimate way, or, at least, that is the way it comes across to me.  In terms of graphics, illustrations, and colors, Full Circle is a direct descendant of the Lee-Kirby Fantastic Four.  If Fantastic Four #51 is the parent, then, Full Circle is the child.  Jack Kirby's dynamic, cosmic infused compositions are newly infused with the modern flourishes of the techno-marvels of software graphics and colors.  Alex Ross even gives Stan Lee's chatterbox expositions new life simply by multiplying them in Full Circle, and Ross' take feels authentic.  When one of the Fantastic Four speaks, their dialogue reads as if it were written by Stan the Man himself.

Alex Ross’s art in Full Circle is a combination of impressive line work and layers of brushwork that seems to sway like drapery.  Ross and Josh Johnson color Full Circle in fluorescent shades: blues, greens, oranges, and purples.  Their color choices also recalls the visuals and graphics of the “Pop Art” comic book movement (or moment) of the 1960s, somewhat similar to writer-artist Jim Steranko's work for Marvel, such as Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., in the late 1960s.

For a long time, I have described the comic books published in the 1960s by DC Comics and Marvel Comics, especially Marvel, as having a sense of wonder and mystery, of science/magic and hope, and of discovery and exploration.  The modern comic book series that best exemplifies that is the late Darwyn Cooke's 2004 comic book miniseries, DC: The New Frontier.

Fantastic Four: Full Circle is both an homage and a return to a time when Marvel's comic book titles were about discovering the new.  [Now, they are about IP maintenance and continuity, which is mostly fractured.]  I love Ariana Maher vintage-styled lettering and the throbbing coloring that Josh Johnson commits with Alex Ross.  All of it connects past and present.

I love that Alex Ross has presented Fantastic Four in this larger than usual format.  Here, Ross' big, almost widescreen art both captures and replicates the big spirit and cosmic yearnings of Jack Kirby's best work on the Fantastic Four.  I want to avoid spoilers, but I love Full Circle's ending, with its emphasis on hope, reconciliation, and peace.

Fantastic Four: Full Circle is published as the launch of “MarvelArts,” a new collaborative line of books between Marvel Comics and Abrams ComicArts.  Abrams tells us that in MarvelArts “nothing is impossible and anything can happen.”  I hope that this means that Abrams ComicArts will not just publish anything.  Future publications should be as ambitious and as classically Marvel as this debut.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of the Fantastic Four and of Silver Age Marvel Comics will want Fantastic Four: Full Circle.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


https://www.alexrossart.com/
https://twitter.com/thealexrossart
https://www.instagram.com/thealexrossart/?hl=en
https://www.facebook.com/alexrossart
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTPXeCUinfh6RDdmcn1co9g

https://www.abramsbooks.com/imprints/abramscomicarts/
https://twitter.com/abramscomicarts
https://www.abramsbooks.com/

https://twitter.com/Marvel
https://www.marvel.com/
https://www.marvel.com/comics
https://www.comixology.com/Marvel_Comics


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Comics Review: "THE MAGIC ORDER 3 #3": The Boys in the Magic Hood Are Always Hard

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BOOM! Studios Shipping from Diamond Distributors for September 28, 2022

BOOM! STUDIOS

JUL220285 BRIAR #1 (OF 4) CVR A GARCIA $4.99

JUL220286 BRIAR #1 (OF 4) CVR B PAQUETTE $4.99

JUL220287 BRIAR #1 (OF 4) CVR C ANDOLFO $4.99

JUL228439 BRIAR #1 (OF 4) CVR H FOC REVEAL VAR HANS $4.99

JUL220340 GRIM #5 CVR A FLAVIANO $3.99

JUL220341 GRIM #5 CVR B FOIL FLAVIANO $5.99

JUL220342 GRIM #5 CVR C FRISON $3.99

JUL228081 GRIM #5 CVR G FOC REVEAL VAR ANDRADE $3.99

MAY220310 HOLLOW OGN HC (C: 0-1-2) $24.99

MAY220311 HOLLOW OGN TP (C: 0-1-2) $19.99

JUN220382 HOUSE OF SLAUGHTER #9 CVR A ALBUQUERQUE $3.99

JUN220383 HOUSE OF SLAUGHTER #9 CVR B DELL EDERA $3.99

JUN220384 HOUSE OF SLAUGHTER #9 CVR C BODYBAG VAR KIEU $4.99

JUL220308 MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS #100 CVR A MORA (C: 1-0-0) $9.99

JUL220309 MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS #100 CVR B BERNARDO (C: 1-0-0) $9.99

JUL220310 MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS #100 CVR C WRAP VAR MERCADO (C: $9.99

JUL220311 MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS #100 CVR D BLANK SKETCH VAR (C: $9.99

JUL220312 MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS #100 CVR E FOIL MONTES (C: 1-0- $11.99

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JUL220331 SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN SCARLET BANDANA $19.99

JUL220320 VAMPIRE SLAYER (BUFFY) #6 CVR A ANINDITO $4.99

JUL220321 VAMPIRE SLAYER (BUFFY) #6 CVR B HANS $4.99

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Dark Horse Comics Shipping from Diamond Distributors for September 28, 2022

DARK HORSE COMICS

APR220351 GANTZ OMNIBUS TP VOL 10 (MR) (C: 1-1-2) $24.99

MAY220493 KINGS OF NOWHERE TP VOL 01 (C: 0-1-2) $19.99

JUL220425 ROADIE #1 (OF 4) $3.99

MAY220486 WIZARD KING NOVEL TRILOGY BOXED SET (C: 0-1-2) $38.97

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