"Elvis" (2022) Blu-ray

My Christmas present from my ex-roommate Jessica arrived today and I just finished watching it.

It was a Blu-ray of Elvis (2022), a biographical movie on Elvis Presley, but it mainly focused on Col. Tom Parker.

From Wikipedia:

Elvis is a 2022 biographical film directed by Baz Luhrmann, written by Luhrmann, Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce and Jeremy Doner. It follows the life of the rock and roll singer and actor Elvis Presley, told from the perspective of his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, whose financial abuse of him is a major focus. It stars Austin Butler as Elvis with Tom Hanks as Parker, while Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham, and Kodi Smit-McPhee co-star.

I wasn't going to buy this movie as I generally dislike docudramas. Invariably, they get things wrong or just make stuff up. Such is the case with this film. But since it was a gift, I watched it during dinner.

As a movie, it was too disjointed for me to enjoy. It mixed up time periods and events. Songs that didn't come along until later in Elvis's career were used in earlier time periods. The acting was good, I have to admit. Tom Hanks's make-up as Tom Parker was great and the set designs were superb. Hanks, though did not capture Parker's actual accent. 

Sorry, this movie did not do it for me.

My grade: C.

Sun Records Selling Elvis Presley's Contract Was A Smart Move

Above, an autographed photo of Elvis Presley at Sun Studio. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Nowadays, $35,000 does not seem like too much money to sell a rising star's record contract to RCA Victor, but that was the amount Sun Records' Sam Phillips sold Elvis Presley's contract for.

In interviews over the years, Sam Phillips said he never regretted selling Presley's contract. 

Far Out Magazine (U.K) has posted an article on how that tidy sum made Phillips a wealthy man. 

It begins with:

John Lennon once said, “Before Elvis there was nothing.” You’d imagine that inventing everything, at least in Lennon’s words, comes with a hefty price tag. Unfortunately, for Sun Records, it’s a story akin to Newell’s Old Boys having to sell Leo Messi to Barcelona: when the big guys come a-knocking, you just have to answer the call and take what you can get. The $35,000 fee might not sound like a lot in retrospect but taking a risk on a fledgling talent changing the world and holding out for more was too perilous. 

We all know what happened to Elvis’ finances at the hands of Colonel Tom Parker, but what of Sun Records’ side of the story once ‘The King’ left the building and signed for RCA? Well, if you adjust the figure for inflation, the deal scored the little Memphis music mogul, Sam Phillips, a tidy $389,000—it might not make you a tycoon, but it could snap you up a fine country home. 

Above, a display at Sun Studio. Sam Phillips is on the right. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To read more, go here. 

Priscilla Presley's Reaction To New "Elvis" Biopic

Above, Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

For those who are curious about the new Elvis Presley biopic and wonder what Priscilla Presley thinks about it, she posted on Twitter her (and Jerry Schilling's) reaction to the movie after screening it.

Here's her Tweet:

Sounds like it received their stamps of approval.