January 8th happens to be my and Elvis' birthday. Ever since I was a kid, this day has been marked with Elvis movie (and music) marathons. I would rather that January 8th was filled with David Bowie or John McTiernan marathons, as I would prefer to watch Labyrinth and Die Hard over Viva Las Vegas.
My sister was born on August 16th, which happens to be the anniversary of Elvis' death -- so our birthdays make nice Elvis bookends. Her birthday is also marked with TCM marathons of Elvis' (quite large) movie catalog.
Though I might prefer McTiernan films to the King's offerings, I had to make a decision early in life. I had to decide whether I was going to be trite and feign offense at the outpouring of popular culture offerings repeated annually on my birthday, or whether I was going to go along for the ride and have as good a time as possible. I chose the second path. Elvis movies may not be the best films ever made, but they are often quite fun. I've always enjoyed Speedway, King Creole, and Jailhouse Rock -- even if I've never come to truly appreciate Viva Las Vegas. The songs, like most of the King's tunes, are infectious and the stories are entertaining enough. One just has to be in the proper frame of mind.
Thankfully, I am usually in that frame of mind on my birthday. After all, I'm someone who celebrated his birthday by going out with friends to watch In the Name of the King by Uwe Boll. Compared to that film, the Elvis films are high art.
Sadly, Hulu doesn't have any full length Elvis films in their catalog to date. They do have some clips from Elvis' first film though, and you can enjoy Elvis big screen premiere in Love Me Tender.
2 comments:
Viva Las Vegas? One word: Ann-Margaret
a pretty crummy comeback... (the) ridiculous stunts might have been dreamed up by a group of hyperactive 12-year-olds in the midst of a Red Bull binge; they should not have been staged by filmmakers old enough to know better.
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