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Jenna Does Elvis #3 – G.I. Blues (1960) / Flaming Star (1960)

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When we last spoke I’d seen King Creole, a movie I greatly enjoyed. After King Creole, Elvis was shipped off to the army, his mother died, he met his future wife Priscilla, and he picked up an unhealthy addiction to barbiturates. Couple that with John Lennon’s famous “Elvis died when he went into the army” quote, and it seemed I might be in for a precipitous  drop in quality.

I was feeling optimistic though, I mean the last two were fun. And while none of the films so far has been life-alteringly great, none of it’s been unwatchable either. Granted, my tolerance for the unwatchable is notoriously high, but still—so far, this journey has quite honestly been slightly better than anticipated.

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Gus Van Sand: Harry Brewis on ‘Gerry’

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Part two in a series of three pieces by Harry Brewis tackling Gus Van Sant’s Death Trilogy. Click here for part one.

Gerry is about two guys who get lost on a hike in the desert and slowly dehydrate as they try to find a way back. In a moment of mercy, one strangles the other to save them from suffering a much longer and more painful death in the sun. Like with Elephant, the plot is a little thin on the ground, based on a true story the audience probably already knows going in. But the way it’s presented allows it to tell a story with a surprisingly great deal of depth.

Elephant was about characters so trapped in their own way of thinking that they fail to see death coming, or fail to question why they have chosen to kill others. Gerry takes the opposite tack and explores the hidden advantages of living this way.

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Smug Film Podcast Episode #26 – Blade / Fan Service / Stalking Celebs / Elvis / The Bounty (4/20/15)

Episode 26 1:16:49 | View on iTunes | Download Mp3

On this episode I’m joined by John D’Amico and Jenna Ipcar for a discussion about the movie Blade. We also talk about the concept of fan service, answer a question about stalking celebrities, and right as we’re about to close out, Jenna and John tell us all about Elvis and Mutiny on the Bounty. Plus, a review of Unfriended from Chloe Pelletier!

Links Mentioned in this Episode:
@FMLMcCoy
Gilbert Gottfried’s Real Voice
Jenna Does Elvis #1
Jenna Does Elvis #2

If you have a movie-related question you’d like answered on the show, send it to Podcast@SmugFilm.com!
Continue reading Smug Film Podcast Episode #26 – Blade / Fan Service / Stalking Celebs / Elvis / The Bounty (4/20/15)

Jenna Does Elvis #2 – Jailhouse Rock (1957) / King Creole (1958)

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Okay, we’ve got the fluff out of the way and now we’re getting into two of what are hailed as Elvis’ greatest films.

When last I saw you, I was young and naïve—I had decided to undertake the project of watching every single film from Elvis’ shockingly large acting career. Now, four movies in, I would call this the blooming flower period for both Elvis and my Elvis enjoyment. We’ve got Jailhouse Rock, probably Elvis’ most visually recognizable and iconic film—if you’ve ever seen Elvis in a striped shirt, or dancing on a set that looks like a prison, it’s from Jailhouse Rock. Then we have King Creole, which is an Elvis movie you’ve probably heard of people having seen.

If you’re anything like me, you expect both of these to be the most Elvis-y Elvis movies imaginable—full of hips, guitar licks, and sneering lips. But you hold some reservation too, since the first two were such let downs.

So what’s the verdict? Well, keep reading and find out:

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The 13 Best Hitchcock Shots

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Alfred Hitchcock was not just one of the great stylists of the film world, but also one of its great fonts as well, with 53 feature films and a score of TV works, in just about every pre-modern format imaginable, from tinted silent black-and-white to special effects-soaked technicolor. I thought it’d be fun to take a look at some of the moments in his work that really click for me. So, here’s my very personal and by no means exhaustive list of my favorite Hitchcock shots:

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