Jenna Does Elvis #15 – Charro! (1969) / The Trouble With Girls (1969)

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It’s the home stretch! After this post, I have only ONE Elvis movie left to go!

I’ve thus far neglected to really delve into the historical backdrop for these films—however, it is now 1969, and boy have we come a long way. When Elvis’ first film came out, in 1956, he was a mere 21 years old and had just debuted his “Hound Dog/ Don’t Be Cruel” single. Elsewhere in 1956, Norma Jean changed her name to Marilyn Monroe, Eisenhower got his second term, Grace Kelly became a princess, and the Supreme Court declared the Alabama Bus segregation laws illegal. 

Now, in 1969, Nixon has become president, Neil Armstrong has taken one small step for man, Woodstock has burst onto the scene, The Beatles recorded Abbey Road, the Manson murders happened, and Don Draper had a zen moment on a California mountaintop. 

Though the world has changed, Elvis has largely stayed the same—if you judged America solely by Elvis movies, you’d think we never made it past ’63. These last ones, however, are real wild cards:

Continue reading Jenna Does Elvis #15 – Charro! (1969) / The Trouble With Girls (1969)

A Rebuttal to ‘The Idea of What a Movie Is’

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Greed (1924) | Directed by Erich von Stroheim

Greg,

There’s a film writer I like named Marya Gates who once tackled the idea that “old movies” aren’t worthwhile. In a short video overview of film history from inception to the present day, she concluded that “if you don’t love all of it, I don’t understand how you can watch any of it.”

This, to me, is the only valid way of viewing movies. Dismissive negativity is the cheapest commodity in the world and the culture of holding yourself in smug superiority over what you’re viewing seems only to grow in the echo chamber of the internet, full as it is of teenagers and self-proclaimed cynics who cling to their assumptions and prejudices as an essential and valuable part of themselves, not recognizing that those qualities are our greatest failings. So, I’m baffled by your piece The Idea of What a Movie Is.
Continue reading A Rebuttal to ‘The Idea of What a Movie Is’