Reply With QuoteThe series will depict his beginings at Sun Records on through the Army years, and will close with his 68 Comeback Special.
Do you meen in this series? 'Cause how I understood it they will only do it 'til 1969, or something like that. So not all the way until the 70's. Or will they?Originally Posted by Big Boss Man
There's so much world to see
For me, there's so much world to see
Yeah! Yeah! Mmm!
- waiting to see Australia.
It's that little problem money first!
The series will depict his beginings at Sun Records on through the Army years, and will close with his 68 Comeback Special.
Linda! *waves*Hope Boston's treatin' you well.
Here are two tiny photos from Entertainment Tonight.
I loved "Elvis & Me" when I saw it...I'm actually waiting for it to come on VH1 again so I can tape it finally...
Dale Midkiff, who I also love, was a major step up from DON JOHNSONDon't tell me you've all forgotten about "Elvis & The Beauty Queen"?
- Stace
Last edited by circa1956; 02-21-2005 at 08:56 PM.
We had the chance to fallBut fate stepped in to end it allBefore it could begin
I have seen the Don Johnson movie 'Elvis & The Beauty Queen' and I recall how incredibly HORRIBLE it was!!! I think he wore a jumpsuit in every seen!?!
I'm sorry, but I wasn't a fan of 'Elvis & Me' either. I thought that film was so 'one-sided' it wasn't funny. Priscilla ain't no angel!
Im sorry .... but i would find no interest at all in seeing some guy try
to be the King in a jumpsuit.... hey only El could have got away with
wearing those suits !
I mentioned on another site once about having Elvis songs by other artists put on a cd .... hey these guys hated the idea because its NOT THE KING !
I love all things Elvis ... because ITS ELVIS ..... not some nobody
Sorry but I did not like Elvis and me at all.I could not get into that mini series.It felt like it was not Elvis(Dale Midkiff)he was playing but somebody else, I could not relate to him playing Elvis at all.The only one I don't mind watching is the one with Kurt Russell in it.The Don Johnson one I never bothered watching.Let's hope Jonathan can do a good job.
I watch Elvis and Me for Dale and since it's mostly about Elvis that's an added plus. But other than that...it's understandle why that mini didn't win any awards.
- Stace
We had the chance to fallBut fate stepped in to end it allBefore it could begin
Clips of four promos for the miniseries:
http://mysticbliss.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6635
A number of folks have told me their unpleasant view of Elvis comes straight from the "Elvis and Me" tv movie. I think we underestimate the negative impact of this movie and it's frequent broadcasts.... especially on stations like VH1.
Eileen
Last edited by eileen; 02-24-2005 at 03:19 PM.
Thanks for the links. Personally I must say the guy gets on my nerves. It's like he's trying way too hard in the movie/series, and certainly in the interviews: what's with that?
From the shots of the scenes it looks like a) he's too small and scrawny looking b) the hair in the back is all wrong c) his lip sync in no way resembles the way Elvis performed d) his speaking voice is all wrong....
Now I know, the only perfect depiction of Elvis would be by Elvis himself. Still, as much as this guy resembles Elvis in some photos from some angles, the feel is all wrong to me
I liked Elvis:The Movie w/ Kurt Russell. I thought the first half of Elvis and Me, through the army years was good. I didn't care for the rest. Elvis and The Beauty Queen. It was baaaaad! No. It SUCKED!!
I probably won't watch the upcoming movie. I just don't care one way or the other. BUT........ I do hope for a really good soundtrack album.
Ugh.
So I just watched a video clip for this upcoming special.
I was not impressed. To be honest, I think it was more the way they presented the production than anything else - but I also have some reservations about the guy playing Elvis. Why is it that no one can resist spewing out the tired cliches - "the king", the "legend", "all shook up"...? Purrrlease. It's this kind of ridiculous childish reductionism that Elvis himself hated (e.g. "I don't like being called Elvis The Pelvis. That's gotta be one of the most childish expressions I've ever heard coming from an adult."). Jonathan Rhys Meyers also looks a little furtive and overwhelmed as Elvis. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Elvis may have been shy and insecure... but he really let rip once he always inevitably overcame that side of his personality. And none moreso than in the 68 Comeback Special! Finally, what's with the emphasis on the gold lame jacket? Again, Elvis hated that thing!!!
I'll tell you what... I've not even seen the original Elvis TV movie with Kurt Russell - but he IS one of my all-time favourite actors and I DO have some sound clips on my PC. Kurt totally nailed Elvis. The inflection, the tempo of his voice, the timbre, the texture... everything. And that's not as easy as the mass media would have people believe.
I've really tried to be positive about this new upcoming special but that video has just put a big fat downer on everything.
(The one I watched >> http://www.elvis.com.au/audio/mini_series.wmv )
I agree so much with the last few comments
Yes ! ! ! ... Kurt did nail his performance ... but hey he had an advantage over this loser ! ... Kurt can act
also he did have a striking resemblence to our man ... u could tell he had worked hard on his performance. Okay a perfect film it was'nt ! ... but at least if you can believe in the lead characters portrayal ... u gotta chance.
I REALLY HOPE THIS IS THE LAST ONE OF THESE AWFUL FILMS .. that they try to make about Elvis.
Well, the words "fiasco" and "loser" are a bit overly harsh, in my opinion. There's obviously a great deal of thought and effort that's gone into this thing. I really want it to be good - but I need something else to wipe away the memory of that video clip!
Yep ... a bit harsh maybebut i believe that his legion of loyal fans out there deserve something better than this drivel .... hey ive seen the clip too .... and its giving me nightmares as well.
It just seems that Sony/EPE/BMG .. whoever ... seem to think that his fans have stuck with Elvis this long .... that they will accept any old tosh
I don't think I will bother watching this mini series.To me if it's not Elvis it's not worth watching
I totally agree with all them that say that Kurt nailed itnot a saying I would normally say but I know what you mean
Yesterday was the past and tomorrow is the future but today is the present ..thats why we call it the gift"
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"Never listen to a liar it takes too long to find out the truth and my time is too precious"
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"Without you I am only half of me"
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They need to stop putting this guy on TV doing these interviews. To a lot of Elvis fans he's coming off like an *** and ruining the mystique of his portrayal. It looks to me that some of his performance will be good. He looked a lot like him in the Hound Dog clip. The first ET clip that had him in the office at Graceland was actually pretty good I thought. I agree with a previous post about the lip syncing. One thing this guy is not doing is closing his eyes. Elvis closed his eyes a lot when he was singing. The other thing is: Who is doing the hair styling? They've got it all wrong a lot! Where is the hair GREASE? Why is his hair not black in the '68 Comeback scene? Why is there no eyeliner or mascara on? I know that may sound silly but that's part of why Elvis's eyes looked like they did. Why is he lip syncing to the studio version of "Big Boss Man" for the '68 Comeback Special scene? I think that the King deserves a movie made about him that is filmed in more than 2 mo's with little attention paid to detail.
The Kurt Russell Elvis movie was very good. The hairstyles were pretty much dead on from 1956 till the end of the movie. Kurt talked like him very much . The only things that it suffered from was:
1. Not having an actual Elvis soundtrack
2. Facts were wrong sometimes
3. It was whitewashed.
If Kurt Russell were 28 right now and had the opportunity that Johnathan has right now, we would be happy Elvis fans.
The second picture looks anachronistic. Since when did Elvis ever wield large silver microphones like the one shown? He either held small ones (like for the 68 Comeback Special and at Vegas) or large ones with those fuzzy air-shield things over them. Kurt's jumpsuit also looks a little strange. For one thing, the collar looks a little too wide and flimsy. There are no band aids on his ringed fingers, either. Attention to detail matters! Kurt may have been fantastic but other aspects of the production let him down. Thanks for those pictures, however.
See... this is why a fictionalised documentary can never hope to compare to a real documentary. Even if I'm wrong on the microphone issue, dennyelvis is correct in that EPE always seek to embellish and sanitise "Elvis: The Human Being". They're much more concerned (for obvious commercial reasons) with "Elvis: The Image". Again, this means a fictionalised documentary done with their approval will always be lacking. Sadly, this latest one looks to be packaged and marketed the same way. Jonathan Rhys Myers claiming he wanted Elvis "to look good" is fine (you certainly wouldn't want to claim the opposite) - but why say it in the first place? The concept is so logical and obvious that it doesn't need to be articulated; the fact that it is suggests this is yet more EPE-influenced "image protection". How about eschewing positive and negative approaches and just presenting Elvis - shock, horror - as he actually was?
It's a good job EPE released the 3-disc Comeback Special last year. Much more than a television production, it's a full-blown documentary in its own right. If you pay close enough attention, you'll see that it's replete with examples of Elvis' psychology - his initial nervousness in the Stand-Up segment show where he flubs the timing in the Heartbreak Hotel/Hound Dog/All Shook Up medley, his flirtatious behaviour with a blonde extra on the bordello set, his anger at failing a take during the "Guitar Man" road scene ("God **** it!"), his genuine surprise and adulation at the audience's response at the conclusion of the Heartbreak Hotel/Hound Dog/All Shook Up medley, his utter conviction and concentration when performing "If I Can Dream" (after all the joking around in the Stand-Up segment, he can be heard talking to an audience member/group of audience members in a serious tone about how difficult it is to psyche himself up or some such). Really... it has a LOT of revealing moments within it.
waymore... you're right about this guy coming off as an ***. The way he says "I wanted Elvis to look good" is either a terribly bad impression of the way he feels Elvis would have said it or him literally just being an ***. Who speaks like that? Your point about hairstyling also cuts deep. In a side-by-side clip of Elvis and Myers, Elvis has long jet black hair - whereas Myers has medium length brown hair!!!! What's going on? I think they're trying to attain a more natural-looking black under proper lighting... but screw that! Up close, Elvis' hair was incredibly stylish but somewhat artificial in appearance - that's the way Elvis did his hair and that's the way it should be depicted!
Last edited by Cryogenic; 02-25-2005 at 11:35 AM.
I agree with your post as well. You're probably right about the lighting, natural appearance. This guy could look MORE like Elvis if the right person were in charge of the image. Take for example Martin Fontaine who does "The Elvis Story" in Canada. He looks NOTHING like Elvis, but with makeup and GREAT wigs, and GREAT costumes he pulls it off. I wish he sang better, but nothing's perfect.
Watch this video!
I thought that WAS Elvis in that still image on the left-hand side of the screen! (Only the sideburns gave it away).
****.
VERY good makeup and wig work. Although... his hair is completely wrong at the back in the 70s era. It looks like an 80s mullet!
Shame about his singing. I sound more like Elvis than him. And I don't even sing professionally.
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