Elvis (2022): i was not expecting this movie to mean very much to me but it is a masterpiece. Austin Butler sounds exactly like Elvis and looks like a tall pretty boy from the South. He drawls like Elvis. The movie's frame narrative is that The Colonel (boo! evil! we hate you!) is begging the audience to listen to him as he dies old and alone, as he tells us what working with Elvis was like. It concludes, emphatically and beautifully, with the '68 Comeback Special and "If I Can Dream", perhaps one of the best songs ever recorded. None of this even meant anything to me before seeing the movie; Elvis wasn't really part of my childhood, certainly less of it than the other blues and country musicians of the day (who show up in the movie and my granddad's record collection), but I am blown away by a combination of Baz Luhrman magic and the earnest real and true story of Elvis Presley, America's Prettiest Boy Who Sang So Good. 4 stars
Three Colours White, meanwhile, left me cold. The funny parts were funny but the movie did not at all move me like Blue did. I hope that Red redeems this for me; my friend says White is, like, an intermission between the two. Perhaps as a cohesive whole, it will be better than this! 2 stars.
RRR: GUYS BEING DUDES!!! the fun NEVER ENDS in this three-hour epic about the dying days of the Raj and the revelatory freedom and joy created by the national struggle for liberation. YES, it's long, and when you think it's over there's not one but TWO more acts to go, but the cast is tiny for such a long runtime, and when we see Seetha at the start of the penultimate act, the viewer recognizes her and is excited for her story. YMMV but this was true for me. Much more important than the runtime is the sheer level of spectacle RRR wields; truly incredible. There are so many parts of this movie that, alone, would have been the best part of a million other movies; the rescue on the bridge, the cat-and-mouse game between Bheem and Ram, the Tollywood dance scene to Desi Naacho, the furry assault on the britisher palace, the resolution of the cat-and-mouse game, but too late, the final fight scene (and conflagration) in the forest, discussions of the cost of a bullet vis a vis a human life....you owe it to yourself to see RRR, soon, and as loud as possible. Five stars.
The People's Joker: I haven't seen this but i am desperate to. thanks