Photo Courtesy of Variety
Have you ever wanted to watch all of the films nominated for the Oscars Best Picture Award but never had enough time? Well, we’ve got good news for you! Each week we will be reviewing one of the 10 films nominated for Best Picture (not including Everything Everywhere All At Once) and giving our own predictions on what we think will win.
“Elvis”
Cinematography: 9.2/10
Costumes: 10/10
Sets: 9.5/10
Acting: 9/10
Directed by Baz Lurhman, “Elvis” is the story of Elvis Presley, played by Austin Butler, and his rise to fame over the course of 20 years as a rock n’ roll superstar. The story of Elvis is told through the lens of his controversial music manager, Colonel Tom Parker, played by Tom Hanks. So far, the box office has sold about 287.3 million dollars but only has about 77% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It is rated PG-13.
The film explores the ways in which Elvis changed throughout the course of his life. At the beginning, he was younger and the tone of the film was more fast paced. However, as the film progressed, his relationship with the Colonel changed and became more complicated, which caused Elvis to have more complex emotions and decisions to make. As he aged, Elvis’ physical and mental health deteriorated, and Luhrmann shows this clearly with the use of costume design and prosthetics.
We really enjoyed this movie. It had a little of everything- comedy, music, romance and drama.
The costumes and set designs were incredibly detailed and provided a glimpse into each time period. Cinematography wise, scenes directly matched how everything actually looked in real life, and the different lighting techniques helped to recreate ionic Elvis moments. We thought that Austin Butler did a meticulously detailed and terrific job portraying Elvis. He fully embodied the character, bringing a new dimension to the screen, and his voice truly paid homage to the real Elvis’ voice. However, though the movie gives specific details on his life, the run time is about 3 hours. This was one issue with the film that received backlash. Though it deals with difficult topics such as mental health, physical health and relationships, we would still rate it PG-13, with brief scenes of drugs, drinking and smoking. We believe it deserves a higher Rotten Tomatoes rating, between 89-92%. We believe “Elvis” has a high chance of winning Best Picture, due to its overall attention to detail, cinematography, and extremely well done portrayal of the rock n’ roll icon. As Elvis himself once said at the end of a concert during his final tour “‘Til we meet again, may God bless you. Adios.”
