Episode 2
Walk the Elvis: Walk the Line (2005) & Elvis (2022)
What do these two movies have in common? Where are they different? Join us for a drink and discussion about ELVIS (2022) and WALK THE LINE (2005).
In "Walk the Elvis", we dive into an engaging discussion about the music biopics ELVIS (2022) and WALK THE LINE (2005). Join us as we critically analyze both films, exploring their strengths, weaknesses, and missed opportunities that left us wanting more.
The Wiegand brothers, Jerome & Chris, love movies and are fascinated by human nature and the art of great storytelling. Have you ever wondered how great stories connect? Listen to the Silver Screen Happy Hour - a podcast for movie lovers!
Follow Silver Screen Happy Hour on Instagram here:
Transcript
WALK THE ELVIS
===
[:And the one guy's like, is that a woman's undergarment I just saw
[: nd thankfully due to my, uh, [:There's a little background noise, my brother's end, but, uh, it all works. I just wanted to throw that out there. But anyways, let me get the film real going and we will, uh, jump into the conversation.
So, uh, Jerome, what uh, movies are we talking about today and what are we gonna start with?
[:So we're in that, that sweet spot in between.
[:So I was just grasping for straws and I was looking for a beer that we had in the house. So I made it work. It's all true. I mean,
[: [: [: nteresting right off the bat [: [: [: [: [: [: [:Um, but we're gonna start with Elvis, cuz I got some shit I gotta get off my chest, so,
[: [: [: [:Yeah. I don't have anything cool to tie in today. I, I was gonna get a whiskey, uh, but I just didn't have time. I didn't have time to pick out a nice new bottle of something. So I'm just going with beer today in the, uh, honor of Johnny Cash. Um, I, I guess I could pop some pills on Johnny Cash, but it wouldn't be the same.
[: [:I loved the film, I had problems with the script. Mm-hmm. Normally if a film isn't written well, the film sucks. Yeah. But Baz Luhrmann who directed it and uh, we'll get to the writing credits in a second cuz that's part of the fucking problem. Um. But Baz Luhrmann's, I love Baz Luhrmann's films fantastic. I loved Romeo and Juliet, great Gatsby, Moulin Rouge.
Like he, he's a great visual filmmaker, great visual director, and he gets great performances out of his actors. Um, you know, uh, Nicole Kidman might the best I think I've ever seen her was Moulin Rouge. Um, you know, uh, Claire Danes, as young as she was probably Romeo and Juliet's the best movie I ever saw her in. Um,
[: [: [:It's not hard for me to fall asleep watching a film, but, you know, if it, if it's good enough, usually it'll keep my attention. But, Something about the way it, it jumped around. Um, I don't know. It was beautiful. I thought they did a great job with like, the directing. It was, I thought a lot of the directing, like with, uh, cinematography and the Yeah.
plit screen and how they did [: [: the real live TV footage from: visually. Um, and up until I [:To prepare for this podcast. I hadn't seen it in the theater. I regret now not seeing it in the theater. Um, but up until a few nights ago, I had pretty much penciled in, uh, Brendan Frazier for Best Actor in the Whale. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That movie was Dark Man. But I really think Austin Butler did an amazing job, man.
He had his, uh, I mean, um, the mo the shaking with the gyrating. Yeah. He had the moves down. It's not just the makeup with the hair and everything, although that was spot on, but he even had mannerisms down. Right. You know what I mean? Like just the way that bottom lip would, would. Would, would pout down a little bit.
He really had that Elvis shit down. Like he,
[: [: [: [: [: e makeup and everything, but [: [: [: [: [: [: Uh, Unchained melody, [:The Righteous Brothers is created. That song, Elvis, Elvis covered them. Right. Um, and a little interesting tie to covering, uh, when we get to walk the line, you'd be, uh, amazed to know how much Johnny Cash actually covered other people's songs too. Yeah. Um, but um, so anyway, so, so the film itself was enjoyable for me.
I won't. Throw anything at the TV if it wins. Best picture. I don't have a particular favorite. You remember? Uh, I haven't seen them all yet. Mm-hmm. But, you know, you know me. Anyone that's listening to this podcast tell you, there's always that one film that I love that nobody else does that I think should win.
And it doesn't. It [:Yeah. You know, I didn't have a a a a Bird Man or a Silence of the Lambs. I didn't have one of those this year where it's, I'm just like, I'm all in on this movie, and then this is the movie that you know is better than everything else. I don't care what you show me. Mm-hmm. I didn't have that yet. Now I haven't seen them all, but.
I wouldn't be mad right now if Elvis wins. It was a fun movie for me. It was. It was very well done. But now let me get to the script, which is why we're here, which is what we like to talk about. Now, I'll give you guys a dead giveaway. If you know that a script is in trouble, you have to look no further than the credits.
Mm. Okay. And what's [: [: [: d again. Mm-hmm. Right? And, [:Mm. And. Jeffrey Domer again, or Jeremy Don. Wow. Jeremy Doner again. Which means that the original script that they had, they then changed it. They brought in, he brought in another writer, which means the studio was like, we're not happy, bring in another writer. So he brings in another writer, they do another rewrite enough to where, uh, one of the Sam Broel gets SAG credit or SAG WGA credit.
at some point he would say, [:We, we need more rewrite. So then Craig Pearce comes in and they rewrite it again.
[: [:Right. Because that, that's a, that's a clear cut. This is a disaster film when you're bringing writers in while you're shooting. Right.
[: [: [: [: [: [:But anyway, so
[: [:Whose story is it?
[: [: [: [:Yeah. And it's like, wait a sec. And, and then there's a few scenes with Parker. Yeah. But it's really not about him. At some point it just stops being about him. Yeah. And he's narrating the thing for God's sake. And, and then it starts being about him later again. Yeah. And then the end, it's like, and then the ending is all Elvis, except for one shot of Parker dying.
ay, so if Parker is the lead.[:Then what are his tangible and spiritual goals that we always talk about? What is it he wants and what is it he learns? Like what does he learn on this journey? Cuz he doesn't learn a goddamn thing. No, he doesn't learn a thing. Right. Like to the day he dies, he keeps saying in the narration, I did nothing wrong. I,
[: [: [: [: [:He watched it on, on an airplane, I think going to see you. Um, but. Or coming home from seeing you.
[: [:Um, they called him the Colonel.
[: [: [:Like he got fucking promoted somehow from, well, from Colonel to Admiral.
[: [: [: but, Dad said, uh, something [:He had that accent that mm-hmm. And, and it came out in the movie that he didn't have proper papers to travel, uh, in and out of the United States. And he claimed he was from the States. Yeah. But he didn't, he couldn't prove it. And so,
[: [:So it was a, a lot of, so I, I would like to actually just go down a rabbit hole at some point and, you know, look into that. But it wasn't discu. It wasn't You're right though, in the movie they didn't close it. They didn't
[: [: [: [: [:Parker doesn't, but Parker's narrating the whole thing. Yeah. So you think, well, then it's his story, but it's really Elvis's story, right? I mean, come on. It's a biopic about Elvis.
[: [:Right. Right. It's a biopic about Elvis, and sure enough, it has so many opportunities to be that movie. Right. You know, when they start, um, when they show him as a child and he goes to that gospel revival tent, you know? Yeah. And he starts doing the shaking and everything. Yeah. And, and I went back and looked at it again the other last night.
st five minutes or whatever. [:Right. Or something like that. Yeah. So, so if you look at what, I mean, if you look at the whole film, what is it really saying? What is the journey that Elvis goes through? What is his biggest obstacle? Right? Mm-hmm. His biggest obstacle, to me anyway, over a damn near three hour film is that so many people tried to keep him from being who he really was.
[: [: [: [: [:Everyone knows this, that, you know, Elvis was the bridge that brought us rock and roll from the blues, um, from the, you know, the black music culture. He bridged it because, yeah. And, and I'm like, it's, it's, it's, I think I even said this to mom, it's funny watching this on this side of history, the, the idea that it was such a scandalous thing, right.
For white people to listen to black music.
[: [: [: r of their skin is, but back [: [: [:They were like, what? No, no. You know what I mean?
[: [:They're trying to make us listen to black music. For the women, it was, I feel the devil in me. Even Tom Parker says at one point, he goes, I knew I had a hit when I saw that girl's eyes, she would've eaten him alive. He was the forbidden fruit. He actually says those words. Right. He was the forbidden fruit.
concert. They were in like a [: [: [:Yeah. And they're making our kids do sexual things. Right. Like, here we go. Wasn't that loud? He's bringing, he's bringing sex out. And it was that, that was the big deal for the Oh, okay. Yeah. I'll stop. So that happens. Sorry, I poured that one a little heavy. Yeah. Oh, oh yeah. There you go. There you go.
[: [: [: [:Yeah. Unfortunately, the movie's narrated by Parker, so you don't really know who the hell's story it is. Mm-hmm. Right. But it's, but if you follow sort of that three act structure, uh, the rise, the fall, the redemption, and, you know, the turning points, it's, it's obvious to me the first turning point is when they're on, I wanna say the Ferris wheel and, and, uh, And Parker pitches him to be full-time.
touring. He's still with Sam [:We will leave this, this carnival shit that I got going on. You leave Sam Phillips and we'll go off together. And, and I mean, the very next scene is a montage where he signs with RCA records. Right. He buys the house at Graceland, you know what I mean? Like all that. And you know, like, okay, we're now in act two, because Act two is supposed to be the flip side of Act one.
Mm-hmm. Act one. He was just a guy Right. Playing music. And, and now here we are in Act two, and now he's, he's, he's he's big shit now, right? Yeah. Um, In the midpoint scene, uh, he becomes a Hollywood star, which he says several times throughout the film, this is all I ever wanted. Right. So as you near the midpoint scene, he joins the army, right?
Mm-hmm. [:Right. So it switched to Elvis being the lead. Right. So now Elvis is the lead, which again, I think Elvis is the lead the whole time. Yeah. But they're lying to me.
[: [: uits those guys. He's on the [:And they do that The Christmas special. Yeah. Right.
[: [: [:So it was, I thought they played all that really well, the way they did that.
[:Um, and it's just, it's like, it's, it's obvious that, that this is his story. Because as you get to the end of this Act two and you approach the all is lost, which is, to me, it's a combination of, you know, uh, Priscilla leaves him, right? Mm-hmm. It's, it's, that's the, the main thing. Um, and then the other guy tells.
Elvis, the truth about Parker, that he might be a Nazi sympathizer. Right. He might be a Nazi. He passes out in the hallway because he's like the one guy I looked at my whole life to carry me through this might be the worst guy. The world. Yeah. In the world. Yeah. And he is taking all my money, so obviously everything goes to shit.
o turn around and hug it out [: [: [: [: [: [: [: [: [:Now, again, if you wanted to make it Tom Parker's story fine, but then in the voiceovers he keeps saying, I did nothing wrong. Right, right, right. I didn't do anything wrong. I was just his manager. Mm-hmm. If you really wanted to play that up, you could have played it to where he was like, and I got him to come back to me and I got him to do this, and I got him to do that.
He didn't wanna do [:I was the manager. You, he even says at the beginning, what's he saying? The first half hour? Or, I don't know where it was. You wouldn't have Elvis Presley if it wasn't for me. Right.
[:Um, cuz the, the way the movie started, I wrote down, I mean, it starts with the colonel. What? Having nightmares and saying, um, that they, they think the colonel killed Elvis. Right. They think I killed Elvis. He said, right, right. And that's how it started. It, it, yeah. You know, that was the opening scene of the movie with him.
Yeah. And so, anyways,
[:And I get Parker's a major part of the story, but. They, it's almost like they couldn't figure out what story they wanted to tell. Right. Right. So, uh, I don't even know if it's one of the Oscar nominations for screenplay. I would hope not. Right, right. Um, but who the hell knows at this point?
[:Um, I know my daughter, Kaitlynn, would love to know that Yola plays a part in this movie. She's a, a modern, uh, Blues singer, um, African, well, she's not African American. I think she's British, but she's black, um, blues singer. I discovered her on like NPR or something. I, I couldn't believe this woman's voice.
onto her. But, uh, she, she [:Elvis. So I remember he was like in the studio and I can't remember his, his, uh, name, uh, what his role was. So I think he was okay. Um, I don't know. He might have been, uh, behind the, behind the glass while they were recording or something, but, gotcha. Yeah.
[: right? We're good with that. [:Austin Butler. Obviously we're all in, right? We, we can accept that. Um, best achievement and cinematography. Right? Yes. Okay. We got that. Best achievement and costume design. Katherine Martin, who's already got four Oscars for, uh, similar awards. Also a producer on this film. Baz Luhrmann's wife I might add. Um, she's up for best costume design.
Okay. Can accept that best achievement in film editing. Okay. And the last one, of course, Katherine Martin's in on this one too. Best Achievement in Production Design. So as you notice Yeah. Not nominated for screenplay. Yeah. Yep. So, uh, we're sitting here bashing I know. Uh, the writing and, and for rightfully so we're sitting here, we obviously, we got a lot of problems with the scripts and we're obviously not the only ones.
ht, right. Right. Because it [:Remember Titanic, which had a flood of nominations, including, uh, Kate Winslet for best actress and of course, best Picture and best director, right. Couldn't score writing a nomination. Why? Because the writing sucked in that movie, right. I mean, is a great spectacle film, but the writing sucked. And that's, that's, you know, so I feel like we're, we're having the kind of the same thing here.
nd any of these podcasts yet.[:Moving film, sad film, and he's fantastic. It's, it's like a comeback performance for him, but, Yeah. When I watched this film, I remember thinking, shit, man, we got a new best actor. Like, I mean, he was amazing. Yeah. I really loved what he did. And it's not, see, I, I'm not gonna use the word impersonation. First of all, actors hate it, so I won't use it because to me, it wasn't an impersonation.
It was sort of like an an, an imagining of Elvis. Right. Um, it's, it's his take as an actor. It was his take on the imagining of Elvis. And, and I thought he nailed it. I mean, from, from the real life footage I've always seen of Elvis. Uh, again, his peak was before my time. He died two years after I was born.
vies that he was in. Mm-hmm. [:You ready to skip on over to, uh, Mr. Cash?
[: [: [: [: Wow. [:Mm. You know, uh, crash Won Best screenplay in best Picture. And it, and it, and it probably shouldn't have. I enjoyed Crash. I thought it was, I thought it was a good film. Um, but yeah. Brokeback is better now than it was then, if that makes any sense. Mm-hmm. Like when you watch it, when you watch it, at the time you watch, this is an important film, this is a story to tell.
back kind of a year. Mm. Um, [:Yeah. So it, it did get recognized. And of course Joaquin Phoenix was nominated. He didn't win. He, he doesn't get his Oscar until Joker. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Um, But, but he was phenomenal. And here's an interesting point of that. Both, both Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix sang their own songs in the film.
[: [: [: [: [:Rami Malek, uh, they, if I remember correctly, they kind of synced his voice, um, right. Didn't they do that? They were, they synced the, the original recordings with his voice.
[:That you can't really duplicate it. Right. Like, like not to take anything away from Joaquin Phoenix, but Johnny Cash's voice that gravelly sort of like, you know what I mean? Like, I suppose if I worked with a coach long enough Yeah. I might be able to sing, you know what I mean?
[: [: but it is worth noting that [: [:Um, and it was, I just remember in the beginning, like when Elvis started performing and the, and the girls were losing their minds, right? So they did something with the sound during that scene, and I don't know if you remember it, but they, they played, uh, it what sounded like to me, electric guitars, And that electric guitars that mimicked the shrieks of females.
[: [:I mean, I could be, I, I could be wrong, but I remember thinking, oh my, so it was really cool though. And there was another scene, um, where they were, they went back to Memphis and, um, like the, the blues community and the, the black community was all, they're all, he like, uh, Elvis went back to, to their, and, and he was going back, but they, you could hear this, the beat of like modern day rap playing.
Which wouldn't have existed at that time.
[: n like, just infusing. Yeah. [:Yeah. Um, but the, he's great with me. I'll give him that.
[:Yeah. Also where the blues was going to lead with hip hop. Yeah. It was really cool. I was like, wow, that really? Yeah, it was really, it was subtle, but it was very noticeable to me.
[:Um, but I wouldn't be,
[: [: [: [: [: [: [: [: years or so they remake it [:Didn't win up for Best Director James Mangled wrote and directed the script. I love this guy. First of all, for anyone. I guarantee you've seen his films. You don't even realize it. He did Cop Land. He did Logan. Like he's, uh, in fact he was nominated for Logan. Mm-hmm. He did Ford versus Ferrari. Like he's done lot.
[: [: I was just watching a movie [:I wrote down opening image, Folsome Prison. He puts his thumb on the saw blade. Right. Right. Yeah. And, and. And I, I did obviously the first time I saw it, I didn't note the significance of that until later. Right, right. Until, until several scenes later now to go back and revisit and you're like, oh. I was like, oh yeah, of course.
And, and, and right off the bat, you get this sense that this, see, this is the beauty in the screenwriting here is it all ties back. Right. Everything, everything circles back. If you wanted to pick out a theme, the, the best one I caught was when his brother has already had the accident and he's dying on the, on the hospital bed.
and spiritual goals because [:He wants to marry June Carter. He mentions it throughout the film. I've asked you to marry me 40 times. You keep saying no. Right? Yeah, yeah.
[: [:They, they were radio celebrities. They did radio, uh, songs. And he, so as a child, he was already like, I wanna be like that. You know what I mean? And he says to his brother, I wanna say, he says to his brother too, before the accident, when he's listening to him on the radio and the dad's screaming from the other room, turn that radio off, go to bed.
far to, to think about this. [:Where it's different to just take Right. You just take what you want, you know? Um, he can't take what he wants. She's too strong of a personality. He's tried several times. He's willing to cheat on his wife several times in this movie to be with June Carter, and every time she spurs her, his advances, she does sleep with him.
But she really, when it comes to marriage, she's like, no, no, because why? He's a pill popper, he drinks, you know what I mean? Like, he's a mess. Yeah, he's a mess. It's not until the end when he cleans himself up and he finally gets her out on the stage again for that last duet together. And he proposes to her on the stage, which by the way happened in real life.
film dramatizations. He did [:Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Right? And, and yeah. And, and again, it follows all the basic script structures. The first turning point is where he, he signs with Mr. Phillips, right. And, uh, Sam Phillips. And he goes off on this tour and he meets June Carter for the first time. That's the first turning point, because now he's in a whole new film.
b. And I hate it. And I sing [:And she even says at one point, she's like, you don't have a band. She's like, it's you. And two Mechanics can't even play songs. Um, that's what his wife, not June Carter, but that's what his wife tells him. So, you know, he, he goes through all this stuff and, and there's a little bit of a double bump. And I'll tell you what the double bump is.
This is actually a thing in screenwriting. It happens in Star Wars as well. Um, it's not enough for one thing to happen to push the actor into act two. Sometimes it needs a second thing, right? So if you think about Star Wars, I'll give you an example. Uh, Obi-Wan and R2-D2, playing that video, playing the hologram of Princess Leia saying, help me, obiwan Kenobi, you're my only help.
to do. You know what I mean? [: [: [:But just meeting Sam Phillips and trying to play songs for him isn't enough because Sam Phillips says, he even tells him, you're not, you're not gonna make it. On just this gospel stuff, right? You got, you gotta, you gotta, you gotta sing from your heart. You gotta, you gotta, you know, earn again. You, you gotta earn it.
se in the beginning he's not [:He's gotta to get Catapult, truly. He's gotta meet June Carter and he meets her in person. And that's, and that's where it starts. And that's where Elvis comes in, which is interesting because they mention it and walk the line. They don't mention it in Elvis at all, but they mention it and walk the line that he's there, he's there with them on this, the Sam Phillips tour, um, the midpoint scene is, is interesting, um, because it, it's, there's a couple of scenes right in the middle of the film that you would think, what do we always say?
The midpoint, you get what you want, but you don't really, cuz it all falls apart. Right?
[: [:And he's like, no, no, no, we're gonna do it right now. June, just sing. So they start singing. He's got what he wanted. Right? Or at least he thought he did. I got June. Yeah, right. I got her out here. She's dueting with me, which is all, you know, he wanted since he was a child. And what happens after that? Like she even storms off the stage.
It's a big fight, right? Yeah. He gets drunk, he gets drunk and then, and then, uh, and then yeah, the award show where he's such a dick, right? Like, hey, June, so it was right after, is your third marriage now you what I mean? She's like, what the fuck you asshole. You know what I mean? And then he offers her a job and she takes it like, you know, so, uh, so they go back to doing the duet thing again.
[: [:We surrender. That's actually a funny scene. Cause he's drunk off his ass. Yeah. But but the whole second half is that downfall, is that, you know, right. The, the, the, where everything goes to shit. He collapses on stage where he ods, you know what I mean? They have to cancel the tour. Um, you know, there's, there's all this shit.
There's the, oh my god, there's the, the scene with his dad, you know, with the, with the tractor and all that.
[: e in the, one of the opening [:And he's like, yeah, but you can sing. You, you know, all the hymns, you know, he is like, and he's comparing himself to his brother though. Yeah. Oh yeah. In that, in, in that scene. And his brother said to him, you can't help nobody if you can't tell them the right story. And that, that, that stuck with me. I was like, okay.
So like Johnny, I. He's that's gonna come to play later. Right. Um, because he goes to help prisoners, right. And by telling the right stories. Right.
[: the detox, right? Like his, [: [: [:This guy is a fucking train wreck. Right.
[: [:They chase him off with a shotgun, but there's a great line when everything's going to shit and he's trying to get the tractor outside. He's drunk off his ass and the whole family is left. The dad's left. Everyone's just leaving him, right? Like this is the worst possible thing that could happen. And she says, they tell her, you gotta go down there.
other looks at her and goes, [:You're not going anywhere. You know that you're not gonna get in his car and drive off with us. You wanna stay because that's your nature to help him, right? Yeah. Um, and then yes, dur, he goes through that insufferable detox, right? Mm-hmm. Which, which is, you know, you always see these detox moments in films, you know, where the guy's sweating like crazy and he's gotta get all the chemicals out of his system.
And, and it's like the worst point of anyone's life, I'm sure, right? We've seen it in clean and sober. We've seen it in basketball diaries. The detox scenes are never good. They're never good. They're always the worst part of anyone's life. And then as he's recovering now, right? He sees all those letters, Yeah.
hat earlier in the film, the [:So, right. So she's jealous because she thinks they're all from girls, right. When he actually starts to open these letters. And that is your jump to act three, right? Right. Because he realizes now my place, my place in the world. And the next shot, and I'm in the next damn shot, which is so perfect, is he's walking in into the recording, uh, the offices and he's an all black, we're in black with the black sunglasses.
He is now officially the man in black. And, and he gets up there and, and I love, and they said this earlier in the film, actually, his wife said it to him, but they say it again here. It's almost like, uh, like, uh,
[: [:And then, um, it's, it's, oh my God, the, the way it ends is so beautiful with the Folsom Prism and prison, and it's just like, like I said, the real climax, the Folsom prison is, is kinda like where he fulfills his destiny in a way, right? Yeah, yeah. But it's not until that very end scene where he gets June out on the stage and he proposes to her and she says yes.
Yeah. The way he's holding her up after that, she like jumps kind of into his arms and he's holding her and there's like a still shot of that. And then it does the epilogue where, you know, they, they went on for another 35 years of being married and recording songs together and, and then she died and he died four months later.
ter. But then you look at it [:They were together for 35 years. Like, yeah. You know what I mean?
[: [: [: [:His old man never. Yeah. His old man says at the beginning, God took the wrong son.
[: [: [: [: he's sobered up at that big [:He tells Johnny, he's like, you buy this big house, nothing in it. Right? You make all this money, nothing. You think you're a big shot. You're nothing. You know what I mean? Like, he just starts trash and his dad's sober at this point, and he's still is not getting his approval. And that's why the final scene closes the book on that one where he's, uh, the kids have the, the can with the string.
And he is like, I don't know how it worked. And he goes, they wanna talk to their grandpa, talk to him. You know what I mean? Like, and at that moment you kind of get a sense that, that him and the dad have, have eased their pain, so to speak. You know what I mean? Like yeah. There, there's a forgiveness there.
out moment with him and the [:I can't even state that enough how well acted it is. Um, right. And, you know, it's just, I I, a fantastic film came out in a, in a, in a rough year. Like I said, when you got, when you gotta go up against, Brokeback, and of course Crash wins. Best picture that, that's tough. Um, you know, it, it's hard to think what year would've been good for it.
Maybe the year before. I don't know. But yeah, walk the Line I think was a better, it's certainly a better written film than Elvis. Um, and probably a better film all the way around. Um, but I would say so. But again, I wouldn't even be mad if Elvis wins a bunch of Oscars this year, cuz the, the movie Elvis was fun.
uddy of mine posted cuz I, I [:Because I was busy at the time, but, but I can respond now. I disagree. I think Baz Luhrman is all over this film. All the things I love about Baz Luhrmann is in this film, if you look at the damn poster, it looks like Moulin Rouge, like it's, it's very much Baz Luhrmann. And, and that's what I love about it. I think they struggled greatly with the script.
And I think, like I said, I don't know the ins and outs. It could have been the studio. It could have been just, you know, I don't, I don't know what happened, but when you have four different, five different writers spread out over four or five different writing credits, that's a problem. That doesn't it, you know?
You know, I might, again, I [:Yeah. One girl jumps up and screams, and her, I think it's her dad or her boyfriend, and somebody's like, sit down, sit down. What are you doing? Like, what are you doing? Sit down. Like just, and you know, and that's, and that's the one part of Parker's dialogue, uh, voiceover. That's funny. Is that he's like, at that moment I knew he's like, because yeah.
I mean, it's just, uh, yeah. So they're both great. Walk the Line is a great film. Elvis was a good film, very fun. Uh, I troubled script, but Walk the Line was beautifully written.
[: [:Mm-hmm. Their rise, right, their great rise, and then the fall, whatever it is. Bohemian Rhapsody had the same thing, right? He got too big, too famous, and then the downfall was all his, you know, partying and crazy lifestyle and the whole, you know, I am the solo, you know, I'm a solo guy. Like, you guys aren't nothing without me.
r fall, and then of course a [:I just think, uh, you know, I Walk the Line, does it better as far as screenwriting structure? Um, yeah. And, you know, I, I don't know. I really loved Reese Witherspoon in this film too. Like, it's, yeah. You know, and if that's gonna segue, I believe you mentioned about a Six Degrees where you wanted the wives, right?
So Yeah. Yeah. Let do, so the wives, so we're talking about June Carter Cash and Priscilla Presley, but I can't, yes. And I don't remember, what's the actress's name that plays Priscilla? Uh, Olivia DeJonge. But I can't use the films. Right. I can't use Walk the Line. Right. And I can't use. Elvis. So, yeah. Um, with the exception of Olivia DeJonge, who hasn't had a lot of films under her belt, this is actually relatively easy.
[: [: [:Right. And anyone listening right now probably already knows, they're already yelling it out. Mark Wahlberg famously was in a movie called Fear with Reese Witherspoon. Right. Who of course played June Carter. Oh, that was easy. So that's only three connections. Yeah, that, geez. So Josie and Jack, perfect storm and fear.
That's three connections. Yeah. I knew Reese would probably make it easier for you, so, but Olivia was tough. Yeah. And, and you know, no offense, Olivia, you gotta get out there more. You gotta, you gotta, she did a good job.
[: [:Yeah. Um, I did when we first started doing this podcast. Right. Right. Couple years ago. But now we kind of make that as a rule. I can't use the movies that we talk about. Yeah. If I use Tom Hanks, I could probably be done well a lot quicker. So, um, yeah. So, yeah, so there's that. Um, anything else you wanna add on this one?
Not really. I, I, I mean, I just loved, I loved, this was a fun one because I, I already, when we mentioned it, I love Walk the Line. It's one of my favorite films. And, uh, and I had watched Elvis even though I forgot that I fell asleep during it until I was rewatching it. And I was like, oh yeah. So that kind of, yeah, it made sense when you started explaining your problems with it that maybe why I fell asleep.
t did have its problems. And [:Right? If Tom Hanks takes a beautiful dump, they're gonna nominate him. Right? He gets nominated for, he's like the Meryl Streep. Right? Right.
[: [: whose movie is this and what [:That's why there was mixed in, but I dunno, I'm talking about, uh, motivation, an actor's motivation. Right? Right. You, you know, cast away saving private Ryan even frigging big, like there's no, you know what I mean? Like, he, he, he knows who he is, right? And he brings all the life out of those characters because he knows those characters like the back of his hand.
I don't wanna say Tom Hanks phoned this one in, but, but I gotta imagine he read the various versions of the script and was like, man, this is some muddled shit I'm dealing with here. Right. Like, you know, and, and thankfully Baz on set was probably like, all right, you know what? Forget all those damn, you know, we got like four versions of the script.
Let me just [: [:Well, careful, careful, careful dialogue. Don't use horrible script. And Star Wars in the same sentence with me.
Horrible dialogue, I should say.
[: [: [: [: [:But it's been so long, like me, I saw it opening week and I totally, for, it's been 18 years and I forgot a lot about it. I enjoy going back and revisiting it. Right. And check out Elvis. It is a fun movie. Yeah. And I won't be mad if it wins a shit load of Oscars. I'm just glad it wasn't nominated for screenplay.
[: [: [:Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. Anyway. That's awesome. So that's my pro tip. Watch it with an old person. Yeah. Sorry mom. Yeah. I called you old.
[:Elvis was a wonderful script. Yeah. Or whatever.
[: [: [:I just want to thank you for listening. Uh, you can email us at Silver screen happy hour gmail.com. Just search silver screen, happy hour on Facebook, Instagram, uh, Twitter. You'll be able to find us on those socials. And I just wanna thank you again for listening. So please share this with your moving loving friends.
next time, I'm Chris Wiegand.[:
