Hank Thompson (Austin Butler) was a high-school baseball phenom who can’t play anymore, but everything else is going okay. He’s got a great girl (Zoë Kravitz), tends bar at a New York dive, and his favorite team is making an underdog run at the pennant.

Adapted from Charlie Huston’s cult novel, Caught Stealing is Aronofsky’s idea of a “popcorn film.” And, in true Aronofsky fashion, this popcorn comes drenched in gasoline and lit on fire. Working closely with Huston, who adapted his own novel for the screen, Aronofsky crafts a piece of cinema that is equal parts dark comedy, crime thriller, and punk odyssey. At the center of the chaos is Hank Thompson (Austin Butler), a former minor league baseball player turned washed-up bartender. Hank’s life is already circling the drain, but a case of mistaken identity sends him headfirst into a whirlwind of mobsters, drug runners, crooked cops, and sheer mayhem.

Set against the backdrop of 1998 New York City, Caught Stealing revels in its gritty period detail. Gone are smartphones, Wi-Fi, and Instagram feeds, instead, Aronofsky immerses audiences in raucous dive bars, cramped apartments, smoky pool halls, and the dangerous underbelly of a city teetering on the edge of the millennium. It’s nostalgic, yes, but also ferociously alive, a world built for chaos. The energy is relentless, and the film moves with a breakneck pace that keeps you teetering on the edge of your seat.

Aronofsky’s direction is nothing short of exhilarating. He bends genres until they snap, swinging from nail-biting tension to laugh-out-loud absurdity in the blink of an eye. One minute you’re gripping the armrest during a violent standoff, the next you’re cackling at the sheer audacity of a character’s choices. It’s cinematic whiplash in the best possible way.

The director also leans into the anarchic energy of New York, particularly Coney Island, painting the city with a vibrant, dangerous glow. Every frame hums with kinetic life, and Aronofsky’s signature visual flourishes, sharp cuts, surreal touches, and dreamlike moments of wanton chaos are all on display. It’s outrageous, unpredictable, and utterly alive.

At the centre of this whirlwind is Austin Butler, whose performance as Hank Thompson cements him as one of the defining actors of his generation. Butler has already proven his talent in Elvis, The Bikeriders, and Dune: Part Two, but here he lets loose in a whole new way.

On the surface, Hank is pure sex appeal: a shredded six-pack, bad-boy swagger, and natural charisma that makes him magnetic on screen. But Butler digs deeper, peeling back Hank’s bravado to reveal a fractured man haunted by past regrets and broken dreams. He’s a lover, a fighter, a son, a screw-up; and Butler embodies every contradiction with sincerity and depth. His Hank is the kind of character you can’t look away from, even as the world around him spirals into chaos.

Backing Butler is a killer supporting ensemble that turns Caught Stealing into a feast of memorable performances. Zoë Kravitz radiates charm and danger as Hank’s girlfriend Yvonne, a femme fatale who knows exactly how to push his buttons. Regina King steals scenes as Detective Elise Roman, a cop with secrets of her own and a moral compass that spins wildly out of control.

Matt Smith goes gloriously unhinged as Russ, a punk-rock drug runner whose manic energy makes him both hilarious and terrifying. Then there’s the powerhouse duo of Liev Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio as Hasidic gangster brothers Lipa and Shmully Drucker. Every time they appear on screen, they bring an unpredictable menace that ratchets the tension to boiling point. This is a cast firing on all cylinders, and their collective energy makes the film sing.

What makes Caught Stealing so thrilling is its willingness to embrace chaos. Aronofsky doesn’t just flirt with extremes; he dives headfirst into them. The film is loaded with shocking moments that will leave audiences reeling, from brutal bursts of violence to surreal comedic beats that explode out of nowhere. It’s violent, it’s messy, it’s outrageous, and it’s exactly the kind of jolt that modern cinema needs.

The film’s third act, in particular, is a wild ride. As Hank’s life spins further out of control, the film explodes into a crescendo of blood, bullets, baseball bats to the skull, and brutal double-crosses. By the time the credits roll, you’ll feel like you’ve run a marathon and loved every minute of it.

Caught Stealing is Darren Aronofsky at his most unhinged, and it’s a hell of a good time. Equal parts crime thriller, black comedy, and punk opera, it’s a film that refuses to play safe and instead drenches audiences in chaos, blood, and adrenaline. Austin Butler is magnetic at its centre, delivering a career-defining performance, while the supporting cast brings wild, unpredictable energy to every frame.

This is cinema that sweats, bleeds, and swaggers. It’s raw, it’s messy, it’s alive, and it kicks serious ass!

Image: Sony Pictures

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Darren Aronofsky is a singular auteur force in modern cinema, and every time he returns to the big screen with another project, it’s a celebration of just how far the medium can be pushed. Now, he’s enlisting rising Hollywood star Austin Butler to lead his all-out punk rock, balls-to-the-wall rush of crime caper cinema in Caught Stealing. And this is going to be a wild, bat-shit crazy experience for cinemas.

Watch the all-new trailer for Caught Stealing below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

Hank Thompson (Austin Butler) was a high-school baseball phenom who can’t play anymore, but everything else is going okay. He’s got a great girl (Zoë Kravitz), tends bar at a New York dive, and his favorite team is making an underdog run at the pennant.

When his punk-rock neighbor Russ (Matt Smith) asks him to take care of his cat for a few days, Hank suddenly finds himself caught in the middle of a motley crew of threatening gangsters. They all want a piece of him; the problem is he has no idea why. As Hank attempts to evade their ever-tightening grip, he’s got to use all his hustle to stay alive long enough to find out…

Adapted from the classic novel by author Charlie Huston, who also serves as the film’s screenwriter, Aronofsky winds back the clock for this one, taking audiences to the rough and tumble streets of New York circa 1999. Before internet, before cell phones, before CCTV, this was the last glorious crime for criminals to run wild with a measure of creativity and impunity, and Butler’s washed ip baseball player Hank Thompson gets caught up in all of it, as he becomaes a pawn in hid punk rock neighbour Russ (Matt Smith) plan to rip off a set of warring New York crime players. But Hank ain’t having at, and this leads to a crazy game of whack-a-mole with all sorts of gun battles, car chases, and ruckus…. and it’s gonna be wild.

Watching this trailer, you can feel how Aronofsky is bringing a real pre-2000 vibe energy to the picture. It’s like he’s going for broke in his wish to portray this time and place in his own voice, and he’s nailed every part of it. Caught Stealing is brash, sexy, volatile, and in-your-face, and it’s really going to crank audiences up.

Rising Hollywood star Austin Butler also owns the screen with his performance as Hank Thompson, a once-talented baseball phenom turned average joe, who gets pulled into a hell of a melee, and it’s again a different side to Butler’s incredible acting range that is brought out in this picture. It’s also clear that all the girlies are gonna line up for this one as Butler oozes bad-boy heartthrob sex appeal, and Aronofsky has worked to give this picture a real erotic energy in part.

The supporting cast is epic, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, Benito A Martínez Ocasio and Matt Smith provide a key level of support within the picture, and it’s clear that this is a real ensemble piece. All of them buy into the pulsating energy that Aronofsky brings to the picture, and help to make this a real love letter to New York City and its atmosphere as the city that never sleeps!

Caught Stealing is shaping up to be a wild rush of the cinema going expeirnece and you’re not going to wsnt to miss out on this one when it arrives in cinemas on August 28.

Image: Sony Pictures

The post Austin Butler jumps into the crazy, crime-riddled escapades of Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Caught Stealing’ appeared first on SpicyPulp.

Set in the 1960s, it follows the rise of the Vandals MC, a Chicago outlaw motorcycle club. Seen through the lives of its members and their families, the club evolves over the course of a decade from a surrogate family for local outcasts into violent organized crime, threatening the original founder’s unique vision and way of life.

Writer/director Jeff Nichols has built an impressive list of credits with his stories that have captured a classic Americana feel, and now, with his sixth feature film, The Bikeriders, he adapts the true story of an Outlaw Motorcycle club to the big screen and how time and circumstance change its members as they search for desperate freedom. Based on the true story that acclaimed photojournalist Danny Lyon captured in his seminal work of the same name, The Bikeriders is a film that roars with attitude and aggression and places his audiences right in the centre of a ragtag club of outlaws who are determined to find their own sense of freedom. It’s a film that pulsates with a quintessential cool, and it is without a doubt one of the most stylish and raw pictures you’ll watch all year.

For Nichols, The Bikeriders has been his dream project that he has held onto for twenty years, and now, finally, he gets to bring this incredible world and its one-of-a-kind characters to the big screen. A passion in the truest sense of the word, Nichols brings an incredible sense of intimacy and understanding of this narrative and its players, and the result is a picture that is shaped by a director’s true vision and a desire to capture this outsider world properly. Adapting a non-linear narrative that moves back and forth between 1965 and 1973, Nichols draws on the distinctive viewpoint of Jodie Comer’s Kathy through the lens and eye of photojournalist Danny Lyons (Mike Faist). It’s through this unique perspective that audiences come to meet the Vandals MC, and their quest to ride the open road on their terms. Nichols crafts a film that is an intimate character study and an observation of a uniquely American subculture.

While The Bikeriders may be a picture of pure American masculinity and the rebels who make up the ranks of the 1%ers, its framing through a woman’s viewpoint leads to an incredibly nuanced and introspective story. Stepping into the role of Illinois native Kathy is English actress Jodie Comer, and she proves again why she is one of the most in-demand talents around. With her beehive hairdo, Chicago drawl and take-no-shit attitude, Kathy is our narrator to the events of this picture and sees a gathering of outcasts turn into something more sinister. Comer holds nothing back in her performance as Kathy, wife to the wayward and mysterious Benny (Austin Butler), who comes into conflict with the world of the Vandals and its commanding leader, Johnny (Tom Hardy). Comer uniquely captures the love/hate aspect of Kathy’s life in accordance with the Vandals, and her perspective on this story makes for an intriguing look at a captivating outsider world.

Playing opposite Comer is Austin Butler as Benny, a member of the Vandals MC and Kathy’s rogue husband, who is an outlaw biker through and through. Butler has proven that he’s a true acting chameleon with his performances, and here he is incredibly reserved and quiet. There’s an air of mystery and danger to Benny, and he’s hypnotic as this almost unknowable, beautiful rogue. Clad in denim and with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, Benny is the bad boy of every woman’s fantasy, and he’s a damn flawless specimen as his glowing muscles flex while he nurses a bourbon in his hand. It’s easy to see why Benny is the object of desire for both Kathy and Johnny, but there’s also something sad about his hellion ways, for he might be a rebel without a cause, but there’s no knowing what he’s rebelling against.

The Bikeriders is brought full circle by Tom Hardy’s Johnny, the founder and leader of the Vandals, and he’s a commanding presence as this stoic and world-weary outlaw. Hardy’s performance as Johnny is powerful as he embodies both the stoic blue-collar truck driver by day and the dangerous leader of the Vandals by night. His character, Johnny, is like a commanding general but also weary of the challenges around him, realizing that he cannot forever live the life of an outlaw. His dynamic with Kathy and their conflicts over the future of the Vandals, especially Benny’s role, adds depth to the storyline. This role truly demonstrates Hardy’s talent, solidifying his position as one of the great actors of our generation.

The movie features outstanding performances, including Michael Shannon as Zipco, Boyd Holbrook as Cal, Damon Herriman as Brucie, Mike Faist as Danny Lyon, and Norman Reedus as Funny Sonny. Faist portrays real-life journalist Danny Lyon, a young reporter observing the outsiders and who documents the story of a group of men striving to find their place. Characters like Michael Shannon’s Zipco and Norman Reedus’ Funny Sonny are depicted as outcasts who don’t fit in with society and resort to mayhem, drinking, and violence. Their performances vividly bring to life these classic outlaw American characters.

However, the irony lies in the fact that their failure to belong in society has led them to the world of the Vandals, a place with stricter rules than the constitution. This paradox forms the core of the theme of belonging in the movie and Nichols’ exploration of it. Nichols delves deeply into the theme of belonging and acceptance, which forms the heart of the narrative’s impact.

The Bikeriders is a film that was meant for the big screen, and it’s truly a mesmerizing sight. The cinematography by Adam Stone and the gripping soundtrack of classic blues and rock tunes from the mid-1960s capture the grit, grime, and texture of these bar-hopping outcasts. Everything is captured on camera, making the experience of The Bikeriders feel all the more authentic. It portrays a classic kind of American masculinity, filled with aggression and violence, but also a hard-fought sense of honour, even if it’s a flawed kind. This film evokes an immediate kind of feeling, and I believe that those who were fortunate enough to see it on the big screen will be able to look back in twenty years and say they witnessed something truly special.

The Bikeriders is a powerful portrayal of a American subculture, capturing a unique time and place with swagger and attitude. This cinematic experience speaks to primal instincts and celebrates fearless freedom, and its story solidifies the idea that genuine freedom belongs to the fearless.

Image: Universal Pictures

The post ‘The Bikeriders’ – Review appeared first on SpicyPulp.

Watch the all-new trailer for The Bikeriders below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

Set in the 1960s, it follows the rise of the Vandals MC, a Chicago outlaw motorcycle club. Seen through the lives of its members and their families, the club evolves over the course of a decade from a surrogate family for local outcasts into violent organized crime, threatening the original founder’s unique vision and way of life.

This new trailer builds on the intensity and atmosphere of the previous trailer and throws audiences straight into the violence and escalation that surrounds the Vandals MC, an Outlaw Motorcycle club in mid-1960s Chicago, as its members find themselves in the midst of a dangerous and escalating war of criminality.

The Bikeriders has long been the passion project of Nichols (Loving, Midnight Special, Mud), and he’s laboured on it for more than a decade as he’s wanted to bring to life the wild times of celebrated photojournalist Danny Lyons (played in the film by rising star Mike Faist) to the big screen.

And damn, has he succeeded with audiences initially describing the picture as ‘Goodfellas with motorcycles’ and with the dual presence of Comer and Butler as grungy star-crossed lovers Cathy and Benny, and the intimidating gravitas of Hardy as Vandals MC President Johnny, you can bet that The Bikeriders is going to be a wild watch.

 

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Brace yourself for one wild ride when The Bikeriders arrives in cinemas on July 4.

The post Freedom comes with a price in latest trailer for ‘The Bikeriders’ appeared first on SpicyPulp.

The rebel spirit throttles up in the all-new trailer for Jeff Nichol’s The Bikeriders, which adapts photojournalist Danny Lyon’s seminal book of the same name and explores the rise of an outlaw motorcycle club in the mid-1960s and the fury that comes with it.

Watch the all-new trailer for The Bikeriders here:

Here’s the official synopsis:

Kathy (Jodie Comer), a strong-willed member of the Vandals who is married to a wild, reckless bikerider named Benny (Austin Butler), recounts the Vandals’ evolution over the course of a decade, beginning as a local club of outsiders united by good times, rumbling bikes, and respect for their strong, steady leader Johnny (Tom Hardy).

Over the years, Kathy tries her best to navigate her husband’s untamed nature and his allegiance to Johnny, with whom she feels she must compete for Benny’s attention. As life in the Vandals gets more dangerous, and the club threatens to become a more sinister gang, Kathy, Benny and Johnny are forced to make choices about their loyalty to the club and to each other.

Building off of the first trailer that was released last year and declaring a new release date for June of this year, The Bikeriders is filled with masculine aggression that will kick audiences in the face as its band of outlaws takes to the road to life on their terms. With a solid cast including the likes of Jodie Comer, Austin Butler and Tom Hardy, The Bikeriders is a heavyweight film in the making, and its drama will hit hard.

This new trailer sheds light on the film’s club, the Vandals MC, and their origin as a meeting place for a group of motorcycle-riding outcasts to their turn to a burgeoning criminal enterprise, and it sure is going to be an emotional watch. Austin Butler again shows his range as young outlaw Benny, who is a straight-up rebel without a cause, and Butler is channelling a James Dean style in his portrayal. Juxtaposed to him is Jodie Comer as his lover and eventual wife Cathy, who falls for his bad boy swagger but soon falls victim to the cost of the club and the MC lifestyle and will do anything to help the two of them escape.

Central to the film’s narrative is the great Tom Hardy as the Vandals MC leader Johnny, who makes a hell of a transformative from a free-wheeling motorcycle rider to a hardened gangster and who commits 110% to the role. Hardy has a real Brando feel about him as Johnny, and he is sure is a wild one as he goes to extremes to prove his tough guy persona. And it ain’t gonna end pretty. Key to the narrative is the relationship shared between these three characters, and it’s sure to lead to plenty of dramatic tension.

There’s a host of fantastic new footage in this trailer, and set to the roaring soundtrack of The Rolling Stones’ ‘Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)’, the energy is taken to a new height. One of the coolest moments of the trailer is when Benny, having been beaten to an inch of his life, is assisted by Johnny and the rest of the Vandals, who roll up on their intimidating horde and make good on their threat. It’s a hell of a shot and primes the audience for what will come next.

Get ready for a wild ride when The Bikeriders arrives in cinemas on July 4.

Image: Universal Pictures

The post Freedom belongs to the fearless in Jeff Nichol’s ‘The Bikeriders’ appeared first on SpicyPulp.

Watch the brand-new trailer for The Bikeriders here:

Here’s the official synopsis:

Kathy (Jodie Comer), a strong-willed member of the Vandals who is married to a wild, reckless bikerider named Benny (Austin Butler), recounts the Vandals’ evolution over the course of a decade, beginning as a local club of outsiders united by good times, rumbling bikes, and respect for their strong, steady leader Johnny (Tom Hardy).

Over the years, Kathy tries her best to navigate her husband’s untamed nature and his allegiance to Johnny, with whom she feels she must compete for Benny’s attention. As life in the Vandals gets more dangerous, and the club threatens to become a more sinister gang, Kathy, Benny and Johnny are forced to make choices about their loyalty to the club and to each other.

Adapted from the seminal photo book by journalist Danny Lyon, which charted the rise of the Outlaws MC in Chicago during the 1960s, The Bikeriders follows the rise of the Vandals, a mid-western motorcycle club that starts off as a collection point for a group of outsider bike lovers which soon turns into a dark and sister force. At its heart this is a story of three people Kathy (Comer), Benny (Butler) and Johnny (Hardy), and The Bikeriders is set to be an intense and dramatic watch for audiences.

With The Rolling Stones thumping rock track ‘Heartbreaker’ at its centre, this new trailer for The Bikeriders explodes like a Harley-Davidson running at 200 miles an hour. And it promises a hell of a watch. With Jodie Comer’s Kathy as the film’s narrator, Nichols crafts a film that is masculine and brutal in its narrative structure, and he plays off the brotherhood that is shared between Austin Butler’s Benny and Tom Hardy’s Johnny.

Butler is the rebel heartthrob with his James Dean bad boy swagger down cold as Johnny, and which draws him to Comer’s lost and impressionable Kathy. Benny is quick to anger and up for a scrap, and his focus is directed by the calculating, and intimidating leader of the Vandals, Johnny. Tom Hardy taps into his inner Brando for his role as Johnny, and he soon begins to take the club in a darker, more criminal direction that could spell doom for all of them.

Nichols is a filmmaker who, time and time again, with works like Mud, Midnight Special and Loving, has shown that he can craft amazing American hinterland drama, and The Bikeriders is a tale of the classic Americana outlaw spirit. There’s a cowboy edge to this picture, and it will end up being a wild ride for audiences.

Brace yourself for a rush when The Bikeriders arrives in cinemas on December 2.

Image: 20th Century Studios

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The film chronicles the life and career of singer and actor Elvis Presley (Austin Butler), from his early days as a child to becoming a rock and roll and movie star, as well as his complex relationship with his manager Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks).

When it comes to filmmakers they don’t come more flamboyant or visionary than Baz Luhrmann. His works, including Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge!, Australia and The Great Gatsby, speak for themselves in terms of narrative commitment and sheer visual spectacle, and now this cinema visionary turns his attention to capturing the energy and spirit of Elvis Presley in Elvis. And what a show it is. Under Luhrmann’s direction, every part of this film comes together. Narrative, casting, location, production design, costume design, set dressing, hair and make-up, cinematography, sound editing and one hell of a score. It’s a complete and utter event. Luhrmann gives everything of himself to capturing the life that belonged to Presley, and this film will draw out all of your emotions as you watch it.

Chronicling the entire lifespan of Elvis Presley from his early years as a teenager in Memphis to his final decline in Las Vegas, Elvis delivers its narrative from a very interesting point of difference from other biographical pictures. This is Elvis’s life told from the perspective of his long-time promoter Colonel Tom Parker. The villain of the story. And this narrative device makes for a very interesting frame to explore Presley’s life. This viewpoint provides a real edge to the narrative of Elvis and is a sign of Luhrmann’s absolute control of cinematic drama. As a cinematic experience, Elvis is rich in visual splendour, and is what I would describe as an ‘Americana Opera’. It’s lavish and colourful and gripped with a strong presentation of glamour and sex appeal. Watching Elvis is an absolute rush, and you’ll be gripped minute by minute by this story of the boy from Memphis who by strumming his guitar learned to fly.

While Baz Luhrmann might have had the vision for this film, Elvis finds its voice, presence and soul in Austin Butler, a young performer of fantastic talent. And Butler gives one of the all-time great performances in this picture. When you look upon Austin Butler as Elvis Presley, you’re not seeing an actor, you’re seeing Elvis. Devoting over three years of his life to the role of Presley, Butler brings a soulful and present performance to The King. Butler does the astonishing feat of bringing out the man behind the icon. Breathtakingly handsome and full of strut, Butler is the x-factor defined as Presley in this film. As a performer, Butler exists moment by moment in the character of Presley and presents a full portrait of Presley as performer, husband and father. While Luhrmann’s film is wrapped in the icon of Elvis, it’s the soul of this man that shines through, and it’s Butler’s commitment to Elvis that ensures this.

Playing off of Butler’s Elvis is two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks in the role of the film’s narrator, the infamous Colonel Tom Parker. And Hanks makes for a marvellous theatrical villain in this piece. As a quick-thinking carny who is always searching for a new act to make a sucker out of the rubes, Hanks’s Parker seeks out the young Presley like a predator and soon has him gripped in a vice of his own making. Hanks’ Parker is a user of the young Presley and through Luhrmann’s presentation, he’s a complete villain. But Parker’s a complex man, and while he finds a good thing with Presley, he also cares for and loves this young man and there’s a deeply paternal side to his actions. We see Hanks toil with these extremes of thoughts and emotions concerning Presley, and it gives the picture much of its drama.

Luhrmann’s Elvis is a complete portrait of the singers’ life and the turbulent eras that he came to define and then re-define in the process. From the mid-1950s to the late 1970s we see Elvis’ stratospheric rise and shocking decline in full four-colour detail. Along for the ride are an eclectic group of characters including his notorious entourage, The Memphis Mafia, and his one true love Pricilla, who is portrayed on screen in an impressive performance by Olivia DeJonge. As Elvis’ confidant, conscience and lover, DeJonge is a revelation as Priscilla and we witness the complex, and at times turbulent life, that they shared. DeJonge and Butler have terrific chemistry and DeJonge showcases the deep love and care that Pricilla felt for Elvis and the sorrow that she experienced in watching the decline that followed him in the early 70s. They say that a man is only as strong as the woman he loves, and Priscilla was Elvis’ everything, and DeJonge’s performance is a tribute to this incredible woman.

From start to finish, Elvis is an utter piece of art come to life. Made with peak creativity, and Luhrmann’s trademark flamboyant style, this is a picture that your eyes will be transfixed on, and you won’t want to look away. The imagery has immense flair and energy and this Americana Opera is bright, opulent and bursting with life. From the blues-influenced groove of Beale Street and Memphis to Presley’s conquest of Hollywood, his bold and groundbreaking comeback special in 1968 to the gilded, sparkling cage of Las Vegas that he’s finally locked away in, Luhrmann captures it all as only he can. Elvis is a pure spectacle and there’s a showman quality to Luhrmann’s presentation of it that I believe Presley would deeply have admired. As an artist, he was a man who left everything on stage and Luhrmann does the same thing in this picture. The audience comes first in Elvis and the spectacle before our eyes is immense.

This bold and striking style applies to every part of the film and playing into this fairy tale is the film’s beautiful costuming and the masterful eye of Luhrmann’s frequent collaborator and wife Catherine Martin. And her work on Elvis is perfect. In a special collaboration with Prada and Miu Miu, Martin recreates the style of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s with complete glamour and spectacle. And after watching Elvis you’ll be reaching out for your blue suede shoes. As an exercise in filmmaking, Elvis is a product of picturesque artistry and clear attention to detail. Every member of the cast and crew gave 110% dedication to this production, and this level of care and love for The King and his story shines through in every frame. It’s just spectacular.

When talking Elvis, you can’t skip past the music, and Elvis will have you grooving out in your seat. Taking The King’s list of accomplished hits and remixing it with modern artists including the likes of Doja Cat, Eminem and CeeLo Green, Swae Lee and Diplo, Kacey Musgraves, Jack White, Nardo Wick and Måneskin, keeps the experience fresh. My favourite scenes revolved around Elvis’ life in Beale Street, where Elvis’ life started and the music is rocking in these moments. Along with the artists who assisted the film, praise must also be heaped on Austin Butler himself and his silky smooth voice is transcendent as he samples the King’s hits and melds his voice with Presley. Nailing all of the King’s songs in perfect rendition, Butler’s vocalisations are another way for him to connect with the spirit of Presley and in these moments when he is singing on stage he reaches that transcendent place of expressing who Elvis truly was.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been this animated in a cinema and I can clarify that I was feeling my groove with Elvis. This is an extraordinary film of immense passion, creativity and pure showmanship. It’s an event-level movie that will touch your soul with its love and devotion to its subject. The experience that I felt watching Elvis is the reason why we choose to go to the movies and this picture is a testament and tribute to the man who would be The King of Rock N Roll.

Image: Warner Brothers Pictures

The post ‘Elvis’ – Review appeared first on SpicyPulp.