Always Reforming

I don't generally get excited about biopics, but when I heard that Baz Luhrmann was directing one about  Elvis , I thought it was the perfect pairing.  The final result did not disappoint.  Luhrmann managed to recreate the bright lights and pandemonium of Elvis's career, while simultaneously bringing a "bigger than life" rock star down to Earth.  Despite Luhrmann's lurid directorial style and Tom Hanks' caricature of Colonel Tom Parker, the film, equal parts entertaining and emotionally engaging, humanized a man most of us know only as a brand .  I suggest we allow Baz to helm all future biopics of pop culture icons. While my wife and I both thoroughly enjoyed the film, when the credits rolled, we were both left feeling what can only be described as sad .   As music lovers we were saddened that such talent and personal charisma were wasted.  Sure, Elvis had a relatively long and accomplished career by most standards, but he passed at a ...

    I love films, perhaps more than I should.  In fact, I consider myself a student of them, though I would never claim to be adept at interpreting or reviewing them.  Nonetheless I enjoy film and watch it as an art form, not simply a means of entertainment.  Every art form has its unique advantages, film's, obviously, being the ability to portray in a visible, dramatic way the nuances of life.  It's easier to get paid for making a bad movie than a bad book, but it's at least as difficult to make a good movie as it is to write a good book.  I don't often write movie reviews, but this specific film was powerful and depressing enough to motivate me to try my hand at it.     The film I am referencing is Woody Allen's latest (I think--he produces films at a freakishly prolific rate) effort, Cafe Society .  It's not the best Allen film I've ever seen, but almost every movie of his I've ever had the pleasure of viewing has been worth the tim...