The Truth Is Always Stranger Than Fiction..."Elvis & Nixon"

Elvis & Nixon (2016)

Rated R

Starring Michael Shannon, Kevin Spacey, Alex Pettyfer, Johnny Knoxville, Colin Hanks, Evan Peters

Directed by Liza Johnson

The Story:

December, 1970... That morning, Elvis (Shannon) came up to the White House gates hoping to meet President Nixon (Spacey).  The picture taken at the end of their encounter is the most requested photograph in the National Archives.

This is a story of the meeting that almost didn't happen.

It all begins when Elvis decides he wants to be an undercover Federal Agent.

His idea, see the President, get the credentials, and begin working for the government.

Nixon, on the other hand, was scheduled for his afternoon nap at the time Elvis was to be cleared to see him.

Surreal, of that there is no doubt.

While Shannon doesn't attempt to go full-on Elvis, he gets enough of the speech and mannerisms down that you buy the performance.

Then there is Spacey, possibly the best chameleon actor of this (or any) generation, and again, he becomes Nixon right before your eyes.

While everything you see on screen may not have actually happened, they have enough evidence of the main points to wrap the story together nicely, filling in the dialogue that could have happened to get to that point.

It's fascinating. It's fun.

And in today's political climate, it almost makes you miss the good old days of Nixon.

: )

I watched it on DVD from Netflix, but it is now currently streaming on Amazon Prime as of this writing.

Final Grade: B

It's What's on the Inside That Counts..."Beastly"

Tale as old as time...

The Story:

Kyle Kingston (Alex Pettyfer) is the rich, handsome, popular kid in school.  As he runs for student body election on nothing other than how awesome he is, he crosses paths with a witch (Mary-Kate Olsen) who slaps him with an ugly stick.  His father, aghast at what has become of his son, locks him away in a townhouse and hires a blind tutor (Neil Patrick Harris) to educate him.  Alas poor Kyle, he finds a former classmate (Vanessa Hudgens) in trouble, and makes a deal with her dad to keep her safe.  But what are the odds that she could find love with someone so...

beastly!

Bam!  How's that for a plot synopsis that ends with the title of the movie?  That's right, even I'm going to have to take a bow for that clever wordplay!

;)

This was one of the those movies that I'd never seen/heard of, and just happened to stumble across while perusing Netflix one day.  We watched it, and I have to admit...

I was impressed.

A modern day retelling that tweaked and added to the story as it saw fit, all the while staying as true as it can to the source material story.

Even better: it is never dull.

Kyle gets help from the tutor and the maid to try and woo Lindy.  Neil Patrick Harris naturally steals every minute of the movie that he is in as the blind tutor with a style all his own

As is always the case in this story, Lindy hardly finds her prince anything but charming.  Much like I lamented about the movie Penelope last month where she doesn't look nearly hideously enough as she could have, here too Kyle doesn't look too beastly, more of a tatted and pierced teenager. :)

Kyle too learns that all of his supposed friends who thought he was the best thing ever, secretly disliked him.  They only hung out with him because he was rich and popular.

Naturally, the story has to cut it close with whether the Beauty will truly love the Beast before the curse is unable to be broken.

I have a feeling you'll find the ending satisfactory.

Final Grade: B+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Enjoyed it. Went out and bought a copy.  Watched it a few times since.  Good stuff!

I Thought This Was About Magicians..."Magic Mike"

First David Copperfield...and now this?


The Story:

Mike (Channing Tatum) works all day...and works it all night in a club owned by his buddy Dallas (Matthew McCounaghey) as a male stripper.  On his latest construction gig, he runs across a young loser named Adam (Alex Pettyfer) who wants to be Mike's best friend.  Mike takes him under his wing and teaches him the ropes about being a male stripper.  This doesn't sit too well with Adam's sister (Cody Horn) who is irritated by, yet drawn to Mike.

Perhaps your sense of entertainment from this movie will be directly related to how much you enjoy watching male strippers?

If that is the case, I am definitely not the target audience for this film, but it was a slow week for new releases at Netflix, and this one came up next in the queue.

Channing Tatum says that this is based on his story before he broke into Hollywood.  If that makes him Adam, then yikes.

Adam is a completely selfish and really quite stupid character with no redeeming qualities or features whatsoever.  This would seem the most likely of the characters, and if so, well done to Mr. Tatum for digging himself out of a hole in his life that would probably kill most people.

More likely, he is Mike who is indeed infinitely likeable, has a heart of gold, and wants something more out of life.  Yeah, that sounds better.  I wish he would have had the sense to hire his wife to play his love interest in this film, or any other actress for that matter.  The one they hired is downright awful and is in over her head with actual actors surrounding her.

The first half of the movie actually works at a great pace under the more than competent direction of Steven Soderbergh.  But after awhile, the movie seems to lose focus as they simply pile conflict upon conflict and ultimately resolve...absolutely nothing.

The movie ends on a most unsatisfying conclusion, answering no questions that were raised... perhaps setting up for the inevitable sequel?

I would be remiss if I didn't mention how hysterical it was to see Kevin Nash attempt to be a male stripper.  He's about as flexible as an oak tree, and his group dance routine with the other actors was a laugh riot, purely unintentionally.  I'm sure the ladies are focused on the beefcake on display front and center, I was too busy laughing at Nash in the background.

So if you're coming to see Channing Tatum shake his moneymaker, you're in luck.

If you're coming for a compelling dramedy.... I highly suggest you look elsewhere.

Final Grade: C

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Not going to happen.