ANCiENT CHAMPiON
:irregular dispatches
EPiC
CINEWORLD IMAX
FEB 20th-27th
Then regular screens too.
It’s not been a great week for every King, or their brothers… Ha!Ha! I would like to see that infamous gonzoid Andrew Windsor image by Reuters photographer Phil Noble played out on IMAX in addition to the front pages of just about every newspaper in the world. Of course in the UK the singular rush is to close ranks and mediate on something like the damage this will do to the family - the real victims here - when the family have done all they can to distance themselves from a bad apple...They need to be reminded One bad royal apple does spoil the whole bunch, girl. I think that’s how the song goes.
Also, but not equally criminal, and a wrong set right by Baz Luhrmann is that there was a ton of Elvis Presley footage languishing in some or other vaults somewhere for over 50 years, and after ELVIS his movie, Luhrmann had some further explaining to do.
This is not to say Luhrmann’s ELVIS biopic, with free reign for Tom Hanks to be at his weirdest/strangest (and thats just the accent) as Colonel Tom Parker - the man who mistook his King for a piggybank - doesn’t wholly depict the joy and chaos around the most famous man the world has ever seen — but even that very entertaining and enormously creative three hour klieg light to the retina jaunt through the kingdom of the KING was never going to be able to give us enough ELVIS.
EPiC (Elvis Presley in Concert) the movie, well let me tell you what a great morning out that was. IMAX screen, £7 ticket, wide deep seats, steeply raked floor, validated parking - and when there’s no valet, that’s at least something… When Elvis' band cranked up, I thought I was going to be involuntarily elevated from my seat. My legs and hips lost control or took control of themselves I guess and mercifully for the other attendees I limited myself to maybe vigorous chair aerobics. Not great for the popcorn I spilled so much of but, what with the ostensibly-leather seating, and the lack of liquid butter available to UK cinemagoers meant I was able to scoop it up without thinking too much about how many asses had been there before it.
Elvis’ voice was one of the finest pop music instruments of the 20th Century and mixed for the film magnificently with his amazing band, oh man, several songs moved me to tears, others tears of joy. James Burton on guitar was sensational. Always at Elvis' shoulder drummer, Ronnie Tutt mesmerised especially when Elvis did his full-body gospel-possessed bodyquakes. Jerry Scheff, of course, so cool on bass, The Sweet Inspirations sang like birds from a different dimension. The hysteria of his audience... It was simply magical to see and if you can, the giant screen magnified the intensity of it all for sure.
Of course I am always reminded of the piece by Lester Bangs, that great chronicler of 20th century culture, about his physical response to seeing late-period Elvis live. At the IMAX, found footage from the rehearsals and some of the 1100 shows El played at the International Hotel (I’d stay there when I could, because Elvis played there) I could feel that Lester Bangs feeling too. If you've ever asked yourself, what would you have done to steal a kiss from Elvis? EPiC is going to provide some answers.
