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    Cheapskate's Guide to the Finer Things in Life

    Elvis Fest at Miller Outdoor Theatre features three of the King's most popularmovies

    Joe Leydon
    Aug 10, 2010 | 12:23 pm
    • Elvis in "Blue Hawaii
    • Elvis & Ann-Margret in "Viva Las Vegas"
    • Elvis in "Jailhouse Rock"
    • Photo courtesy of Elvis Presley Estate

    What’s this? Three Elvis Presley movies and a live performance by an acclaimed Presley impersonator? Well, why not? Because, hey, if you’re a true-blue fan of the gone-but-not-forgotten King of Rock 'n' Roll, you can’t ever really have too much Elvis. Right?

    It’s way past late to observe the 75th anniversary of his birth (Jan. 8) and a tad early to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of his (alleged) demise (Aug. 16), but the folks at Miller Outdoor Theatre are going ahead anyway and celebrating Elvis Week by hosting what’s billed as “an incredibly authentic tribute” to The King by premier impersonator Donny Edwards (8 p.m. Friday) and screening three of his most popular star vehicles:

    Jailhouse Rock (Tuesday 8:15 p.m.)

    In sharp if not shocking contrast to most of The King’s later flicks, this 1957 musical melodrama actually attempts to package Presley as a semi-sensitive anti-hero with pronounced tendencies toward badassedness. After beating a man to death with his bare hands in a barroom brawl (which, to be fair, he didn’t start), construction worker Vincent Everett (Presley) spends a year behind bars as the cellmate of a washed-up country singer (Mickey Shaughnessy) who teaches him how to strum a guitar and carry a tune.

    Once released, Vincent romances a record company talent scout (Judy Tyler), becomes a chart-topping recording star, signs a contract to make Hollywood movies, and devolves into an unpleasantly selfish lout until his former cellmate shows up to give him a shot at redemption by punching him in the larynx. (Don’t worry: There’s no permanent damage.)

    Presley occasionally strains while doing some of the heavy dramatic lifting, but he makes all the right moves while tearing through the title song – in a classically campy, irresistibly exuberant production number that’s arguably his greatest ever on-screen moment – and confidently crooning such signature tunes as “Treat Me Nice” and “(You’re So Square) I Don’t Care.” (8:15 pm Tuesday)

    Blue Hawaii (Wednesday 8:15 p.m.)

    Between 1956 and 1972, Presley made a total of 33 films, almost all them scrupulously formulaic, thinly plotted confections produced with assembly-line efficiency and regularity – sometimes, as many as three per year – and designed primarily to delight diehard fans and sell zillions of soundtrack albums. (Only the final two, 1970’s Elvis: That’s The Way It Is and 1972’s Elvis on Tour were concert documentaries.)

    He already had seven features to his credit by the time he made Blue Hawaii, but this 1961 musical comedy more or less set the mold for what most folks now think of as “an Elvis movie” – lightweight fun and frolic, often in an exotic locale, involving a lovable hunk who sings and sways his way through minimally daunting challenges while encountering only temporary impediments to happily-ever-aftering with a young lovely.

    Here, Presley plays Chad Gates, an ex-G.I. who, upon returning home to Hawaii, rejects a job with his father’s fruit company in order to hang with his beach buddies, surf and swim, and work as a tour guide in partnership with his curvy sweetie (Joan Blackman). It’s one of The King’s most ingratiating performances, in one of his most undemandingly pleasant movies, with (except for the title song and “Can’t Help Falling in Love”) some of his most forgettable songs. As his shrill, Southern-accented mother, Angela Lansbury – who, at the time, was scarcely ten years older than Presley – is almost as scary as she would be the following year as Laurence Harvey’s manipulative mom in The Manchurian Candidate. (8:15 pm Wednesday)

    Viva Las Vegas (Thursday 8:15 p.m.)

    Elvis Presley’s best movie? Maybe. His sexiest leading lady? Definitely.

    One year after gobsmacking hormonally inflamed adolescent boys (and their fathers and grandfathers) with her slinky-sexy breakout performance in Bye Bye Birdie (1963), Ann-Margret reunited with director George Sidney to co-star with The King as Rusty Martin, a Las Vegas hotel swimming instructor who falls for Lucky Jackson (Presley), a race-car driver who unluckily loses the money he needs for a new engine, and seeks employment as a hotel waiter while hoping to romance Rusty as a fringe benefit.

    Given the potent chemistry generated by the two stars, it’s very, very easy to believe all the rumors about an off-screen romance during the movie’s production. Presley is at the top of his game here, striking the perfect balance of smirk and sincerity while placating drunken Texas tourists with a medley of “The Yellow Rose of Texas” and “The Eyes of Texas,” and rambunctiously blowtorching his way through the title song in a low-concept, high-impact production number filmed in one continuous, swaggering take.

    Ann-Margret sings and dances with appropriate sizzle, and somehow manages to maintain a scintilla of wholesomeness even while the camera ogles her gams and backside. Sidney – who also directed Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh (1945), Judy Garland in The Harvey Girls (1946) and Frank Sinatra in Pal Joey (1957) – gives Viva Las Vegas much flashier visual pizzazz than most other directors ever attempted in Presley vehicles, and brings out the moody-bluesy best in his star during the latter’s soulful rendition of “I Need Somebody to Lean On.”

    It’s worth noting, however, that the veteran filmmaker remained unimpressed by The King. Indeed, when I interviewed him in 2000, Sidney dismissed Presley as “a very well-schooled puppet. He was well-trained. And he sold what he had.” And, mind you, he meant that as a criticism.

    By the way: Admission is free to each of these Elvis Week attractions at Miller Outdoor Theatre. For that, all we can say is: Thank you very much, thank you very much.

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    Movie Review

    Sheriff Bob Odenkirk is back in over-the-top new action movie 'Normal'

    Alex Bentley
    Apr 17, 2026 | 2:30 pm
    Bob Odenkirk in Normal
    Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
    Bob Odenkirk in Normal.

    Screenwriter Derek Kolstad, who wrote the first three John Wick movies, has essentially had a blank check to do what he wants in the movie landscape since 2014. In recent years that has meant writing the action series Nobody for Bob Odenkirk, who has turned from a comedian into an unlikely action star in his sixties. Kolstad and Odenkirk are teaming up again in Normal.

    A film that tries to evoke Fargo in multiple ways, Normal finds Ulysses Richardson (Odenkirk) serving as a temporary sheriff for the small town of Normal, Minnesota after the previous sheriff died. Knowing he’s just a steward until a new sheriff is elected, Ulysses takes a live-and-let-live approach to the job, letting the deputies (Ryan Allen and Billy MacLellan) do the grunt work and trying to stay out of everyone’s way, including Mayor Kibner (Henry Winkler).

    A bank robbery attempt by two non-citizens upsets his best-laid plans in more ways than he can imagine. Not only is he forced to confront a crime not often seen in a town like Normal, but the robbery uncovers secrets that turn the film into an all-out bloodbath. Soon, almost everyone in town becomes involved in what comes to resemble a war, along with — you guessed it — Yakuza henchmen from Japan.

    Directed by Ben Wheatley and written by Kolstad, the film is a slight twist on the everyman-turned-hero character Odenkirk played in the two Nobody films. While Ulysses is in law enforcement, he prefers to use words instead of weapons, and it’s only when he’s pushed to the brink that he crosses that line. Naturally, his skills are beyond what anyone would expect of him, allowing him to match up well with people half his age.

    The film is not a comedy in the traditional sense, but instead aims for laughs by catching the audience off-guard with its ultraviolence. Some characters are dispatched in shockingly unexpected ways, with one of the only natural reactions to the jarring nature of their deaths being laughter. That’s not necessarily the case for other killings, which range from blasé to sadistic, and the only reason they count as entertainment is because the filmmakers have primed the audience to accept them as such.

    After a relatively solid setup, where Wheatley and Kolstad seem to take their time getting to know the main characters, the second half of the film is pure action that dispenses with good storytelling. Like many action movies, there are double crosses, surprise revelations, and more, but the filmmakers don’t seem to care about making sense of any character arcs. All they care about is delivering mayhem, and they succeed on that front.

    Odenkirk has perfected the mild-yet-intimidating nature of his action characters, and it is satisfying to see him get the better of those who have done him wrong. He doesn’t run or jump like fellow 63-year-old Tom Cruise, but — with the help of fast-paced editing — he still makes for a credible action hero. The only other actors of any note in the film are Winkler, who’s a nice presence with his sardonic personality, and Lena Headey, whose small role doesn't match up with her experience.

    You have to have a certain mindset to enjoy a film like Normal, but if you can abide its over-the-top bloodiness, it’s a serviceable action film. Few would have expected Odenkirk to take on these kinds of roles at this late stage of his career, but he’s making the most of his opportunities.

    ---

    Normal opens in theaters on April 17.

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