he was my destiny. it already looks very glitzy. it s a long film. is it like that all the way through? it is kind of like that all the way through. it doesn t let up. the lizardly gaze of tom hanks looking at his prey, there, almost, elvis played by newcomer, relative newcomer austin butler, who s got a difficultjob on his hand, given that everyone s impersonated elvis over the days. can he do more than an elvis impersonation? and not really. sure. not really. he doesn t really build this character. i didn t really understand what it was i was supposed to be watching. the film goes on and on to the purchase of graceland, having number one hit singles and becoming the biggest star in the world and then going to germany and meeting priscilla and then having this glitzy las vegas residency. and the movie is in hollywood. all puppeteered by colonel tom parker, played by tom hanks. the film never stops for breath, as you would expect from baz luhrmann. that s what we like about h
i m jane hill. and taking us through this week s cinema releases is jason solomons. good to see you, jason. what have you been watching? well, this week we ve got everything elvis, we ve got beckett, we ve got wham! talk about absurd. we ll start with baz luhrmann s long awaited biopic of the king elvis and the man who discovered him, colonel tom parker, played by tom hanks. and then we go to france for, literally, a prison drama a drama being made in a prison where inmates put on samuel beckett s waiting for godot. they do have time on their hands, after all. and then i will not let you down it s george michael freedom uncut. will it be any good? you ve got to have faith, jane. excellent. plenty more puns where they came from. let s start with elvis. i mean, i love a lot of baz luhrmann s work. so tell me, what s it like? yeah, this is the man who made strictly ballroom, moulin rouge, the great gatsby. he s got this typically frenetic style, and here he is taking on th
that kind of comedy. i thought that it was very well done and very well performed. yes, very well acted. and all the time you re thinking, you know, it s going to be like the porridge movie where they, you know, under the cover of a football match, they re going to escape from prison. so are they going to do that? is that what they want? are these career criminals or can they be changed by their new life on the stage? yes. watch and find out on that one. i won t spoil it. george michael is the third choice this week. yeah, from beckett. and beckett didn t know absurd! he didn t know he d be talked about in the next breath as george michael. new documentary called freedom uncut. or at least i thought it was a new documentary. it s actually been on channel 4 in a version before shortly after george died. now, we all remember where we were when george died because it was christmas day 2016. i took it very hard, jane. he was a hero of mine. i saw wham! in their very first concert with the
i mean, there are moments of comedy in it when they sort of clown around and play around and i suppose waiting for godot sometimes is classed as a comedy in an absurd way. so i suppose it s that kind of comedy. i thought that it was very well done and very well performed. yes, very well acted. and all the time you re thinking, you know, it s going to be like the porridge movie where they, you know, under the cover of a football match, they re going to escape from prison. so are they going to do that? is that what they want? are these career criminals or can they be changed by their new life on the stage? yes. watch and find out on that one. i won t spoil it. george michael is the third choice this week. yeah, from beckett. and beckett didn t know absurd! he didn t know he d be talked about in the next breath as george michael. new documentary called freedom uncut. or at least i thought it was a new documentary. it s actually been on channel 4 in a version before shortly after george di
needed this one. they went to josh beckett, striking out derek jeter here in the fourth. he gets mark texeira swinging in the sixth. chamberlin pitching, scoot row rips a double to left. beckett didn t need anything else, he went eight innings, ten strikeouts, no runs, red sox win 4-0 and take 2 of 3 from the yankees. coming up on the top of the hour on morning joe, the president will jump into debate over the long-term debt. he s expected to announce his own plan on wednesday, a counter to the one we heard from paul ryan and republicans last week. full analysis of the white house strategy coming up on morning joe. when we come back here, we ll huddle up around the water cooler where on friday a united states congresswoman used the lyrics from the white stripes to help avert a government shutdown. does jack white get credit for the deal that was done? we ll explain.