We’re taking another brief detour on Viva Pod Vegas to cover Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, now playing in theaters! We talk about Priscilla as a complement to Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, its focus on Elvis’s film career (rather than his music career), and how it compared to what we expected the movie to be. We explore the “controversies” behind the scenes, talk about our favorite music moments, and imagine how close this final product was to Sofia Coppola’s original vision. We also talk about Cailee...

Viva Pod Vegas returns with Harum Scarum, which seems (unfortunately) to be Elvis's cinematic career low. But if this is the low point... things really aren't so bad overall? It's one of the shortest movies we've had so far -- and still filled with padding -- and its backstory is filled with tonal confusion and creative burnout. We discuss all that as well as its incredible opening scene, its seeming refusal to explain its plot, and its cultural insensitivities. We wonder if they could have...

We're taking a quick pit stop from our regularly scheduled Elvis programming to cover his granddaughter Riley Keough's directorial debut: War Pony! After catching up on Riley Keough News (and one email from a concerned listener seeking our Tickle Me episode), we dive into War Pony to talk about the story behind the movie, the many types of stories that are ready to be told (and are finally getting a chance to be told), and Keough's confidence as a first-time director (alongside her...

Viva Pod Vegas is back, and we've made it to 1965 to talk about Elvis Presley and Shelley Fabares in Girl Happy! Before we dive into the movie, we talk about the teaser trailer for Sofia Coppola's Priscilla, we share some exciting news about Elvis movies on the Criterion Channel, and we read a few more very kind notes from listeners. Then, we pack up and head for Fort Lauderdale to talk about Shelley Fabares filling the Ann-Margret void, the world's oldest college kids, and why the "Do the...

We're closing out Elvis Presley's three-picture 1964 year in film strong (?) with a real "snow job" in Roustabout! After defining what a roustabout is, we talk about Elvis being differently creepy (and more of a bastard) than we expected, the fact that a movie finally caves and says "sure, fine, he's a singer, whatever," and how this movie seems to have come directly from within the Colonel's brain (and was produced by Big Carnival?). We discuss some wild Elvis karate lore that we're not...

We've made it to Elvis's "big movie" (biggest ever? biggest so far? who can say?!), as he teams up with Ann-Margret for our namesake, Viva Las Vegas! After opening the mailbag (and finding more kindred Elvis spirits), we talk about the disorienting ADR in this movie, explore more bad taglines, and officially enter "the Ann-Margret era." (This lasts exactly one film.) We find out how Col. Tom Parker rears his ugly head once again, talk about the heavy "Toretto vibes" in this movie, and try to...

We're back with a brand new episode of Viva Pod Vegas, and we're talking all about Kissin' Cousins! (Hoo boy.) After briefly discussing how the movie passes Joey's one ask of Elvis movies, we share lots of Elvis news before Mike vamps about Joey's cats and then reads between the lines of the movie's taglines. We try to make sense of Kittyhawks, discuss why Elvis hated this movie, and wonder why it decides to begin in such a misleading way. We talk about the Elvis movie charm NOT working (for...

We're headed down to Mexico -- without Elvis, though, and we'll explain why he isn't allowed to join us -- to talk about Fun in Acapulco! We're talking about *another* Elvis character named Mike, love triangles on (and off?!) screen, and Col. Tom Parker's soundtrack mandate (and how that will become the "new normal" for Elvis movies). Joey shares the craziest bit of Elvis movie trivia we've found so far (to which Mike wonders, "Why even make this movie?). We talk about Elvis's ability to sing...

We're entering 1963 and headed (via plane!) to Seattle for this episode about It Happened at the World's Fair! In this episode, Mike gets a crash course on various World's Fairs (and Diane Warren) while also playing a couple guessing games and coming up with some merch ideas. (He also caught "hair blindness" from Joey, but finds himself able to revel in the fact that Elvis's character is named Mike.) We talk about Norman Taurog's continue (literal) reign of terror, how nice the print for this...

Viva Pod Vegas returns as we hit the open sea for Girls! Girls! Girls!, a movie that should probably instead be called Boats! Boats! Boats! After comparing Elvis's character of Ross Carpenter to Vin Diesel (again) and past Elvis characters, we call on Brian Rodriguez (High School Slumber Party, Uncle Francis's Wine Cellar) for an expert opinion on which Friends character E would play. Then, we dive into the Golden Globe-nominated (!) film to talk about passing the focus to other singers,...

Two episodes of Viva Pod Vegas in one month? Unprecedented! We're back with another one of Elvis Presley's 1962 films, and this time we're talking about his stint as a boxer in Kid Galahad! In this episode, we compare Elvis to Nicolas Cage (or vice versa) and Dom Toretto before we wonder, what exactly *is* a musical, anyway? Joey's brain actually works (for a change), allowing him to make a deep cut connection. We talk about Elvis as a boxer (who can sing, too?!), on-set tensions between...

After our recent time warp to cover Baz Luhrmann's Elvis, we're back on the original timeline and talking about Elvis Presley in Follow That Dream! But... is homesteading a dream? We have questions! We talk about how we've been duped (yet again) into thinking every remaining movie is a musical, how weird this movie is in particular, and how terrible Elvis's character's name is. We discuss how Follow That Dream shows Elvis (once again) falling in love with a familial relation -- even though he...

It's a Viva Pod Vegas / #HANX for the Memories special crossover event as we talk about Baz Luhrmann's Elvis, the Elvis Presley biopic! We discuss Austin Butler's portrayal of Elvis (and how he is the movie), Tom Hanks's portrayal of Colonel Tom Parker (and why he took the role), and Baz Lurhmann's novel take on the biopic via a new POV. We talk about Hanks's makeover and his level of "going for it," the movie's frenetic pacing and structure, and how it navigates around some controversy. We...

It's (basically) (or literally) musicals from now until the end of Elvis Presley's filmography, and today's is a pretty good one: Blue Hawaii! Art imitates life, and Elvis's Chadwick "Chad" Gates is back from two years of service. He was (mostly) faithful, but his relationship will (once again?) be put to the test as he's tasked with leading a group of young girls on a tour of the island(s). In this episode, we talk about songs we're surprised to find on the Blue Hawaii soundtrack, Elvis's...

The Viva Pod Vegas train is back on the tracks with another (surprise?!) dramatic Elvis Presley performance in Wild in the Country! After talking about the (not great) title (and a better alternative), we dive deep into the unbelievability of the plot in Wild in the Country, and the absolutely crazy way that the movie begins. We also talk about parallels to The Godfather: Part III, the many (many, many…) characters in the movie, and what this movie made us hope we see in future Elvis movies....

Elvis continues to surprise! Flaming Star, his sixth film, is far more violent (and far less musical) than we ever thought it would be. In this episode, we head back to the mid-1800s in Texas to find Elvis trapped between two worlds: that of his white father and that of his Kiowa mother. Given the premise (and the era in which this came out), we've got to say: it's far less problematic than we thought it would be! We talk about the (very, very few) songs in Flaming Star, Elvis Presley's turn...

Much like Elvis took two years off between movies (albeit to go to war), we're back after an extended (pandemic-fueled) hiatus with Elvis's return to Hollywood: G.I. Blues! We talk about how this movie is likely to set the tone and pace and plotting for most of Elvis's future movies, what this movie really should have been called, and the two (absolutely insane) things that this movie will/should be remembered for. We also compare G.I. Blues to Fury (even though there's really very little in...

We're headed down to New Orleans for King Creole, which many (including Elvis himself) consider to be The King's best movie of all-time. Are we peaking too early, or are we lucky just to get a movie this good? In this episode, we talk about the most natural use of Elvis songs in a movie so far, the differences between a hoodlum and a hustler, and the connections that King Creole shares with both King Kong and Furious 7. We admire the stacked cast (Walter Matthau! Vic Morrow!), the fine...

Jailhouse Rock continues our Viva Pod Vegas journey from black-and-white to color (and now, again, to black-and-white!), as well as Elvis’s journey from "movies about country boys" to "movies NOT about country boys." Joining us to talk about Elvis's least likable character so far is Cara Gael O'Regan of the Wistful Thinking Podcast. After starting the episode by getting a gauge of Cara’s history with The King, we talk about whether or not the "Jailhouse Rock" set piece will be Elvis's...

We're back at it with another episode of Viva Pod Vegas! Loving You is not only our first colorized movie, but also our first to truly star and showcase Elvis Presley! That focus on our main man means that Loving You is a totally different type of movie than Love Me Tender, in both good and bad ways. In this episode, we talk about Elvis's filmography transitioning out of the western genre (and into the... musical genre?) and striking a balance between showcasing his music and creating a movie...

We're kicking off Viva Pod Vegas (earlier than anticipated!) with Elvis Presley's first feature film: Love Me Tender! In this episode, we get up to speed with Elvis's movie career trajectory from birth to the time of making this movie, talk about the way Love Me Tender changed once Elvis was on board, and wonder if this was truly the role he was "born to play." We discuss all four songs from this movie (including our collective favorite, "Poor Boy"), ache for Elvis's character stuck between...

Elvis Presley is one of the most famous musicians ever. What happens when you take the music out of the equation and choose to focus solely on his movies? Enter Viva Pod Vegas: The Elvis Presley Film Podcast! Hosted by Joey Lewandowski and Mike Manzi, Viva Pod Vegas is a deep dive into the 31 films that Elvis Presley starred in, plus specials and some surprises. Uh, thank you very much for listening.