Viva Pod Vegas: The Elvis Presley Film Podcast Joey Lewandowski and Mike Manzi

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 once!), what "kissin' cousins" means, and why this movie seems more pro-polygamy (and hornier) than his other movies. We look ahead to Harum Scarum, learn lessons from the titular song "Kissin' Cousins," and plan for the (long distant) future of the podcast. Also: Batgirl is back, girl.

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 in Spanish, him having fun again on screen, and the craziest Elvis character backstory so far. We discuss remaking Elvis movies, his first on-screen appearance with a cape, and an on-screen Col. Tom Parker stand-in. We also talk about how Fun in Acapulco gives us another huge Elvis song ("Bossa Nova Baby") and a Top Gun-esque ending and reconciliation. We try to make sense of our "forced songs" game scale and peek ahead to our next episode to brace ourselves for Kissin' Cousins.

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 movie looks, and how It Happened at the World's Fair is (unexpectedly) "the Kurt Russell movie"! We compare Elvis to Pepe Le Pew and Michael Jackson, praise his fight choreography, and urge filmmakers (long since dead/retired) to get Elvis into space. We discuss the caliber of music in the movie, admire Elvis's ability to act on screen with children, and discover some really exciting new ways to incorporate music into his movies. We wonder what the titular "it" that happened at the World's Fair is, why there are so many clowns, and what a particular Elvis joke means. Plus, we share some wild Baz/Elvis news!

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, behind the scenes drama, and whether or not the cast was in genuine danger while making this movie. We wonder what Laurel's backstory is (and explain why the movie should be about her), debate whether or not Elvis singing in Chinese is good or bad, and find ourselves in disbelief at the times the movie decides to cut away from the action. Joey's favorite Elvis song pops up, we talk about "The Implication" from Always Sunny, and we look ahead to Sofia Coppola's Priscilla. But, most importantly, we spend a long, long time talking about "The Walls Have Ears," which is the greatest Elvis cinematic scene to date.

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 Elvis and Charles Bronson, and whether or not Kid Galahad hints at the same kind of seediness other Elvis movies have hinted at before. We compliment the boxing cinematography, debate how hard it is to write movie-specific songs, and look ahead to (possibly) our first dud in Girls! Girls! Girls, the next movie we're set to cover.

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 isn't girl crazy -- and why this movie is so horny. We also share a Tom Petty connection, talk about toilets for a while, and lament the lack of a real EP being available for this movie. Plus, we begin to look at these original Elvis movies through the lens and lessons learned by watching Baz Luhrmann's Elvis. Is Pops in this movie a stand-in for the Colonel? Maybe!