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

We're closing out 1966 with Elvis Presley's third (and final) film: Spinout! We try to parse the plot of Spinout, which is at the same time both totally inscrutable and a re-hash of earlier films, and which Mike has a theory about. We find our first (?) actual good tagline for an Elvis movie, discuss the original pitch for this movie (which Col. Tom Parker shot down), and try to make sense of the creative team's lack of action around a soundtrack solution. Mike sees what this movie is really trying to do (which Joey totally missed). We wonder if food in 1966 was good, why Elvis is so susceptible to reverse psychology, and why they choose to describe women as a "smorgasbord." Elvis saves a marriage, then marries three women. We look ahead to Easy Come, Easy Go.

Elvis returns to Hawaii -- and Viva Pod Vegas is right there with him -- as we talk about Paradise, Hawaiian Style! After kicking off with some Graceland news, Col. Tom Parker drops by the podcast again before Mike recasts the Fantastic Four with Elvis Presley and associates. We run through this movie's mixed bag of taglines, explore the (more interesting than usual) backstories for the other actors in this movie, and lament Elvis's seeming resignation around the songs he had to sing for this movie.

We talk about how weird it is that this movie starts with a cold open, find ourselves once again confused by Elvis's many lookalike girlfriends (of which there are more than ever before, but somehow there's no love interest?), and break down the "Elvis + Kid = Great!" streak snapper. We talk about the incredibly low stakes in Paradise, Hawaiian Style, the (truly wonderful) element of this movie we've never seen before, and its unmemorable soundtrack. We look ahead to Spinout.

Viva Pod Vegas is back with Frankie and Johnny, the first non-cowboy period piece in Elvis Presley’s filmography! After some long overdue email reads, we welcome Col. Tom Parker back to the podcast to sort our way through some more terrible taglines that miss the mark. We talk about whether or not this is THE Nellie Bly, whether or not the Dixieland music fits the movie, and whether or not the meta approach to the story works in 1966. We discuss Elvis as a degenerate gambler, the Gibson Girl, and “Elvis’s bulge.” We try to make sense of the core love stories in this movie, revel in how Elvis movies lean into cinematic cliches, and try to figure out if Frankie and Johnny (the characters) have a happy ending. We retire the “best Elvis song” and are forced to pick a new one. We play our other games and discuss recent Riley Keough projects.

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 Spaeny as Priscilla — and the movie’s incredible ability to capture her growth in this movie — and Jacob Elordi as Elvis — and how his portrayal compares to last year’s performance by Austin Butler. We also come to the realization that after last year’s film centering on Col. Tom Parker’s point of view, and this film centering on Priscilla’s point of view… we haven’t gotten an Elvis biopic from his own perspective.

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 leaned into a full parody of Elvis movies, discuss how much James Bond influence can be found in Harum Scarum, and why Elvis keeps falling asleep to be awoken by a kiss. We talk about Elvis's sultry song to an 8-year-old girl and his singing via reflecting pool. Joey's hair blindness rears its ugly head. We look ahead to Frankie and Johnny (and other upcoming episodes).

The time has come, at last, for Viva Pod Vegas to get to (perhaps) Elvis Presley's weirdest movie title yet: Tickle Me. We talk about the misleading title (and the original [bad] title, too), read some emails, and make some Scooby Doo connections. We describe Tickle Me's almost inexplicable plot, explore its six (!) taglines and largely unknown cast, and wonder why *this* was the movie that Elvis won an award for. We talk about Elvis continually disrupting everything by singing songs, his duet with a horse, and his many (many) fights. We break down Elvis as a rodeo rider, a Deadwood-era performer, and a mind reader (?). Joey shares his issues with the way this movie plays out, while Mike has ideas on how to easily make it better. We explore the concept of "movie says so," discuss restarting Viva Pod Vegas after we wrap up its initial run, and predict Harum Scarum -- which we had way, way wrong.