Elvis (2022)

Making a bio about anyone this prominent is practically asking for trouble. It might tell us nothing new or fudge well-known facts. Considering Baz Luhrman's penchant for anachronisms, I fully expected the latter. Still, he must have done something right -- if only not getting in the way too much -- for his flick to garner eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.

If there's one way this stands out from most musician biopics, it's the first-person narration by the musician's manager, honorary Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks). He discovers Elvis Presley (Austin Butler) when the latter has become a local sensation, young enough to require contract signatures from his parents (Helen Thomson and Richard Roxburgh). The partnership spells a lot of fame and income, but the two lock horns a lot. Tom seems to mean well when he demands that Elvis dial back the popular yet controversial elements, not so much when he won't let Elvis tour overseas because Tom immigrated illegally and has to make up gambling debts with Vegas performances.

The Great Gatsby (2013)

Well, how do you like that: I said before, "I doubt I'll take a chance on Australia or The Great Gatsby." What changed my mind? My dad's invitation to watch the DVD with him. By this time, I had forgotten Baz Luhrmann's involvement and started wondering whether I would find the story more engaging than I had in the F. Scott Fitzgerald book.

Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) narrates from a mental hospital how he knew his most captivating New York State neighbor, Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio, perhaps practicing for the same year's The Wolf of Wall Street). Gatsby is an obscenely rich man of mystery, throwing lavish parties attended by just about everybody for miles around. But he confides in Nick that it's all an effort to draw the attention of the woman he loves, who happens to be Nick's cousin, Daisy (Carey Mulligan). She married man's man Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton) back when Gatsby felt too poor to marry. With Nick's help, Daisy does come back into Gatsby's life, but of course this means inviting trouble....

Moulin Rouge! (2001)

I saw this screening at AFI almost on a whim -- and almost talked myself out of it, because I've been apprehensive about it since it was new. It remains rather popular, but some viewers make it sound too weird and/or depressing. I had walked in on a private viewing in college for half a minute and found it simultaneously funny and irritating, if only for the frantic camera shifts. But 16 years is plenty of time to get used to the trend, as with some films I mostly enjoy, so I bit the bullet.

The title refers to a Parisian cabaret led by a Mr. Zidler (Jim Broadbent), where, through a series of unlikely events I won't spoil, starving but aspiring writer Christian (Ewan McGregor) develops innocently loving feelings for showgirl/prostitute Satine (Nicole Kidman), who's expected to entertain a duke (Richard Roxburgh) instead. When the duke finds them in a somewhat compromising position, they and their associates quickly make a big lie about rehearsing a new musical for the duke to finance -- one with a plot awfully similar to the actual semi-menage a trois they're in, so it seems only a matter of time before the duke catches on. But he and the nature of Satine's profession may not be the biggest threats to Christian's romance, as Satine has developed symptoms of TB.