FOLLOWING FILMS - Podcast, Movies, Music, and More

I was sent a 4K copy of Baz Luhrmann's EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert a few days ago. This weekend I popped the disc in, and honestly, I've been wrestling with what to make of it ever since. On paper, it sounds like an easy money grab. Luhrmann takes the leftover archival material, 16mm scraps, and 8mm home videos he dug up while making his 2022 scripted biopic, hands them over to Peter Jackson's restoration wizards at Park Road Post, and packages a 97-minute concert film for home video. You hear "AI audio isolation and restored 1970s footage," and your brain immediately expects a shiny, airbrushed, corporate legacy project meant to sell box sets to baby boomers. It isn't that at all. It's weirder, sweatier, and much more uncomfortably human than I expected, especially sitting on your couch with the lights off while native 4K highlights every single flaw in the original stock. If you've seen Luhrmann's earlier work, you know he's usually incapa...

Photo credit EPiC- Elvis Presley in Concert Following a rousing world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, Baz Luhrmann’s EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert has found its global distributors. NEON has acquired U.S. rights to the film, while Universal Pictures Content Group will handle international distribution, with a worldwide theatrical rollout planned for 2026. Described as a “one-of-a-kind cinematic experience,” EPiC brings Elvis Presley back to the stage in a way audiences have never seen before. The film combines newly unearthed archival materials—including unseen footage from Presley’s legendary Las Vegas performances in the 1970s, 16mm reels from Elvis on Tour, and intimate 8mm film from the Graceland archives—with rare audio of Elvis reflecting on his own life and legacy. Produced by Sony Music Vision, Bazmark, and Authentic Studios, EPiC transforms decades-old footage into what Luhrmann calls an “electrifying cinematic odyssey.” The result, critics at TIFF noted,...