Baz Luhrmann and Elvis Presley were always going to be a match made in showbiz heaven. The Australian director of Strictly Ballroom and Moulin Rouge! seems tailor-made to bring the life story of the king of rock’n’roll to the big screen.
Elvis
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Premiering out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival, Elvis is a dazzling, sometimes overwhelming, biopic that throws everything at the wall. Rising star Austin Butler must surely have blasted his way in contention in next year’s Oscar race with a titanic performance as Elvis, brimming with vim and vigour.
Narrating the film is Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks), the mysterious impresario who became Elvis’s manager, craftily sending this boy from Memphis to stratospheric heights. While Luhrmann, who penned the script with Sam Bromell and Craig Pearce, takes a largely chronological approach — the film starts with an ageing Parker in a hospital bed in Las Vegas. “Without me, there would be no Elvis Presley,” he grouses, and there’s an immediate sense that the film’s narrator, a man who truly understands showmanship, is crafting his own biography here.
The film’s early stages are about Parker discovering Elvis, watching agog as his on-stage charisma and pelvic movements — the “wiggle”, as one of his bandmates quaintly puts it — sends girls wild. Touring alongside the more wholesome Hank Snow (David Wenham) and Jimmie Rodgers (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Elvis is soon outgrowing them. Parker shrewdly invites Elvis’s god-fearing family into the fold, making his father Vernon (Richard Roxburgh) the business manager, but without involving him in any real decisions.
According to Parker, he invents the idea of merchandise — Elvis’s name and image plastered on hats, T-shirts, cushions, you name it. He even manufactures "I Hate Elvis" pin-badges. The haters will always hate, he reasons, so better to profit from them than not. Then comes hostilities from the authorities, shocked by Elvis’s on-stage “lewd gyrations”, as Snow puts it. “Crimes of lust and perversions” scream the headlines, with the singer facing jail time.
When he heads to Germany for a two-year stint in the army to avoid imprisonment, he meets Priscilla (Olivia DeJonge), the love of his life and, eventually, mother of his child, Lisa Marie. The Australian-born DeJonge (recently seen in HBO show The Staircase) initially struggles to find any oxygen in the film — no surprise, given Butler’s show-stopping turn and a corpulent-looking Hanks with his faux European accent taking centre stage. But as their relationship experiences lows, with Elvis increasingly popping prescription drugs, she makes her mark with a couple of killer scenes.
Scroll through the gallery below to see the 'Elvis' premiere in Cannes:
As for Luhrmann, he simply won’t let this film rest. The camera rarely stops moving, whirling up and around Elvis, while the editing by Jonathan Redmond and Matt Villa is utterly dynamic. Costumes and production design, time-travelling you back to the era, are also superlative. But the film doesn’t truly come into its own until the 1968 section. “Is it my fault the world changed?” remarks Parker, as civil rights protests and assassinations of Dr Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy flood the news.
Parker doesn’t want Elvis making political statements — he doesn’t even want him leaving the country to tour internationally for “security” reasons. But there comes a point when the singer needs a rebirth. The so-called ’68 Comeback Special, with Elvis dressed in black leather and rocking out raw versions of songs such as Heartbreak Hotel and Guitar Man, is brilliantly staged — more so, as Luhrmann reminds us that it was supposed to be a sanitised Christmas TV show. Butler pours everything into these scenes, commanding the stage, sweating from every pore.
As Elvis takes up residency in Vegas (a sequence that includes a stunning version of That’s All Right), he suffers from exhaustion and cracks appear in his relations with Priscilla and Parker. With its subject alone and isolated, the final act takes an unsurprisingly more sombre turn.
Luhrmann, who hitherto uses split screen for some moments, takes a breath. Given the singer’s death in 1977 — dying aged 42 from a heart attack — the film brings Elvis’s story to a poignant and dignified close. An Unchained Melody rendition will likely elicit tears, as will real footage of the King cut into the finale.
Does the film get under Elvis’s skin enough? Perhaps not. It’s not the most psychologically probing of films. But Luhrmann is a director who knows how to put on a show, much like Parker, and in that regard Elvis is the greatest show on Earth.
A whirlwind of a movie, filled with light, colour and sound, it captures the 1950s and 1960s with real aplomb, a lavish spectacle on steroids. As the final credits remind us, Elvis was the biggest selling solo recording artist of all time. You can imagine after this, he’ll be selling a few more records.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Essentials
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Los Angeles, from Dh4,975 return, including taxes. The flight time is 16 hours. Alaska Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Aeromexico and Southwest all fly direct from Los Angeles to San Jose del Cabo from Dh1,243 return, including taxes. The flight time is two-and-a-half hours.
The trip
Lindblad Expeditions National Geographic’s eight-day Whales Wilderness itinerary costs from US$6,190 (Dh22,736) per person, twin share, including meals, accommodation and excursions, with departures in March and April 2018.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
CREW
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 390bhp
Torque: 400Nm
Price: Dh340,000 ($92,579
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The bio:
Favourite film:
Declan: It was The Commitments but now it’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
Heidi: The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Favourite holiday destination:
Declan: Las Vegas but I also love getting home to Ireland and seeing everyone back home.
Heidi: Australia but my dream destination would be to go to Cuba.
Favourite pastime:
Declan: I love brunching and socializing. Just basically having the craic.
Heidi: Paddleboarding and swimming.
Personal motto:
Declan: Take chances.
Heidi: Live, love, laugh and have no regrets.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Queen
Nicki Minaj
(Young Money/Cash Money)
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Dirham Stretcher tips for having a baby in the UAE
Selma Abdelhamid, the group's moderator, offers her guide to guide the cost of having a young family:
• Buy second hand stuff
They grow so fast. Don't get a second hand car seat though, unless you 100 per cent know it's not expired and hasn't been in an accident.
• Get a health card and vaccinate your child for free at government health centres
Ms Ma says she discovered this after spending thousands on vaccinations at private clinics.
• Join mum and baby coffee mornings provided by clinics, babysitting companies or nurseries.
Before joining baby classes ask for a free trial session. This way you will know if it's for you or not. You'll be surprised how great some classes are and how bad others are.
• Once baby is ready for solids, cook at home
Take the food with you in reusable pouches or jars. You'll save a fortune and you'll know exactly what you're feeding your child.
The specs: 2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
Price, base / as tested Dh222,500 / Dh296,870
Engine 2.0L, flat four-cylinder
Transmission Seven-speed PDK
Power 300hp @ 6,500rpm
Torque 380hp @ 1,950rpm
Fuel economy, combined 6.9L / 100km
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
UK-EU trade at a glance
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Mountain Classification Tour de France after Stage 8 on Saturday:
- 1. Lilian Calmejane (France / Direct Energie) 11
- 2. Fabio Aru (Italy / Astana) 10
- 3. Daniel Martin (Ireland / Quick-Step) 8
- 4. Robert Gesink (Netherlands / LottoNL) 8
- 5. Warren Barguil (France / Sunweb) 7
- 6. Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky) 6
- 7. Guillaume Martin (France / Wanty) 6
- 8. Jan Bakelants (Belgium / AG2R) 5
- 9. Serge Pauwels (Belgium / Dimension Data) 5
- 10. Richie Porte (Australia / BMC Racing) 4
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
Elvis
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