Jacob Got Me All Shook Up

Having never watched Euphoria -- well I did watch the first episode and immediately knew it was Definitely Not For Me -- I didn't have many expectations talent-wise as far as Jacob Elordi was concerned. He seemed, from a distance, like this generation's Jason Priestley, which is to say the hot guy on the hot teen show of the moment who probably wouldn't really translate to the big screen. And yet I've seen Elordi give terrific big-screen performances three whole times this year? Nobody seemed to like the serial-killer-comedy He Went That Way when it screened at Sundance but I thought he was impressively magnetic and creepy in it. And then there's Saltburn, which... well I will be talking about when Saltburn comes out in a couple of weeks. But that brings us to today's review -- head on over to Pajiba where I am talking Sofia Coppola's Priscilla, which stars Cailee Spaeny in the titular role and Mr. Elordi as one Mr. Elvis Presley himself. And he's great! I admittedly wasn't hugely fond of Baz Luhrman's Elvis but I one hundred percent prefer this quieter, more introverted take on the rhinestone icon to Austin Butler's much-heralded turn. He won't be getting nominated for awards for it -- it's far less showy. But for every notch the volume was turned down my belief in this performance as an actual human being was multiplied upward. The same can be said for the whole movie... but then I do say that in my review! So go read it.