Elvis - 8 nominations

Best Motion Picture of the Year Baz Luhrmann (producer) Catherine Martin (producer) Gail Berman (producer) Patrick McCormick (producer) Schuyler Weiss (producer)

Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling Mark Coulier Jason Baird Aldo Signoretti

Best Sound David Lee Wayne Pashley Andy Nelson Michael Keller

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Austin Butler

Best Achievement in Cinematography Mandy Walker

Best Achievement in Costume Design Catherine Martin

Best Achievement in Film Editing Matt Villa Jonathan Redmond

Best Achievement in Production Design Catherine Martin Karen Murphy Beverley Dunn

The film follows Elvis Presley from his teenage years when he meets his infamous manager, Colonel Tom Parker, through the end of his own life and career.  Being a Baz Luhrmann film, you know that the movie is so much more than that, and you can see the nominations in Costume Design and Production Design that Luhrmann productions are famous for.  

If Luhrmann's going to give you spectacle, he is going to give you SPECTACLE.  This is his first biopic, and to say that he pulled off the presentation of history is possibly an understatement (with the caveat that biopics are not documentaries and have no obligation to real events).  While I wasn't alive at the time, Luhrmann doesn't shy away from including the iconic costumes and settings that we all have in our minds' eyes about what Elvis' life was like.  And the addition of a dead on performance by Austin Butler as Elvis makes the whole thing seem real.  (In a rare misstep, the casting of Tom Hanks seems off.  Hanks who can do no wrong in my eyes was weighed down - literally - by the use of weird prosthetics, which are also nominated for the film.  You know who could have been a better casting choice?  Lance Barber from Young Sheldon.)

The story hits all the highlights - getting arrested for too-sexy dance moves stolen directly from the African American community, being sent off to the army, meeting 14 year old Priscilla Presley and marrying her (which by today's standards, ew... I guess by any standards, ew), awakening to the issues of civil rights and wanting to do something to lend his voice to the movement, drug use, and the eventual opening of his eyes to the manipulations by Colonel Parker when it was far too late to do anything about it.

There is no question that Austin Butler's performance is perfect, and I'm starting to question if he is, in fact, Elvis reincarnated.  But there was something slightly flat about the film and when it was finished, I said, "ok, that was a movie." The Elvis singing moments ARE thrilling, don't get me wrong.  But the emotional response Luhrmann is going for?  I didn't find it.  Maybe it would be better to head to Blueberry Hill, if you're really looking for your thrill (I hear that's where Elvis found his).