Elvis

It’s Baz Luhrmann, so of course it’s way, way over the top. It’s Baz Luhrmann so of course it’s super cutty and disjointed. It’s Baz Luhrmann so of course the musical numbers are the best thing about it. It’s Baz Luhrmann, so of course it’s about as subtle as a flying chainsaw. If you sign up for Baz Luhrmann, you get Baz Luhrmann.

Three Thousand Years of Longing

Alithea (Tilda Swinton) is the skeptic. She lectures about myths and stories for a living. So, when a genie smokily manifests  in her hotel room, she immediately starts poking holes. “All genie stories are cautionary tales” and she won’t get sucked in. In what’s a sweet love story resolution, she winds up granting wishes for the genie in this simple parable about being selfless and reinventing yourself in the process. As it is a story about stories, the Djinn regales Alithea with tales from his long past, the morals of which are that the genies always suffer. These chapters are beautifully filmed by George Miller et al, but are scattered, elusive, and a bit long. But the point, which takes a while to get to, is heartwarmingly worth it.