The grandeur of director Baz Luhrmann is on full display in his newest offering, Elvis. The film starts with nostalgic visuals and the excitement builds with anticipation as it progresses. Elvis is faithful in its direction and narration, and the vibrance and brilliance is there throughout the film. But everyone knows the tragedy that ensued in the King’s life, so the viewer needs to be prepared for a large dose of sadness.

Presley is played by Austin Butler, and he is the top-notch Elvis Presley that the world will love. Butler can also make us feel Elvis’s heartache. Elvis’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, is played by Tom Hanks. The film often feels like a heavyweight match between the two characters.

Elvis tracks Presley’s career from the start, when his dance moves cause all kinds of controversy and his relationship with Colonel Tom Parker begins. Parker helps Presley sign big contracts for big money. Presley has the moves, the personality, and the voice to make the ladies blush. But despite his positive qualities, Presley builds a mixed reputation. He is criticized for his famous leg moves, which are deemed to be sexual or crude. It is his voice that sells, however, and Parker finds a way to help Presley get his name out there more and more. Presley soon finds himself with shows in Tennessee and Las Vegas, at massive venues. Despite his success—or maybe because of it—Presley falls into a downward spiral of drug use, and his relationship with Parker falters.

Luhrmann has a method of fading colors in and out, making the colors go wild and happy when there is success and fading them to a melancholy feel when there is failure. He also creates shadows, quick transitions, and he throws in tangents to heighten the interest. His use of imagery creates a landscape that tracks Presley’s successes and failures.

The tension and the struggles of Presley will hit his fans emotionally. He had a wildly successful career but he struggled in other parts of his life, including relationships and finances. Luhrmann knows how to make his audience cry, so bring tissues. Where I felt the film was strongest, though, was when Presley pulls himself up again after he falls. He continues to perform, and to inspire. He also begins to realize that he doesn’t need Parker all the time.

Director Luhrmann is visually audacious with Elvis, and it is his brilliance beyond anything else that makes the film mesmerizing. Despite the sadness, it is still a worthwhile and wonderful experience that will have audiences jamming to Presley’s music, laughing, and crying. Three and a half stars for Elvis.

Creativity is a subject that can spark a confident message and can be elaborated on in many ways. Brian and Charles is all about creativity which Brian demonstrates with his robot, Charles. The film’s cinematography feels real and displays painful emotions. The movie deals with finding ways to overcome boredom and loneliness. Brian uses his ability to invent things to cope with his isolation. Brian and Charles has a retro feel and the robot helps enhance the film with positive humor.

The film is solid in its delivery. The writing for the film was done by David Earl and Chris Hayward. Earl also plays Brian in the film and Hayward plays Charles the robot. The film grasps the narration process through the eyes of Brian as he elaborates in fragments about why his life is how it is and about being an inventor. The film follows a standard format before rolling into the more exciting events once there is a clear understanding of what Brian’s goals are. His ultimate invention is Charles which provides him with a new buddy.

Brian is one of those people who experiences melancholy moments. He lives in his quiet home in the mountains of North Wales and has a fascination for experiments and inventions. Because he lacks a social life, he builds Charles which is a robot made from a box refrigerator and a bunch of wires. The bond between Brian and Charles grows strong. Charles has a Stephen Hawking type of voice, and their communication is joyful,endearing, and entertaining. Charles helps Brian gain confidence in himself and helps Brian deal with his depression. Brian and Charles is a film that shows there are endless possibilities for bright lights in life.

In the eyes of Charles, however, I also felt some grief and pain. Charles expresses an enthusiastic interest to see the real world and other countries. Brian doesn’t feel that can happen, becauseCharles is a robot and his invention. The many frustrations between robot and reality for Charles are heartbreaking. Charles creates a sense of security for Brian and helps him cope with his loneliness. The sad part is that Brian can do more than Charles because he is a human and Charles can only do what Brian thinks is best.

The scenery plays a big role in portraying Charles’ feelings of despair. Set on the empty lands of North Wales, Brian and Charles is a film of parallel feelings between the characters as they figure things out against harsh landscape. As the seasons pass in North Wales, the more Charles wants to see the world. As the old saying goes, “Where there is a will there is a way!”

The creativity in Brian and Charles displays faith and positivity for both characters. The film reminded me of how loneliness can feel, and how the connections in our lives help us not feel so alone. In this heartfelt film, Brian used his skill of inventing to create his friend Charles. Three and a half stars.

As a kid I always loved Toy Story, and my fascination has continued and evolved over the years. The Toy Story franchise has consistently delivered astounding entertainment that is family friendly and brilliant. Lightyear is no exception.

The timeline between the original four Toy Story films was appropriate, and they had the right transitions and continuity of the storyline. The franchise also seemed to follow my childhood—and beyond. I was born in 1993 and Toy Story opened in 1995; Toy Story 2 opened in 1999 when I was entering school; Toy Story 3 opened in 2010 when I was in high school; and Toy Story 4opened in 2019, as I entered full adulthood and my movie reviewer career was taking off. Lightyear is a new beginning for the franchise, and it totally wowed me.

Lightyear almost feels like a virtual reality video game taken to new heights. The space setting in the animated format, especially when seen in a large format like IMAX or Dolby Digital, is brisk and clear with amazing direction and animation. I felt like I was in a whole new world of Disney fun, like I was actually in space and part of the new story. And the Buzz Lightyear suit, the dialogue, the fun catch phrases, and the creative nostalgia are all still there.

For the first time Tim Allen is not playing the voice of Buzz. This is of course a big change, since Allen delivered Disney fun that will always be cherished. Chris Evans is now the voice of Buzz Lightyear. Evans also has a great voice for the character, and he continues the classic Toy Storycharacterization of Buzz on his quest to go “to infinity and beyond.”

The setup of the film is that Buzz’s space ranger days have seen some errors and mishaps, and Buzz goes into space with the goal to save the planet from the many evils around it. Those evils including, of course, Emperor Zurg, whose voice is played by James Brolin. This time though, Buzz has a sidekick—an electronic cat named Sox, whose voice is played by Peter Sohn. Their relationship is similar to the relationship between Buzz and Woody, which is one of the reasons that Lightyear still has the Toy Story brilliance and the positive vibe.

Some may argue that the film doesn’t feel the same without Andy, Sid, or some of the other earlier characters. But the story going forward with Lightyear is still pure Disney adrenaline and, after all, Buzz is now in his true environment. The film almost seems at times like Toy Story meets Gravity (2013), but with animated characters, and it sets the perfect foundation for Disney to bring us new adventures and to evolve the Toy Storyfranchise. Though it’s early, Lightyear is one of the best films I have seen this summer. Four stars for Lightyear.