Baz Luhrmann Knows He’s the Stanley Kubrick of Confetti

The latest in pop-culture news, recaps, and reviews, plus close reads, profiles, interviews, and more from Vulture.com. [Brand Logo]( exit interview [Baz Luhrmann Knows He’s the Stanley Kubrick of Confetti]( The Elvis director’s opulent movies aren’t for everyone, and he’s okay with that. Photo: Warner Bros. Baz Luhrmann knows how to make an entrance. I am sitting in a cavernous corner conference room at Warner Bros. Pictures’ office in New York City when I hear a soft, distant Australian-accented voice say, “You know, when we began shooting [Elvis](, it was in the pandemic.” The director glides into the space, seemingly out of nowhere and looking contemplative as Hamlet, and makes his way slowly toward some picture windows overlooking the newly redeveloped Hudson Yards neighborhood. Luhrmann’s hair is perfect. He’s wearing a gray jacket, dark jeans, and unblemished black hiking boots, with a ring with the initials “EP” (for Elvis Presley, naturally) on his finger and the letters “TCB” (Elvis’s motto was “taking care of business”) hanging from a chain around his neck. I rise from my chair and head over to stand next to the filmmaker responsible for Strictly Ballroom, [Romeo + Juliet](, and [Moulin Rouge!](, who is telling me — or maybe the people of Manhattan — how the production of Elvis had to shut down for five months in 2020 after Tom Hanks [contracted COVID-19](. When production resumed, Luhrmann decided the death of Hanks’s character — Presley’s manager, the mythic and unreliable Colonel Tom Parker — would jump-start the film. [Read More]( [Subscribe for over 60% off]( and unlock unlimited access to Vulture and everything New York. Plus, get a free tote and access to our forthcoming 2022 holiday gift guide. The Latest TV Recaps • The Handmaid’s Tale: [They Never Let Anyone Get Away]( • The Crown: [I’m on a Boat (Ep. 1)](, [True Grief (Ep. 2)]( • Love Is Blind: [Speak Now …]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Stories We Think You’ll Like [Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Doesn’t Have the Answers How can any one film manage the expectations put on Ryan Coogler’s sequel and make space for grief? It can’t.]( [Joan Didion in Your Living Room, Telling Stories The Year of Magical Thinking gets comfy.]( By Brock Colyar [Nikyatu Jusu’s Fables The director of Nanny, this year’s most acclaimed film at Sundance, blends West African folklore and horror.]( [The Crown Wades Into a Royal Mess The choppy but absorbing fifth season of Netflix’s monarchical saga feels divorced from what came before.]( [Remembering Lee Bontecou and Her Volcanic Hell Holes The visionary artist died this week at age 91.]( By Jerry Saltz [I Wanna Dance With Somebody Is Here to Belt Its Way to the Oscars A new trailer shows Naomi Ackie’s Whitney Houston defending her talents.]( By Justin Curto [The Proud Family Showrunners Wanted to Revive the Series 15 Years Ago Bruce W. Smith and Ralph Farquhar on updating the characters for new audiences and their hopes for the future of Black animation.]( By Rendy Jones [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Today’s Crossword]( 31-Across, Six Letters: All-caps Lady Gaga album title. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos by Steve Granitz/FilmMagic, Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for Warner Bros. and Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images Vulture Recommends We consume it all so you don’t have to. Photo: Brooke Smith Read about the New York Hard Core (NYHC) scene of the early 1980s. Photographs from the era have just been [published in a book called Sunday Matinee]( — both a tribute and a body of work. [Read more from Vulture]( Vulture Movies Fantasy League Illustration: Vulture This year’s game invites readers to compete against one another — and the Vulture staff — in a test of box-office foreknowledge and awards-season prognostication. [Read up on how the game works](, and when you’re ready, [select your team]( before the draft window closes on November 21! [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe](param=vulture-daily) | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2022, All rights reserved