The French trailer for Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis (Warner Bros., 6.24), now officially confirmed as a Cannes Film Festival attraction, offers nary a sliver of a glimpse of Austin Butler in a fat suit. I am therefore presuming that we can all relax in this regard. No decline years (‘75 to August ‘77), no keeling over on the toilet. Or so it seems.

My old Wilson baseball glove means almost as much to me as my two Mac laptops (15″ Macbook Pro, 13″ Macbook Air). There’s something eternal and devotional about slightly worn baseball mitts. I’ll be driving the VW Passat back east before leaving for Cannes, and I’ll be bringing the Wilson along with a TPS first baseman’s mitt that Jett used in the old days.

When I speak of the Great Francis Betrayal, I refer to the fact that in almost every Francis film the mule’s ability to speak (and in English yet!) is revealed to an outsider or two, and in Francis Goes To The Races (’51) to an entire courtroom of witnesses. Which in real life would eventually mean worldwide celebrity for Francis and great wealth for Donald O’Connor‘s “Peter Stirling” character.

This never happens, of course — no one ever says boo about Francis’s talking ability. The legend never grows. Once the next film comes out it is completely forgotten and the basic situation reverts to a private rapport between Francis and Peter.

If the Francis screenwriters had been a little more daring, they could have had a much bigger franchise. Francis could have become a TV star, an adviser to the U.S. President, the leader of a Pacific Island nation, a game-show contestant, a mule-poet looking for his own mule-soul…the sky was the limit.

“Francis the Talking Mule: 7 Film Bluray Collection” will be released by KL Studio Classics on 5.3.22.

…pops sometime in May. No trailer yet but in the meantime…

George Carlin’s American Dream, directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio, chronicles the life and work of the legendary comedian.

Carlin’s career spanned half a century during which he headlined 14 HBO comedy specials and appeared on The Tonight Show over 130 times, constantly evolving with the times and staying sharply resonant up until his death in 2008 and beyond. The documentary examines a cultural chameleon who is remembered as one of the most influential stand-up comics of all time.

The two-part documentary tracks Carlin’s rise to fame and opens an intimate window into Carlin’s personal life, including his childhood in New York City, his long struggle with drugs that took its toll on his health, his brushes with the law, his loving relationship with Brenda, his wife of 36 years, and his second marriage to Sally Wade.

Intimate interviews with Carlin and Brenda’s daughter, Kelly Carlin, offer unique insight into her family’s story and her parents enduring love and partnership.

Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Patton Oswalt, Stephen Colbert, Bill Burr, Bette Midler, W. Kamau Bell, Sam Jay, Judy Gold and Jon “demonic white people” Stewart are among those interviewed for the project.

Zelensky’s Grammy speech was rather good — morally urgent, concisely written, well delivered, presumably rehearsed. Did the Oscars blow him off? If so, they shouldn’t have.

The Focus marketing team sat down and decided that the title doesn’t mean much — no one will remember it, they’re thinking, certainly when it comes to NYC subway riders — it’s the Viking vibe, the beards, the long hair, the axes, the wounds, the grayness and grimness.