Altered By Elvis DVD Released

[Herbi]

The documentary DVD "Altered By Elvis" from Vinyl Foote & Blarma Productions has been released on DVD. It contains "8 stories about one man...who changed their lives... forever!" according to the press kit.

Synopsis:

Altered By Elvis is a documentary exploration of lives deeply and permanently affected by Elvis Presley. As a society we know everything there is to know about Elvis Presley, but what about those he left behind?

Altered By Elvis follows those who have been imprinted, fathered, fulfilled and even destroyed by the King of rock and roll. The love for Elvis is contagious, and everyone knows someone that claims to be – “Elvis’ number ONE fan”. However,what if we dig much deeper to find the untold stories of the people he left behind... the ravages of pop culture. We will follow these individuals home and show the viewer their own lives. How they literally walk with Elvis - in his shadow, with his ghost and in his light - still to this day. We will hear Larry Geller’s recounting of styling Elvis’ hair for the star’s funeral and hear about the outrageous tales of devotion from fans ... and the reason why Jimmy hates Elvis. Most certainly we will see what it is like to have been truly Altered By Elvis.

Interviewes are Paul Macleod (fan), Vicky Fritz (moved to Memphis for Elvis), Larry Geller (former Memphis maffia), The Huzzies (fans), Jimmy And Jesse Lee Denson (grew up with Elvis), Dixie Locke Emmons (former girlfriend), Ray "Stingray" Fitzpatrick (tribute artist) and Alfred Wertheimer (photographer

Quelle: www.elvisnews.com

[cilla]

Klingt zwar interessant, aber ist wohl reine Geldmache....

Dixie Locke's und Larry Geller's Story kennen wir bereits von diversen Büchern und anderen Doku-DVDs (The definitive Collection) und kann man eigentlich nicht mehr hören - zumindest die letztere nicht. Dixies Geschichte ist sehr interessant, zumal sie Elvis ja schon kannte, ehe er berühmt wurde - doch ich kann mir nicht vorstellen, dass auf dieser DVD noch neue Informationen zu finden sind.

Tja, außerdem hätten sie da wohl so ziemlich jeden richtigen Fan hernehmen können, denn irgendwo beeinflusst Elvis unser aller Leben in gewisser Hinsicht - des einen Leben mehr, des anderen weniger....

[cilla]

review, Quelle: http://www.elvisinfonet.com/dvd_alteredbyelvis.html

8 stories about one man...who changed their lives...forever!
(from Press Kit - " Altered By Elvis")

As a whole, Elvis fandom is a generally amorphous one. Considered singularly, the fragments comprising the predilections and motivations of different fans can, to both the outsider and many inside the world of The King, seem like a crazy, perverted outward reflection of a skewed visceral upbringing.
With this in mind, in the 1980s, a fascinating documentary "Mondo Elvis" was screened. Looking at the wacky world of the (extreme) Elvis fan, it provoked derision from mainstream fans and critical commendation by students of our increasingly complex and often morbid society.
In 2006 several of the enduring, bizzare-like themes of that earlier film have been transported forward to the present day, and the result is a sometimes frightening, but always enlightening, examination of essentially a minority of unusual fans on the fringes of the Elvis world.

"Altered By Elvis", from Vinyl Foote & Blarma Productions, is directed by two talented film makers, directors Jayce and Tiffany Bartok, with skillful editing provided by Director of Photography, Andy Bates. Including a solid soundtrack and a smattering of some great very early live video footage (sans audio) of the young Hillbilly Cat scorching up the stage, this is a film whose core message resonates with a necessarily uneasy vibration.
Symbolic of both its pedigree and importance as a riveting documentary directly about the King's followers (believers), and indirectly about subliminal aspects of Elvis himself, is the film's Official Selection at the Waterfront, Vail and Memphis International Film Festivals in 2006!

Narratively, "Altered By Elvis" has a schizophrenic nature, driven by the psychologically eclectic divergence that constitutes Elvis fandom. The pot pourri of Elvis fans in the film provide a colorful mosaic of things often extremely Elvis. Sometimes charming, sometimes confronting, above all else, "Altered By Elvis" challenges our perceptions of what is a fan.

From the distasteful Denson brothers, of whom, Elvis World's Bill E. Burk described Jimmy Denson as "his elevator doesn't go to the top", to the heartfelt intentions of Elvis tribute artists, Ray "Stingray" Fitzpatrick and Terry Mike Jeffrey, there is a disturbingly rich tapestry of people calling themselves Elvis fans (or in Jimmy Denson's case, Elvis haters). The owner of "Graceland Too", the well known and typically southern proletariatian, Paul MacLeod, reinforces two of the three "textual" messages symbolically central to his exclusively Elvis filled existence.

What one makes of Memphian Vicki Fritz or several not long ago toddlers parading their stuff in Elvis' trademark jumpsuits (albeit mini-size) and sunglasses, will largely be a personal choice.

Opposite: Jesse Lee Denson outside the Lauderdale Courts in Memphis

There are also important touches of neo-normality in "Altered By Elvis". We learn how celebrity photographer, the (himself) iconic Alfred Wertheimer, continues to make a living from his "two weeks in 1956" trademark Elvis images, and while the three "Huzzies (be clear though, these are NOT "hussies!") exhibit some odd behaviour, theirs is really only the charming playfulness that afflicts many of us as the seminally heady and carefree days of our youth start to dim thanks to a combination of advancing age and the often trite mundaneness of everyday life.
In a more subdued scene, the celebrity sunglasses king, Dennis Roberts, tells how he became Elvis' glasses provider. Rock 'n' roll aficionados will relish Bettye Berger's account of her record "Please Convince Me" and its unfortunate, for Bettye anyway, Elvis connection.

One of the Memphis Mafia members who emotionally divides fans, Elvis' new age hairdresser, Larry Geller, offers a touching, if overly dramatic, account of his and Charlie Hodge's visit to the mortuary after Elvis died. Larry's description of what happened as the casket lid closed for the last time is pure Hollywood.
While these "softer" vignettes offer a counterbalance to the colorfully more extreme stories of an implicitly socially challenged minority, not surprisingly it is the latter which dominate "Altered By Elvis" and provide its filmic and lasting power.
There is also an important, grounding moment traversing musical, social and racial boundaries. In an important filmic elsewhere, black American drummer, Don Valentine, perceptively observes:

"His [Elvis's] music speaks for itself"

Verdict: An important, personality driven, disturbingly rich and challenging film which will linger in your thoughts long after the last visual fades from the screen. The cult of celebrity lives in Elvis!

-> eigentlich keine schlechte Kritik!

[MARIE]

Hier kann man schauen:

http://www.alteredby.com/

[michael grasberger]

LOL! das cover ist der hammer! die schrift im gesicht! der hintergrund!!
der mundwinkel!!!

oh mann, man ist von elvis-covers ja schon einiges gewöhnt, aber das hier toppt alles...