Elvis Costello Movies

Satirist and comedy news host Stephen Colbert hosts this explosively patriotic Christmas special featuring guest appearances by such famous, important, close personal friends of Colbert as Elvis Costello and Willie Nelson. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

When America's number one NASCAR speed-demon is issued a direct challenge from a gay, French Formula One racer with a hunger for the top spot and a mean talent for tight-cornering, the race is on to become the number one man in all of NASCAR in a full throttle comedy starring Will Ferrell and directed by Anchorman cohort Adam McKay. Ricky Bobby (Ferrell) is a national hero with a "smokin' hot" trophy wife, pair of borderline-abusively precocious sons, and an endless line of endorsement deals filling his mansion with toys and driveway with sports cars and Hummers. His racing partner and lifelong friend Cal Naughton, Jr. (John C. Reilly), never fails to provide him with a hand on the racetrack, frequently performing their trademark "slingshot" maneuver to shoot Ricky into first place, leaving Cal in second. While the public loves these buddies (popularly known by the meaningless childhood nicknames they find so exceedingly cool: "Shake and Bake"), a wedge comes between the two, as Ricky Bobby's longstanding winning-streak is broken by flamboyand French Formula One driver Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), robbing Ricky of everything in an instant as the trauma leaves him unable to drive. Ricky's wife takes his fortunes while Cal takes his wife, and now he's back with his mother (Jane Lynch) and long-estranged father (Gary Cole). Things look bad for Ricky, but his father was once a race car driver himself, and now with the help of a training montage, a live cougar, and the courage to drive without his gleaming white Wonder Bread endorsement, Ricky might be ready to face the track again. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Few musical archivists have worked as tirelessly to preserve American folk music as Harry Smith, and with this documentary filmmaker Rani Singh offers an illuminating look at the lasting impact of Smith's landmark release Anthology of American Folk Music. Originally released as a compilation of 78rpm records and later expanded to an impressive Folkway Records release in 1952, Anthology of American Folk Music was a key factor in the urban folk music revival of the 1960s. Recognizing the importance of both these recordings and Smith's remarkable legacy, Singh conducts interviews with a variety of musicians including Beck, Elvis Costello, Phillip Glass, Sonic Youth, Beth Orton, David Johansen, and Smith himself in order to explore just how this release continues to impact the American music scene to this very day. On the heels of the Anthology of American Folk Music CD release in 1997, Hal Willner's "Harry Smith Concerts" celebrated the archivist's idiosyncratic vision on stage with notable contributions by such performers as Nick Cave and Lou Reed. With this film fans can not only see remarkable clips of those performances, but gain unprecedented insight into the mind of the man who never stopped working to preserve the music that spoke to his soul. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Saturday Night Live: Lost and Found - SNL in the '80s documents a turbulent decade for the long-running sketch comedy show. The eighties began without creator Lorne Michales at the helm, but still produced Eddie Murphy. By the middle of the decade Michaels returned, but his first season back was a bumpy one for both fans and critics. This program features famous skits by a number of popular performers including Dana Carvey, Jon Lovitz, and Phil Hartman. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

The man they call "The Red-Headed Stranger", Willie Nelson performs his several songs along with an eclectic lineup of musical guests in this concert release from Universal Music. Willie Nelson and Friends: Live and Kickin' features "Homeward Bound" with Paul Simon, "Me and Bobby McGee" with Sheryl Crow and Kris Kristofferson, "I'll Never Smoke Weed with Willie Again" with Toby Keith and Scott Emerick, and many others. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

The biggest names in modern music all come together on one stage for this landmark concert organized to raise funds for the relief and rebuilding efforts following Hurricane Katrina and featuring special appearances by a number of New Orleans legends. Featured performers include Aaron Neville, Simon & Garfunkel, Jimmy Buffet, John Fogerty, Elvis Costello, Dave Matthews, Irma Thomas, Buckwheat Zydeco, and Lenny Kravitz. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The public and private lives of famed songwriter Cole Porter are both explored in this musical drama, in which the aging Porter (played by Kevin Kline) looks back on his life while watching a rehearsal of a stage musical based on his story. As Porter compares notes on the play with director Gabe (Jonathan Pryce), he shares thoughts on his rise to fame in the mid-'20s, writing witty and sophisticated tunes for a string of successful Broadway musicals. Porter seemed to be living a charmed life when he met Linda Thomas (Ashley Judd), a beautiful American woman who, like Porter, was enjoying a sojourn in Paris following the collapse of her first marriage. Thomas is immediately taken with Porter, whose intelligence and charm is a welcome change after her brutal first husband, and the two discover they share a remarkable understanding of one another. Porter and Thomas marry, even though she's aware that her new husband is gay; Thomas is willing to forgive Porter's indiscretions with other men in favor of the emotional support he brings her. However, as the years wear on and the couple takes up residence in Hollywood as Porter begins writing tunes for motion pictures, Thomas finds Porter drifting away from her as his liaisons become more frequent and more serious. Then tragedy enters their life when Porter loses the use of his legs in a riding accident and Thomas is diagnosed with cancer. De-Lovely features a number of noted pop singers interpreting classic songs from Porter's catalog, including Diana Krall, Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette, Elvis Costello, Robbie Williams, Mick Hucknall, and others. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Worried over financial difficulties, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) heads to his favorite hangout, the Café Nervosa, only to have his teeth set on edge by a bizarre folksinger named Ben (Elvis Costello!). Vowing never to return to the café until Ben is fired -- and dragging Niles (David Hyde Pierce) along with him -- Frasier seeks out another out-of-the-way spot he can call his own. In the process he spots his co-worker Julia (Felicity Huffman) in a passionate embrace with his accountant Avery McManus (John Hannah) -- who happens to be married. ~ All Movie Guide

After a detour into lighter and more compassionate fare with Nurse Betty and Possession, Neil LaBute returns to the themes of his earlier films with this dark and corrosive look at male-female relationships. Adam (Paul Rudd) is a chubby, bespectacled nebbish of a college student who makes money in his spare time as a security guard at the university's art museum. One evening at work, Adam spies another student preparing to deface a statue -- Evelyn (Rachel Weisz), a beautiful art major who is offended by a fig leaf that's been used to "censor" a statue of a nude male, and is prepared to replace the disguised member with spray paint. Adam can't quite bring himself to kick Evelyn out of the museum, and she responds by giving him her phone number. Adam and Evelyn begin dating, and as she challenges his ideas about art and morality, she begins remaking Adam into the sort of boyfriend she'd prefer. Under her influence, Adam loses weight, gets contact lenses, changes his hairstyle, starts dressing better, and assumes a cooler and more confident personality. Adam's pal Philip (Frederick Weller) notices the changes in his friend and isn't happy with the way Evelyn has been molding Adam to her specifications. Adam and Evelyn have dinner one night with Philip and his fiancée, Jenny (Gretchen Mol), and before long Philip and Evelyn are at each other's throats as Adam and Jenny cower along the sidelines. The tensions between Philip and Evelyn exacerbate uneasiness between Jenny and her husband to be, while at the same time, Jenny and Adam begin to recognize a mutual attraction that's long lurked beneath the surface. The Shape of Things was adapted by LaBute from his stage drama of the same name; a selection of songs by Elvis Costello comprise the soundtrack. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In celebration of its 20th anniversary, the cable channel that changed the face of music worldwide has assembled these thematically organized programs. Each includes a double handful of the videos that made MTV a force to be reckoned with in the arena of American popular culture. This particular collection gathers 15 videos by a variety of artists from the pop field, including work by Lisa Stansfield and Gary Numan. ~ Rob Ferrier, All Movie Guide

The songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David produced some of the most popular and successful hits in modern music. A tribute was held in honor of the collaborators at Albert Hall in London during July of 2000. This program presents excerpts from the event, in which the two men were honored with a lifetime achievement award. Dionne Warwick and Petula Clark were among the many artists on hand to sing some of the songs penned by Bacharach and David. Included are renditions of "Walk on By," "A House Is Not a Home," "Close to You," "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head," "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," and "What the World Needs Now Is Love." ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide