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

Writer/director Tom DiCillo's satire Delirious (2006) eviscerates Hollywood celebrity and celebrity types with a relentlessly dissecting gaze and take-no-prisoners humor. DiCillo mainstay Steve Buscemi stars as Les Galantine, a sleazy and merciless tabloid photographer from the Big Apple, whose most noteworthy accomplishments are an image of Goldie Hawn eating lunch and one of Elvis Costello sans any headwear. Les is hoping desperately for his ticket in -- which he perceives as a prize shot of pop sensation K'Harma Leeds (Alison Lohman) as she's departing from a local club. He finds that ticket -- sort-of -- in the form of Toby (Michael Pitt), a homeless young man with serious acting aspirations, who has a very brief exchange with K'Harma under his belt. Toby uses that exchange to finagle his way to an assistantship under Galantine, and the two team up for a stakeout, managing to swing 700 dollars for a photo of a celebrity who is recovering from penis surgery. While DiCillo cuts between the adventures of the two men and the vapid lifestyle of the untalented hack K'Harma, Toby begins his meteoric rise to the top of the Hollywood trash heap by attending a Soap Stars Against STD Convention, where he not only meets and impresses a big-shot casting director (Gina Gershon) but runs into K'Harma once again -- recently split from her beau -- and finds his way into her bed, setting the stage for his own ascent to superstardom. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Robert S. Levi writes and directs this Emmy Award-winning documentary focusing on the life of pioneering gay composer and jazz musician Billy Strayhorn, whose compositions for Duke Ellington included such timeless classics as "Satin Doll" and "Take the A Train". The driving creative force behind the Duke Ellington Orchestra from the 1940s through the 1980s, Strayhorn produced a staggering body of work that included everything from jazz greats to orchestral suites and even film soundtracks. Though historians and scholars alike are quick to single out Strayhorn as one of the most woefully overlooked American composers in history - he was a virtual unknown when he succumbed to throat cancer in 1967 - his influence lives on even at the dawn of the 21st Century. With this film, Levi offers a comprehensive view of who Strayhorn really was as both a person and a musician, while simultaneously exploring why he remains a relative unknown even to ardent jazz enthusiasts. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

An addition to the subgenre of neo-screwball comedies, à la Seems Like Old Times and Illegally Yours, Antoine de Caunes' French-language farce Twice Upon a Time (aka Désaccord Parfait) observes the long-delayed reunion between two former lovers. Alice (Charlotte Rampling) is a British stage actress, Louis (Jean Rochefort), a Gallic film director of cult movies. The two broke up in the late '70s, but now they experience a sudden and startling rekindling amid witty verbal duels. Throughout, the director takes satirical potshots at everything from Canadians to French cinema to gay Englishmen. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

In the spring and summer of 1972, George McGovern, a Democratic senator from South Dakota, achieved the seemingly impossible. Backed by a motley collection of Prairie populists, old-school liberals, and young people disenchanted with the war in Vietnam, McGovern overwhelmed longtime party favorites such as Hubert Humphrey and Edmund Muskie to win the Democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States. However, McGovern's triumph proved to be short-lived; after his initial running mate, Thomas Eagleton, was revealed to have a history of mental illness, the McGovern campaign went into a tailspin from which it would never recover, with the incumbent Richard Nixon winning the 1972 election by a landslide. However, McGovern's campaign is still remembered by many as one of the last examples of a candidate truly triumphing through the will of the people rather than working the party political machine, and given the scandalous downfall of Nixon following his re-election, many have wondered what America would be like today if McGovern, once described by Robert F. Kennedy as "the most decent man in the Senate," had won. One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern is a documentary which looks back at the McGovern campaign and explores what went right, what went wrong, and what was McGovern's true legacy. The film includes interviews with Howard Zinn, Gloria Steinem, Gary Hart, Frank Mankiewicz, Warren Beatty, Gore Vidal, Ron Kovic, and McGovern himself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Hosted by actress Anjelica Huston and author Frank McCourt, Kennedy Center Presents: The Irish Gala is a celebration of Irish and Irish-American music, dance, and culture. The 90-minute program features performances by the following artists: Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Carlos Nunez, Ricky Skaggs, Mary Black, Nollaig Casey, Maighread Ni Dhomhnaill, Triona Ni Dhomhnaill, Liam O'Maonlai, Riverdance, Sharon Shannon, and the Donal Lunny band. ~ Kathleen Wildasin, All Movie Guide

This video captures Tony Bennett performing before an adoring audience during a 1998 concert that was recorded for A&E as part of their Live By Request series. Featuring appearances by such luminaries as Elvis Costello, Billy Joel, and Sting, the concert fins Bennett performing timeless favorites like "Fly Me to the Moon", "Steppin' Out With My Baby", "Chicago", and "They Can't Take That Away From Me". ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

The premise of MTV's popular Unplugged series is to strip away the layering of high-end production of a popular song, pare it down to its essential elements, and present an acoustic version of that song performed by the artist. Some of MTV's remarkable moments collected for this video include 10,000 Maniacs' "These are Days," Soul Asylum performing "Black Gold," "Black Boys on Mopeds" by Sinead O'Connor, "Listen Up" by Oasis, "Just Like Heaven" by the Cure, "Lightning Crashes" by Live, and the Church performing "Under the Milky Way." ~ Forrest Spencer, All Movie Guide

Part one of this acclaimed PBS series explores the earliest roots of the Irish people in the New World. Centering on the crucial event of the Potato Famine, this tape examines the causes of what would become one of the greatest mass migrations in world history. The conditions faced by early arrivals in the United States are examined, including the prejudice that made the end of the remarkable journey so bittersweet for thousands of families in search of a new life. Serious in tone and well documented, this tape is appropriate for use in the college classroom. ~ Rob Ferrier, All Movie Guide