Episodes

  • Live a Little, Love a Little (1968)

    Live a Little, Love a Little (1968)
    May 1 2025
    Viva Pod Vegas returns with Live a Little, Love a Little -- Elvis's third and final film from 1968, and one of his most fun to date! After reading some emails suggesting things to cover in our near future -- and asking if Elvis love dogs more than anything else -- we run through the film's six (!) taglines, which Mike finds issue with. We talk about Michele Carey as a proto manic pixie dream girl, the relatively few (but truly spectacular) songs in the film, and Elvis's sort of legitimately crazy stunt work in this movie. Joey explains why he connects with this version of Elvis. We find an oddity: a bearded Elvis? We talk about the all-time great dream sequence, how Live a Little, Love a Little benefits from leaning into the weirdness and randomness, and what Elvis's film career would have looked like if he was in charge of things. We have fun with Elvis's double duty/Mrs. Doubtfire-esque scheme. We talk about this film's ties to James Bond -- including the incredible ending shot -- before playing our end of episode games and looking ahead to Charro!
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Speedway (1968)

    Speedway (1968)
    Mar 25 2025
    Happy tax season! Viva Pod Vegas returns with Speedway, which features an almost unbelievable main storyline for Elvis. After running through the film's taglines, we talk about how Bill Bixby continues to sully his reputation and how good Elvis looks (and acts!) in this movie. We begin to understand why people condescendingly said "just number Elvis's movies" and we talk about the importance of this movie with regards to NASCAR (as well as how tough it is to watch with current sports conveniences). We wonder why Elvis doesn't have a rival, and we pitch easy fixes to the movie's plot. Does Quentin Tarantino love this movie? Why bother with any of the romance in this movie? We talk about how "the Memphis Mafia" (sort of) appears in this movie, the surprise choreographed musical number in the middle of Speedway, and why Elvis Presley chooses to wear cowboy boots while racing. We do our end-of-episode games and look ahead to Live a Little, Love a Little.
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    1 hr and 13 mins
  • Stay Away, Joe (1968)

    Stay Away, Joe (1968)
    Feb 26 2025
    Viva Pod Vegas returns with Stay Away, Joe, which is the lowest-rated movie of Elvis’s career. Is it as bad as we were led to believe? Yes… and no! After Mike sifts through shoddy taglines to try to find one he approves of, we debate whether watching these movies more quickly would help or hurt us. Mike works his way through a theory about Burgess Meredith as the Penguin and Col. Tom Parker. Speaking of, what would this movie have looked like if Col. Tom Parker was involved? We ask: why isn’t there more plot? Also: why is THIS the plot? Joey notes that this feels like a video game — and Mike points out that maybe that’s not a bad thing. We talk about why Elvis hates the song “Dominick” (but loves dogs) and whether or not he’s running a bull-riding grift at the end of this movie. We break down the Stay Away, Joe wedding that Elvis doesn’t want… and then a brawl to end the movie (with sound effects that no one wants!). We set a new record in our end-of-show games and we look ahead to Speedway.
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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • Clambake (1967)

    Clambake (1967)
    Feb 1 2025
    Oops, it took too long, but Viva Pod Vegas is back! We're trying to figure out what a Clambake is, and why there's only one in this movie. After opening the long-overdue mailbag, we learn how to pronounce Fabares and talk about this movie being a pivot point in Elvis's career and life. We try to make sense of Elvis as a water ski instructor who only has one student, a world in which no one's attracted to Elvis, and whether "The Prince and the Pauper" works if there's a second prince. We also have fun exploring Elvis is a scientist and the surprise "proud dad" twist! We're caught off guard by a surprise marriage proposal. We try to guess what Stay Away, Joe will be about -- and don't come anywhere close to correct. But hey -- Mamma's little baby loves clambake, clambake!
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    1 hr and 29 mins
  • Double Trouble (1967)

    Double Trouble (1967)
    Sep 4 2024
    We get duped again as Viva Pod Vegas seemingly promises two Elvises (Elvii?) with Double Trouble, but we only get one! We talk about how this movie tries to take on the British Invasion with a movie set entirely in Europe, but, you know… Colonel Tom… We talk about Elvis Presley in a Julie Christie role, a nice change of pace for Elvis movies (in terms of filmmaking), and the story behind Elvis’s co-star’s only film role. We (somewhat) explore the year at the box office, discuss Elvis’s breaking point when recording the music for this movie, and wonder why Elvis tells no one about getting punched in the face. We admire the slapstick, break down the wildest version of Old Macdonald we’ve ever heard, and love one of the wildest turns in an Elvis movie so far. Elvis jumps through a window! We look ahead to Clambake.
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    1 hr and 41 mins
  • Easy Come, Easy Go (1967)

    Easy Come, Easy Go (1967)
    Aug 5 2024
    We're entering the home stretch of Elvis's filmography, but there's still plenty of surprises to be found! Today's episode: Easy Come, Easy Go. After finding issue with the IMDb plot summary (from the very get-go) we run through the film's limited taglines and explore the strange history of the film's title, as well as the better name hidden in the film. We wonder why Elvis, once again, does not have a love interest. Why is there no love, very few songs, and no capers? We talk about the wheel of girls (and a new level of sleaze), Col. Tom Parker vs. yoga and art, and underwater fights and other sequences reminiscent of James Bond films. We have a realization about the circumstances within every Elvis movie. We guess the plot of Double Trouble, once again banking on there being two Elvis Presleys in the film.
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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • Spinout (1966)

    Spinout (1966)
    Jun 26 2024
    We're closing out 1966 with Elvis Presley's third (and final) film: Spinout! We try to parse the plot of Spinout, which is at the same time both totally inscrutable and a re-hash of earlier films, and which Mike has a theory about. We find our first (?) actual good tagline for an Elvis movie, discuss the original pitch for this movie (which Col. Tom Parker shot down), and try to make sense of the creative team's lack of action around a soundtrack solution. Mike sees what this movie is really trying to do (which Joey totally missed). We wonder if food in 1966 was good, why Elvis is so susceptible to reverse psychology, and why they choose to describe women as a "smorgasbord." Elvis saves a marriage, then marries three women. We look ahead to Easy Come, Easy Go.
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    1 hr and 13 mins
  • Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966)

    Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966)
    Jun 6 2024
    Elvis returns to Hawaii -- and Viva Pod Vegas is right there with him -- as we talk about Paradise, Hawaiian Style! After kicking off with some Graceland news, Col. Tom Parker drops by the podcast again before Mike recasts the Fantastic Four with Elvis Presley and associates. We run through this movie's mixed bag of taglines, explore the (more interesting than usual) backstories for the other actors in this movie, and lament Elvis's seeming resignation around the songs he had to sing for this movie. We talk about how weird it is that this movie starts with a cold open, find ourselves once again confused by Elvis's many lookalike girlfriends (of which there are more than ever before, but somehow there's no love interest?), and break down the "Elvis + Kid = Great!" streak snapper. We talk about the incredibly low stakes in Paradise, Hawaiian Style, the (truly wonderful) element of this movie we've never seen before, and its unmemorable soundtrack. We look ahead to Spinout.
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    1 hr and 18 mins