No. 36 Elvis & Nixon (2016) 70 of 100
* On the day that I post this blog Michael Shannon celebrates his 50th birthday! Happy Birthday Michael, I'm sure you're reading as usual! This must be the first film made that was based solely on a photograph. The photo is of Elvis shaking hands with Nixon, and the film seeks to discover what went down when the two men met. It says at the start that the meeting took place before Nixon started recording his Oval Office meetings, so you can be assured that everything is totally made up. If you go in with that in mind it’s a pretty fun ride – at no point does the film purport to be a documentary. Elvis is played by our man Shannon in what has to be some pretty left field casting. He looks nothing like Elvis and that takes you out of the film somewhat, given that Elvis is one of the most recognisable people on the planet. Shannon is also a lot skinnier than Elvis was at the time and 4 inches taller – there is a nod to this when a woman says ‘He’s a lot taller than I expected’. E...