Elvis Presley

CHICAGO – “When two great saints meet, it’s a humbling experience,” said Paul McCartney of John and Yoko. Well that also applies to “Elvis & Nixon.” Their meeting, albeit brief, has layers of meaning for our times – and their time – and the movie with the “E&N” title exposes that meaning with humor and grace.

CHICAGO – In one of the most amazing stories in film history, rising movie star Dolores Hart (“King Creole,” “Where the Boys Are”) decided at the apex of her career at age 24, to give up Hollywood and become a nun. She just released her book “The Ear of the Heart: An Actresses’ Journey From Hollywood to Holy Vows.”

CHICAGO – Few celebrities can be so easily defined by their first names as Marilyn and Elvis. They went beyond their professions to become cultural icons and three of their works have just been released this week on Blu-ray for the first time. While fans of Monroe and Presley will probably gravitate to “Bus Stop” and “Love Me Tender,” the best of the three is easily the underrated “Niagara,” a clever thriller that uses the notorious Falls in a way that Hitchcock probably respected. If you’re going to pick just one, that’s the one.

CHICAGO – Russ Tamblyn has seen it all. In a show business career that is now over 60 years old, he has gone from child star (”Father of the Bride”) to Oscar nominee (”Peyton Place”) to classic role (”West Side Story”) and cult hero (”Twin Peaks”). With a span like that, he has collected a few stories.

CHICAGO – The year was 1959, and the film was “The Diary of Anne Frank,” based on the 1955 Pulitzer Prize winning stage play, which in turn was adapted from the famous diaries of a young girl hiding from Nazi occupiers in WWII Holland. Two actresses, Millie Perkins (Anne) and Diane Baker (her sister Margot), made their movie debuts in this renowned film.

CHICAGO – Elvis may have left the building, but his work remains viscerally alive in this breezily enjoyable concert documentary. It was filmed during a 15-city tour in April of 1972, and captures the King of Rock at a triumphant peak late in his career, one year before his infamous “Aloha from Hawaii” concert (the first globally broadcast via satellite) and five years before his death.

CHICAGO – There have been TV cops in New York, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles and even Hawaii, 5-0, so it stands to reason that Memphis, Tennessee, would get its turn. Jason Lee (“My Name is Earl”) and Alfre Woodard are on the “Memphis Beat,” premiering June 22nd on the TNT Network.

CHICAGO – Attention Elvis Presley fans. Coming out a few months after what would have been his actual birthday on January 8th is the “Elvis 75th Birthday Collection” from 20th Century Fox, which includes seven of the King’s films in one set. With a few hits and a few more unheralded gems, the “75th Birthday Collection” has a very low price point (under $6 a movie) that might make it the perfect Father’s Day gift choice for the patriarch in your family.