Now I’m no Mrs. Penka, but I’ve always really liked Elvis Presley. One of my earliest memories is riding around in my grandpa’s truck listening to my “Elvis’s 30 #1 Hits” CD. My grandma would be in tears from laughing at me while I sang the backing vocals to “Hound Dog.” I even had some Elvis Pez dispensers. 

The one thing I wasn’t really interested in were Elvis’ movies. I just didn’t have the attention span to watch them as a younger kid. Now that I’m older and have a slightly more developed attention span, I’ve started watching his movies. I’ve seen quite a few, but here are my top five.

Clambake – I like the music in this one, but the storyline feels all over the place. I’m not sure whether I should focus on the fact that Elvis’ character has run away from Texas or the fact that he’s preparing for a big boat race. 

King Creole – This was one of the first Elvis movies that I watched, and it was the first one that I got on DVD. This one is in black and white, which could be a good or bad thing depending on your preferences. I really like the music in this one, and the plot isn’t bad either. I do tend to lose interest in the last 10-20 minutes of it though, I feel like that bit could’ve been written better.

G.I. Blues – In this movie, Elvis plays a man in the military who’s in Germany, which he did well after being in the military and stationed in Germany. It even has a song with German in it, which I thought was really cool. If I’m being completely honest, I don’t remember what this movie is about half of the time. The plot just isn’t as memorable as some of Elvis’s other movies, but it’s still one of my favorites.

Fun in Acapulco – I had a really difficult time choosing if this movie or “Blue Hawaii” was my favorite. This is the kind of movie I could watch again and again and not get tired of. Although it has a similar plot as a lot of the movies on this list – a young man (Elvis) finds himself struggling financially and caught in a love triangle – it seems different from the others. The set is very cool, and all of the characters seem genuine.

Blue Hawaii – When I was younger, I made a bucket list, and watching this movie was on that bucket list. Whether I genuinely enjoyed this movie or if I convinced myself that I did because Lilo from “Lilo and Stitch” liked it remains a mystery. I think if you’re going to watch an Elvis movie, you should definitely look into this one. It’s the Elvis movie, as far as I’m concerned. It has some of his more widely recognized songs and a classic plotline, with extra points for taking place in Hawaii.