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ELVIS & NIXON PHOTO: YOUTUBE
FREE STATE OF JONES PHOTO: YOUTUBE

ELVIS & NIXON

The King meets The Prez.

Actor Michael Shannon doesn't look at all like Elvis Presley. He looks like a bad Elvis impersonator hiding his face in a shaggy wig and giant mutton-chop sideburns.

Then again, Kevin Spacey doesn't look at all like former United States president Richard Nixon either. He's more like some grumpy dude one crouch away from becoming the Hunchback Of The White House.

But these two fellas are so good in capturing the essence and voices of both polar opposites, this clip is simply alternate-universe hilarious.

Back in 1970, the Kook really met the Crook in the Oval Office in some sort of weirdo-fantasy bromance.

Volunteering to be an "undercover rock-and-roller", Elvis is super gung-ho to do his patriotic bit for his country since he believes he has the right chops and, besides, he already has an impressive personal gun collection. "I've been in 31 major motion pictures, that makes me an expert in costume and disguise," the King proclaims in a delusional self- promo.

FREE STATE OF JONES

This is about bearded men rebelling against bearded men, circa the American Civil War of the 1860s. Matthew McConaughey plays a real-life ex-soldier, Newton Knight, who deserts the bad old Confederate Army and leads a rebellion of white farmers and black slaves against it.

"No man ought to tell another man what he's got to live for or what he's got to die for," he tells his followers as the Braveheart Of The Deep South. This means that even as the cruel, tyrannical army hangs his buddies, the man doggedly fights back bullheaded McConaughey-style, ambushing his enemies in the swamp and teaching insurgent tactics, including training little children to shoot little guns.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 13, 2016, with the headline Hot Trailers. Subscribe