Elvis Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keough in RUSSH magazione, 2009. Riley plays Jack in ‘Jack and Diane’.

It may just be the summer heat that does not seem to be going away this year – or my all too advancing age.  But the news that “Riley Keough, the 21-year-old granddaughter of Elvis Presley” has “replaced Olivia Thirlby as Jack in ‘Jack and Diane,’ a lesbian-themed werewolf romance … due to be released next year” has come very close to blowing my mind.

I used to think I was hip. But in my youth (say 45—50 years ago, ouch) “a lesbian-themed werewolf romance” would be something some brilliant young alcoholic invented just before last call in your local draft hall (remember those Canada?), in imitation of Lenny Bruce. The idea that a mainstream entertainment article datelined “LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter)” would use such terminology would have been … well, inconceivable at best.

That of course was long before such mainstream vampire entertainments as ‘Twilight’ and ‘True Blood’ (to say nothing of ‘An American Werewolf in London’). Elvis was not even married until after my 22nd birthday. But even now I wonder what he himself (75 this year, if he really is still alive) would think about having a granddaughter in “a lesbian-themed werewolf romance .”

Juno Temple at the Toronto International Film Festival, 2009. Juno plays Diane in ‘Jack and Diane’.

Whatever, I suppose I also have to admit that the “LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter)” article has caught my attention – and even made me a bit eager to actually see ‘Jack and Diane’ when it is released next year. The thing must have some kind of strange energy. I note from another source that Riley Keough’s co-star Juno Temple “replaced Alison Pill (who first replaced Ellen Page) in the lead role for ‘Jack & Diane.’”

And here is a plot summary: “Jack and Diane, two teenage girls, meet in New York City and spend the night kissing ferociously. Diane’s charming innocence quickly begins to open Jack’s tough skinned heart. But, when Jack discovers that Diane is leaving the country in a week she tries to push her away. Diane must struggle to keep their love alive while hiding the secret that her newly awakened sexual desire is giving her werewolf-like visions.”

I can hardly wait …