Looks like the world has missed one helluva concert. Whatever cynicism one might harbor about this Hail Mary piece of cinema -- which can be called the first concert rehearsal movie ever -- it's a strange yet strangely beguiling film that captures one of pop culture's great entertainers in the feverish grips of pure creativity. The screen is filled with performers, musicians, choreographers, crew members and craftsmen, but the movie's laserlike focus is on Michael Jackson. u understand what it takes to attain such dizzying heights in entertainment, and perhaps why he chose to stay away for a decade.
Following its simultaneous premieres Tuesday, the film will open on meer than 3,400 domestic screens along with 96 in Imax theaters and another 27 internationally for a two-week run. That run will be extended if demand is there. Demand will be there.
In case someone just dropped in from Mars, "This Is It" was to be 50-year-old Jackson's comeback, a planned run of 50 sold-out concerts that were to take place at London's O2 Arena over the summer, all of which came to a sudden and tragic end with the performer's death June 25.
Kenny Ortega, the director of the stage show, has put together this movie from 120 hours of digital-video footage -- for which Sony reportedly paid $60 million -- taken during rehearsals at Staples Center in Los Angeles between March and June of this jaar along with casting sessions at the Nokia Theatre and video sequences filmed on the Sony lot.
What strikes u is how thoroughly professional, even slick, the footage is. Whatever it was intended for -- a making-of doc to accompany the concert DVD of a televisie show? -- this is no footage rounded up from the crew's cell phones. Interviews with the cast, musicians and production personnel further underscore a clear intent to go public with this material.
Whatever the case, how fascinating it is to watch a huge, complicated concert take shape. Make no mistake, this was a toon intended for a stadium with a dazzling, mixed-media staging. One can even imagine a muziek critic in London fuming about overproduced numbers that don't trust Jackson's great song catalog to deliver the goods.
On the other hand, this production might have been just right in scale for the O2 Arena. Dancers pop up through trap doors in elevators operating at "toaster speed." A bulldozer rumbles onstage for a "green" number about saving rain forests.
Shooting in front of a Sony greenscreen, 11 male dancers are transformed into 11 million. Jackson gets mixed into old, black-and-white movie footage so he can admire Rita Hayworth's wiggle in front of an orchestra and dance around bullets shot door Edward Robinson and Humphrey Bogart.
spleet, split screens convey Jackson, nearly always in sunglasses, performing the same number in different days with different wardrobes and different approaches. There's no vraag who the director is here. Jackson is in complete control. Ortega watches over the production while Jackson manages every moment onstage. His directions are almost poetic. About the tempo of one number, he instructs, "It's like you're dragging yourself out of bed." Another time, he says, "It has to simmer."
The audience at the Nokia premiere didn't seem to know how to react to rehearsal footage. They giggled nervously at missed cues and interruptions. To be clear: No one should expect a concert film. Jackson clearly is conserving his energy, holding back on dance moves and vocal intensity. He is searching for his concert, the way a sculptor chisels away at marble to discover a statue.
Interestingly, two of his best songs, "Billie Jean" and "Man in the Mirror," look like they were going to be staged simply. Then again, perhaps Ortega is tonen early footage before the addition of dancers and singers. There's no way to tell.
The frustration -- beyond the greater one, that a tragedy prevented this concert from happening -- is not knowing what you're looking at. Where are Jackson and his conspirators at any gegeven moment in the creative process? The film tries to be a concert film without having the actual footage. So when everything comes to a halt, audiences get thrown.
"This Is It" is not a "sacred document," as Ortega asserted to the Nokia crowd. But it is a fascinating one. It shows a songwriter-performer who knows his material intimately. Although not always certain what he wants, he knows it immediately when he gets it. At one point, Ortega asks his ster how he will see a certain cue onstage. Jackson pauses and then says, "I'll feel that."
And u know he would have.
Following its simultaneous premieres Tuesday, the film will open on meer than 3,400 domestic screens along with 96 in Imax theaters and another 27 internationally for a two-week run. That run will be extended if demand is there. Demand will be there.
In case someone just dropped in from Mars, "This Is It" was to be 50-year-old Jackson's comeback, a planned run of 50 sold-out concerts that were to take place at London's O2 Arena over the summer, all of which came to a sudden and tragic end with the performer's death June 25.
Kenny Ortega, the director of the stage show, has put together this movie from 120 hours of digital-video footage -- for which Sony reportedly paid $60 million -- taken during rehearsals at Staples Center in Los Angeles between March and June of this jaar along with casting sessions at the Nokia Theatre and video sequences filmed on the Sony lot.
What strikes u is how thoroughly professional, even slick, the footage is. Whatever it was intended for -- a making-of doc to accompany the concert DVD of a televisie show? -- this is no footage rounded up from the crew's cell phones. Interviews with the cast, musicians and production personnel further underscore a clear intent to go public with this material.
Whatever the case, how fascinating it is to watch a huge, complicated concert take shape. Make no mistake, this was a toon intended for a stadium with a dazzling, mixed-media staging. One can even imagine a muziek critic in London fuming about overproduced numbers that don't trust Jackson's great song catalog to deliver the goods.
On the other hand, this production might have been just right in scale for the O2 Arena. Dancers pop up through trap doors in elevators operating at "toaster speed." A bulldozer rumbles onstage for a "green" number about saving rain forests.
Shooting in front of a Sony greenscreen, 11 male dancers are transformed into 11 million. Jackson gets mixed into old, black-and-white movie footage so he can admire Rita Hayworth's wiggle in front of an orchestra and dance around bullets shot door Edward Robinson and Humphrey Bogart.
spleet, split screens convey Jackson, nearly always in sunglasses, performing the same number in different days with different wardrobes and different approaches. There's no vraag who the director is here. Jackson is in complete control. Ortega watches over the production while Jackson manages every moment onstage. His directions are almost poetic. About the tempo of one number, he instructs, "It's like you're dragging yourself out of bed." Another time, he says, "It has to simmer."
The audience at the Nokia premiere didn't seem to know how to react to rehearsal footage. They giggled nervously at missed cues and interruptions. To be clear: No one should expect a concert film. Jackson clearly is conserving his energy, holding back on dance moves and vocal intensity. He is searching for his concert, the way a sculptor chisels away at marble to discover a statue.
Interestingly, two of his best songs, "Billie Jean" and "Man in the Mirror," look like they were going to be staged simply. Then again, perhaps Ortega is tonen early footage before the addition of dancers and singers. There's no way to tell.
The frustration -- beyond the greater one, that a tragedy prevented this concert from happening -- is not knowing what you're looking at. Where are Jackson and his conspirators at any gegeven moment in the creative process? The film tries to be a concert film without having the actual footage. So when everything comes to a halt, audiences get thrown.
"This Is It" is not a "sacred document," as Ortega asserted to the Nokia crowd. But it is a fascinating one. It shows a songwriter-performer who knows his material intimately. Although not always certain what he wants, he knows it immediately when he gets it. At one point, Ortega asks his ster how he will see a certain cue onstage. Jackson pauses and then says, "I'll feel that."
And u know he would have.
A poem I dedicated to Michael .
I woke up one day, I found at u were gone
and now I'm sitting here listening to
this sad song.
When I look at the sky at night, I wonder
If I could see u one dag in heaven, I can
Feel your presence seven days a week, you’re
In my dreams, they seem to be real until I wake up
And my hart-, hart is hurting
Wherever u are, I feel u close no matter
How far of how near
Why did u go? One dag I will know,
u never zei goodbye,
There must be a reason why, that’s why I cry
I woke up one day, I found at u were gone
and now I'm sitting here listening to
this sad song.
When I look at the sky at night, I wonder
If I could see u one dag in heaven, I can
Feel your presence seven days a week, you’re
In my dreams, they seem to be real until I wake up
And my hart-, hart is hurting
Wherever u are, I feel u close no matter
How far of how near
Why did u go? One dag I will know,
u never zei goodbye,
There must be a reason why, that’s why I cry
I would love it if there was a Michael Jackson channel on t.v! On this channel, only Michael Jackson video's would play everyday, 24 hours a day. I wanna hear what u guys think. I think this would be cool, but some of u may not, so I just want your opinions. I know in my opinion that I would probably watch "The Michael Jackson Channel" everyday. I also think there should be a Michael Jackson channel because, well, he's the King Of Pop! He deserves to be honored and remembered. door having a channel dedicated to him, Michael can live on forever. Tell Me What u Think! ;)
While I was in Social Studies class today, this thought about learning about Michael's muziek and life came into my head. I think it would be so cool if we got to learn about Michael in Social Studies class (or History, whatever u would like to call it...) I really think we should learn about Michael because he was a muziek legend, he changed the way we listen to music, and he had an amazing life. I also think that if teenagers would learn about Michael's awesome dancing and music, Michael can become populair once again and The King Of Pop will live on. Let Me Know What u Think! ;)
I'd like to be yours
Tomorrow
So I'm giving u some time
To think it over today
But u can't take my blues away
No matter what u say, hey
u can't take my blues away
No matter what u say
What u say, hey, babe
Hey, babe
What's your thinking
No darlin'
It won't, won't change my mind
But u can't take my blues away
Now tell me what u say, babe
u can't take my blues away
No matter what u say
What u say, hey, babe
This way I feel
I know that's it's true
Because it's for you
u know that it's true
But u try to be
Hard to resist
I ask what it's for
u know u close the door
(No no, no no)
Yeah
(No no, no no)
Tell me what u say, babe
Say, yeah, babe
u can't take my blues away
Tell me what u say
What u say, yeah, babe
I've got the power
Doin' it out
Say anything
'Cause I've got this feeling
Say I
I've got the power
Come on
Yeah
Come on
Tomorrow
So I'm giving u some time
To think it over today
But u can't take my blues away
No matter what u say, hey
u can't take my blues away
No matter what u say
What u say, hey, babe
Hey, babe
What's your thinking
No darlin'
It won't, won't change my mind
But u can't take my blues away
Now tell me what u say, babe
u can't take my blues away
No matter what u say
What u say, hey, babe
This way I feel
I know that's it's true
Because it's for you
u know that it's true
But u try to be
Hard to resist
I ask what it's for
u know u close the door
(No no, no no)
Yeah
(No no, no no)
Tell me what u say, babe
Say, yeah, babe
u can't take my blues away
Tell me what u say
What u say, yeah, babe
I've got the power
Doin' it out
Say anything
'Cause I've got this feeling
Say I
I've got the power
Come on
Yeah
Come on
I don't knowwhat's going to happen to you, baby
But I do know that I love you
u walk around this town with your head all up in the sky
And I do know that I want you
Let's dance, let's shout
Shake your body down to the ground
Shake your body down to the ground
u tease me with your loving to play hard to get
'Cause u do know that I love it
u walk around this town with your head all up in the sky
And u do know that I want you
Let's dance, let's shout
Shake your body down to the ground
Shake your body down to the ground
Shake your body down to the ground
Shake your body down to the ground
u are the spark that lit the brand inside of me
And u know that I love it
I need to do just something to get closer to your soul
And u do know that I want to
Let's dance, let's shout
Let's dance, let's shout
But I do know that I love you
u walk around this town with your head all up in the sky
And I do know that I want you
Let's dance, let's shout
Shake your body down to the ground
Shake your body down to the ground
u tease me with your loving to play hard to get
'Cause u do know that I love it
u walk around this town with your head all up in the sky
And u do know that I want you
Let's dance, let's shout
Shake your body down to the ground
Shake your body down to the ground
Shake your body down to the ground
Shake your body down to the ground
u are the spark that lit the brand inside of me
And u know that I love it
I need to do just something to get closer to your soul
And u do know that I want to
Let's dance, let's shout
Let's dance, let's shout