comment #1

moorish says ...

Doesn't Prince also shoot loads of films and music videos that never see the light of day and are for his own "personal use"? (thinking here of the excellent Kevin Smith anecdote regarding same).

comment #2

DavidF says ...

I think the difference with the Prince stuff is that he records it with the vague idea it could be released but he's too insane to ever actually do so. The Jackson stuff was always intended to be "behind the scenes."

I don't think that's a real problem, however. Arguably a perfectionist like Jackson wouldn't have signed off on releasing the footage if the shows went off but seeing "making of" footage for a production is hardly new.
It may have been for "personal use" but it wasn't like intimate home movies - it's pro-shot rehearsal footage.

If (as it seems) it offers genuinely great performances and a genuinely interesting insight into his artistic process, I don't see what the invasion is.

Obviously his looming death hovers over proceedings but I hardly see how wanting so save his voice is some kind of creepy harbinger.

I'm sure this thread will ultimately disintegrate into rants about pedophilia but the man was a legitimate musical talent and while I'm not rushing to the theatre, I am curious to see it. It's the second rave I've read.

comment #3

TL says ...

"The headline is that the world missed one of the greatest concerts that might have ever been."

I don't know -- in the commercials, when he's singing "The Way You Make Me Feel," his voice does not sound good at all. (There may be an explanation for this that DavidF is alluding to; I haven't followed the story.) I know his singing was only one part of the show, but still.

comment #4

Rich S. says ...

Roger Ebert raves about it, as well. Then again, he raves about everything.

comment #5

Ponderer says ...

Really? You say this in the summer where he was most noted for his non-stop excoriation of Transformers? Hell, he was even one of the few who really didn't like Star Trek. And was lukewarm on Where the Wild Things Are. And so on.

comment #6

Rich S. says ...

4 stars for Knowing, 3 1/2 stars for Whip It, Antichrist and Big Fan. Three stars for Law Abiding Citizen, Jennifer's Body and 9. And that's just recently. I don't think a pan of Transformers exactly shows that he's suddenly become a hardliner.

comment #7

VictorLazlo says ...

To Rich S,

What if he actually, you know, liked those movies? The reviews are well thought out and well written. And 3 stars is hardly a rave.

comment #8

Ponderer says ...

Three stars is mezzo-mezzo (in his book, that's the lowest possible positive review). And yes, he likes what he likes and he doesn't particularly care if you like it or not, but he is the guy who published the collections "I Hated Hated Hated This Movie" and "Your Movie Sucks."

And if you had been following things, it wasn't a "pan" of Transformers - it was a fucking jihad that informed all his negative reviews this summer and half the positive ones. There wasn't a single good review from him that matched the passionate loathing he had for that film.

comment #9

BurmaShave says ...

4 stars for KNOWING is so very defensible. That film had some singular weirdness going on and some very creepy sequences. I hated LAW ABIDING CITIZEN but I don't exactly not envision how someone could have thought it was 3 stars of dumb fun destined for TNT.

Remember with Ebert he's really evaluating whether each movie succeeds on its own terms, not in comparison to other works. He's certainly more generous now, but he's not a softie. And he's been frustratingly wrong in some of his negative reviews this year.

comment #10

BurmaShave says ...

Whoa don't exactly not envision, that sentence is so messy I'm just going to walk away.

comment #11

plastiqueelephant says ...

I saw 'This is It' in Bangkok today and walked out before the end out of utter boredom. It's not "pro shot" (filmed on prosumer grade handycams by not very talented people) and it's pretty early in the rehearsal process. Jackson holds back pretty significantly with both his dancing and his singing. It's so far from Scorcese filming the Stones it isn't funny.

He's was certainly a talent and the show would have probably been something to see but this isn't particularly interesting to me. Also, he's seen speaking VERY rarely so the insights are patchy as best. He's not as bonkers and out of touch as he seemed at the press conference but neither do we see real evidence of him still being a visionary unless you're desperate to read into a few spare notes. I'd like to think that anyone creative directing anything of substance would have insights at the level we see.

The key point of the Variety review that I agreed with is that this concert series was supposed to be the congruence of a lot of ornate factors. We see like 20% of that here and that wasn't enough to engage me.

comment #12

Stringer Bell says ...

Just off the wire : Roman Polanski, inspired by the Jackson doc, has hired a documentary crew of his own to follow his upcoming incarceration (although cameras wont be allowed in the showers).

comment #13

corey3rd says ...

"It proves that Michael was fit enough to serve." there's a corpse that proves he wasn't.

comment #14

Rich S. says ...

Fine, maybe I was a little harsh on Roger. I do read his reviews and don't rely simply on the stars. I've found that recently he seems to be easier on films than he used to be, so I take his reviews with a grain of salt.

comment #15

Travis Crabtree says ...

Everybody treads so delicately around Roger Ebert because he's a legend and it looks like his time on Earth is growing short. He's one of the best film writers who ever lived. He also has been, for some time, a total push-over. When he does destroy a film, it's with such fervor and enthusiasm it's as if he's saying, "look, I don't love EVERY movie I see...watch me take this one apart."

Get ready for 24/7 Ebert. I'm guessing he'll spend the next few months doing a non-stop, full-court press to have "Precious" voted Greatest Film of the Decade.

also..... corey3rd... funny! (don't know if you meant it to be funny)

comment #16

Travis Crabtree says ...

And Michael Jackson and Ann Coulter in a bar fight....
just the idea is too awesome for words.

comment #17

Scott Mendelson says ...

http://scottalanmendelson.blogspot.com/2009/10/review-this-is-it-imax-experience-2009.html

It's an interesting time capsule, more or less devoid of sentimentality or morbidity (no mention is made of his death). But yes, this IS rehearsal footage, so you're seeing 105 minutes of half-hearted performances.

comment #18

George Prager says ...

Ebert hated the sucky THE USUAL SUSPECTS. THE USUAL SUSPECTS sucked and Ebert hated it. So I'll always cut him some slack.

comment #19

Skullebrity says ...

Personally, I'm surprised by their decision to keep Jackson's death out of the film entirely. Milk it for all the pathos it's worth, I say.

Than again, if they did that, they'd be forced to show this disgusting tombstone that marks Jackson's grave:

http://www.celebrityfreakshow.com/michael-jackson-tombstone-revealed/

And nobody needs to see that.

comment #20

Travis Crabtree says ...

Thanks Prager!

Don't remember Usual Suspects review.

Jeez.... all these years I thought I was the only one who wasn't bowled over by that movie. In fact, during that time of post-Pulp I remember thinking Two Days in the Valley and Things to do In Denver were actually better than the universally beloved Usual Suspects.

I feel that way now about "The Hangover"..... I appear to be the only person who doesn't think that "Dude! It's the funniest fucking movie ever, bro! It's CLASSIC!"

comment #21

Terry McCarty says ...

BurmaShave wrote:
4 stars for KNOWING is so very defensible.

To me, it smacks of coming through for Alex Proyas--since Ebert has a great love for DARK CITY.

comment #22

Gaydos says ...

I posted these comments in the Oscar chat up top, so apologies for reposting but I see they really belong here:

Gaydos says ...
I'm a little caught up in the disequilibration that comes from being totally cynical about virtually every aspect of Michael Jackson's life and work to feeling today that "This Is It" documents what would have been the greatest comeback in entertainment history.

It's got to be a lock for a nom for Golden Globe musical/comedy category and it's not out of the question to run it for Best Picture in the Oscars.

It's a spectacularly powerful documentary/document of an artist whose demons took him out of the game on the verge of his greatest triumph. Cocteau would have liked it. Not sure how many of the contending films would have achieved that distinction.

comment #23

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

Love the shout-out to 2 Days in the Valley. That's movie's a boatload of fun, even though (doing my best DZ impression here) it is a total rip-off of Pulp Fiction right down to the quirky indie casting.

But hell, that Charlize Theron-Teri Hatcher catfight! I had been dreaming about that movie -- albeit a more....uncensored version -- for years!

comment #24

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

*That movie's

I always see these things right when I'm posting them! Sheesh.