The Michael Jackson concert documentary This Is It comes out today for a limited two-week run. Without getting into the sticket-wicket of commenting on the singer’s personal life, I will say that I’ve always enjoyed Jackson’s music and obvious talent. But as an “event”, This Is It doesn’t feel like something I need to participate in.
The movie is a compilation of interviews, rehearsals and backstage footage assembled as Jackson was preparing for a series of sold-out shows in London. That’s great – I mean, who wouldn’t want to see the behind-the-scenes footage of what was meant to be one of the largest concert spectacles of the last 20 years. But from a narrative standpoint, what exactly is going to be the payoff?
I mean, it’s not like we’re going to see the result of all this hard work and preparation. We’re not going to see Jackson on stage in front of tens of thousand screaming fans, pouring his heart and soul into the music and delivering the performance of a lifetime. We’re going to see him on stage at the Staples Center standing in front of a bunch of backup dancers wearing wifebeaters and track pants.
At least, that’s my impression of it.
From an entertainment perspective, I’m not sure what the audience is meant to take away from This Is It. At the end of the day, the man is dead. We’ll never know what could have been. So is the movie meant to memorialize him in some way or are the producers counting on some kind of morbid curiosity on the audience’s part to investegate Jackson’s last recorded performance.
There is a stop-and-look-at-the-car-crash element to this that I am skeptical of.
But to each his own. If you plan on checking out This Is It during its theatrical run, I’d love to hear what you thought about it!
As for the movie’s release, so precariously close to Halloween? I don’t really think anyone would show up at the theater dressed up like Zombie Michael Jackson. But if you’re going to any Halloween parties this year, I bet you’ll see more than one.
To a certain extent, it’s unavoidable. Certainly Jackson himself didn’t help matters any by setting the template for a zombiefied “look” with his video for “Thriller” over 25 years ago. Of course there is the bigger-than-life persona of the man himself. A celebrity of his stature is simply going to attract this kind of weird homage.
But if you take the macro view, it’s kind of weird dressing up as a dead celebrity for a holiday, isn’t it? I mean, how many people are going to go to a Halloween party dressed as Ed McMahon or Farrah Fawcett? Maybe they’re just not as iconic. Food for thought, I suppose.
What about the rest of you? Any ambition to see This Is It this weekend? What about Halloween? Going to any parties? What about your costumes? Share your comments below!
I have to live vicariously through you this year because we’re staying at home on Beggar’s Night. Immediately afterwords, I will be watching the live 7-hour lockdown of the Ghost Adventures crew on The Travel Channel – because I am a nerd.
With Halloween on Saturday, I think it would just increase the likelihood of people showing up in "Zombie Michael Jackson" costumes.
Wow, really?
That's about the most tasteless thing I can imagine!
“We’ll never know what could have been”
Yes we do! The man’s peak was years ago.
Supposedly, there’s going to be a fair amount of people dressing up as Billy Mays. His son is counting on it, and released a statement that said whoever sends him a picture of themselves in their Billy Mays costume, the best of the lot gets a “Billy Mays Endorsement Package”, i.e. a giftbasket of the crap he hocked on TV. So taste is just an issue if you let it be one, even if you’re related.
I was actually going to name-check Billy Mays in my blog post, but I’ve heard from some of my webcomic friends that people are dressing up like him at comic book conventions.
I’ve heard that his son is kind of a huckster like his Dad. I think he even issued a press release saying he was very pleased by the treatment his father received when he appeared on South Park recently.
In the end, it’s all about money, though. People can make money selling Michael Jackson’s rehersal footage as a movie, even though it was intended for his personal use. Billy May’s son can make a few bucks by keeping his Dad’s name and image alive.
There isn’t money to be made from Ed McMahon at this point, you know what I mean?
That blog was actually really insightful Tom, I’d never thought about it the fact ‘This Is It’ is going to be impossibly anticlimactic before. I think this footage would have fitted brilliantly in a retrospective of his life, but like you said I really do not see the narrative of this film going anywhere (apart from a Sopranos-style cut to black in mid senten–)
Also, any film that forces a two-week time slot on anyone to see it is ridiculous. If I want to see this movie (I’m not really bothered either way) then it will be me who decides when to see it, not the estate of Michael Jackson. I’ve never even heard of a limited release like this before for a major movie. Is it a first?
The limited release isn’t really a first. Pixar did the same thing a few weeks ago with their re-release of Toy Story 1 and 2 in 3D.
Basically it’s just a gimmick to create the illusion of exclusivity. But if demand is high enough, it’s not like they can’t decide to leave it in theaters an extra week.
Pixar did exactly that as well. It was advertised as a 2 week engagement, but they ran it an extra 3rd week.
I’m hoping halloween is decent this year weather wise. It was awesome weather wise last year, but I didn’t dress up. This year my daughter is going as Tinkerbell and I am going as Mr. T :D, I bought a lot of grease paint for my arms and entire head. But, I probably won’t be dressing up if I am still sick 🙁
As far as Michael Jackson goes. I won’t be seeing the movie at all. He was a great entertainer, but I am not interested in the rehearsals of his upcoming “tour” at the O2 Arena in London. I think though with the crazy amount of rabid fans out there, it will do pretty good at the box office.
‘Cause this is thriller, thriller night
And no one’s gonna save you from the beast about strike
You know it’s thriller, thriller night
You’re fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight
The Hannah Montana concert was marketed as a 2 week engagement but theatres were able to run it for a month or two. My theatre will still be playing Toy Story on Friday for a 5th week.
I saw bits and pieces of This Is It during my projection shift last night. It doesn’t seem to work that well as a movie unless you’re in complete awe of Michael Jackson. It was Michael Jackson half-stepping through dance routines with overdubbed music. I will say this, the “Thriller” portion would have been a showstopper had the concerts been put on. The film would be more worthwhile if there was footage of final dress rehearsals. Like I said, I didn’t see the film from beginning to end but it’s just another effort to make money off Michael Jackson’s name.
and i bet someone 10 dollars that we’ll have the movie more than 2 weeks… I guess that’s Michael Jackson profiteering as well
“It was Michael Jackson half-stepping through dance routines with overdubbed music.”
I knew it!
We were totally talking about this on The Triple Feature and I had mentioned it was rehersal footage, but Gordon insisted that they would be hitting it as hard as they would in the live performance.
But without an audience to give them anything to feed off of, how could you expect the “performances” in this rehersal footage to be anything BUT watered down?
I’ll be handing out candy as The Spirit waiting for my girlfriend to get back from work. Then we’ll hit some places for candy, maybe go to the local gay club she loves so much. She was going to be a French Maid, but I saw her in it last night and decided she cannot allow any other man see her in it.
Great comics the last couple of times.
the fact that its “two week engagement” makes me not want to see it. I don’t want to go see it with a bunch of MJ obsessed people screaming whenever he twitches his hips.
as for halloween, I’m going as Disney’s Bolt, in a thrown together costume of white clothes, felt, and pipecleaners. 😀
My wife and I saw the film on Tuesday night. While in the begining it may have seemed that he was half-stepping through dance routines, that is not the case in the rest of the film. Though he might not have been putting as much into it since it was a rehearsal, there are times in the film that he’s putting a lot of energy into his dancing and singing. My wife is a big fan, and she didn’t scream when she saw a hip wiggle, and the full theater was mostly quiet throughout.
For me, the movie showed how knowledgeable MJ was about showmanship, and how hard he wanted everyone else to be working to bring off what could have been an amazing show.
My husband & I hosted our annual Halloween Hootenanny last Saturday & I went as Aunt Jet from Practical Magic. Hubby went as a Scottish Rugby Hooligan. Fun was had by all in attendance.
As to ‘This Is It’… is it really “It”? Do you think the estate will stop at just a concert performance movie? I smell a bio-pic comin’… A re-release of ‘The Wiz’… A Wonderland ride at Disney (Mickey & Michael are both know for wearing white gloves)… A Jackson Cruise complete with LaToya! No, i’m afraid this is not “It”. Michael’s image is going to be dragged farther down than Bob Marley’s! ‘This Is It’ should have been a made for TV movie as a very nice final tribute to Michael Jackson and nothing more.
I don’t really have an interest in “This is It,” but I do have an opinion about Halloween.
I go to the same party every year, which my friends host in their attic and includes karaoke games. Thanks to timing and theme, I’m finally Jossing it up this year and going as Dr. Horrible. Can’t wait!
Do you know useless moments this show was filled with. The new song should be:
You got this filler, filller
and hour and a half
ya gotta fill it, fill it
WhooooHooo