Blu-ray Music Review: Michael Jackson's This is It (2009)

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Whether it's remembering where you were when Elvis suggestively swiveled his way into scandalous stardom or recalling the deafening screams of teenage girls when Britain invaded America as The Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, every generation has musical moments they'll never forget.

For my generation, it was the awe and sheer innovation witnessed during the birth of the music video in the 1980s, and this was especially true when, in stark contrast to the cars and chicks who roared through heavy metal clips, some musicians took the format seriously as an art form.

To this end, some individuals created mini-movies for any given song. And long before he became known as The King of Pop yet long after he fronted his band of brothers via The Jackson Five, Michael Jackson became one of the greatest entertainers of the music video age, marking the musical moment I know I'll never forget when he starred in the frightening, fun, and fantastic video “Thriller.”

Also getting into near scrapes with "gang members" like actor Wesley Snipes in the Martin Scorsese helmed “Bad,” it never mattered which of his chart-topping singles from back-to-back record-breaking albums was playing as Jackson transcended what being a “singer” was by becoming our very first mixed media popular artist.

In doing so, he reminded an industry that had gotten way too corporate by this point that it didn't matter how much money was spent on anything since talent was talent and you either had it in you to entertain or you didn't. Needless to say, the King of Pop was 100% talent and likewise absolutely determined to entertain on all levels.

Yet, as time passed, legal accusations and trials came to light regarding one of the absolute worst offenses human beings can commit. And adding further controversy, Jackson's appearance altered towards lighter skinned androgyny after which he became mostly viewed as a “talented has-been” thanks to endless jokes flooding the airwaves from late night hosts who skewered the King of Pop on a regular basis.

Still even though he withdrew from the spotlight and became increasingly reclusive, Jackson remained strong and committed to his lifelong calling. Immensely loyal to his fans as the consummate entertainer, Jackson stunned the world by announcing an exclusive 50 city farewell tour suitably titled “This is It.”

Vowing that, unlike other musicians he wouldn't take 50 different bows in 50 different tours-- coming in and out of retirement-- MJ strove to craft another one of his mixed media masterpieces via an international series of concerts filled with the music that had become the soundtrack to not just his life but Generation X's as well.

Unfortunately, in a cruel twist of fate, Jackson passed away before the sold-out concerts were set to kick off at London's O2 arena in the summer of 2009. Yet, with the approval of the Michael Jackson Estate and out of respect for both Jackson and his beloved fans, creative collaborator Kenny Ortega (High School Musical) ensured that the man who had grown up on a stage would still follow the show biz dictum that “the show must go on.”

Culling from over one hundred hours of dancer auditions, technical tests, performance rehearsal footage, intimate interviews from those involved and conceptual discussions for every number, Ortega adapted what would've normally ended up in MJ's private collection for every single tour into a musical documentary unlike anything we've ever seen before.

Not a true concert piece, nor a mere portrait of a musician at a key time or a compilation documentary of a festival like The Last Waltz, Neil Young: Heart of Gold, I am Trying to Break Your Heart, Stop Making Sense, Gimme Shelter, or Woodstock, Ortega opted to keep Jackson's original tour name, adding an unexpected posthumous layer of poignancy in a one-of-a-kind look at one of music's most mysterious, talented, charismatic, yet controversial figures.

This is It chronicles Jackson's professional tour preparation from March up until June of last year when ironically Jackson took his final bow in the same month he would've taken it on stage in London on the first night of the “This is It" tour.

Building up a talented team working behind the scenes on the digital projection of video (including one 3-D experience for “Thriller”) to those joining the prestigious company of musicians and dancers that shared a stage-- however briefly-- with MJ, we're immediately struck by the reminder of his impact on lives when prospective dancers reveal they've flown in from as far away as Australia to see if they'll make the cut.

Yet, Ortega isn't interested in remaking A Chorus Line or Fame nor a big screen adaptation of Dancing With the Stars or So You Think You Can Dance as the primary focus in this film is on the man himself.

Exceedingly polite and unassuming, even when he's battling inner ear trouble in trying to negotiate the sound waves from several sources including music and direction, it's fairly easy to forget just how much we've underestimated him when we merely say he was a skilled singer and dancer.

For yes, of course, he is in a class by himself in both of the two vital musician traits and we get reminded of that fact throughout the film. However, as the movie continues and with the subconscious thought that you're watching his last months of life, it's MJ's legacy that proves the most impressive.

Just like Gregory Hines, Bob Fosse, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire and so many others, Jackson's influence on dance was huge, and he suddenly made it okay for Gen X and Y's young men (whether straight or gay) to share their masculine prowess in a physical area that didn't involve the male stereotypes of sex or violence.

And at the same time, the level of control and near operatic arranging of both the choreography and musicality of his work is enviable. Whether he mimics instruments with his voice or hits the highest notes in love songs or shows off his fellow dancers, he keeps us captivated to such an extent that the music can stop for a moment, his hand will go out, and in an inaudible count to three, the entire group will merge into one in an extraordinary display of dance unlike anything we've ever seen.

Overall, what Jackson represents through and through is showmanship to a degree that we just don't see today as some musicians simply wander onstage and lip-sync or play obscure songs in exchange for ticket prices that are equal to that of a brand new computer.

With impressive video components to “Smooth Criminal,” featuring video footage of Rita Hayworth in Gilda and old Humphrey Bogart Film Noirs to 3-D and props that I'm imagining would've been outstanding to see utilized live, the one constant thought you're faced with during Ortega's film is the bittersweet realization that this really was it.

Thus, regardless of how you felt about the man given the controversy or how many times you watched his music videos growing up, there's no doubt that Ortega's extraordinary documentary will open your eyes to a more intimate, unpolished, and completely natural portrait of Michael Jackson. Likewise, the work is one that at long last, finally grants us access to see what he's really like when he isn't answering prepared questions in TV interviews or onstage at a music awards show since this footage was originally intended to be kept private.

Of course, it is quite sad to realize that he was never able to put on the show that he'd painstakingly devised with Ortega and others. Nonetheless, part of the extreme beauty of this Sony Blu-ray that boasts exceptionally crisp picture and sound is that with its release along with a wonderful 2-CD companion set as well, many more individuals who couldn't have afforded or gotten into the sold-out concerts are finally granted access to yet another musical moment that I know they won't forget.

Text ©2010, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited and in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

FTC Disclosure: Per standard professional practice, I received a review copy of this title in order to evaluate it for my readers, which had no impact whatsoever on whether or not it received a favorable or unfavorable critique.

Music Blu-ray Review: Soul Power (2009)

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Everybody knows what went down when Muhammad Ali fought George Forman to reclaim his title as the Heavyweight Champion of the World in Zaire's Rumble in the Jungle. However, because the fight was delayed over a month to give Forman time to heal a cut in the eye, what people are perhaps less aware of is the the three-day marathon music festival that was set to coincide with the event in an unparalleled show of “black power,” “black unity,” and “black music,” as promoter Don King and others described.

And after miraculously the plane containing over 32,000 pounds of instruments, spouses, children, friends, and family of some of America's most famous singers and dancers working in 1974 landed, an all-soul, “Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)” celebration began with Muhammad Ali's greeting to the jet-lagged James Brown of “I got ants in my pants; I gotta dance.”

Yet while Ali could dance in the ring and especially conversationally as this extremely rare footage from thirty-six years ago contains some fabulous Ali rants wherein he describes himself as the greatest fighter and most traveled black man in the world, when it comes to real dancing, we can't accept any substitutes to our one and only Godfather of Soul.

And knowing that the audience would feel the exact same way, the filmmakers who painstakingly pieced together the entire festival experience cleverly teased us with James Brown's performance footage in a toe-tapping introduction before finally returning to him in the end. Still, in saving the best for last, similar to the overly long Woodstock, Soul Power suffers slightly in its decision of which footage to incorporate and which to abandon.

Similarly, despite the fact that it uses a much more viewer friendly running time of roughly 90 minutes verses the Ken Burns-like length of Woodstock, the film nonetheless suffers a bit from its freewheeling approach as it's trying to fit in a variety of topics that could've all spun off into their own mini-documentaries.

Wildly moving both stylistically and tonally throughout-- with the introduction of Brown at the beginning soon Soul goes against our initial impression of it as a concert film. For right after that, it switches gears completely as a work seemingly obsessed with the behind-the-scenes aspect of planning a festival and surviving the trials of staging a massive event in Africa.

Yet while these two issues should've provided more than enough content, Soul Power also works in a sociological angle and then moves away from the music to fixate heavily on the incredibly fascinating Ali, morphing into what could be taken as a companion piece to When We Were Kings, especially given the clue of the the onscreen text alerting us when that film's director is in view.

Although there are some wonderful performances by not only James Brown, who intriguingly seems fairly low-key and perhaps even shy when not onstage but also a moving tune by Bill Withers, favorites from B.B. King and others, the amount of music contained in the disc isn't as significant as one might have assumed considering the box and advertising campaign promise of giving you access to “the greatest music festival” you've never seen.

While there are some deleted scenes included on Sony's top-notch Blu-ray that smooths out the dated footage and grain to the best of its ability, overall the highlight of the film as transferred to disc can be found in Sony's exceptional sound which even packs an Ali style punch on two basic LCD TV speakers, bouncing Celia Cruz, The Spinners and Miriam Makeba throughout the room.

Similar to another talky music doc in Davis Guggenheim's superior It Might Get Loud, which was also released by Sony, the BD-Live portion of the disc offers you the chance to build your own playlist to e-mail or share, while also providing you with filmmaker commentary and/or the studio's movieIQ feature that provides additional information about whatever is occurring onscreen at any given moment.

Definitely worth exploring for not only music and history lovers, it's also quite a find for those interested in the documentary process in evaluating both Soul's many pros as well as its cons. But overall, what could've been one soulful contender is hindered by the film's wandering focus as it feels like the cinematic equivalent of a two year Associate in Arts degree as we race from music to social sciences to sports, receiving too little information about too many things.


Text ©2010, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited and in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

FTC Disclosure: Per standard professional practice, I received a review copy of this title in order to evaluate it for my readers, which had no impact whatsoever on whether or not it received a favorable or unfavorable critique.

Concert Blu-ray Review: Elton John -- The Red Piano -- Live from Las Vegas (2008)

Sir Elton John's
Sold-Out Las Vegas Concert Experience
Is Now Available on DVD & Blu-ray

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Never one to skirt around an issue-- although Elton John jokes that on the one hand, Las Vegas is the place “where musicians go to die,” on the other he acknowledges that “there's only so much Cirque du Soleil you can see.” So thankfully-- giving audiences a break from the inventive yet exhaustive array of acrobatics on display in Sin City-- in 2004 he took over the Caesars Palace Auditorium previously home to Celine Dion (whom he jokingly refers to as “the singing q-tip”). And with this in mind, he decided to bring a little Elton energy to town.

Building a theme entirely around the color red which to John signifies love which is a recurring through-line in the music he’s composed over forty years with his long time lyricist Bernie Taupin, Sir Elton John kicked off an enviable record breaking run of more than 200 sold out visually dynamic live concert performances dubbed simply The Red Piano.

And despite the fact that over thousands of people have flocked to the show to try and nab one of the 4,100 seats in the gorgeous, acoustically impressive yet intimate auditorium to dance along to “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting,” fortunately both for historical reasons and out of necessity in this economy, The Red Piano has been transferred by Universal Music Group to DVD and Blu-ray high definition.

Whether it’ll make a valuable keepsake for the devoted audience who mouth along the words to such beloved greatest hits as “Daniel,” “Bennie and the Jets,” “Tiny Dancer,” “Candle in the Wind,” and “Your Song,” over the course of his fourteen track concert or offer the rest of us to see it for the first time—it’s a terrific move by executive producer Clive Banks and one that helps augment the multi-layered experience.

Although The Red Piano can be simply viewed as a concert, Elton John wanted to ensure that he was going to deliver something unique, creative, and fun to crowds in the city where anything and everything goes. In doing so, he consulted his good friend and artistic photographer David LaChapelle for an inspired creation that consisted of “multi-color neon sculpture, pop art, inflatables, bottles, balloons and the band.”

Additionally, since LaChapelle—whose impressive videography and portraiture of musicians including Britney Spears and Madonna have caught the attention of the industry-- had been a long time and highly knowledgeable fan of the music and the man, John gave him free range in the design. Or as John noted in the Blu-ray liner notes, he told LaChapelle to “go ahead and do what you want” in terms of creating innovative, short film interpretations of certain songs in John’s set list.

Projecting LaChapelle’s videos using state-of-the-art technically superior equipment on a screen that runs 120 feet wide by 40 feet tall, the videos in tandem with the music pounded away by a spirited John via a magnificent cherry-red piano on a stage filled with extravagant “only in Vegas” props certainly begs a repeat viewing due to the sheer overwhelm of the sensory experience.



While John’s performance is dynamic per usual as he banters with the audience and makes good-natured jokes about Dion, at times the short films accompanying the songs ultimately detract from the remarkable power of the music. Of course, in Vegas, it’s expected to go above in beyond in a presentation to remember and Red Piano succeeds on many levels with a few very beautiful pieces including the Marilyn Monroe (and possibly a look-alike) filled “Candle in the Wind,” and “Daniel” which—despite an eerily over-sexualized image of a bare-chested boy at the beginning laying in the foreground before he evolves into a man tells an earnest tale of loss from childhood to war, fully grasping the haunting pain of Taupin’s songwriting.



Moving to a classical black and white simplistic style of a solo man dancing his heart out in “Believe” is quite effective but honestly though, in the end even that track becomes repetitive as the near art-installation style of the films use the same imagery throughout.

The most twisted interpretation of a track, which as we see in the documentary also caught a band member off guard as he acknowledges that in the end the LaChapelle takes are “just one man’s impression of the songs,” comes in the form of a surprisingly violent and rather ugly domestic abuse ballet played throughout “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.”

Getting us fully immersed into the Vegas lifestyle-- “Pinball Wizard” relishes in the seedily, sexually charged erotic nightlife of adult entertainment in Vegas with plenty of shots of strippers and female entertainers gone wild before it leads up to a gratuitous, obvious, and uninspired stripper pole dance by Pamela Anderson throughout “The Bitch Is Back.” (Needless to say, parents may want to preview the unrated work before popping it in for the entire family.)

While it’s safe to say you may prefer your own personal music videos that play in your head to the songs or even some of the traditional ones—which in fact LaChapelle seems to parody in “Rocket Man” as a look at Elton’s fame and nature of celebrity—luckily they just serve as a background throughout the hyper-edited concert on the Blu-ray.

However, the rapid number of edits that initially cut in time with the music as seen in the opener “Bennie and the Jets,” takes a near The Bourne Ultimatum style two second ADD approach that finds your eyes straining to adjust from one quick movement to the next damn near ruin your appreciation of the beloved hit. Luckily, though eventually the style gives way to a bit more fluid movement throughout… at least most of the time.

The high definition quality of the disc is stellar indeed given its terrifically transferred concert level sound although strangely despite the fact that it boasts several subtitles in a wide variety of languages, I couldn’t even get English to work to see if there was a “read the lyrics option.” However, the picture suffers slightly from grainy and muddied color appearance during the concert footage that most likely can be attributed to the neon lights and challenging color reflection on the camera that gives the edges a soft feel.



The gorgeous night shots of Vegas that open the disc are exquisitely captured in HD, seemingly confirming the visual challenges in “cleaning up” or augmenting the concert’s look but the option of watching LaChapelle’s short films alone (either by flipping back and forth between the event and his work or choosing one option altogether) emphasizes the technical superiority of the format with their crystal clear transfer.

All in all, it’s a great opportunity to catch the concert without the cost of travel and tickets in these affordably priced releases. And while honestly I would’ve preferred a bit more Elton (and far fewer cuts) in the place of some of the distracting and downright unappealing video work completed by LaChapelle that takes away from the heartfelt earnestness of the music that made it so special-- Red Piano still made for an entertaining spectacle, even if personally I think I’d prefer Elton John in concert over The Red Piano any day of the week.


(Photo Source)

For, since music is the soundtrack of everyone’s life and John’s in particular has definitely been a part of so many lives and was one of the defining musical catalogs of the twentieth century--- I believe it would’ve benefited the work to incorporate that. Perhaps it could’ve been done in the place of even swapping out a few of the LaChapelle videos with some of the beloved footage dedicated to the man and his music like the Almost Famous “Tiny Dancer” sequence as a lead-in to that track or—despite it not being on the set list—the gorgeously simplistic music video of Robert Downey Jr. simply mouthing the words to “I Want Love” (view it here) as he walks from room to room that emphasizes John’s universal appeal in lieu of just one personal and mostly distracting vision.

Disc Details

DVD & Blu-ray:

[Band Instrumental Performance]

1. Bennie and the Jets

2. Philadelphia Freedom *

3. Believe *

4. Daniel *

5. Rocket Man *

6. Answer In The Sky *

7. Tiny Dancer

[Band Introduction]

8. Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On *

9. Candle In The Wind *

[Elton Suit Change / Vegas Montage Footage]

10. Pinball Wizard *

11. Bitch Is Back *

12. I’m Still Standing *

13. Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting *

[Encore]

14. Your Song

Blu-ray Only Extras:

1) Documentary [50 mins]:
The Life and Legacy of Elton John, with behind-the-scenes of David LaChapelle’s Red Piano treatment of Elton’s live stage show.

2) David LaChapelle Stage Projections:
The unique raw videos made for the stage back drop for tracks marked on the Blu-ray with a heart to switch back and forth between the concert and the short films (or with * as noted above).

New on DVD & Blu-ray for the Week of 4/19/09

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