Review of Michael Jackson’s This Is It

All thanks to Sony Pictures, Nigel and Kel Li, I managed to catch the premiere of Michael Jackson’s This Is It on Wednesday night and here is my brief review of the film.

There isn’t much to review with this movie, simply because it’s one huge music video with no plot and direction. I must say Kenny Ortega and Sony did a really good job in editing the film considering it all came from over 100 hours of raw footage. It must have been one of the most tedious post-productions of any movie ever.

Another thing Ortega did well was to keep the interviews to a minimum and letting the performance of MJ make the movie. However, the dialogue in between the performances were just as entertaining, intriguing and captivating as MJ’s dance moves. In was really wonderful to get a small glimpse into how MJ worked, being a perfectionist and all as well as to see how others worked with him.

At the end of the day, the movie does what it is supposed to- it entertains the inner MJ fan in all of us. I whole-heartedly enjoyed this film just for it’s content alone. I found myself bobbing my head and thumping my foot throughout the entire film. Having said that, I enjoyed the film thoroughly just because I enjoy Michael Jackson’s movie. I’m afraid to say that a person who doesn’t quite enjoy MJ’s work, will definitely not enjoy this movie.

So just like I Tweeted, I’m going to tell you to rush out to see this movie if you’ve ever enjoyed any of Michael Jackson’s music or dance moves. Make sure you stay until the end of the credits. There is a little sumthin’ sumthin’.

So, yeah. This Is It.

RIP MJ.

Is This Really It?

*EDIT: This contest is now closed. Thank you to all who posted your entries. The two winners will be contacted really soon. As for everyone else, you have one last chance to win some tickets from JoshuaOngYS.com*

Michael Jackson really is gone and will definitely be missed. But is this really it for the King of Pop? I think not. His music has always had the ability to inspire millions all over the world. Now that the greatest entertainer to have ever lived is no longer here, his work will most definitely live on and will be heard and loved by many generations to come. So, I ask you, do you remember the time you first danced around your room to a Michael Jackson tune?

Tragically, this incredibly talented human being lost his life back in June of this year and nobody will see him perform ever again. In the months leading up to his death, Michael Jackson was hard at work rehearsing for his 50-date gig at the O2 Arena in London. The concerts were said to be his final curtain call and it was a chance for fans to catch him live one last time. Unfortunately, that one last time never came to be.

Almost immediately after MJ’s death, we learned that AEG Live, the concert organizers recorded over 100 hours worth of rehearsal footage. Soon after that, Sony Pictures had bought the rights to the footage and were to edit it into a feature film.

Michael Jackson This Is It, which documents MJ’s final days as he rehearses for his This Is It concerts in London, hits cinemas worldwide simultaneously (October 29 here in Malaysia) and will only stay in theaters for a limited two weeks. After which, will go to DVD.

Michael Jackson fans in America camped in line for as long as three days before the tickets went on sale back in September. As for Malaysian fans, they’ve had to wait until October 15 to get their hands on This Is It tickets. In the first day of sales here, 10,000 tickets were snapped up and over 20,000 have been sold to date.

So this is where it gets good. I am giving away 2 pairs of special passes to the Malaysian premiere screening of Michael Jackson This Is It happening October 28 which is a whole day before the rest of Malaysia gets to see it. This is, of course, all thanks to Sony Pictures Malaysia. Here are the full details of the special screening:

Michael Jackson This Is It Premiere Screening

Date: October 28, 2009 (Wednesday)

Time: 9.30PM

Venue: Cathay Cineplex, e@Curve (formerly known as Cineleisure)

Here is exactly what you have to do if you want to be one of the two people getting a pair of these passes. I want to know what is your favorite Michael Jackson song and why. Your submission can be a simple one-line comment on this blog post, or you could write your own blog post and insert the link in the comments section of this post. When commenting, please make sure you give me your full name, the link to your blog post (if you choose to do it that way) as well as your E-mail address so that you can be contacted if you win the passes.

The 2 commenters with the best and most creative comments will each win a pair of passes. Almost anything goes, just as long as you stick to the question “What is your favorite Michael Jackson song and why?”. So go wild! The comments will be judged by the organizers and their decision is final.

This contest will be open for only two days so hurry up and submit your comment/blog post. Any submission after 12.00AM Sunday (October 25) will not be considered. Also, any incomplete submission (e.g. without E-mail address) will be rejected. The winners will be announced and contacted on October 27 (Tuesday).

So good luck! If you do win, I will see you at the screening on Wednesday. By the way, make sure you stay back until the end of the credits for some nice Easter eggs. Also, you can head on over to Joshua Ong’s blog to try to win the This Is It passes there.

Coming Soon

Clip From Michael Jackson’s This Is It

This Is It is about the last few weeks of Michael Jackson’s life when he was hard at work rehearsing for his This Is It concerts in London. During that time, AEG Live, the organizing company recorded some 80 hours of MJ’s rehearsals. Since his death, Sony Pictures bought the rights to the rehearsal footage and have edited it into a movie that is set for release October 28 (29 in Malaysia) and will be in cinemas for a limited period of two weeks only, after which will go straight to DVD.

Just recently, the trailer to the documentary styled movie was premiered at the 2009 MTV VMAs and was then made available online. You can watch the trailer here. But now, Sony Pictures have released a short 45 second video clip of Michael Jackson rehearsing the dance steps for his song Human Nature with director, Kenny Ortega looking on. You can watch the clip below.

It still amazes me every time I see footage from the rehearsals. And it's awesome to hear Michael Jackson singing live with no music. Anyhoo, this clip has definitely made me more impatient to catch the movie.

Source: Screen Rant

Michael Jackson’s This Is It Trailer

Sony just released the trailer for Michael Jackson’s music-documentary movie This Is It. The movie consists footage of Michael Jackson’s last days as he was rehearsing in the Staples Center in preparation for his 50-date concert at the O2 Arena in London. It’s been also said that in the movie, a brand new, never before heard song by Michael Jackson will be debuted. The film is directed by Kenny Ortega who did the High School Musicals, This Is It concert and Michael Jackson’s public memorial.

The trailer features plenty of amazing shots of Michael Jackson in rehearsal with his crew while an array of his songs play in the background. It is a very well done trailer and I am looking forward to seeing this movie. Check out the trailer below.

From the press release:

Kenny Ortega directed the film, which is produced with the full support of The Estate of Michael Jackson. Ortega, director of and Jackson’s creative partner on the THIS IS IT concert, said, “This film is Michael’s gift to his fans. As we began assembling the footage for the motion picture we realized we captured something extraordinary, unique and very special. It’s a very private, exclusive look into a creative genius’s world. For the first time ever, fans will see Michael as they have never seen him before – this great artist at work. It is raw, emotional, moving and powerful footage that captures his interactions with the THIS IS IT collaborators that he had personally assembled for this once in a lifetime project. This film shows a consummate performer working with and guiding singers, dancers, band members, choreographers, special effects creators and countless other creative members of the team as we all assemble this historic concert. I can think of many words to describe Michael as he rehearses for and creates THIS IS IT– inspirational, dynamic, generous, dedicated, loving and the guiding force—you see him as the true architect and driving force of this project – a true master of his craft, the Entertainer of Entertainers. I’m proud of the many years of friendship and creative association I shared with Michael and I’m happy that people will get a chance to see his spirit and drive in action. THIS IS IT may go down as the greatest concert that no one got a chance to see, but with this film, we get a rare portrait of Michael as he prepares for his final curtain call and what I believe was going to be his master work.”

As said in the trailer, This Is It will hit theaters October 28 and will stay in cinemas for a limited time only, 2 weeks to be specific, before the movie hits DVDs. Mark your calendars people.

Source: /Film