“This Is It” is an ironic title for this Michael Jackson concert documentary. One one hand, the tour was titled that long before we knew it would never see the lights of London’s O2 Arena. On the other hand, This Is It is the opening call in the posthumous marketing of the Michael Jackson Legacy. The title has double meaning, making this film the most obvious link between what Michael Jackson was and what Michael Jackson will be for future generations.

Let’s make sure we’re all on the same footing here: I love Michael Jackson. I have four-to-five collections of Michael Jackson songs, from #1s to HIStory to The Essential Michael Jackson. At one point, I owned all these albums on cassette tape. I’m often reminded that when I was 5 I mookwalked at a wedding and it was – apparently – the cutest thing ever. Michael Jackson is part of my personal history.

Now that a few months of hindsight have accumulated, I can safely say that Jackson is in the top three celebrity deaths I’ve experienced in my adulthood. The other two were Johnny Cash and Hunter S. Thompson. Each left a very real mark on my view of pop culture and my growing up.

Now that you know where I’m coming from, you know why I caught This Is It this Halloween weekend: I had to. The question left to answer is: should you shell out your hard earned cash to see This Is It in theaters?

The short answer is that you probably don’t have to.

Kenny Ortega’s cobbled-together documentary uses MJ’s personal footage of concert rehearsals to form its feature-length look at what Michael Jackson’s This Is It show would have been. The sad thing is that it would have been epic with legions of acrobatically-inclined dancers, full CGI and 3D music videos and giant production props.

Watching the rehearsal footage and the behind-the-scenes shots of the green-screen dance interlude The March had me slapping my forehead with the pure potential of it. This Is It, as a show, would have rolled right from the opening notes of “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” into this massive and precisely choreographed piece of dance that serves as a thesis for the performance: Michael Jackson never went anywhere. He might be older, but he’s still got his distinctive style.

The problem with This Is It, or why it is getting more of an audience than it probably deserves, is the rough nature of the footage. These were rehearsals of a show that was never fully produced and Jackson holds back both vocally and with his solo dances. The few times MJ forgets himself in the moment, both with some vocal improv during a mid-set ballad and during a stripped-down Billie Jean dance number are where the star’s joy shows through the process. The rest of the film really is a process movie, with the show being built around Jackson’s perfectionist standards.

However, we never get to see anything fully realized and This Is It never becomes a true concert film. Jackson doesn’t sing all of his vocal parts and the sound mix hasn’t been processed or tweaked much beyond what’s happening on screen. If your hope for This Is It involves loud and interesting mixes of your favorite Jackson hits, you’ll probably find more solace in the companion CD released with the film.

This Is It is interesting and a very fitting swan song for Jackson, especially after the news coverage of his death managed to twist the truth enough to turn the man back into a public spectacle.

This Is It starts to work after about 15 minutes when you stop trying to look for clues about Michael’s health and personal life and once again start viewing the man as an artist who knows every dance move and every musical part to his large repertoire.

If you’re a Jackson fan, I wouldn’t be surprised if this DVD made it into your personal collection, but nothing about this film suggests that seeing it in the cinema is required. This isn’t a 3D/Dolby Surround extravaganza, it’s a quiet last look at genius. Even after walking out of the theater, I wished I had seen the film somewhere more private where I could tap my foot to the beat and silently gawk at the dancing.

I’ll see This Is It again, but not at full ticket price.

Read similar posts to REVIEW: This Is It at Filmonic

When Michael Jackson passed away a little over three weeks ago, a brief snippet of his upcoming concert surfaced via rehearsal footage shot in preparation of 50 dates in London’s O2 theater. Jackson’s “Farewell” concert series was supposedly almost fully choreographed and included several videos to be shown throughout the set, some possibly in 3D.

Perhaps most enticing are the rights to “hours” of footage shot the day before Jackson’s death at rehearsals in LA’s Staples Center.

Now, The Wrap reports that Sony (complete with watch-list head-honcho Amy Pascal) is aggressively bidding to obtain the footage and release it in some manner. The deal is estimated to be in the neighborhood of $50 million after a short but intense bidding war amongst other studios like Universal and 20th Century Fox:

The rehearsal was recorded in multi-camera HD and 3D, and is of a quality that could be released as a movie, or DVD. AEG later confirmed the report, and said that it had “at least 100 hours” of footage of Jackson during rehearsals, and behind the scenes.

Negotiations had hit a fever pitch over the weekend. AEG is also selling TV rights. By late Sunday evening, the deal was not yet done, but a person involved said that Sony was “very close.”

An AEG spokesman denied knowledge of negotiations on Saturday but noted that most of any profits from such a deal would go to the Jackson estate.

I know that a concert film would be super-popular if Sony could turn the movie around fast enough. It seems like that’s what they plan to do with rumors swirling that the show’s choreographer, Kenny Ortega (also the director of the High School Musical trilogy) would be brought on to “direct” the footage and assemble it into a full work.

However, part of me thinks that this should be shown on TV or pay cable and not the theater. Sure, 3D segments sound like a cinema experience, but when comparing theater dollars to TV dollars, I’d be more likely to spend my money on a DVD after seeing at least a truncated version on television for free.

The world-wide appeal of Jackson is still out there, so I don’t think recouping the investment is going to be a problem for Sony.

Read similar posts to Sony Close To Obtaining Last Michael Jackson Concert Footage at Filmonic

Yesterday, as the news was pouring in about the death of Michael Jackson by cardiac arrest at the age of 50, I was flipping between MSNBC, Fox News and CNN, scanning Twitter and on the phone with people who call me when pop culture figures die.

As I absorbed the news, I completely forgot that Brüno (July 10th state-side) has a La Toya Jackson scene in it, where the Sacha Baron Cohen character asks La Toya for her brother’s number then mocks his voice and glove. Brüno eventually cons her out of her Blackberry – after serving her sushi on a naked Mexican – only to read MJ’s number out loud (in German, and it’s a 555 number). This sends La Toya stomping out of the interview.

Now, various reports, including The Guardian, The Wrap and Risky Biz Blog claim that this decision has already been made. This from Risky Biz:

But after Jackson’s death on Thursday, the studio and filmmakers decided to remove the scene for the premiere screening out of sensitivity to the Jackson family. The film now cuts directly from Baron Cohen’s gonzo interview with Paula Abdul to a focus-group for his faux reality show.

Still, because many critics attended those earlier showings, its content could make its way into reviews. Indeed, removing the scene in a way calls more attention to it, though the studio clearly wanted to avoid even the perception of poor taste at any cost.

“We decided to take it out for tonight, and we’ll reassess before the release whether to keep it out,” said director Larry Charles at the premiere’s afterparty. A spokesperson for Universal also confirmed that it had not come to any decision on future showings.

Several copies of the film already exist, as the film has begun press and test audience screenings in a few US cities, but it’s unclear if more prints have already been rolled out. Cutting a scene out of a movie is all good, snipping fun until it starts costing hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on interns rooting out the particular reel of the film and trimming some negative. Alternatively, though not cheaper by a long shot, Uni could replace only the reel of film with the scene in question on it, also meaning hefty budgets of new printing costs.

All this after reports that Brüno was already edited so it wouldn’t offend the “Hollywood Gay community.”

I can understand the sentiment of not wanting to pick the scab of the sudden death of a pop icon, or wanting to give the man’s family a few weeks without Jacksons being the punchline in this difficult time. However, if the cut really is what Risky Biz Blog claims above – from Abdul to the focus group – then no one will know that when I call Brad Pitt “Bradolf Pittler” that I’m stealing from Sacha Baron Cohen.

Read similar posts to Universal Cuts Michael Jackson-Sensitive Scene from Brüno? at Filmonic