BEFORE: When I started putting this chain together a few months ago, I had only 11 films in hand, and figured it would take a few additions to link everything together - little did I realize that it would take another 41 films to accomplish that, factoring in the ones I wanted to add and the others that were just available and seemed to fit the theme. So in order to watch tomorrow's film, I had to find something else with Michael Jackson in it, and I found this one, which came out just two years ago, and was directed by Spike Lee.
I'm back to another one of these interview-based films, and sometimes say that a film with a lot of interviews is done in the "talking head" style. Now I'm finding it funny that yesterday I watched a film about the Talking Heads that was NOT filmed in the "talking head" style, since it was a concert film. But David Byrne carries over again and is interviewed somewhere in this film, so there's a Talking Head appearing in a "talking head" sort of film today.
THE PLOT: A look at the life of the late pop star Michael Jackson, from his early days at Motown Records to the release of his hit 1979 album "Off the Wall".
AFTER: It's hard to tell here if telling just part of Jacko's story here was a conscious decision, something to commemorate his break-through solo album "Off the Wall" because it had such an impact, or whether an arbitrary cut-off was made in his biography due to time constraints. Or, more likely, because it wasn't until after he was a mega-star that he started to exhibit strange behavior, even for a superstar. So there's nothing here about turning his estate into an amusement park, sleeping in an oxygen chamber, giving his chimpanzee pet power of attorney, or any payments made to parents that essentially allowed him to rent their kids.
Either way, it seems a little odd to not mention the "Thriller" album, when it was possibly the biggest selling album of all time, with the most #1 hits of any album ever. So instead this documentary ends up feeling like part one of a two-part series, with no plans to ever film that second part. The elephant in the room is the same one that eventually lived in his backyard. Instead there's the history of the Jackson 5 and the depiction of Michael as a kid eager to learn from every star or record producer he came in contact with, as if he was always diagramming a path to stardom based on other people's advice. And then the 2nd half is a track-by-track breakdown of the "Off the Wall" album, naming who wrote each track, with other musicians describing why each one is great. So it can't help but feel like a puff piece, it's very unlikely that anyone would say anything negative given those parameters.
Plus, what about that early life? Isn't it a well-known fact that Michael's father used to beat him? I mean, that sort of thing was more accepted back then, people didn't dare tell other people how to raise their children, and if you stepped in to try and stop someone from hitting their kid, somehow YOU were the bad guy. Why is there no mention of that here, when Joe Jackson admitted this in interviews? Are we trying to paint a rosy picture here of idyllic family life, or are we trying to figure out what turns people into pop stars, and then crazy pop stars later on? This is a puff piece, plain and simple, you have to show some balance, take the bad with the good, right?
And then Spike Lee inserts himself into his own film, which is usually my problem with Spike Lee, to tell a story about how he bought two tickets to see "The Wiz" and invited some girl, who turned him down. Notice how that story has NOTHING to do with Michael Jackson as an artist or as a person, except that he acted in that movie - so anyone with an impartial eye would have cut that story for lack of relevance, but not this director. By all means, Spike, make sure that it's all about YOU in the end, not your subject.
I find myself confused overall, more than anything else. To make the case that this superstar was the best in his field, why focus so much on one particular album that wasn't even his best or most successful record?
Also starring Kobe Bryant, Misty Copeland, Lee Daniels, Berry Gordy (last seen in "Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives"), Bobby Colomby (ditto), David Foster (ditto), Kenny Gamble (ditto), Leon Huff (ditto), Quincy Jones (ditto), L.A. Reid (ditto), Verdine White (ditto), Spike Lee (last seen in "20 Feet from Stardom"), Stevie Wonder (ditto), Susaye Greene (ditto), Jackie Jackson, Joe Jackson, Katherine Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Rodney Jerkins, John Legend, John Leguizamo (last seen in "Chef"), Mali Music, Rosie Perez (last seen in "Riding in Cars with Boys"), Mark Ronson (last seen in "George Michael: Freedom"), Carole Bayer Sager, Joel Schumacher, Valerie Simpson, Ahmir-Khalib "Questlove" Thompson (last seen in "Amy"), The Weeknd, Pharrell Williams, Ron Alexenburg, Lemon Andersen, Larkin Arnold, Tom Bähler, Dan Beck, John Branca, Rob Cohen, Barry Michael Cooper, Suzanne De Passe, Siedah Garrett, Dream Hampton, Steven Ivory, Karen Langford, Steven Manning, Jonathan Moffett, Scott Osborn, Greg Phillinganes, Steve Popovich, Fatima Robinson, Esperanza Spalding, Bruce Swedien, Joe Vogel, Maurice Warfield, Harry Weinger, Walter Yentikoff, and archive footage of Michael Jackson (also last seen in "20 Feet from Stardom"), Patti Austin (ditto), Paul McCartney (ditto), Woody Allen (last heard in "Café Society"), Nick Ashford, Fred Astaire (last seen in "Royal Wedding"), Count Basie, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Chuck Berry (last seen in "Elvis Presley: The Searcher"), Dean Martin (ditto), Little Richard (ditto), Frank Sinatra (ditto), James Brown (last seen in "Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars"), Irene Cara, Cher (last seen in "Stuck on You"), Dick Clark (also last seen in "Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives"), Miles Davis (ditto), Lou Reed (ditto), Lionel Richie (ditto), Diana Ross (ditto), Paul Simon (ditto), Patti Smith (ditto), Steven Tyler (ditto), Frankie Crocker (last seen in "Jimi Hendrix"), Steve Dahl, Sammy Davis Jr. (last seen in "Robin and the Seven Hoods"), Shelley Duvall (last seen in "Nashville"), Farrah Fawcett (last seen in "Dr. T & the Women"), Jane Fonda (last seen in "Youth"), Redd Foxx, Marvin Gaye, Debbie Harry, Margaux Hemingway, Charlton Heston (last seen in "Town & Country"), Lena Horne, Jermaine Jackson, La Toya Jackson, Randy Jackson, Tito Jackson, Gene Kelly (last seen in "Cover Girl") Sidney Lumet, Shirley MacLaine (last seen in "Some Came Running"), Curtis Mayfield, Linda McCartney (last seen in "How the Beatles Changed the World"), Maureen McCormick, Stephanie Mills, Liza Minnelli (also last seen in "George Michael: Freedom"), Eddie Murphy (last seen in "Vampire in Brooklyn"), Tatum O'Neal (last seen in "Paper Moon"), Jane Pauley, Valerie Perrine (last seen in "What Women Want"), Johnny Ramone, Martha Reeves, Smokey Robinson, Steve Rubell, Brooke Shields (last seen in "The Bachelor"), Rodney Temperton, Philip Michael Thomas (last seen in "History of the Eagles"), Justin Timberlake (last seen in "Alpha Dog"), Andy Warhol (last seen in "The Doors: When You're Strange"), Tina Weymouth (last seen in "Stop Making Sense"), Jackie Wilson.
RATING: 4 out of 10 visits to Studio 54
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