Michael Jackson's THIS IS IT - Movie Review

plezWorld and the family just got home from watching the World's Greatest Entertainer's final dance... this was Michael Jackson as you have never seen him before!

Excerpts from the press release on michaeljackson.com about the movie:

CULVER CITY, CA - Commenting on the announcement, Kenny Ortega, director of and Jackson's creative partner on the THIS IS IT concert, said, "This film is a gift to Michael's 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."

Michael Jackson's THIS IS IT will offer Jackson fans and music lovers worldwide a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the performer as he developed, created and rehearsed for his sold-out concerts that would have taken place beginning this summer in London's O2 Arena. Chronicling the months from April through June, 2009, the film is drawn from more than one hundred hours of behind-the-scenes footage, featuring Jackson rehearsing a number of his songs for the show. Audiences will be given a privileged and private look at the singer, dancer, filmmaker, architect, and genius as he creates and perfects his final show.

"I have never been partners with a more creative, innovative or groundbreaking entertainer than Michael Jackson," said Randy Phillips, President & CEO, AEG LIVE and producer of Michael Jackson THIS IS IT. "While the concerts would have been the greatest shows in the history of music, our film will provide a historic event for Michael's fans to see for themselves the genius that he was and the creativity, talent and imagination that the entire cast devoted to create the ‘greatest concert that never happened'."

~ ~ ~

plez sez: go see this movie! i know i'm going to see it again. it was dazzling! it was exhilarating! it was fun! it was pure magic! and if that wasn't even the dress rehearsal, i cannot imagine how great the actual concert would've been.

it is almost beyond comprehension that MICHAEL JACKSON died while rehearsing for this show. in the movie, he was always upbeat, humble, respectful. he was so full of life... and he was also a consummate perfectionist who nailed every dance move and hit every note. he was not a 50-year old has been... he was that 20-something guy who walked away from the grammy awards with eight trophies.

and that concert would've been worth every penny spent to see him. he had reworked many dance moves and added all kinds of cutting edge technology to the show that would've made his old videos seem... old! "this is it" would've been the greatest concert ever.

plezWorld cannot believe he is no longer with us, but his music and the image of a once-in-a-lifetime icon will live forever.

~ ~ Citations ~ ~

Read the CNN.com movie review about "THIS IS IT."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chris Rock's "Good Hair"

When Chris Rock’s daughter, Lola, came up to him crying and asked, “Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?” the bewildered comic committed himself to search the ends of the earth and the depths of black culture to find out who had put that question into his little girl's head! Director Jeff Stilson’s camera followed the funnyman, and the result is Good Hair, a wonderfully insightful and entertaining, yet remarkably serious, documentary about African American hair culture.An exposé of comic proportions that only Chris Rock could pull off, Good Hair visits hair salons and styling battles, scientific laboratories, and Indian temples to explore the way black hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships, and self-esteem of black people. Celebrities such as Ice-T, Kerry Washington, Nia Long, Paul Mooney, Raven Symoné, Maya Angelou, and Reverend Al Sharpton all candidly offer their stories and observations to Rock while he struggles with the task of figuring out how to respond to his daughter’s question. What he discovers is that black hair is a big business that doesn’t always benefit the black community and little Lola’s question might well be bigger than his ability to convince her that the stuff on top of her head is nowhere near as important as what is inside.

"Good Hair" Movie Trailer:

~ ~ ~

plez sez: saturday was my wife's birthday, so it was only fitting that we went to see chris rock's movie "Good Hair" which opened on friday here in the atlanta area. you see my wife is a Black woman and chris rock's movie is about the Black women and their hair; we've been married for close to 20 years and the only constant over all those years is the on-going saga of the care of my wife's hair. the other reason why we had to go to see this movie on its opening weekend is that one of the featured stylists - jason griggers, the white guy who should've won the bronner brothers hair show battle royale - has been my wife's hair stylist for close to ten years! jason autographed a "good hair" movie poster for my daughter, who is the same age as his son.

so despite my obvious bias going in, plezWorld found this movie to be quite enjoyable! it is a hilarious, yet sobering account of the how the care of Black hair is such a big business - it is a multi-billion dollar industry that has been wrestled away from the control of the Black community. More than 60% of all hair care products are consumed by Black people who come in at 12% of the US population. The sobering part of the equation is that control of the industry is in the hands of large white cosmetics companies (like Revlon and Clairol) and asian hair care products companies who will not do business with Black-owned retailers.

and throughout the movie was this sad undercurrent of "self hate" in the Black community as it relates to our hair: this longing to have long straight hair like white women, the perception that white people will not do business with someone who projects an afrocentric image (nappy hair or dreads or braids), this multi-billion dollar craving for products to make our hair more like our white counterparts, and this near insatiable need to even purchase hair from other ethnicities (i.e., people from eastern asia and india) and sew onto the top of our own hair to cover what we were born with.

my daughter's hair is not permed (yet!), but my wife has already had to deal with the "my hair is ugly because it is not long and doesn't swing like the little white girls in my school" issue. i vividly remember my mother putting a hot comb over an open flame on the stove in preparation for straightening my sister's hair when she was a little girl (my sister who is now a grown woman wears her hair in a natural state with long twists).

so even though there were plenty of laughs in the movie, there were some portions of the film that nearly brought tears to my eyes... how can we HATE our brown skin and our gorgeous curly locks so much? is being a Black person that bad (michael jackson bleached his skin white, for Christ's sake)? does having nappy hair equal being unworthy of being a productive citizen in the united states? my daughter is beautiful (inside and outside), but why does society continue to tell her at every turn that she is more beautiful with her hair in an unnatural straightened state?

note: by the way, my daughter normally wears her hair in braids, as it is much easier to care for by her busy working mother. but it was straightened (by another stylist who works in jason's shop) earlier this week because it was time for her annual school pictures... and we couldn't have an image of her youth saved for prosperity with curly hair in its natural state!

~ ~ Citations ~ ~

Read the Sundance Film Festival article about "Good Hair".

Read the New York Times movie review about "Good Hair".

Read the Salon.com article titled "Chris Rock's good hair day".

Read the Kansas City Star editorial about Chris Rock's movie.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SugarPlum's Playdate

In the mid-1950's, Dr. Seuss was working his magic as a producer of children's books. As I grew up in the 1960's, I read most of them (How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Green Eggs & Ham, The Cat in the Hat, Hop on Pop, etc.). I outgrew Dr. Seuss before I could get around to reading Horton Hears A Who!

Well, I can now add this book to my booklist since I had occasion to check out the movie version on Saturday night when I took the SugarPlum and one of her girlfriends out on a playdate, so their mothers could have a Mom's Night Out.

So while they gorged on nachos, popcorn, Twizzlers, and Coca-Cola's, I sat intently and took in the magic that was Horton. The movie has a pretty simple premise: Horton comes across a speck which houses Whoville, but no one believes him. It was a pretty cool concept where the largest animal in the jungle has to protect the smallest speck. The moral of the story: a person is a person, no matter how small.

Surprise. Surprise. It works... probably the best children's movie that I've seen since Shrek 2! Excellent, well made flick with a cool message. Unfortunately, the SugarPlum and her friend were more enamored with their brush with celebrity since we went to the same movie theater that hosted the premier of Tyler Perry's latest flick (Meet the Browns): "We met Tyler Perry! We met Tyler Perry! We met Tyler Perry!" I guess all the kids in her class will know more about the us not being on the guest list to meet Tyler Perry than about Horton and Mayor of Whoville.

After the movie, we traipsed over to Johnny Rockets for some burgers and milkshakes. We rode home with the two of them singing along with the "High School Musical 2" soundtrack. We made it home a scant two hours before their mothers rolled in.

Incidently, Horton Hears a Who was the top grossing movie of the weekend with $45 million in receipts!

plezWorld Reviews "This Christmas"

My family and I went to the movies last night. We went to see "This Christmas," a family movie for the holidays.

The premise is pretty simple: the Whitfields gather for the Christmas holiday for the first time in several years. It is a movie that is suitable for the entire family, with mild language and some sexual innuendo.

Check out the "This Christmas" site here.

"This Christmas" Trailer

plez sez: all of the family members bring their baggage along for the ride. it was a fun, family drama that explored the intricate family dynamics that affect us all. just about every dynamic was explored in a very real way, but each was explored with the help of a well developed plot and three dimensional characters.

loretta devine glows as the family matriarch and this was the first time that i've seen teen heart throb chris brown in a movie where he wasn't killed off in the first 10 minutes: "stomp the yard... but he does sing in this one... and he's a very good singer. you will also note that chris brown's brother (columbus short) in this movie was also his brother in "stomp the yard."

there was something for everyone in this flick... i highly recommend that you add it to your holiday fare.


and you must stay for the "family movie" AFTER the movie... it was the MOST FUN i've seen in a flick in a long time!

plezWorld Reviews "Stomp The Yard"

My wife and I just got in from viewing the movie "Stomp The Yard" with a sizable portion of South DeKalb County at the Stonecrest AMC 16 (the place was sold out). Cute movie. Neat stepping. Respectful of traditional Black Greek Letter Organizations (fraternities). Nice dancing, a lot of it was too recent for a forty-something like me to appreciate (krumping? clowning?).

Here's an excerpt of a review from rottentomatoes.com:

"When DJ (Columbus Short), a troubled youth from Los Angeles, moves to Atlanta to attend Truth University, he discovers "stepping," the age-old style of dance traditionally done in African-American Fraternities, where teams demonstrate complex moves and create rhythmic sounds by using their bodies. DJ's raw talent and hip-hop inspired moves quickly place him at the center of a fierce rivalry between two fraternities, the winner of which will be determined in front of a sold-out arena at the annual stepping championships. But before he can help his teammates, he must battle his own demons and learn the true meaning of brotherhood."

plez looks at the look. This movie was obviously directed by a music video director (Sylvain White), from the opening sequence to the finale, I felt like I was watching the extended-remix version of a music video. Lots of quick shots, inventive overhead shots, and the ubiquitous super slo-mo shot of some very intricate and creative dance moves. I was completely lost at the beginning because I had absolutely no context on the whole "dance/fight/street gang" opening sequence where - I hope I don't ruin it for anyone, but... - DJ's brother (played by music artist and teen heartthrob Chris Brown) gets a bullet to the dome! I'll be honest, that was the most shocking part of the movie.

plez looks at the plot. Basic Hollywood boilerplate: guy overcomes his circumstances, faces his demons, gets the girl, and wins the dance-music-stepping-singing-drumming-spelling-yougettheidea competition at the end of movie. Hey! That sounds a lot like "Drumline" meets "You Got Served" meets "School Daze." If you liked those movies, you'll like this one. If you never heard of those three movies, go see "The Pursuit of Happyness" again, because this movie ain't for you!

plez looks at the frats. I have to admit that I carry a lot bias with me: I am a member of a traditionally Black fraternity and when I was in college, I stepped on numerous occasions (I still have my very first red and white striped cane from my pledge days). It is obvious that the writers were members of Black fraternities as the rival fraternities were models on traditional Black fraternities... down to the step routines! I really enjoyed when the pledges were introduced to the yard, because I know two of the guys who played pledgees in the movie, they are blood brothers and were members of the fraternity chapter that I pledged at Georgia Tech (Yo! Wassup with the cameos Larry & Lamar?!?). The one problem with the fraternity members is that most of the guys are WAAAAY past their college days; some of these guys were 30-something! The main antagonist was played by Darrin "Dance Grooves" Henson who is pushing 35 years old... although he is a great dancer and choreographer, you will instantly recognize him and realize he is much too old for his role.

plez looks at the stepping. I never stepped like that... and if I was 20 years younger, I still don't think I could step like that! To the trained eye, it was obvious which fraternity the movie producers belong to: "their" fraternity won the competition and just about every step routine in the movie was a variation of "their" steps... and their fraternity's name begins with an "A" and ends with an "A." I'll leave it at that.

plez sez: Good music. Nice dancing. Innovative and creative step routines. At times, the costumes were a bit contrived, especially the "Janet Jackson Rhythm Nation" outfits that one step team wore in the competition at the end of the movie. The dialogue and plot was adequate to move the audience from the dance/fight to DJ going to college to his pledging a fraternity to the step competition. If you are familiar with stepping, then you will find the movie at least tolerable.

I give "Stomp the Yard" a GO SEE; the stepping is quite interesting and plezWorld knows 3 or 4 of the extras. Check it out!

BLOG UPDATE:
January 14, 2007 - "Stomp the Yard" debuted with the top spot for MLK, Jr weekend! CNN reports that "the dance flick "Stomp the Yard" was a step ahead of the competition at the box office, debuting as the No. 1 weekend movie with $22 million."