Prompter Bob

I just watched Michael Jackson's This Is It on Blu-ray DVD and I was surprised just how good a film it is.

Director Kenny Ortega and his team of editors have expertly quilted together an amazing documentary out of bits and pieces of informally shot rehearsal video at an empty Staples Center in Los Angeles. Taking place just shortly before his death on June 25th, the film shows MJ preparing for what he prophetically said would be his last live concert apperance, a series of 50 sold out shows at London's O2 arena in July 2009. The ill-fated concert featured Jackson performing many of his hits, accompanied by elaborately produced 3-D films, projected on a mammoth LED video wall behind him.

This Is It is susprisingly intimate, providing a rare glimpse at Jackson's musical and performing genius at work. Forget 'Wacko Jacko'. Whatever demons that may have tortured Jackson in his private life are not looming here. Instead we see a happy and healthy looking 50 year old MJ, still at the top of his game, singing and dancing up a storm. It's fun to watch his creative process, meticulously rehearsing each familiar song, stoping at times to fine tune and tweak each element. Always a perfectionist, MJ is a kind taskmaster, politely demanding as much from his musicians and dancers, as he does from himself.

Although the film was quickly produced last summer, This Is It is very polished and seems to be a project motivated by love, not greed. To complete some of the numerous musical performances for the film, Ortega had to seamlessly patch together rehearsals from different days, as revealed by MJ's changing clothes. There's also a mixture of HD and SD video, but it fits together so well that you don't mind the lack of continuity. This Is It looks and sounds spectacular on Blu-ray. Crank up the Dolby Surround audio for an immersive experience.

The Michael Jackson we see in This Is It is at odds with the person portrayed in tabloid tales of his bizarre lifestyle, alleged drug abuse and mysterious death. Michael Jackson, the performer, seems to be humble, friendly, approachable, hard working and very down to earth. Time will tell how MJ will ultimately be remembered. This Is It will go a long way help to put a positive spin on his too short and troubled life.

Sent via iPhone 3GS

Loading mentions Retweet

I seldom read books (thank you Catholic school nuns), but when I heard about Rebecca Keegan's new biography of filmmaker James Cameron called The Futurist, I couldn't resist. I'm halfway through the book and while it's not particularly well written, I stil love reading all the incredible backstories surrounding the productions of The Terminator, Aliens, Terminator 2, True Lies, and all his other films including Titanic and Avatar. Cameron, who got his start working with B-movie master, Roger Corman, is a balls to the wall director who usually drives his cast and crew to the brink of mutiny. With almost every film, he had to invent new techniques and technologies to bring his unique and bold visions to the screen. Cameron doesn't take no for an answer. This is a guy whose obsessions are so extreme that he wasn't content with just directing the movie Titanic, he found a way to dive in a mini-sub to the depths of the Atlantic to explore and film the infamous sunken ocean liner himself. You can read a more extensive review of The Futurist in the NY Times: http://s.nyt.com/u/r4W

Sent via iPhone 3GS

Loading mentions Retweet

Click here to download:

oz_yourself.m4v (3537 KB)

GO OZ YOURSELF: Now you can star in The Wizard of Oz. Check out me as the Scarecrow (video above) or at THIS LINK.

You can do it too! Just CLICK HERE and upload a picture of your face.  After a little computer magic, you'll be singing and dancing with Dorothy on the Yellow Brick Road. 

It's part of the the 70th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz and Netflix is celebrating by streaming the classic film online FREE on October 3rd. If you're in New York, there will be a live concert in Central Park on September 29th with Jennifer Hudson singing songs from the film. And a newly restored version of The Wizard of Oz is also coming to DVD and Blu-ray on September 29th.

CLICK HERE for more information.

Loading mentions Retweet

After f__king up John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN with two crappy and bizarre remakes, rocker turned hack film director, Rob Zombie wants destroy my fond childhood memories of one of my favorite films of all time by remaking the 50's sci-fi classic THE BLOB.  But what was good for generations of movie goers isn't good enough for Zombie because he's such a freaking "visionary".  Listen to what he told Variety:

"My intention is not to have a big red blobby thing; that's the first thing I want to change," Zombie said. "That gigantic Jell-O-looking thing might have been scary to audiences in the 1950s, but people would laugh now. I have a totally different take, one that's pretty dark."

No BLOB? Hey Zombie! Why don't you just rip out my heart while you're at it? (You're so sick you'd probably enjoy it.) Steve McQueen and Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. are probably spinning in their graves.

It was bad enough when Larry Hagman - yes, J.R. from Dallas and Major Nelson from I Dream of Jeanie - made BEWARE! THE BLOB in 1972.  But at least Hagman's BLOB had a BLOB in it.  There was a BLOB of sorts in Chuck Russell's 1988 remake THE BLOB, but "Big Red" was no where to be seen.  Russell's BLOB was an quick and agressive pinkish mass of up-chuck laced with the body parts of its victims.  Now Zombie wants to totally reinvent things (AGAIN) with a blobless BLOB. Say it isn't so!

Greedy producers in Hollywood should take a lesson from the very original, creative and profitable DISTRICT 9.  There are talented filmmakers like Neill Blomkamp out there with new and exciting stories to tell that won't break your budget.  Give them a chance instead of just rehashing old movies to make a quick buck.  This is why Peter Jackson is a genius and Rob Zombie will never be anything more than a brain-dead rock star with a camera.

Loading mentions Retweet

My favorite scene in the 1993 Michael Douglas film Falling Down, about a life-worn, frustrated, unemployed man who goes postal, is when he enters a fast food restaurant (armed with a machine gun) and orders a Double Wammy Burger with Cheese. When Douglas notices his burger looks nothing like the plump, juicy, 3 inch thick Whammy Burger pictured on the menu, he says, "Look at this sorry, miserable, squashed thing... Can anyone tell me what's wrong with this picture?" And then he goes postal.

The scene rings true because most of the food served in fast food restaurants looks nothing like the beautiful food we see in advertisements. Woman's Day has a great article on line which follows up on this notion called Fast Food Revealed: Real vs. Ads and shows side-by-side comparasions.

Most of us have seen the heavily promoted ads for KFC's new Kentucky Grilled Chicken.  It might be tasty, but doesn't look anything like the chicken in the ad.  Where are the grill marks?

Realistically, I know they're selling a product and the real food will never look as good as the one doctored by the food stylists and photographers for the ads, but I think they can do a little better, don't you?

You can see the rest of the photos and read the article at this link.

Loading mentions Retweet

Don't say we don't tackle the big issues here... I've always wondered how long was Bill Murray trapped in a time loop in the movie Groundhog Day? Wolf Gnards takes clues from the film to come up with a definitive answer of 8 years, 8 months, and 16 days. Follow the link to find out how they did it. Link -via Digg

Loading mentions Retweet

Is your TIVO so packed its hard drive is ready to explode? Do you have stacks of unwatched Netflix DVD's? Piles of unread books or magazines? Loads of dusty CD's you've never listened to? If so, you are suffering from Entertainment Debt - a modern day malady defined as having too much media to consume in too little time. And let's not forget media costs a lot of money - and that's another kind of debt to worry about.

My own quick inventory tallied 42 movies and dozens of TV episodes waiting on my DVR. I have a pile of unwatched DVD's, including the first season of In Treatment, seasons 1 and 2 of Mad Men and the mini-series Band of Brothers. Add to this a bunch of weekly technology podcasts on my Apple TV and over 300 Netflix "watch instantly" movies queued on my Roku box. Plus, the fall TV season is just weeks away and I'll be pushing my DirecTV HD DVR to the limits with new episodes of Heroes, Fringe, House, Sons of Anarchy, Stargate Universe, Flash Forward, The Big Bang Theory, The Office, 30 Rock, Lost, 24... Yikes!

How big is your Entertainment Debt? Let's hear from you.

Loading mentions Retweet

What would happen if Christmas trees got fed up with the annual holiday genocide of their species and decided to take revenge on their killers? Treevenge! is a very funny short horror film by Jason Eisener. You can watch the entire 16 minute film below. Enjoy a little Christmas in July! WARNING: Contains adult language and very graphic violence (against trees and people).

Loading mentions Retweet

Went to the movies last night for the first time in ages. Finally saw STAR TREK. Although the film was fantastic, the movie theater experience wasn't. Driving to crowded multiplexes at malls or shopping centers to watch a movie is a real pain in the ass - and it's expensive. Fortunately, there are alternatives. For the past few months, I've been really enjoying watching movies on HDTV and Blu Ray DVD. IMHO, the resolution and clarity far surpasses even the best theater projection, even digital. The other day, I watched LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and JAWS in HD (on DirecTV) and the films looked amazing. To rob a line from Yogi Berra, it was like watching them all over again for the first time. The quality of Blu Ray is so good it can even make a mediocre film like PAUL BLART: MALL COP more enjoyable to watch (maybe because I didn't plunk down $11 to see it). And think about this - a one month subscription to NETFLIX or HBO costs less than the price of one movie ticket. Buying an HDTV and a Blu Ray player is a smart investment, which will save you money and maybe your sanity.  From now on, I think I'll only go to the movies to see an event film, like James Cameron's upcoming sci-fi spectacular AVATAR, which will be shown in IMAX 3D this Christmas.  Until then, I'm happy being a HDTV couch potato.

Loading mentions Retweet