![]() ![]() On set, he met the legendary Quincy Jones, the film’s music supervisor, who would go on to produce Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad. And Michael slowly began to distinguish himself as a talent worthy of his own spotlight: with a solo performance at 14 at the 1973 Academy Awards with the 1978 single “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground),” penned by the Jacksons and, per Questlove, the song that “enabled people to see Michael Jackson finally as an adult” with his performance as the Scarecrow in the 1978 movie adaptation The Wiz. They rebranded themselves as The Jacksons, purveyors of a new disco sound produced by the Philadelphia-based team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Seeking the kind of creative control Motown’s Berry Gordy wouldn’t offer, they left for Epic Records, marooning their brother Jermaine, who was married to Gordy’s daughter, and their name, which Motown owned. “I learned to cut a track.” But, eventually, the Jacksons wanted to learn other things, too. “Motown was the greatest school for me,” Jackson explains in an unidentified audio snippet. ![]() They signed to Motown Records, where they cultivated a sound and image that was pure bubblegum pop, the Mickey Mouse Club for black kids, as Suzanne de Passe, a Motown executive, puts it. They were overnight sensations, mobbed wherever they went. But suddenly, the Jackson brothers had four number one hits. They were poor, a family of 11 kids living in a two-bedroom house in a deeply depressed town, never sure there would be enough food to go around. In fact-and this is most embarrassing of all-it’s been a lifelong process of putting two and two together, coupling that lily-voiced apparition, that cultural enigma, with the pop songs I already knew anonymously, lyrics absorbed through osmosis, beats I danced to at bar mitzvahs, homecomings, college parties, New York City bars: “I Want You Back,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Man in the Mirror,” “Beat It,” “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)”-all Michael. Later, I knew him as the Michael Jackson who dangled his 9-month-old son over a railing in Berlin, the one accused of improprieties with little boys, the one who wore a hat and kerchief to hide his face, and appeared ghostlike himself whenever caught on camera. I was only a few dozen miles, though a world away, from where Michael himself grew up, in Gary, Indiana, close enough that on a clear day you could see the smokestacks hovering ominously, ghostlike over the lake. I can hear the opening piano chords now, that stripped-down gospel sound, his clarion voice coming in on top: “Hold me, like the ri-iver Jordan.” I belted out those lines the entire summer of ’93, and probably ’94 and ’95, too, flinging myself, orca-like, in and out of the chilly waters of Lake Michigan. Possibly curious viewing for fans of Park's original but a compelling must see for viewers not familiar with the story.I’m embarrassed to admit it, but my Michael Jackson was the one who sang the theme song to Free Willy. Ultimately, those who want a gritty psychological thriller with a spot of action and a fantastic twist look no further. Nevertheless it equals or debatably surpasses the likes of Sixth Sense, Angel Heart, The Usual Suspects to name a few with its surprise ending. The casual viewer may not find the dark humour, peculiar characters or reveal palatable. Jackson leaves an impression but Josh Brolin excels and clearly was 100 percent dedicated to the role, surprisingly executing the action scenes with surreptitiousness. Lee's offering is wonderfully filmed and acted, Samuel L. Pacing however does feel choppy/rushed in places possibly due to studios heavy editing intervention. With plenty of homage's to Chan-wook Park's 2003 original Spike Lee adaptation makes some minor changes to the story some are for the better including a more fitting closing. A solid remake of the great South Korean film based on the Japanese Manga 'Oldboy' by Nobuaki Minegishi and Garon Tsuchiya. And while bettering himself in the process he aims to find out why he endured his confinement. After finding that he has been framed for murder he sets out for revenge and vindication. A washed up alcoholic is kidnapped and imprisoned in a single room by his unseen captors for 20 years. ![]()
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