paul2001sw-1 Michael Jackson was a rare thing, a child star who actually made it as an adult. He was also a complicated icon of black America, an individual whose sanity was sometimes questioned, and a businessman, very definitely promoting a product. Spike Lee's documentary focuses mainly on the first of these, charting his rise to fame. It's definietly an interesting story, but the overall tone is hagiographic, and the contrast between the young Jackson's astonishingly shy public persona and the confident performer is never completely explained: there are a lot of talking heads here, but none tell us anything that personal. Still, it left me wanting to know about the next phases of his life as well, the rise to megastardom and madness, and his unfortunately early death; and with a sense of recognition of his phenomenal talent, even though his music wasn't my personal taste.

MovieHoliks I saw this off Showtime a few days ago. Spike Lee has made some great docs over the years- "4 Little Girls", "When The Levees Broke", etc.., and this one is no exception. This covers MJ's life/career leading up to, and including, his first solo LP, "Off The Wall". It deconstructs the songs on this album, without which, there would have been no "Thriller"! Loved this movie- the interviews, the music, and the sorta diary of MJ himself, as he talked about what was going on in his life/mind at each event in the film. A must-see! But PS- *possible SPOILER*: don't look for any discussion about all the child abuse scandals. This movie is about the music...

poicop This documentary on the impressive, to say the least, Michael Jackson...Is GOLD. Can't help but think of the time and skill at which Spike Lee puts into this needed to be told Documentary on the life of Michael Jackson leading up to his release of OFF THE WALL. The old footage. As clear as it can be. Stunning. The editing is incredible. The interviews from the people who were there, in the studio. To the people who were influenced in and around the time of Michael, and the Jackson 5. I didn't want it to end. And yet, I'm reminded of just how extraordinary of a talent Michael was. And the extraordinary sad events on how we lost him.First there was the BAD documentary, then there's the OFF THE WALL documentary. I hope Spike is saving the best for last with THRILLER Documentary. But after watching JOURNEY from Mowtown to Off the Wall. That might be a hard order to fill. Please Spike do it.Two talents...Spike Lee making a documentary about Jackson. Unbelievable. Thanks Spike Lee, and Thanks Michael...for everything.

Marius WM Spike Lee seem to have settled for a recipe for how to make documentaries about Michael Jackson that are entertaining but not really informative.The recipe is this: Talk to a bunch of famous people about how great they think Off the wall is. (He did the same with Bad25). Mix it with archival footage of Michael Jackson. Go through each track and talk a little bit about it, and when we get to the last track, the film ends. Even though he has people who wrote some of the songs, like Stevie Wonder, he refuses to go into detail and lets other irrelevant artists such as Pharell describe them instead. He does not really go in depth enough, as he should for this big artist. He does not interview Quincy Jones, the main producer who launched Jacksons solo career, and relies on old archival footage instead. He hints of controversial subjects such as racism destroying the genre of disco, and Jackson rising above that. But its all done in a hurry as we plow through some beats and steps from Jacksons glittery feet on stage. Because thats more important to Lee.Its more important to make this a celebration of Jackson, keep the audience amazed and keep the grove going. When in fact, there were serious subjects, conflicts and challenges within this era of Jacksons life. My biggest question is what did Jackson want to do different artistically that he could not do before? This is never answered. We hear how Michael eventually broke away from his family, but no mention of the fact that he was physically abused by his father, and the fact that might have something to do with his desire to work on his own.