Recommendations of the Editorial team
18 days before the start of his 50-concert “This Is It” series in London, Michael Jackson died of a propofol overdose. He was a sick man, but this rehearsal recording shows a singer and dancer who appears cheerful and fit, fitter than many other 50-year-old stage artists. Jackson hits the notes of “Human Nature,” does the dance moves of his eleven-year-old self in “I Want You Back,” and gives clear instructions as the band’s musical director.
He didn’t want to die, no doubt about it. The posthumously released “This Is It” documentary is a dignified farewell to Michael Jackson.
While he was still alive, in 1988, his feature film “Moonwalker” was released, based on songs from the “Bad” album. The focus is on the animated (dough) figures in “Speed Demon” and “Leave Me Alone” as well as the gangster homage “Smooth Criminal,” in which Jackson demonstrates his best-known move besides the moonwalk, a gravity-defying 45-degree forward bend.
Heroin for children
The framework is absurd: Jackson as a child-loving savior who has to shake off his pop critics before he can save the world, including the villain Frankie “Mr. Big” LiDeo (Joe Pesci). A scene that was cut out would have shown how evil Mr. Big is. In it, Pesci threatens to inject all the children with heroin.
At the end, Jackson sings “Come Together” – a demonstration of power, because he had bought the rights to the Beatles songs from under Paul McCartney’s nose. “Moonwalker” was only shown briefly in cinemas in this country; The launch in the most important market, the USA, during the prestigious Christmas season was cancelled. Instead, the work went straight to video and was released on VHS in America. In the rest of the world it grossed $67 million and was therefore not a flop (Plaion Pictures).
