Michael Jackson is Gone (But Not Forgotten)

Michael would've been 61 this year. Unfortunately, his doctor's treatment killed him.

His music lives on.

RIP

Michael Jackson Vision DVD

Michael Jackson's Vision

It might have been fate that MTV was born at the same time people began to notice the rare talent and artistic ingenuity of Michael Jackson. It proved to be a perfect match between the new television network and the young rising icon. Early on, Michael saw MTV’s potential as a force of its own and understood that it offered him the chance to pioneer a whole new visual style through which people could see music, not just listen to it. For the first time, artists had the opportunity to truly shape a vision of a story around their songs. For Michael, this meant treating the song as a “script” and creating a stand-alone film to tell that story. In fact, Michael referred to each of these productions as a "short film" and not a “music video.”

No other artist contributed more to the development of this art form than Michael Jackson. Just look at the impact of Thriller, which was recently named the first (and only) music video ever to be inducted by the Library of Congress into the National Film Registry - an elite collection of only a few hundred films. In addition to this, Michael’s vision had immense cultural impact . The enormous popularity of his short films proved to MTV Executives that they were wrong about what their audience wanted; it was Michael who broke through that initial barrier and created opportunity for future African American artists.

Here, for the first time, is the complete collection of all 35 of the short films produced by Michael during his career as a solo artist - 10 of which are appearing on DVD for the first time. All of the short films have been meticulously restored and remastered for the ultimate audio and visual experience and a bonus DVD includes 7 additional videos including “Enjoy Yourself” with The Jacksons, “Say Say Say” with Paul McCartney and the Previously Unreleased video for “One More Chance”. This is a true representation of Michael Jackson’s Vision.

DISC 1

1 - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (4:12)
Director: Nick Saxton

2 - Rock With You (3:22)
Director: Bruce Gowers

3 - She's Out of My Life (3:35)
Director: Bruce Gowers

4 - Billie Jean (4:54)
Director: Steve Barron

5 - Beat It (4:57)
Director: Bob Giraldi

6 - Thriller (13:42)
Director: John Landis (little more need be said about this one, but it co-starred Ola Ray, and was famously voiced over by Vincent Price.)

7 - Bad (18:05)
Director: Martin Scorsese (co-starring Wesley Snipes)

8 - The Way You Make Me Feel (9:24)
Director: Joe Pytka (with a cameo by La Toya Jackson)

9 - Man In the Mirror (5:03)
Director: Don Wilson

10 - Dirty Diana (5:05)
Director: Joe Pytka

11 - Smooth Criminal (9:27)
Director: Colin Chilvers

12 - Another Part of Me (4:45)
Director: Patrick T. Kelly

13 - Speed Demon (10:08)
Director: Will Vinton

14 - Come Together (5:40)
Director: Jerry Kramer & Colin Chilvers

15 - Leave Me Alone (4:36)
Director: Jim Blashfield and Paul Diener

16 - Liberian Girl (5:34)
Director: Jim Yukich(featuring VIRTUALLY EVERYONE important, hip and happening in Hollywood at the time: dedicated to Elizabeth Taylor and featuring Steven Spielberg, John Travolta, Paula Abdul and waaaaaaay too many others to mention. There's even a cute moment with Weird Al Yankovic who used to spoof MJ! Fun! And shows what clout MJ had to get all those big names.)

Total Disc 1: 1hr 52min


DISC 2

1 - Black or White (11:01)
Director: John Landis (with Macaulay Culkin, George Wendt and a small bit featuring Tyra Banks)

2 - Remember The Time (9:16)
Director: John Singleton (co-starring Eddie Murphy, Iman and Magic Johnson)

3 - In the Closet (6:05)
Director: Herb Ritts (co-starring Naomi Campbell)

4 - Jam (7:59)
Director: David Nelson (co-starring Michael Jordan)

5 - Heal The World (7:32)
Director: Joe Pytka

6 - Give In To Me (5:29)
Director: Andy Morahan

7 - Who Is It (6:34)
Director: David Fincher

8 - Will You Be There (5:55)
Director: Vincent Paterson (Theme from the movie Free Willy)

9 - Gone Too Soon (3:38)
Director: Bill DiCicco (Dedicated to Ryan White, who, before he died, spoke about how much it meant to him that MJ would get in a hot tub with him back when people wouldn't even touch a person with HIV/AIDS.)

10 - Scream (4:47)
Director: Mark Romanek (co-starring the impeccable Janet Jackson!)

11 - Childhood (4:29)
Director: Nicholas Brandt (Theme from the movie Free Willy 2)

12 - You Are Not Alone (5:34)
Director: Wayne Isham (with Lisa Marie Presley)

13 - Earth Song (6:44)
Director: Nicholas Brandt (WOW!! This is the one Joe Jackson proudly called his all time favorite MJ song!)

14 - They Don't Care About Us (7:08)
Director: Spike Lee

15 - Stranger In Moscow (5:33)
Director: Nicholas Brandt

16 - Blood On The Dance Floor (5:27)
Director: Michael Jackson & Vincent Patterson

17 - Ghosts (3:58)
Director: Stan Winston (featuring MJ in a great disguise!! Allegedly spoofing the Santa Barbara DA)

18 - You Rock My World (13:30)
Director: Paul Hunter (co-starring Chris Tucker from Rush Hour! AND none other than Academy Award Winner, Marlon Brando!)

19 - Cry (4:57)
Director: Nick Brandt (a really nice lost gem of a song and video)

Total Disc 2: 2hrs 5min


DISC 3 (Bonus Features)

1 - Blame It On the Boogie - The Jacksons (3:32)

2 - Enjoy Yourself - The Jacksons (3:31)

3 - Can You Feel It - The Jacksons (9:37)

4 - Say Say Say - Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson (4:57)
Director: Bob Giraldi

5 - They Don't Care About Us - Prison version (4:52)
Director: Spike Lee

6 - Why? - 3T (Tito's kids' band) featuring Michael Jackson (4:33)

7 - One More Chance - previously unreleased (4:03)

Total Disc 3: 35min

This is It: Concert Movie

Has anyone seen This is It, the Michael Jackson Concert Movie?

Michael Jackson Was Murdered

Apparently, MJ's case is going to be a mess. Already a circus thanks to his fame and legacy, now that his death is classified as a homicide, the world will go into a circle.

Coroner rules Jackson's death a homicide
msnbc.com - ‎22 minutes ago‎
HOUSTON - The Los Angeles County coroner ruled Michael Jackson's death a homicide, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press on Monday.
Jackson 'had lethal drug levels' BBC News
Coroner says Michael Jackson died from lethal dose of propofol Reuters

Tribute a Michael Jackson: Jermaine Jackson Sings Smile 07/07/09

Tribute a Michael Jackson
Jermaine Jackson sings Smile
07/07/09

Jermaine has still got it.

Massive demand for Michael Jackson memorial tickets

I think if they televised this in major cities, in movie theaters, people would go. I would. I'd easily pay $20 a ticket. Would you?

Massive demand for Michael Jackson memorial tickets

Prison Thriller To Remember Michael Jackson

More than 1,500 inmates at a maximum security prison in the Philippines have performed a Michael Jackson tribute for the public. Their routine has become a global internet hit. No commentary on this video.



http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/stopthepresses/50813/prisoners-of-love-the-new-thriller-re-enactment
Category: News & Politics

Tags: More than 1More than 1

Prisoners Of Love: The New "Thriller" Re-enactment
Posted Sat Jun 27, 2009 3:41pm PDT by Billy Altman in Stop The Presses!
Talk about deja view all over again.
Earlier today, the 1,500 orange-jumpsuit-clad inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention & Rehabilitation Center on the east coast of Cebu Island in the Philippines reprised their phenomenally popular 2007 viral performance of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in tribute to the King Of Pop, who died Thursday.


The original four-minute Web-smash video, you may recall, stemmed from an experimental program started by local security consultant Byron Garcia, which added synchronized dancing to the prison's exercise programs in the hopes of spurring better attendance and more involved participation. And judging by the results, it was certainly a success, as Garcia's post of the convicts' conga lines cavorting a la Jackson and his legion of undulating undead became an immediate phenomenon, drawing over 24 million hits--a million of them in the 24-hour period following the news of Jackson's death.
Of course, "hit" would seem to be an especially appropriate word when discussing criminals--though judging from the, er, résumés of many of the thespic inmates at Cebu prison, drug-related offenses do seems to be up there in shared "credits."

Still, it was sort of comforting to see Crisanto Niere, the drug dealer who impersonated Jackson in the first YouTube dance, back in the lead role in the revival, thanks most likely to the fact that he still has a few years on his seven-year sentence and didn't have any conflicting bookings--legal or illegal--to worry about.

Were these guys and gals troupers? After getting the OK to proceed with the tribute performance, the 1,500 guys and gals of the Cebu company practiced virtually around the clock under the watchful eyes of not only their built-in audience of armed prison guards but also a professional choreographer hired by the prison to whip the company into "Thriller"-appropriate lurching shape.

And bless their paying-their-debts-to-society heads, the Cebu inmates have once again done their warden, the country, and, yes, the entire planet proud. As Michael Jackson, the fallen idol whose music helped these unlikely people gain international recognition, once noted, it doesn't matter if you're black or white, or living as a free person in society or inside a detention and rehab center in the Philippines. We're all people--and we are the world.