Moonwalker: A Superstar’s Burden

moonwalker-cover

When I was a kid, “Moonwalker” was on constant rotation on our VCR and for ninety minutes, it kept me and my brother quiet and out of my mom’s hair. As brothers prone to fighting and bickering, movies are what usually kept us shut, especially since we couldn’t even afford basic cable back then. Around the time “Moonwalker” came to VHS, we knew perfectly clear that the movie itself was nothing but a promotional tool for Michael Jackson.

Back then, Jackson ruled the world and was considered the most iconic person on the face of the Earth. He was pretty much a God, so we didn’t care that the VHS was just nothing but a commercial for Jackson’s incredible abilities, we just wanted Michael Jackson. Pretty much in the same way we didn’t care “Kriss Kross: Jump” or “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Making of the Coming Out of Their Shells Tour” were just tapes intent on promoting a product, we didn’t care” Moonwalker” was just for Michael Jackson’s publicity team. It was our fix of the popular Jackson, and we loved it.

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God Bless America (2011)

My reaction to “God Bless America” came in three waves. 1. Wait, Bobcat Goldthwait makes films? 2. Wait, Bobcat Goldthwait makes great films? 3. Wait–Bobcat Goldthwait directed one of my favorite films of 2012?! Hot damn. “God Bless America” is one of the most vicious reflections of American pop culture I’ve ever seen. It’s a relentless, tasteless and violent look at one man’s response to the dying culture of America, and how we’ve so embraced idiocy and tailored rudeness in to a positive trait that it becomes only logical to snuff out those who impact it.

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Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (2008)

Like the abortion issue, everyone has an opinion about Roman Polanski and his crime. They have opinions about the particulars; they have thoughts about why he committed this crime, and are often very quick to label him a pedophile, or rapist, or criminal. And much like the abortion issue, every thought is controversial and turns heated. What “Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired” does is try to look at the issue from all areas. It never completely deifies Polanski, and it never demonizes him as a sexual deviant. It instead asks you to think of why he fled the country, and for some that may be a hard pill to swallow.

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