It could have been it.

Michael Jackson’s This Is It is a look behind the scenes as the King of Pop prepared for his farewell concert tour. It features MJ rehearsing the hits that were to be a part of the grand concert’s set list, such as “Thriller,” “Black or White,” and “Smooth Criminal.”

We glimpsed the preparation for monumental, special-effects and an ambitious stage show—such as a robot covered with videos that Michael was going to emerge from, a giant spider for “Thriller,” and 3-D effects.

Parts of the concert were going to be larger than life, with imagery of soldiers marching to infinity, and a giant bulldozer emerging on the stage. The vision for the concert was grand, and the planned dancing and choreography were superb. Though his health was compromised, you could still hear the power of his smooth, high voice, especially in a rendition of the hit “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You.”

As a master of his craft, Jackson knew exactly what he wanted. His process and work ethic are on display as he corrected minor parts of the sound, the dance, or the cue. After one take he quips to the camera, “that’s why this is rehearsal.”

This intimate look provides a chance to see what Michael Jackson was like as a person, as opposed to his music videos, concerts, or tabloid headlines. His humility and reverence for God come through strongly.

During the film he’d often mention doing this for God or for Love. This was evidenced in his communication style and interactions. In one scene he is shown giving feedback to a crew member. He gently explains, “I know you mean well, but this is difficult,” when asking to have his earpiece adjusted.

Considering all the marketing hype, the film itself isn’t as high-energy as the trailer makes it out to be. Maybe that’s to be expected considering it was just rehearsal footage, and not a polished music video or a finished work. The lack of energy is almost certainly related to Michael’s medical condition at the time. Looking at the frail Jackson, I felt a bit queasy. It was like seeing a ghost, and not simply because we know his unfortunate fate to come, but because he was livid.

The movie was at times poignant, such as when the dancers, with tears in their eyes, describe their feelings about auditioning. It was a dream come true for them.

Through the film, Jackson came through as much more than an entertainer, more like a preacher. He used music and dance to spread messages about love, peace, and caring for the earth. The songs “Earth Song” and “They Don’t Care About Us” and the thoughtful “Man in the Mirror,” amongst others, each hit home about their respective themes.

For MJ fans, this may rare be a rare occasion. As one of teary-eyed dancers said, describing his chance to audition: “This is it.”

SAW is back and as Lionsgate loves to preach… its not Halloween if its not Saw.. or something to that effect. SAW 6 is no SAW… but its also no SAW 5. So its good but its also not the magic of the original but then again who of us really expected it would be? SAW 6 is a nice step up from the debacle that was SAW 5 and I would say is on par with SAW 4 which I thought was pretty damn good!

The production values seem to be increased quite a bit with SAW 6 and unlike SAW 5 this one doesnt feel like a bunch of studio execs sat down in October and realized it was Halloween and time to try and squeeze a few million out of Jigsaw again and us desperate horror fans. In SAW 6 you have the usual cast of characters and a few surprises and as most of you should know yes Jigsaw is back and I am sure everyone figured out it would be in the form of flashbacks.

SAW 6 is easily one of the most gory in the franchise and it is no surprise that the Spanish decided to give it an X rating… although that is pushing it a bit far I think. Its 18A rating says it all… this movie is gorey gorey gorey. SAW is all about the traps, torture and self mutilation and in that department SAW 6 is no dissapointment.

Unlike SAW 5 this movie tries very hard to bring the story back and tell the tale of Jigsaw despite his demise in SAW 4. SAW 6 is gorier, better written and with production values on par with SAW. Unfortunately despite all this it still lacks the story and the thrills of the first one. The original SAW had a story and an ending that left you crying ‘Holy Sh*T’ and just like SAW 2, 3, 4 and 5… SAW 6 does not do that.

You know from the start to the finish exactly what you are going to get… although SAW 6 does offer a few neat twists which is a nice treat. SAW 6 is primarily all about the traps, gore and a hefty body count with story being secondary but for mosthorror fans it will be enough.

In fairness when you consider its SAW 6, overall its pretty polished. It doesnt feel like it was done on the cheap and more then once the audience i saw the film with grimaced and groaned loudly. Its not Halloween if its not SAW and SAW 6 definitely delivers on gore, carnage and really evil traps. Although as noted its not themagic of the original it was a fun trip down a very blood stained road and one that I think SAW fans should checkout. if you liked SAW 4 you will like SAW 6. If you hatedSAW 5 you will at least see how much SAW 6 has improved.

“Astro Boy” plays like “Transformers” for tots, a “Pinocchio” story that stays true to its source material’s storied past without adding much in the way of interest, outside of some clankingly obvious political subtext that will alienate people of all stripes.

The kiddie superhero first appeared more than a half-century ago in Osamu Tezuka’s manga series and has been subsequently featured in a number of popular Japanese television series, most famously in a black-and-white, 1963 incarnation regarded as ground zero for anime.

Director David Bowers, an Aardman Animations vet who co-wrote the movie with Timothy Hyde Harris (”Space Jam”), nicely blends Eastern and Western animation styles for this CG outing, giving the movie a zippy, retro style that’s nicely in tune with its Space Age origins.

The soft colors and shiny surfaces help mitigate a story that’s at its best when it lets its images do the talking. A clever opening prologue introduces the floating metropolis of Metro City, which hovers over a garbage-strewn Earth still inhabited by unfortunate “surface-dwellers” and not just Wall-E ‘bots.

Scientist superstar Dr. Tenma ( Nicolas Cage in a bit of vocal miscasting) has always been more of a virtual dad than the real thing to his prodigy son Toby (Freddie Highmore). When Toby is taken from him, a guilt-ridden Tenma builds a duplicate, super-powered robot in his place. But then Tenma loses heart and, after a run-in with Metro City’s warmongering president ( Donald Sutherland), Robot Toby, a.k.a. Astro Boy, finds himself cast downward to Earth.

The movie’s middle section drags as Astro Boy meets a bunch of Our Gang misfits, kvetches about feeling alienated and hangs out with some wacky robot revolutionaries, mildly amusing in their Marxist leanings. Less appealing is the villainous president’s nefarious desire to mix Astro Boy’s positive “blue” energy with unstable, evil “red” energy and create a “Peacekeeper” robot that can start a war and help him win re-election.

A little on-the-nose, don’t you think?

It’s a difficult tightrope to walk doing a film adaptation of a book, especially if the book is well loved. On one hand, if you change the book’s content too much, you run the risk of angering the fans who will turn on you for all the differences between the story in their heads and the one you’ve committed to film. On the other hand, if you don’t alter the story enough so that a few hundred pages worth of information gets crammed properly into 90 minutes worth of movie, those who have not read the books will not understand what is going on or why things are happening and thus will not be able to follow the story thoroughly. I am sorry to say that “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant”, does not walk that tightrope very well and, by the third act, tumbles clumsily into the safety net below.

After the opening credits, which reminded me of a cross between the credits for Spiderman and the credits for Lemony Snicket, we are thrust into the world of Darren Shan (Chris Massoglia), a boy of utter perfection – all “A”s in school, never gets into trouble, respectful and honest, etc. His parents, however, still take the time to impress upon him that conformity is the key to happiness and to never ever be different. I suppose this belief is meant to come as an affront when he later becomes one of the “freaks” but he doesn’t really react to his parent’s words so we don’t know if he cares all that much one way or the other. The only bad influence upon Darren is his best friend, Steve (John Hutcherson). We know Steve is Darren’s best friend because Darren tells us so. If it weren’t for that, I would never have believed it. Their relationship on screen was lacking in any chemistry – Steve is too aggressive and Darren far too passive – to come off as anything but a plot contrivance. What it feels like the screenwriters were doing, instead of building real characters, was setting up the final act. In fact, there were many places in the beginning of the film that they used short hand, sloppy methods to set us up for the big finale. The screenwriting is really about as lazy as the method they use to show that Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly), a vampire, can move extremely fast. First, they show us Mr. Crepsley and Darren both on screen at the same time. Then they cut to another angle and, oh my gosh, Mr. Crepsley isn’t there!! Really? Yeah. It’s a cut. It’s not very hard to make people disappear when you cut the film. They used this trick in Bewitched. That’s how dated it is. At least there they had Elizabeth Montgomery stand still while the Dick York moved off screen. It’s cheap filmmaking and it lowers the production value of the movie.

Of course the powers-that-be are bringing this film out now in the summer of the age of the vampire. Anything that sucks blood and sleeps in a coffin gets a film nowadays. However, these vampires have their own set of rules (don’t they all?). In this world, there are regular vampires – those who do not kill the humans they feast off of – and the vampaneze – those who do. These bloodsuckers have very sharp fingernails, can exhale a gas that puts people to sleep and have spit that will heal their wounds. On top of that they can run very fast, or what they call flitting. They hold their breath while they flit, or they should, although exactly why they must do so is not really explained.

There are two areas that I thought the film excelled in. The makeup department did an amazing job. The Wolfman, in particular, was brilliantly done and deserving of a much more frightening film. Also the sound department delivered on great sound. To make the audience cringe when a character gets hit or falls or runs into something, requires awesome sound design. They made me feel the connections when blows were dealt out. Oh, I’d also like to add that Wilem Dafoe does an excellent Vincent Price impersonation. Plus, in this film someone actually says that he wants to “rule the world”; a phrase I have not heard uttered since I last saw Pinky and the Brain. Sadly, these are the only bright spots in the film. The CGI – and there is lots of it – is very obvious and, in terms of quality, par for the course. The action scenes hide the lack of action hero quality in their stars by keeping the cameras very close to the actors and cutting quickly so you don’t really know what’s going on. When that doesn’t work, they speed up the film as if something which is boring and awkward at normal speed will suddenly be amazing to watch when it’s twice as fast.

John C. Reilly is a great actor, one of the best at work today. He is not, however, known for playing guys who are commanding or forceful or threatening, all of which are asked of him here. Instead, he looks and feels out of place and ends up chewing some major scenery. Many well known faces parade through this film; Salma Hayek, Orlando Jones, Patrick Fugit, Ken Watanabe, Kristen Schaal, Jane Krakowski and on and on; most are given just barely enough to do to justify signing on for this film. Perhaps there will be more for them in the sequels. That being said, the person I feel worse for is Chris Massoglia. The screenwriters didn’t even give him a chance. His Darren Shan is such a passive hero that things happen to him or around him and he just kinda mopes about it. When he’s not moping, he’s whining and when he’s not whining, he’s complaining. Half way through the film I didn’t understand why Mr. Crepsley was even bothering with Darren at all. It wasn’t until the very end that Darren started to show the slightest of backbones. Again, if the movie gods give this film a good opening weekend and if the thirst for vampires and their ilk does not dissipate, let’s hope there’s more of that backbone for him in the sequel.

We all know the hipster adage that when it comes to entertainment, “If it has mass appeal, I’m going to stay home and listen to The Smiths instead.” So why is it that the entirely mainstream movie, Where the Wild Things Are is getting so many of our hipster buddies to spend their hard-earned parents’ money on tickets? For months the trailers have been glowing before pink, plastic sunglasses and Kanye shades. But why? Have the advertisers launched an ad program on the side of Pabst Blue Ribbon cans?

Nay, dear reader. This must be the work of legendary hipster director Spike Jonze. His career is a tapestry of music videos and freestyle BMX, and some jackass thrown in there for good measure. Sometimes it takes a true genius to realize the trick to giving a movie a sense of documentary realism is to violently shake the camera so frequently and needlessly that one might think Michael J Fox was the Director of Photography. Or was that 28 Weeks Later? Truthfully though, to a hipster, he’s merely a poor man’s Michel Gondry.

Perhaps it was really the music that pulled the hipstery NYU masses in. If the Arcade Fire in the trailer is too “Pitchfork reviewed” for his royal high-ness, then it may have been Karen O’s yodeling throughout the film that titillated those American Apparel tights. Or could it have been the combination of the beautiful Jim Henson Company monster suits, with the occasional nine-year-old doing the robot, with just enough pseudo-intellectual musings to be the fodder for hipster foreplay. The foreplay may sound something like the following conversation:

“When Max said that the sun would eventually die, it was just so…Kafkaesque.”
“Totally PoMo.”
“If you think about it, that could happen like, tomorrow. The sun could burn up and kill us all. We should probably have sex before that happens.”
“Okay, but don’t come so quickly this time.”

The most likely reason is much more practical, however. It is a well known fact that the tight pants worn by the hipster constricts his bladder, giving him a urination frequency comparable to that of your grandmother, so of course hipsters should be excited about Where the Wild Things Are, a movie which moves so slowly that the official bladder management iPhone app, RunPee, has noted that this 100 minute-long movie has no less than six opportunities for a successful pee break. If you’d like, you can compare that to the mere four recommended pee breaks in the glorious two hours and 33 minutes of Inglourious Basterds. Finally, there is a movie that lets us spend more time peeing than watching the movie, without missing any of the plot.

TONY Jaa made a big impact with his first film Ong Bak in 2003.

It featured Muay Thai kickboxing on a level never before seen on the big screen, bringing it to a mainstream Western audience for the first time.

In addition, Tony Jaa did all of his own stunts and used no wires or supports in his performances. The result was a blisteringly fast, brutal and exciting martial arts romp which revitalised a rather flagging genre.

Ong Bak: The Beginning tries to go even further by incorporating other martial arts into the mix.

Set in 15th Century Thailand, it tells the story of Tien, the son of an influential provincial lord, who is adopted by guerrilla fighters after his father is killed by rebel troops.

Here he learns how to fight and grows into a formidable martial arts master and decides to exact revenge against his father’s killers.

It’s an ambitious project which attempts to create a true martial arts epic by portraying many martial arts disciplines, bone-breaking action and pulse-pounding fight scenes.

Unfortunately it aimed a bit higher than it has managed to achieve. Partly this is because of Tony Jaa, whose involvement in the project was all-consuming; he’s the writer, director, fight choreographer and action director; it wouldn’t be surprising if he was listed as the caterer.

This heavy workload took its toll on him leading him to leave the production for two months which forced his mentor Panna Rittikrai to take over the directorial helm. Unfortunately it shows.

The plot doesn’t make any sense at all; it’s fractured and sloppy, it cuts around things for no reason, refuses to tie up any loose ends and is generally extremely frustrating.

Credit must be given where credit is due though and the martial arts scenes are spectacular; Jaa leaping, diving and using props that would make even Jackie Chan raise an eyebrow.

He also makes it look all simultaneously effortless as well as brutally effective. As a martial arts practitioner myself, I can see many styles have been used; everything from Jaa’s trademark background in Muay Thai, to Jiu Jitsu, various styles of Kung Fu, and even Harimau Silat (a real rarity on screen).

But without a cohesive plot to hold it all together, you rapidly lose interest.

Tony Jaa enters and beats up a load of guys. Why? Who knows. Then he moves to another location and beats up some more guys for no discernable reason. It doesn’t become any more penetrable than that and it’s this lack of any coherent narrative which makes it frustrating.

It would be unfair not to praise Jaa’s athleticism; he’s a superb action star but in the future it would be better if he stuck to what he was good at (ie elbowing people in the head) and let someone else take the reins for plot and story.

It’s a great shame, because Jaa has the ability to be a true martial arts superstar for the modern age, but this is a muddled and broken film that would work better as a series of Youtube clips.

If you watch Law Abiding Citizen online, you’ll see a terrific crime thriller. Director F. Gary Gray takes a screenplay written by Kurt Wimmer and turns it into a movie too good to miss. The two main cast members are Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler.

Gerard Butler plays a man named Clyde Shelton who wants revenge on the murderers that killed his wife and daughter and revenge on the justice system in general. Scenes of intense violence, including rape and torture, plus harsh language are the reasons for the film’s R rating. Because the movie is so intense, you may want to lock your doors and windows when you watch Law Abiding Citizen online.

Though one killer ends up on death row, the other is let off lightly due to a plea bargain deal. Shelton ends up in prison too after an attempt at retribution. But jail isn’t enough to stop Shelton from repaying those in the criminal justice system who he believes failed him badly.

You can see landmarks like Philadelphia’s city hall and the Broadmeadows penitentiary when you watch Law Abiding Citizen online. Do you think you know who the “bad guy” in Law Abiding Citizen is? The DA who failed Shelton by letting one of his wife and daughter’s killers off easily?

Your perspective may shift more than once in this movie. Rice isn’t perfect – having made some dodgy deals as DA. But is he deserving of the fruits of Shelton’s out of control rage?

Shelton does some things that a sane person might think about but probably wouldn’t do. Shelton and Rice have their good sides and their bad sides.

In addition to Butler and Foxx, Michael Irby, Regina Hall, Colm Meany, Leslie Bibb, Bruce McGill, and Viola Davis appear in the movie. If you watch Law Abiding Citizen online, you’ll enjoy an original movie score, too. Brian Tyler composed the score, and it was performed by a 52 member subset of the Hollywood Studio Symphony.

“Faster, fatter, bigger, cheaper.” A farmer describes fast food folly.

Although I would like to call Food, Inc. a horror film, I must relax my delicate eating sensibilities to call it a disturbing documentary. Images of little chickens hanging like laundry on conveyor cables above fast-moving assembly lines and cows patiently standing knee high in feces have changed my attitude toward grilling.

Robert Kenner’s Food, Inc. isn’t half the fun of a Michael Moore doc in which the infamous director savages everyone from auto execs to neocons. Kenner is more credible because he doesn’t viciously pursue any one official, just the food industry itself (and McDonald’s more than any other), which has become oligarchic and impersonal, endangering the quality and safety of consumers. Unlike Moore, Kenner has no sense of humor.

Like almost all documentarians, Kenner smartly offers ways to change the barbaric methods and marketing of food. In truth too little praise is given to the food giants that have provided good nutrition and cheaper food in an amazing harvesting that can feed the world. Narrator/interviewer Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) and scientist Michael Pollan (UC Berkeley) modestly present their cases for food abuse such as the demand in corporations like McDonalds for “faster, fatter, bigger, cheaper.”

On the point of treating animals with kindness, the documentary has encouraged me to consider vegetables. Enough babbling, go watch Food Inc online free by clicking on any of the links above.

It’s a paradise… but its no vacation.

Four pairs of Midwestern couples goes on a journey to a tropical island resort. Three of the couples enjoy doing jet ski, relaxation at the spa, eating tropical foods, enjoying their hearts out having fun in the sun while one of the couple is trying to work on their marriage. Soon they discover that participation in the resort’s marriage counselling is not optional. Suddenly, their group-rate vacation comes at a price. Watch Couples Retreat Online and discover what happens next in this hilarious comedy focusing at real world problems faced by all couples.

Jason (Jason Bateman) and Cynthia (Kristen Bell), whose marriage is the verge of breaking down due to infertility problems, persuade their friends to come along with them in a tropical island because having them will give them discount for having a bulk order, assuring them that the on the counseling is optional. But it isn’t — life in paradise involves mandatory 6 a.m. encounter sessions — and the other three couples soon are confronting their own issues. Dave (Vaughn) and Ronnie (Malin Ackerman) are stressed out because they have kids and a remodeling project. (This is about as interesting as it sounds.) Joey (Favreau) and Lucy (Kristin Davis) are staying together for the sake of their teenage daughter. Shane (Faizon Love) is involved with the much-younger Trudy (Kali Hawk), but yearns for his ex- wife. Watch Couples Retreat Online and see how this couples live their life on this tropical island.

All of this is discussed, at great length, until you just may want a Mai Tai yourself. Peter Serafinowicz has a few funny moments as an unctuous resort employee (his name is Stanley “with a C”), as does the very sculpted Carlos Ponce as a mellow and freehanded yoga instructor. But Peter Billingsley’s direction drags everything along, and you find yourself dwelling on the oddest things, like the costume designer’s penchant for putting Ackerman, Bell and Davis in perfectly harmonizing solid colors as if they’re about to pose for a J. Crew spread or burst into Andrews Sister-style song. Frankly, I wished they had.

Watch Couples Retreat Online, with Vince Vaughn, Malin Ackerman, Jon Favreau, Kristin Davis, Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, Faizon Love, Kali Hawk. Directed by Peter Billingsley, from a screenplay by Favreau, Vaughn and Dana Fox. 107 minutes. Rated PG-13 for sexual content and language.

Are you a horror film fanatic? You should definitely watch Paranormal Activity online. It is a horror mockumentary (a documentary recording real life but is completely fictional). The story circulates in a middle class couple who moves into what they seem a typical suburban starter tract house, then they begun to be disturbed by the presense of something that may or may not be somehow demonic but is certainly most active in the middle of the night. Specially when they sleeps.

Oren Peli came to the idea of the film when he started to experience “unnatural things” at home and started to wonder what might happen if he set up cameras and record what will happen as he sleeps at night.

It took a while for Peli to set up his house for the shoot. It took him roughly a year as repaint the walls, add furniture, put in carpets, and going as far as building an actual stairwell. He joked of having a good side effect of the renovation giving him his “dream home with a big TV”. He also studied paranormal phenomena and demonology stating, “ We wanted to be as truthful as we could be”. The main reason for demon as the ghost in the story was because of the outcome of the study pointing to the most malevolent and violent entities being the “demons”. If you want to see the outcome of his house remodelling and that outcome of his study you must watch Paranormal Activity Online.

For getting the cast for the movies, Peli auditioned a hundred of people before finally meeting Katie Featherston and actor Micah Sloat. They originally auditioned individually but Peli called them back for an audition together. Peli was so impressed with the chemistry of the two. “If you saw the audition footage, you would’ve thought they had known each other for years” as Peli commented.

In casting the movie, Peli auditioned “a few hundred people” before finally meeting actress Katie Featherston and actor Micah Sloat. He originally auditioned them individually and then called them back so that they could audition together. Peli was impressed with the chemistry the actors showed saying, “If you saw the [audition] footage, you would’ve thought they had known each other for years.”. Mark Fredrichs, Amber Armstrong and Ashley Palmer can also be seen in the movies. Watch Paranormal Activity Online and see this actors and actresses interpret the life of being disturbed by demons.

Released by the Paramount Pictures and produced by Oren Peli. Paranomal Activity hits the US theaters September 25, 2009. This movie runs for about 86mins with MPAA rating of “R” . Watch Paranormal Activity Online now!