Michael Jackson once taught Fred Astaire to moonwalk. Jackson wasn't as good a dancer as the screen legend - he didn't have the inventiveness in the steps, but he did have the grace and naturalness of Astaire.
Jackson's dancing abilities, as well as his other immense talents, are on display in "Michael Jackson's This Is It," a documentary directed by Kenny Ortega, a longtime Jackson friend and choreographer.
The documentary, taken from more than 100 hours of taped rehearsals for a planned 50-concert comeback tour, is deliberately vague about what process in the concert's development it's showing - mostly shot from April to June.
As much as you see him in "This Is It," there is no real close-up of Jackson, who appears almost always behind sunglasses and in a full body shot. The footage was meant to be a personal recording for Jackson, who died last June of a drug overdose, and not a true documentary.
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Still, it is a thrill to see Jackson perform, and what "This Is It" confirms is that he was a extraordinary showman and that there is no one who can match him.
The problem with doing films about poets - especially dying ones - is that they usually don't lead active lives. Jane Campion's stylish "Bright Star" overcomes much of that dilemma in telling the story of British 19th-century Romantic poet John Keats and Fanny Bawne, who was an inspiration and the love of Keats' brief life.
While the film's focus is on Keats, the bright star is Fanny, luminously played by Australian actress Abbie Cornish. Her vitality is the counterpoint to the poet (Ben Whishaw), who is suffering from tuberculosis.
When we first meet her, she is an outspoken young woman who designs hats and dresses, but when she meets the poor Keats, she loses all sensibility.
Campion's genius in "Bright Star" is making Keats' words become a character. They are the go-between in the unresolved sexual tension between Fanny and the poet.
Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, "Whip It," is a fun, messy, girl-power dramedy. It stars Ellen Page as Bliss, a Texas teenager being shepherded through beauty pageants by her mother, who is trying to fulfill her own dreams.
Rebellious at heart but not wanting to disappoint her mother, Bliss finally finds her outlet when she happens on the chaotic world of competitive women's roller derby. It's fairly obvious where "Whip It" is going.
The action scenes are energetic, and the squad is peppered with the expected collection of colorful characters. Also released on Tuesday
"Surrogates"
"The Boys Are Back "
"I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell"
"Little Ashes"
"Saw VI"
"Tennessee"
"Southland: The Complete First Season"
"I Heart Jonas"
"Pawn Stars: The Complete Season 1"
"Amelia"
"Adam"
"Black Dynamite"
"Love Happens"
"More Than a Game"
"The House of the Devil"
"New York, I Love You"
