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So what do you get when my personal favorite filmmaker (Spike Lee) does a documentary about my personal favorite artist of all time (Michael Jackson)?  You get BAD25, an absolute must see for all die hard MJ fans, and a well spent 2 hours for those of you who were fans of Mike at the apex of his artistic powers (which covers the rest of planet Earth, minimum).

With a near perfect mix of interviews with celebrity crushes/interviews, music industry insiders, choreographers, and the short filmmakers, BAD25 is both a great tribute to the iconic King of Pop, while also showing how many super talented collaborators Mike had to help bring his vision to life.  It starts with the still ridiculous question, ‘How do you top Thriller?’  When even some of his closest people thought Mike should try something a little different, Mike set the goal of actually topping the greatest selling album of all time.  Smart decision number one was getting together again with the icon in his own right Quincy Jones.   From there, we get first hand accounts from everyone from Siedah Garrett to Martin Scorsese to Sheryl Crow on what it was like to work with MJ in creating each song, each video, working on his first solo tour.  We even get a nice bit of comic relief when Spike has to address ‘Just Good Friends’; looking at the album playlist now it really is ridiculous.  Ten songs EVERYONE knows…and ‘Just Good Friends’.

So needless to say, I can’t recommend this one enough.  If you’re in L.A., it’s still playing at the Chinese Theatre for a few more days.  It’s premiering on ABC during Thanksgiving weekend.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a floor to ceiling mirror I have to battle…

(buckling up my knee high boots.  EVERY buckle…)