Two days fol-lowing Michael Jackson’s an-

nouncement of his This is It performanc-es in London, tickets went on sale. Eight hundred thousand of those sold in a lit-tle over four hours! Through breaking another record, the King of Pop made history once again. Sadly, Michael Jack-son died this June, only a couple of weeks before his de-parture to London. Some deny the fact that he is gone, but he really has left us and all that can be done is to remem-ber Michael as the loving and caring person that he was.

Ladies and gentle-men, This is It, a mov-ie directed by Ken-ny Ortega, shows Michael Jackson like no one has ever seen him before. Believe it or not, if he had made it through, the King of Pop would have shat-tered the boundar-ies of human perfor-mance - a skill he has long since proven he possesses. With the best dancers gathered from all around the world, tryouts took place at the Nokia theater in Los Ange-les, and in a matter of days, the group was announced. Those tal-ented enough were chosen to become, as Kenny Ortega puts it, “an extension of the Man himself.” Speech-less, most dancers broke into tears as they reflected on their victory, one of them not believing the fact that he was going to embark on the best journey of his life.

The movie shows live footage of Michael Jack-son rehearsing each of his best songs. From Thriller to Billie Jean, the man proved that he still owns it. His appear-ance on stage is simply extraordinary and his charisma goes beyond words. Always smiling, Michael Jackson adapts his vocal chords after a long absence from the music scene. Singing I Just Can’t Stop Lov-ing You, the King has a warm moment for him-self as he repeats the verse “I just can’t stop lovin…” with a beauti-ful and perfect tone, his voice sounding like a baby MJ. His moves are a whole new story. His hand gestures, his feet sliding, and his clothes shining, Michael Jack-son beats it once again. His moves sharper than ever, the King electri-fied the people sur-rounding him, most of them jumping with ex-citement.

The lighting was un-

believable and the ef-fects were genius. Some of the best de-signers were involved in making costumes that would render you speechless. When asked about the clothing, a designer stressed that “we are working hard to push the boundar-ies, because this is what Michael Jackson is all about.” Millions of dol-lars were spent on ma-chines and technology to bring art, reality, and faith all together on one stage.

For those of you who still have not watched This is It, time is running out since the movie will re-main in theaters for only two more weeks. Being part of this experience and getting a glimpse of what was going to hap-pen in London this year is truly a wonderful op-portunity. The question remains, however, could the world have handled another Michael Jack-son concert?

Movie Review: This is ItBarriers shattered once againSimon BarakatStaff Writer

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7The Cinematic Stars of Late 2009Ian GibsonNews Executive

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Fantastic Mr. Fox

-Comedy/Animated-Directed by Wes Anderson-Starring George Clooney, Bill Murray, Meryl Streep-This claymation tale (taken from a Roald Dahl book of the same name) stars a top-notch voice cast and one helluva director. It’s a farm-yard caper of sorts, with a bevy of animal char-acters plotting a daring food raid under the leadership of the Clooney’s comedic Mr. Fox.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

-Fantasy-Directed by Terry Gilliam-Starring Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law-Terry Gilliam is known for his highly adventur-ous, brightly shot movies filled with fantastical visions and imaginative characters. Imaginari-um looks to be no different, featuring the late Heath Ledger as an eccentric traveling show-man with more than a few magical tricks up his sleeve.

Men Who Stare At Goats

-Comedy/Historic-Directed by Grant Heslov-Starring George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges-Clooney stars as a patriotic psychonaut in this comedy based on a true story. A story-seeking journalist stumbles across a top secret military program intent on training soldiers the dark arts of telepathy and telekinesis, leading to a satirical look at both the military complex and new-age hysteria.

Sherlock Holmes

-Mystery/Action-Directed by Guy Ritchie-Starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdamsSir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic character gets a modern update in the latest movie from a director known for intense, character-driven crime movies. Jude Law plays Watson, a side-kick that balances out what looks to be Sher-lock’s more rough-and-tumble personality.

The winter season (along with summer) is one of the busiest movie times of the year. Between the rush for holiday ticket sales and the bevy of annual awards, the end-of-the-year box office tends to be

filled with films both awful and sublime alike. I offer here a guide, if you will, of the movies you should forward to the most in the last months of the year.

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THE OuTLOOK TEAM

Maroun Kisrwani

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M o h a m a d Y a h i a Hamade

Mona Bou ZeineddineRita El Haddad

Ian GibsonTala Kardas

Amani Abou Harb

Lara Atallah

Lara AtallahJohn HajjarFarah Sleiman

Laya HaddadMayah Haidar

Rami James AounMary-Ann AwadaMohamed AwadaSimon BarakatJoy Jamal EddineNadine GhaithMaryam HoballahRoula HajjarWajiha Jurdi KheirElie El KhouryMaya TerroTarek TutunjiRawan YasmineElie El Zaghrini

Rana Zaher

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Picture of the week8

Bipolar disor-der used to be known as manic

depressive disorder. It is a type of mood disorder, meaning that the main prob-lem has to do with one’s mood. To be di-agnosed with bipolar disorder, one has to have experienced at least one episode of mania.

A manic episode has many characteristics, including rapid speech, racing thoughts, de-creased impulse con-trol, feelings of gran-

diosity, and decreased need for sleep (3-4 hours of sleep may be enough to feel energized). Se-vere mania can lead to psychotic thinking. Those who experience mania may also expe-rience depressive ep-isodes. Thus, they suf-fer episodes of two extremes (or poles). Depressive episodes resemble major depres-sion. The person may experience a persis-tent depressed mood, sleep and weight dis-turbances, anhedonia (loss of interest in seek-

Psyched-Out: Bipolar DisorderRita El-HaddadNew Executive

ing pleasure). Severe depressive episodes can lead to suicidal ide-ation and attempts. People with bipolar dis-order usually experi-ence a “normal” mood between episodes. Some people, howev-er, experience rapid cy-cling in which there is no break between de-pression and mania. Bipolar disorder ap-pears to have a strong genetic component, as shown through twin studies. As with most disorders, how-

ever, the causes of bi-polar are most like-ly multi-factorial and differ for each per-son with the disorder. With the appropriate medication and psy-chotherapy, people with bipolar disorder can live perfectly nor-mal and full lives. The main medication used to treat bipolar disorder is lithium carbonate. The exact reasons why lithium carbonate is ef-fective is still unknown.