Katy Perry: Part of Me (2012)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Katy Perry: Part of Me (2012): Dir: Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz / Featuring: Katy Perry, Angela Perry, Shannon Woodward, Russell Brand, Glen Ballard: A colourful concert experience that brings insight into what transpired to bring pop star Katy Perry to the top of the charts with hits like "Firework" and "Teenage Dream." It showcases her religious upbringing as well as her failed attempts on the Christian charts. It also showcases the darker side including her failed marriage to Russell Brand, which led to bouts of depression. She has a real flare for life and a sense of humour to match. She introduces those whom assist on her tours but none are as detailed as the involvement of her sister Angela who apparently organizes the fan meets as well as double as other characters on the stage during a performance. Perry's wardrobe presents the wonderland portrayal she attempts to give off but it is never more fun than when she conceals herself briefly only to emerge seconds later in a new outfit. One such sequence involving a glitter gun gave the most magical visual in the film. Directors Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz do a splendid balancing act with stage performance and personal and backstage antics that give the film more appeal. We are also linked in with many of her popular songs during footage where she takes the stage under different surroundings and antics. Fans of Perry will enjoy this film most but its ability to divide concert and back stage elements allow this to elevate beyond most concert films. This is a colourful and fun concert experience that fans will want to be part of. Score: 9 / 10

It's 2011. Katy Perry is embarking on her California Dreams Tour. It starts off as a traditional inspirational behind the scene concert movie with a good dose of the story of a young struggling artist. It introduces her team, her family and her journey so far. The journey is a little enlightening with some fascinating bits about record labels. It's all pretty much expected from a concert film introducing an artist. It's a good first half about her rise. The movie moves into auto-pilot where her marriage is wonderful, the fans are adoring and it's hard-working fun. About an hour in, the real world relationship intrudes and her marriage to Russell Brand falls apart. It gets hinted at from time to time culminating in the text message. If this is a regular drama, the climax is Katy waiting to rise up onto the stage. The movie would end soon after that. Watching Katy breaking down is like skimming the surface of a very deep pool. There is probably so much more to the story but we're given only glimpses. In the end, this is concert movie and not an in-depth documentary. It can't turn into a deeper analysis for both personal and professional reasons. It's an opportunity lost. She does show herself to be driven, professional and a romantic. For fans, that would be more than enough.

"Thank you all for believing in my weirdness," a perky, heavily dolled-up Perry states to her rambunctious audience in her self-titled documentary, Katy Perry: Part of Me, arguably the best concert film I've seen since Michael Jackson's This Is It. When I say "concert film," be advised I am using it in its loosest form. Perry is shown as a compassionate, self-aware, completely genuine enigma throughout the picture and the compilation of concert clips have some of the most impressive theatricalities I've seen in recent times. To put it simply, the set designs as a whole look as if Willy Wonka was the hired contractor.Perry exploded into the mainstream scene in 2008 when her song "I Kissed a Girl" burst onto peoples' radios, playing the infectious pop instrumentals which were equipped with "good girl gone bad" style lyrics. It was a fun little jam that you wanted to hear again instantly after it was done. Prior to the breakthrough of her single, Perry was attempting to get recognition with her gospel songs and her acoustic guitar. Despite being raised with extreme Christian theology by her parents, she realized that it most likely wasn't going to get her broad recognition in the music industry. She needed to do something catchy, fun, and slightly provocative.Her "debut album" (second to only a gospel rock one released seven years prior), One of the Boys, was released the same year and welcomed over one million sales, making Perry, officially, one of the most successful new artists in 2008. But she wasn't done. She had a plethora of quirkiness to show her new fans. Then came Teenage Dream, another record breaking album boasting five number one hits, including "California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T.", "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)", and "Part of Me" - a record previously held by only Michael Jackson. For a while, it was impossible to turn on a radio for more then ten minutes and not hear one of these songs.Part of Me centers itself around Perry's stage shows, but isn't hesitant to dig into her personal life to get a deeper look at the perky woman herself. We see her acting unusually graceful to her assistants, costume designers, managers, etc (I was reminded of the way Conan O'Brien treated his management team in Conan O'Brien Can't Stop and how disrespectful he was most of the time), and there are times we see her without any makeup on - a complete rarity in many documentaries showcasing an idolized talent.Seeing Perry interact with her fans is a charming, often uplifting event that brings a smile to not only the fan's faces but also ours. We see Perry in touch with her fanbase because, as we're told from the start, "she knows what it's like to be that girl in the audience." Even the gooey, often cheesy scenes where we see crazed fans do an amateur rendition of one of her songs we can't help but crack a loose smile. We think of the woman's ingenuity and spirit which clearly rubs off on her extensive line of fans.But unfortunately, tragedy brews, and we are not robbed of scenes of Perry crying, lying around, or simply, broken-hearted. We see her deeply affected by her divorce with Russell Brand. We can see love still reigns in her eyes, but the relationship is sadly, a toxic area for the both of them. They are scarcely seen together in the documentary, and because of conflicting schedules, which the film tactfully makes note of, we can assume this is a contributing reason to the breakup.This is where most concert documentaries would ham up the sad music, show a star in distress, only to have them brush away the tears and continue on within the next few minutes. We saw it in Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, but Katy Perry: Part of Me dares to humanize an artist victim to a heavy schedule and a majority of problems the people and the media tend to scrutinize or simplify beyond comprehension. My number one complaint with movies of this kind is that, most of the time, they serve little to no purpose. Bieber's documentary and Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D provided some nice music and pleasant visuals, but the whole thing felt like a vehicle, incomplete and victim to unusual timing. If they are filmed nicely, offer insights, properly depict the artist at hand, and try to branch out to others and not conform to the ones firmly gridlocked in the fanbase, I will throw the bone. The bone has been thrown to Katy Perry: Part of Me.Starring: Katy Perry. Directed by: Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz.

Katy Perry is set to headline one of the acts during this month's Singapore Formula One Grand Prix week, but so much has changed in her life since her last visit some two years ago, where she held court during her press conference at Marina Bay Sands' rooftop pool, and cajoled the media into entering the infinity pool with her. Since then, so much has changed, with her embarking on a world tour, getting married to British comedian Russell Brand, followed by separation and divorce, and then there's this film.Katy Perry: Part of Me follows the documentary style that's somewhat established by the filmmakers of Justin Bieber's Never Say Never, which was screened last year, where the structure intersperses her live concert numbers with the documentary moments that see the usual talking head interviews with friends, family and fans, capturing the flavour and fervour that is all things surrounding this pop princess, who had sealed the real deal for herself through her albums, given that she has tremendous talent in writing her own songs drawn from so many things she wishes to express, appealing to her teenage demographic for various inspirational messages underlying her music, and that down to earthliness in her in wanting to genuinely connect with her fans, coupled with that sunshine, always smiling persona that's really appealing.I have to admit I do listen to some of her songs when they're played over the airwaves, and know little about the singer, other than her very kooky persona that thankfully didn't border too close to the more eccentric Lady Gaga. Part of Me the film provides a sneak peek into the day into the life of a current pop star, and the efforts she had put into building her career and lifting herself from obscurity, riding on the explosion of her popularity, yet keeping everything grounded in not forgetting the people who had put her there, from her production team, fans, and family. Or pulling along those who are in the same boat as her, in starting out, and getting them under her fold to help develop their careers at the same time. These are qualities rarely seen.Fans will already know of her gospel singing background and beginnings, being the daughter of travelling preachers, which makes it a almost like a natural progression to serve in the church and singing gospel songs. And from there, after a stint in Los Angeles that's really heading nowhere, fate played a part in getting the right doors opened for her, and through her very positive personality, charted history.Thie film chronicles her juggling of her year long world tour in 2011, the first the singer ever embarked on, providing us a look at the preparation, venues, and basically how things move like clockwork from point to point. It's a fairy tale like setting during her concert, and this pop princess holds court in bringing her audiences and fans into a make believe world filled with pastel colours, and larger than life sets, coupled with fun, Katy Perry style. And those who may have thought that she was a tad impulsive with her marriage, would do themselves a favour in seeing the effort she puts in to jet set from place to place just to spend quality time with Brand. The documentary doesn't shy away from exploring what actually happened, and how it affected her during the tour, albeit more behind the scenes. What I felt was besides the distance, perhaps a little bit of a professional jealousy and envy also got into play, with one clearly the more popular than the other, which may have ruffled some bruised egos without her knowing.Ever the consummate professional, you can sense her pain as she decided to soldier on, not wanting to let the thousands of fans down at each venue. There was a scene that was quite poignant, where she was breaking down backstage, but at the moment she has to go on, off goes the tears, and in comes the smile. It's not easy and some may be quick to say it's hypocritical, but having done so, it's not to disappoint her fans who are present for a good time, and you can imagine the pain in making others happy, while crying alone inside.The more famous songs of hers get full air play and concert treatment, so it will appeal to fans, and non fans who would probably have heard the song somewhere else. After watching this, I've new found respect for the singer, and is just a tad tempted to get tickets to watch her perform in Singapore live in a few weeks time. Recommended!