Boy

Set on the east coast of New Zealand in 1984, Boy, an 11-year-old kid and devout Michael Jackson fan, gets a chance to know his father, who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years ago.

This is the rise of Taika Waititi in all his glory. Whole "Eagle vs Shark" is a fun, offbeat, quirky romance, and is often compared (both favorably and unfavorably) to "Napoleon Dynamite", it falls short just a bit. It is with "Boy" that we see the greatness Waititi is capable of and would continue with such films as "What We Do in the Shadows" and "Hunt for the Wilderpeople".

Exactly how they got away with so much Michael Jackson is beyond me. But I suppose if you don't use the music and just focus on the imagery, you can pass it off as a loving homage or satire. Heck, if I was Jackson, i would have been flattered.