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Thread started 04/05/10 11:10am

OldFriends4Sal
e

Under the Cherry Moon the movie 1986

I think the movie deserves a thread of it's own



July 1. 1986
Holiday Inn Sheridan Wyoming
MTV & WarnerBros World Premiere







DETROIT FREE PRESS

Published: Thursday, July 3, 1986
Section: FTR
Page: 13A

NERVY PRINCE RETURNS WITH A STYLISTIC SMASH

It takes a lot of nerve to set a picture on the French Riviera and then shoot it in black and white.

And Prince, bless him, has a lot of nerve.

"Under the Cherry Moon," his second film (the first, "Purple Rain," won him an Oscar and grossed more than $80 million), is a stylistic smash.

Its substance leaves something to be desired, true. But fine-looking fun backed by choice music by Prince and the Revolution is quite enough to guarantee most audiences a couple of good hours.

BASICALLY, "Cherry Moon" is the story of a gigolo who falls in love with an heiress and gives it all up for love.

Shot in France around Nice and Cap d'Antibes, some of the world's priciest and most beautiful scenery backgrounds this story of nightclub pianist Christopher Tracy (Prince), his best friend Tricky (Jerome Benton) and a couple of Miami boys in Nice for a little discreet gold-digging.

When Tricky spots a newspaper photo of Mary Sharon (Kristin Scott-Thomas) -- and the story of her 21st birthday inheritance -- he and Christopher crash the party. After that, it's a battle of love, with the couple opposed by Christopher's favorite client (Francesca Annis), Mary's nervous mother and nasty father, and the combined forces of Nice's police and coast guard.

PRINCE IS apparently as hardheaded as filmmaker Barbra Streisand about getting his way. When original director, Mary Lambert, left the picture a few weeks into the shooting, Prince took over her chores. After the film wrapped, unhappy with some of the scenes, Prince returned to Nice and reshot them. He has done respectable work: He finished the picture; he produced an entertainment that, while limited, is as good as much of the stuff cranked out by longtimeprofessionals, and he got to do it the way he wanted.

But, you may ask, can Prince act?

Not yet, at least not on a regular basis. But whenever he's not pouting or vamping a la Valentino, he's infinitely better than he was in "Purple Rain."

The look of the picture is its biggest strength -- contemporary, yes, but with a distinct feel for the '40s. For that, audiences can again thank Prince, who had the good sense to hire cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, a Werner Fassbinder graduate who worked with John Sayles and Martin Scorsese. Ballhaus also filmed Volker Schlondorf's stunning television version of "Death of a Salesman." Backing Ballhaus is production designer Richard Sylbert, the man responsible for the visual style of "Chinatown" and "The Cotton Club."

Kristin Scott-Thomas, the English actress plays the heiress Christopher tames (Prince has not yet entirely outgrown his bad-boy attitude toward women.). She does very nicely in her film debut, so long as she doesn't have to look dreamy and recite Christopher's poetry. And Prince's pal Benton is bearable, albeit slightly less than three-dimensional, as Tricky.

The plot gets embarrassingly over-dramatic near the end -- this isn't supposed to be Shakespeare, for heaven's sake -- but, all things considered, Prince deserves to take a bow. And, no doubt, he will.


[Edited 4/5/10 11:37am]
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Reply #1 posted 04/05/10 11:23am

OldFriends4Sal
e

Under the Cherry Moon movie premier 7.1.1986

MTV & Warner Bros. World Premiere
Under the Cherry Moon movie premier 7.1.1986
Holiday Inn Sheridan Wyoming



prince meeting Lisa Barber



* * * * * PEOPLE WEEKLY/JULY 21, 1986
Prince Charming
His movie's a smash -- in Wyoming

First you win a contest, then you win friends. That's how it happened for Lisa Barber, 20, a Sheridan, Wyo. motel chambermaid who last month dialed an MTV contest number and, by being the 10,000th caller, won a date with Prince and the opportunity to have his much-hyped new movie, Under the Cherry Moon, premiered in her hometown. Barber, a veteran contest entrant who had never won more than "a couple of Big Macs and a curling iron," was ecstatic. So were her friends, many of whom she had never met. Moments after her name was announced, callers from California to the Carolinas began ringing up to ask for one or two or 10 of the 200 tickets she'd been allotted for Prince's frontier fandango. Her mother, Elena Holwegner, fielded the endless requests with humor, if not compromise. Ring! "No, Lisa's not here," she fibbed to one caller. "You say you're calling from Maine? Sorry." Ring! "You say you want to come over and take pictures of me doing housework? I've got a better idea. You come over and do housework, and I'll take pictures of you." Ring! "Sorry, no more tickets. What? You say you have six days to live? Well, sorry to break the news, honey, but you'll be long gone before Prince gets here. What? You say you can hold on an extra day? Well, I can't. Sorry!" Click. [continued]







* * * * * For Prince -- who, when it comes to publicity, is usually about as visible as a microbe and only slightly more talkative -- the sojourn to Sheridan seemed to serve two purposes. After years of performing in bikini underwear and a raincoat and singing such single-entendre hits as "Head" and the incest-themed "Sister," he is, say pals, concerned that the public hasn't seen enough of the happy-go-lucky, Little House on the Prairie side of his personality. "He's perceived by the media as a bad boy, a rude boy," says his friend and protégé, singer Sheila E. "He is very conscious of his reputation, and I think he's making an effort to turn it around. Basically, he's an easy-going guy." Says Lisa Coleman, keyboardist with Prince's band, the Revolution, "He's so consumed by what he's doing that sometimes he has not noticed what is happening to his public image. He realizes it now." [continued]

MAZARATI also performed at the opening

Mazarati:
01. Players' Ball [uncirculated audience recording]
02. I Guess It's All Over [uncirculated audience recording]
03. 100 MPH





Prince & the Revolution
1.Raspberry Beret
2.Delirious
3.Controversy
4.Mutiny











The other reason Prince is courting publicity is that as Cherry Moon goes, so may go his movie career. If Moon succeeds, he'll be seen as a screen phenomenon; if it fails, his first movie, the $80 million-grossing Purple Rain, may be seen as a fluke. Adding to the tension is the fact that the new film, a black-and-white fantasy romance set in the South of France, is pure Prince: He stars in the movies, conceived the plot, handpicked the cast and took over for the original director, Mary Lambert, after she left because of "artistic differences. " He also reportedly refused Warner Bros.' entreaties to inject conflict into the script, saying that atmosphere and music would keep the audience entertained.

Sheridan hadn't hosted such a dramatic event since 1865, when locals took on Arapaho Indians in a skirmish that preceded the Little Big Horn. By the time Prince pulled into town -- 11 days after Barber made her call -- Sheridan was ready. The pro-Prince contingent gathered at the airport, carrying signs (WELCOME TO SHERIDAN. WE'RE PROUD OF OUR TOWN. GOT ANY EXTRA TICKETS?) and hoping for a glimpse of the would-be minimogul. Others, less enthralled, could be found at the coffee counter in Ritz Sporting Goods, where rancher Dugan Wragge noted, "This town's known for fishing lures. We don't care about no boy who wears tight pants and struts around like a woman." Ventured another customer: "I'm going to paint a fence. If Prince wants to help me, that's fine." A third recalled that when he first learned of Prince's impending arrival, it set him to thinking about a visit Queen Elizabeth made to Sheridan in 1984 to look at equestrian stock: "I told my wife, 'This is real nice. First his mother, and now him.'"

The airport crowd let out a hoot when Prince's Learjet appeared as a dot in the Western sky. It landed and sat on the strip for a few minutes, the passenger door open. Then one tiny, high-heeled boot appeared. Then all 5'3" of Prince Rogers Nelson, decked out in a purple paisley silk suit, emerged smiling. He walked down a red carpet and threw his jacket over a fence to the crowd, then politely exchanged pleased-to-meet- you's with Sheridan's mayor, Max DeBolt, and other dignitaries. DeBolt, who takes every opportunity to plug Sheridan's tourist attractions (hunting and fishing), and neighborly life-style ("I think we had a thief here -- once"), was delighted with the hoopla. As Prince climbed into a gray-and-black limo, he said, to no one in particular, "I'm going to buy a house here."

Meanwhile, back at the small cottage behind her mother's trailer home, Lisa Barber fretted like a prom queen should. Prince's staff had cured one headache by providing a black-and-white outfit that would match the evening's decor. "I was real worried about what I was going to wear," says Barber. "I usually shop at K Mart." Prince also sent over a hair stylist and a makeup artist. After that, Lisa has nothing to do except sit perfectly still until date time, 6 p.m.

Her guy pulled up, 15 minutes late, at the wheel of a white Buick convertible with personalized license plates that read LOVE. Eschewing the gravel driveway, he vaulted the chain-link fence and knocked on the door. "Hello," he said, kissing her hand. "My name is Prince. Ready to have a good time?" Unfazed by the fact that her date was wearing more makeup and -- thanks to a midriff-baring shirt -- showing more skin than she was, Barber answered in the affirmative and took her seat in the car. Preceded by Sheridan's female riding troupe, the Equestri-Annettes, and trailed by a posse of costumed cowboys, the couple cruised to the Centennial Twin theater, where 800 enthusiastic but inexpert stargazers waited. Singer Joni Mitchell entered unnoticed; crooner Ray Parker, Jr., a newspaper reported, was misidentified by some as Lionel Richie. "We cheered for anyone who was dressed weird or who was black," says one Sheridian.

Inside, Prince sat with Barber in a back row. He did not buy her any Raisinets or popcorn but otherwise behaved like a perfect gentleman. "Well, there was one time during the movie when he played with my hair and he put his arm around me," says Barber. "But that's all he did. Honest." And did Prince, rock's reigning purple enigma, actually engage in conversation sometime in the evening? "Oh, yeah," says Barber. "I asked him how he liked it here. He said it was real pretty and that I was lucky to live here. In the car he asked me what the best radio station was, and when he turned to it, the deejay was talking about him. He said, 'If I had a phone in here, I'd call him.'" At Cherry Moon, she says, "I told him I liked the movie. [Prince's co-star and sidekick] Jerome Benton asked me if I liked to fish but I told him 'No way.'"

And how did the all-important Sheridan critics react to Under the Cherry Moon? The first review came from a young woman who, when Prince's tightly suited form first appeared on the screen, yelled out "Nice butt!" After that things got a little less precise. "I liked it, but I didn't get it," said one local, whose opinion was echoed by others throughout the evening. "It was great!" offered another. "Like one long rock video! But I didn't really figure out what was going on." The next day, when Cherry Moon opened at 941 theaters around the country, paid critics began weighing in with reviews that made the townfolk seem kind. The New York Times called Prince's character a "self-caressing twerp of dubious provenance." The Washington Post said that in black-and-white, "Prince begins to remind you of something your biology teacher asked you to dissect." USA Today, at least, pointed out that Prince's principal draw isn't his dramatic skill: "Fewer people saw [Purple] Rain for the acting than saw Old Yeller for the sex." In its first weekend, the film grossed $3.1 million -- about the same as Walt Disney's new movie The Great Mouse Detective.

That was in the future, however, and there was still joy in Sheridan as the movie crowd spilled out of the theater and into a party at the Holiday Inn. At 10 p.m. Prince climbed onto a specially built stage and unleashed 45 minutes of radioactive funk. "He's incredible," said a surprised Lillie Belle Johnson, 66. "I never realized what we were missing." With uncharacteristic informality, he and his band members mingled with the locals and made small talk about movies and trout. Cherry Moon might have gone over like wheat rust, but you couldn't tell that from the crowd's mood or from the mouths of Prince's entourage, who were hard-pressed to find fault with their mentor. "I thought it was the perfect thing for him to do," said bandmate Lisa Coleman. "Purple Rain was a heavier film; this is lighter." Casey Terry, lead singer in the Prince spin-off group Mazarati, pronounced him "scintillating to work with. If you can't handle his energy, you're up a creek." Said Cherry Moon co-star Kristin Scott-Thomas: "He was a joy to work with." Seconded Jerome Benton, who has worked with Prince as a roadie, backup singer and actor: "He's a genius. I won't ever leave, unless he couldn't use me. I like being under that protective wing."

Lisa Barber also enjoyed her time under the protective wing. When the party ended, her date made sure she had a ride home in a limousine. "I'll have lots of memories, but I know he'll probably never see him again," she said of her beau, who gave her earrings and a gold necklace as keepsakes. "I'll never take them off," she vowed. Looking back, she says the only good flaw in a perfect evening involved a misunderstanding over some costume jewelry Prince had impulsively asked to borrow. "He was a dream date," says Lisa, "even if he didn't give me back my pearls."

--Written by Culter Durkee, reported by Cathy Free and Jeff Yarbrough


[Edited 4/9/10 6:07am]
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Reply #2 posted 04/05/10 11:25am

OldFriends4Sal
e

July 21, 1986 Vol. 26 No. 3 Prince CharmingBy Cutler Durkee
His Royal Badness Took Contest Winner Lisa Barber to the Premiere of His New Movie – in Her Hometown Sheridan, Wyoming





First you win a contest, then you win friends. That's how it happened for Lisa Barber, 20, a Sheridan, Wyo. motel chambermaid who last month dialed an MTV contest number and, by being the 10,000th caller, won a date with Prince and the opportunity to have his much-hyped new movie, Under the Cherry Moon, premiered in her hometown. Barber, a veteran contest entrant who had never won more than "a couple of Big Macs and a curling iron," was ecstatic. So were her friends, many of whom she had never met. Moments after her name was announced, callers from California to the Carolinas began ringing up to ask for one or two or 10 of the 200 tickets she'd been allotted for Prince's frontier fandango. Her mother, Elena Holwegner, fielded the endless requests with humor, if not compromise. Ring! "No, Lisa's not here," she fibbed to one caller. "You say you're calling from Maine? Sorry." Ring! "You say you want to come over and take pictures of me doing housework? I've got a better idea. You come over and do housework, and I'll take pictures of you." Ring! "Sorry, no more tickets. What? You say you have six days to live? Well, sorry to break the news, honey, but you'll be long gone before Prince gets here. What? You say you can hold on an extra day? Well, I can't. Sorry!" Click.

For Prince—who, when it comes to publicity, is usually about as visible as a microbe and only slightly more talkative—the sojourn to Sheridan seemed to serve two purposes. After years of performing in bikini underwear and a raincoat and singing such single-entendre hits as Head and the incest-themed Sister, he is, say pals, concerned that the public hasn't seen enough of the happy-go-lucky, Little House on the Prairie side of his personality. "He's perceived by the media as a bad boy, a rude boy," says his friend and protégée, singer Sheila E. "He is very conscious of his reputation, and I think he's making an effort to turn it around. Basically, he's an easy-going guy." Says Lisa Coleman, keyboardist with Prince's band, the Revolution, "He's so consumed by what he's doing that sometimes he has not noticed what is happening to his public image. He realizes it now."

The other reason Prince is courting publicity is that as Cherry Moon goes, so may go his movie career. If Moon succeeds, he'll be seen as a screen phenomenon; if it fails, his first movie, the $80 million-grossing Purple Rain, may be seen as a fluke. Adding to the tension is the fact that the new film, a black-and-white fantasy romance set in the South of France, is pure Prince: He stars in the movie, conceived the plot, handpicked the cast and took over for the original director, Mary Lambert, after she left because of "artistic differences." He also reportedly refused Warner Bros.' entreaties to inject conflict into the script, saying that atmosphere and music would keep the audience entertained.

Sheridan hadn't hosted such a dramatic event since 1865, when locals took on Arapaho Indians in a skirmish that preceded the Little Big Horn. By the time Prince pulled into town—11 days after Barber made her call—Sheridan was ready. The pro-Prince contingent gathered at the airport, carrying signs (WELCOME TO SHERIDAN. WE'RE PROUD OF OUR TOWN. GOT ANY EXTRA TICKETS?) and hoping for a glimpse of the would-be minimogul. Others, less enthralled, could be found at the coffee counter in Ritz Sporting Goods, where rancher Dugan Wragge noted, "This town's known for fishing lures. We don't care about no boy who wears tight pants and struts around like a woman." Ventured another customer: "I'm going to paint a fence. If Prince wants to help me, that's fine." A third recalled that when he first learned of Prince's impending arrival, it set him to thinking about a visit Queen Elizabeth made to Sheridan in 1984 to look at equestrian stock: "I told my wife, 'This is real nice. First his mother, and now him.' "

The airport crowd let out a hoot when Prince's Learjet appeared as a dot in the Western sky. It landed and sat on the strip for a few minutes, the passenger door open. Then one tiny, high-heeled boot appeared. Then all 5'3" of Prince Rogers Nelson, decked out in a purple paisley silk suit, emerged smiling. He walked down a red carpet and threw his jacket over a fence to the crowd, then politely exchanged pleased-to-meet-you's with Sheridan's mayor, Max DeBolt, and other dignitaries. DeBolt, who takes every opportunity to plug Sheridan's tourist attractions (hunting and fishing) and neighborly life-style ("I think we had a thief here—once"), was delighted with the hoopla. As Prince climbed into a gray-and-black limo, he said, to no one in particular, "I'm going to buy a house here."

Meanwhile, back at the small cottage behind her mother's trailer home, Lisa Barber fretted like a prom queen should. Prince's staff had cured one headache by providing a black-and-white outfit that would match the evening's decor. "I was real worried about what I was going to wear," says Barber. "I usually shop at K Mart." Prince also sent over a hair stylist and a makeup artist. After that, Lisa had nothing to do except sit perfectly still until date time, 6 p.m.

Her guy pulled up, 15 minutes late, at the wheel of a white Buick convertible with personalized license plates that read LOVE. Eschewing the gravel driveway, he vaulted over a chain-link fence and knocked on the door. "Hello," he said, kissing her hand. "My name is Prince. Ready to have a good time?" Unfazed by the fact that her date was wearing more makeup and—thanks to a midriff-baring shirt—showing more skin than she was, Barber answered in the affirmative and took her seat in the car. Preceded by Sheridan's female riding troupe, the Equestri-Annettes, and trailed by a posse of costumed cowboys, the couple cruised to the Centennial Twin theater, where 800 enthusiastic but inexpert stargazers waited. Singer Joni Mitchell entered unnoticed; crooner Ray Parker Jr., a newspaper reported, was misidentified by some as Lionel Richie. "We cheered for anyone who dressed weird or was black," says one Sheridian.

Inside, Prince sat with Barber in a back row. He did not buy her any Raisinets or popcorn but otherwise behaved like a perfect gentleman. "Well, there was one time during the movie when he played with my hair and he put his arm around me," says Barber. "But that's all he did. Honest." And did Prince, rock's reigning purple enigma, actually engage in conversation sometime during the evening? "Oh, yeah," says Barber. "I asked him how he liked it here. He said it was real pretty and that I was lucky to live here. In the car he asked me what the best radio station was, and when he turned to it, the deejay was talking about him. He said, 'If I had a phone in here, I'd call him.' " At Cherry Moon, she says, "I told him I liked the movie. [Prince's co-star and sidekick] Jerome Benton asked me if I liked to fish but I told him 'No way.' "

And how did the all-important Sheridan critics react to Under the Cherry Moon? The first review came from a young woman who, when Prince's tightly suited form first appeared on the screen, yelled out "Nice butt!" After that things got a little less precise. "I liked it, but I didn't get it," said one local, whose opinion was echoed by others throughout the evening. "It was great!" offered another. "Like one long rock video! But I didn't really figure out what was going on." The next day, when Cherry Moon opened at 941 theaters around the country, paid critics began weighing in with reviews that made the townsfolk seem kind. The New York Times called Prince's character a "self-caressing twerp of dubious provenance." The Washington Post said that in black-and-white, "Prince begins to remind you of something your biology teacher asked you to dissect." USA Today, at least, pointed out that Prince's principal draw isn't his dramatic skill: "Fewer people saw [Purple] Rain for the acting than saw Old Yeller for the sex." In its first weekend, the film grossed $3.1 million—about the same as Walt Disney's new movie The Great Mouse Detective.

That was in the future, however, and there was still joy in Sheridan as the movie crowd spilled out of the theater and into a party at the Holiday Inn. At 10 p.m. Prince climbed onto a specially built stage and unleashed 45 minutes of radioactive funk. "He's incredible," said a surprised Lillie Belle Johnson, 66. "I never realized what we were missing." With uncharacteristic informality, he and his band members mingled with the locals and made small talk about movies and trout. Cherry Moon might have gone over like wheat rust, but you couldn't tell that from the crowd's mood or from the mouths of Prince's entourage, who were hard-pressed to find fault with their mentor. "I thought it was the perfect thing for him to do," said bandmate Lisa Coleman. "Purple Rain was a heavier film; this is lighter." Casey Terry, lead singer in the Prince spin-off group Mazarati, pronounced him "scintillating to work with. If you can't handle his energy, you're up a creek." Said Cherry Moon co-star Kristin Scott-Thomas: "He was a joy to work with." Seconded Jerome Benton, who has worked with Prince as a roadie, backup singer and actor: "He's a genius. I won't ever leave, unless he couldn't use me. I like being under that protective wing."

Lisa Barber also enjoyed her time under the protective wing. When the party ended, her date made sure she had a ride home in a limousine. "I'll have lots of memories, but I know I'll probably never see him again," she said of her beau, who gave her earrings and a gold necklace as keepsakes. "I'll never take them off," she vowed. Looking back, she says the only flaw in a perfect evening involved a misunderstanding over some costume jewelry Prince had impulsively asked to borrow. "He was a dream date," says Lisa, "even if he didn't give me back my pearls."

Contributors: Cathy Free, Jeff Yarbrough.

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Reply #3 posted 04/05/10 11:27am

OldFriends4Sal
e

Prince arrives on the scene in Nice France








[Edited 4/5/10 11:30am]
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Reply #4 posted 04/05/10 11:33am

OldFriends4Sal
e

Under the Cherry Moon opening orgasmic piano scene







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Reply #5 posted 04/05/10 12:16pm

JoeTyler

This movie could have been GREAT with an improved script and a young & hungry director with some experience in pop music (like J.Demme, for example)


But of course, Prince HAD to write and direct the movie, and the results are poor. confused

Anyway, this movie is at least worth watching...
tinkerbell
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Reply #6 posted 04/05/10 12:31pm

OldFriends4Sal
e

JoeTyler said:

This movie could have been GREAT with an improved script and a young & hungry director with some experience in pop music (like J.Demme, for example)


But of course, Prince HAD to write and direct the movie, and the results are poor. confused

Anyway, this movie is at least worth watching...


Over all I love it, You can pretty much tell when/where Prince took over
the original director is/was very good and perfect for a movie like this

The thing that would have made it great would have been live performances
there was the Family Sheila E. Mazarati Jill Jones and Prince & the Revolution
It would have so much more visual and exciting

His 'dwelling' could have been "uptown" in a more urban area
the Girls & Boys video should have been a part of the movie

He didn't even have to half most songs from Parade performed

Venus De Milo or Alexa de Paris w/him on the Black cloud guitar
Old Friends 4 Sale could have been more apparent
An extended steamy performance of I Wonder U
1 Day I'm Gonna Make U Mine or Love on a Blue Train
Screams of Passion performed by the Family as a backdrop scene
Mazarati could have rocked a song from their album or more interestingly Kiss or a song like Heaven or something from an earlier Prince album

the music performances potential would not only have taken the movie up 5 notches at least but also promoted his protege acts
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Reply #7 posted 04/06/10 11:06am

OldFriends4Sal
e







What was he writing during the 3rd pics scene?
[Edited 4/6/10 11:27am]
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Reply #8 posted 04/06/10 11:07am

OldFriends4Sal
e

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Reply #9 posted 04/06/10 11:09am

OldFriends4Sal
e

PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS
Thursday, July 3, 1986
Section: FEATURES
Page: 47

MOVIES

A BATTY PRINCE ON THE RIVIERA

By JOE BALTAKE
Daily News Film Critic

The difference between the superstar's first two films is that "Purple Rain" is a psychological/autobiographical glorified rock video starring Prince and the Revolution, while his new one, "Under the Cherry Moon," is a movie starring Prince, period.

Actually, it's several movies - part Antonioni, part Howard Hawks, part Andy Warhol, part whatzit - all jumbled together and seemingly based on the mental landscape of its kinetic, eccentric, self-consciously lascivious star. I've seen "Under the Cherry Moon," I enjoyed it enormously, but I haven't quite figured out what it's supposed to be. Still, I like it.

This overall murkiness, which probably will be exaggerated by the detractors of "Purple Rain," is what gives the film its vulnerable charm, along with the film's moody tug-of-war with itself: Prince's distinctly modernist presence never seems to be quite welcome by his own film's nostalgic Art Deco elements. This unease gives the movie a timelessness, a feeling of being out-of-place with itself, that's hugely affecting.

It took some time for me to catch on, settle back and enjoy it. "Under the Cherry Moon" gets off to a rather creepy start with just about everyone behaving as if he is a vampire in one of those once-trendy Warhol/Paul Morrissey horror collaborations. When bats appear in one scene - in a cabaret, no less - the joke is made clear: This is Prince's portrait of the expatriate as a young zombie. After the bats appear, liberating everyone, the film itself perks up.

It could have been titled "Two Gals in Paris," only in this case, we get two guys - Prince and sidekick Jerome Benton - and they're in Nice, on the Cote d'Azur, not in Paris. The boys, gigolos hoping to sponge off the jet set and get rich themselves, are simply male variations of the characters that Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell played in Hawks' "Gentleman Prefer Blondes."

Prince is Christopher Tracy, a boy who entertains nightly in a piano bar and dares to fall in love with a swell (Kristin Scott-Thomas), much to her parents' chagrin, and he plays the part with a mixture of his usual wild-eyed randiness and a certain '40ish insouciance.

The film's dramatic structure - its simple narrative and simple psychology and sociology - is merely a matter of the girl's parents trying to keep this dapper punk away from their daughter and the kids searching for a place to be alone.

There's no question in my mind that Prince is playing Marilyn Monroe here (at times, he has the same sweet, startled, slightly addled innocence) or that the speedboat escape at the end looks like the final scene from "Some Like it Hot."

I've mentioned a lot of films and filmmakers here and, no, Prince the director is not able to make all of them hold together. But at least, "Under the Cherry Moon" isn't a trendy retread.

Word leaked out a few weeks ago that "Under the Cherry Moon" was something of a stinker. Horsefeathers! It's unique, by far the boldest film of the summer.

Parental guide: Rated PG-13 for its language.
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Reply #10 posted 04/06/10 11:13am

WaterInYourBat
h

avatar

Years ago, I used to be obsessed with this movie. lol
"You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup...Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend." - Bruce Lee
"Water can nourish me, but water can also carry me. Water has magic laws." - JCVD
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Reply #11 posted 04/06/10 12:29pm

OldFriends4Sal
e



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Reply #12 posted 04/09/10 6:08am

OldFriends4Sal
e

Mazarati:
01. Players' Ball
02. I Guess It's All Over
03. 100 MPH

Prince & The Revolution:
04. Raspberry Beret
05. Delirious
06. Controversy
07. Mutiny
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Reply #13 posted 04/09/10 8:04am

OldFriends4Sal
e



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Reply #14 posted 04/09/10 8:22am

OldFriends4Sal
e









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Reply #15 posted 04/09/10 8:30am

TheVoid

JoeTyler said:

This movie could have been GREAT with an improved script and a young & hungry director with some experience in pop music (like J.Demme, for example)


But of course, Prince HAD to write and direct the movie, and the results are poor. confused

Anyway, this movie is at least worth watching...




WE AT THE ORG ALREADY DID IMPROVE THE SCRIPT!


woot! http://prince.org/msg/7/196271 woot!



woot!


party


ky


fart


woot!


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Reply #16 posted 04/09/10 10:57am

OldFriends4Sal
e

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Reply #17 posted 04/12/10 2:23pm

OldFriends4Sal
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[Edited 5/7/10 18:14pm]
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Reply #18 posted 04/12/10 2:24pm

OldFriends4Sal
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Reply #19 posted 04/12/10 2:25pm

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Reply #20 posted 04/16/10 4:36pm

OldFriends4Sal
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Reply #21 posted 04/16/10 4:38pm

CHRISLUV92

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great album cool
aka ChristinaS
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Reply #22 posted 04/16/10 4:38pm

OldFriends4Sal
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Reply #23 posted 04/16/10 4:39pm

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Reply #24 posted 04/16/10 4:39pm

OldFriends4Sal
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CHRISLUV92 said:

great album cool


under the cherry moon?
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Reply #25 posted 04/16/10 4:46pm

PurpleDiamond2
009

alright i might as well be honest ive never seen this movie either boxed
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Reply #26 posted 04/16/10 9:55pm

StonedImmacula
te

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OldFriends4Sale said:




One of my favorite parts of UTCM!

ISAAC: I called u all night last night, now where were u?

PRINCE: With me.

ISAAC: I hate this damn machine.

PRINCE: Me too!

ISAAC: U arent there are u? U arent seeing another man by any chance?

PRINCE: Yes..yes.

ISAAC: Cuz if u are, I'll kill him!

PRINCE: He's a little possessive...dontcha think?
blunt music She has robes and she has monkeys, lazy diamond studded flunkies.... music blunt
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Reply #27 posted 04/17/10 1:35am

Diamonds19

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OMG! fuse I wish they put it on color already.
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Reply #28 posted 04/26/10 4:07pm

OldFriends4Sal
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Reply #29 posted 04/26/10 4:10pm

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Forums > Prince: Music and More > Under the Cherry Moon the movie 1986