Was Graffiti Bridge really that bad?

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Reply #120 posted 05/19/16 3:00pm

TrivialPursuit

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Pokeno4Money said:

It makes Under the Cherry Moon look like Casablanca.

Billed as a sort of sequel to Purple Rain, it was anything but .... I was so dissappointed after taking my girlfriend to see it in the theater.

I took 7 people. haha

don’t really care so much what people say about me because it is a reflection of who they r."

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Reply #121 posted 05/19/16 3:28pm

homesquid

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TrivialPursuit said:

homesquid said:

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a crime against all that is good and just...or at least all that is coherent. All hyperbole beside it is the single worst movie theater experience of my life. It depressed me for a good 24 hours lol.

I feel like you're holding back.

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Reply #122 posted 05/19/16 3:34pm

thekidsgirl

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MMJas said:

It's so bad it's good.

lol Yes, and for me, it helps that I don't view it as a real movie anyway. It's more of an extended music video, or vanity project..

For a along while after the DVD came out, I was watching this at least weekly boxed

If you will, so will I

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Reply #123 posted 05/19/16 3:34pm

morningsong	I honestly don't remember it being as bad as you all are saying. Unfortunately I don't have a copy so, I have to wait.
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Reply #124 posted 05/19/16 3:38pm

XxAxX

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i like all prince's films. to me, they have a bollywood feel. i always wished he'd do a bollywood project of his opwn. write another movie and film it there or something.

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Reply #125 posted 05/19/16 3:40pm

BillieBalloon	OldFriends4Sale said: Grifitti Bridge deleted scenes & outtakes Jill is just gorgeous. He had the best taste in women of any man I know. Baby, you're a star. Meet me in another world, space and joy
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Reply #126 posted 05/19/16 3:55pm

Horsefeathers

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I am a pretty solid Prince fan and have been for more than 30 years. Enjoyed Purple Rain, still love Under The Cherry Moon, and would happily watch either of them any chance I get. But. I have never been able to sit through an entire showing of Graffiti Bridge. I still hardly know what it's about other than what I read because I just can't make it all the way through. I want to... not even necessarily enjoy it. Just be able to sit through the whole thing with my eyes and ears open. I'd even be ok hating it. I can't even work up a good hate for it.

Murica: at least it's not Sudan.

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Reply #127 posted 05/19/16 5:21pm

Musze

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Militant said:

I think it wasn't that long ago that we had this discussion, but another thing is that Graffiti Bridge is clearly two different movies jammed into one.

Movie 1 : Prince and Aura, the feather and it's meaning, etc

Movie 2 : Purple Rain 2 with The Kid VS The Time

Movie 1 is the movie Prince wanted to make and evolved from earlier concepts like The Dawn.

Movie 2 is the movie Prince was forced to make in order to get funding, and this seems to have happened at the last minute.

Hell, Prince didn't even have a keyboard player in the movie, they used Philip C who was the hairdresser!!! If the movie had *always* been a battle of the bands between The Kid's band and The Time, a la Purple Rain, then it seems pretty obvious that Prince would have given this band a name, explored their personalities (TC Ellis being desperate to rap doesn't count), given them all at least one line or some backstory, etc, etc.

Bringing in The Time and making it a follow up to Purple Rain revolving around a battle between two bands clearly is something that was all jammed in at the last minute.

Great take on this.

I Love U, But I Don't Trust U Anymore...

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Reply #128 posted 05/19/16 5:24pm

SoulAlive	as bad as GB is,the early script from 1987 is even worse.It features Madonna and Cat and the whole thing is a mess.
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Reply #129 posted 05/19/16 5:27pm

FunkiestOne

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Considering how much we all love Prince, Grafitti Bridge must be really really that bad for so many of us to find this film to be a total unwatchable trainwreck. I saw it in the theater the day it was released and never watched it again and have no plans to change that. I will watch UTCM again because it has a certain charm but not the cinematic monstrosity that is GB.

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Reply #130 posted 05/19/16 5:42pm

MissMarySharon

I don't mind old GB. Prince looks good in it and it contains my most favourite ever song, Joy In Repetition. Can't disagree with any of the criticisms here but when I do watch it now and then, I find it entertaining on a number of levels. I remember on the Nude tour they played the Thieves In the Temple video prior to the show and I loved it.

I love UTCM, it has aged better than GB I think, whatever its faults, the cinematography (Michael Ballhaus no less), glamorous locations and sets and the fab 80's costumes still look gorgeous. I love its humour and general silliness.

A lot of rock stars want to be actors, with varying results!

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Reply #131 posted 05/19/16 6:15pm

kewlschool

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FunkiestOne said:

Considering how much we all love Prince, Grafitti Bridge must be really really that bad for so many of us to find this film to be a total unwatchable trainwreck. I saw it in the theater the day it was released and never watched it again and have no plans to change that. I will watch UTCM again because it has a certain charm but not the cinematic monstrosity that is GB.

^^^This. Although, I do own it on disc.

99.9% of everything I say is strictly for my own entertainment

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Reply #132 posted 05/19/16 6:39pm

luvsexy4all	i would like to see the 2 1/2 hr version and compare. its unfair to be so harsh for such a rush job of an edit
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Reply #133 posted 05/19/16 6:55pm

avasdad	it sucked moose cock!
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Reply #134 posted 05/19/16 7:59pm

RiotPaisley	luvsexy4all said: i would like to see the 2 1/2 hr version and compare. its unfair to be so harsh for such a rush job of an edit I had no idea there was a 2 1/2 hour version. That would totally make sense. I will still watch it just to see him. And hot ass Jill Jones. Robin was also pretty boss. Surprise, surprise. Another treat. Another trick.
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Reply #135 posted 05/19/16 10:00pm

Goddess4Real

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Despite having the original The Time line-up, it ain' no Purple Rain, but more watchable that Under The Cherry Moon lol

Keep Calm & Listen To Prince

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Reply #136 posted 05/19/16 10:02pm

SoulAlive	Militant mentioned the "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got" performance that was edited from the movie and I agree....that was a dynamic performance that should have been kept in the movie!
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Reply #137 posted 05/19/16 10:11pm

computerblue77

Goddess4Real said:

Despite having the original The Time line-up, it ain' no Purple Rain, but more watchable that Under The Cherry Moon

Really? I found GB nearly unwatchable. UTCM I found very funny and cute. Prince seems so carefree and expressive with his body language. The banter between him and Jerome borders on a gay relationship. I can't say anything good about GB except that Ingrid Chavez is a good looking woman with wonderful creamy skin.

[Edited 5/19/16 22:12pm]

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Reply #138 posted 05/19/16 10:26pm

Spanky

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Militant said:

Graffiti Bridge could have been great, but IMO most of the faults come down to bad sequencing and editing.

Have you seen the outtakes? The "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got" video which would have started the movie is absolutely brilliant and could have set a different tone to the movie. Bring that back, trim the fat, cut out Tevin whose part wasn't needed, and sequence the story a bit better and you have a way better film. I enjoy the film as it is and I think a lot of the criticism it gets is exaggerated.

There's outtakes? eek

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Reply #139 posted 05/19/16 10:32pm

Spanky

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missfee said:

KaresB said:

Yes. As a film, it's very bad.

If you watch it as a music video though, it's enjoyable, due to the great music.

I enjoy the soundtrack...minus all the Time's songs. lol I always wondered why "Jerk Out" was never featured in the film as a performance (or was it actually filmed and got cut?). The Time's "Pandemonium" album is one of my favorites. It's odd to me that none of the songs, except for a snippet of Jerk Out in the background, was featured in the movie. Could you imagine them performing "Skillet", "Chocolate" and "Data Bank" in the movie? It would had been so hot.

[Edited 5/18/16 6:16am]

Because Jerk Out was the best song of the bunch and it wasn't a Prince song-- well, it wasn't a prince performed song. And that would have ruined the dynamic of Prince "beating" the Time. I agree with Militant tho, it's 2 movies: the one Prince wanted to make and the one WB told him to make or else.

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Reply #140 posted 05/19/16 10:35pm

Goddess4Real

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computerblue77 said:

Goddess4Real said:

Despite having the original The Time line-up, it ain' no Purple Rain, but more watchable that Under The Cherry Moon

Really? I found GB nearly unwatchable. UTCM I found very funny and cute. Prince seems so carefree and expressive with his body language. The banter between him and Jerome borders on a gay relationship. I can't say anything good about GB except that Ingrid Chavez is a good looking woman with wonderful creamy skin.

[Edited 5/19/16 22:12pm]

Well Ingrid Chavez was a better actress than Kristin Scott Thomas (who was the most annoying character in UTCM) in the 80s shrug Every time she appered on the sceen I was like whofarted Kristin has improved since then thank goodness nuts I would have liked UTCM alot more if she wasn't in it nod

[Edited 5/19/16 22:39pm]

[Edited 5/19/16 22:40pm]

Keep Calm & Listen To Prince

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Reply #141 posted 05/19/16 10:41pm

computerblue77

Goddess4Real said:

computerblue77 said:

Really? I found GB nearly unwatchable. UTCM I found very funny and cute. Prince seems so carefree and expressive with his body language. The banter between him and Jerome borders on a gay relationship. I can't say anything good about GB except that Ingrid Chavez is a good looking woman with wonderful creamy skin.

[Edited 5/19/16 22:12pm]

Well Ingrid Chavez was a better actress than Kristin Scott Thomas (who was the most annoying character in UTCM) in the 80s :tv:Every time she appered on the sceen I was like Kristin has improved since then thank goodness

Kristin Scott Thomas is a classicly trained acctress, if she annoyed you she did her job, that was her role in UTCM.

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Reply #142 posted 05/19/16 10:54pm

Goddess4Real

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computerblue77 said:

Goddess4Real said:

Well Ingrid Chavez was a better actress than Kristin Scott Thomas (who was the most annoying character in UTCM) in the 80s :tv:Every time she appered on the sceen I was like Kristin has improved since then thank goodness

Kristin Scott Thomas is a classicly trained acctress, if she annoyed you she did her job, that was her role in UTCM.

Yes she is a classicly trained actress and IMO should have one an Oscar for The English Patient 1996, but lets be honest here, she was beyond annoying to me in UTCM, which goes to prove u can have all the talent in the world, but some roles even the early ones are just......no lol She should have won a Razzie Award. Even she hated it "Kristin Scott Thomas has since been disdainful of the film. In an interview in 2005, she said that "When I left drama school...I was more afraid of not working at all than of the actual material I was being offered. And if you look at my very first film, you'll understand exactly what I mean." I think she is a great actress, but miscast in UTCH.

[Edited 5/19/16 22:57pm]

[Edited 5/19/16 23:00pm]

[Edited 5/19/16 23:23pm]

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Reply #143 posted 05/19/16 11:06pm

Spanky

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RiotPaisley said:

CAL3 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

http://www.themortonrepor...-part-two/

An Interview with Jimmy Jam of The Original 7ven, Part Two

Jimmy Jam discusses The Time, Prince, and working with Janet and Michael Jackson.

April 19, 2012

By Chaz Lipp, Contributor

Let’s look back to 1990 and the Graffiti Bridge movie. How did the original seven members of The Time come to be involved with that project?

Let me try to clarify a little bit. There might be a misconception that we got back together to do the Graffiti Bridge movie. That’s absolutely not the case. What happened, Morris [Day] was working on a project with Prince. It was basically going to be more of a solo project. Prince was going to do the bulk of the writing and playing. I think it was going to be calledCorporate World, but there were a few different names floating around at that point. Around that same time period, we had also been working with Morris on different projects and things. We thought, let’s get The Time back together and just make a record. So we got back together and started making an album. This was with Prince’s blessing, by the way. And we had our own idea for a film.

What kind of film did you guys have in mind?

It was basically based on our own true story, rather than a fictional story. Purple Rain was a fictional story based in some truth, the whole backdrop of Minneapolis and the competition of the bands. The way that worked was very true and very well done in that movie. But we really wanted to make a film about our exploits on the road and some of the things that went on, because we had a great time on the road.

How far did you guys get with this project?

We actually brought in someone to write a screenplay. We sat and talked with a couple of screenwriters, telling them the stories we thought were funny, letting them weave a storyline around it. We were in talks with Warner Bros. to do it. The next thing you know, literally out of the blue, Prince called us for a meeting at Paisley Park. And I remember we walked in thinking it was going to be about the movie — the movie we thought we were going to do. All of sudden it turned into Graffiti Bridge, and we were like,“What’s Graffiti Bridge?” Prince was like, “This is my movie.” And it was, you know, this girl and a feather. [laughs] It was like, “No, no, no — we’ve got our own ideas for a movie.”

Thank you so much for including part of my interview with Jimmy Jam in this discussion. I've been a longtime lurker here, but more so in recent weeks in search of solace. That was a great discussion I had with Jimmy Jam and he was extremely nice - especially considering I had laryngitis at the time and could barely croak out a few words at a time.

I also revisited my Graffiti Bridge DVD, a few days after seeing Purple Rain in theaters during the reissue. I found it difficult to access in conventional terms at this point. I remember getting the album in August '90 and finding it so tantalizing with all the guest appearances - I think I dreamed up a more fantastical movie in my mind in the two-plus months waiting for the actual film to come out.

For me, the movie is now kind of priceless. It's not any "better" in terms of narrative, but I'm just so grateful to have it. Yes, I'm romantizing it in light of Prince's passing but I think that's okay as long as a little perspective is maintained. As others have been saying, it works fairly well as a string of music videos all glued together with a vague plot thread. A real screenwriter might've worked wonders with the basic ideas - and made characters like the ones played by Mavis and Tevin more integral. "Melody Cool" is still a knockout sequence. The lapse into "musical" territory in certain spots (like "Love Machine") is jarring, but in a way enhances the slightly surreal atmosphere.

I always thought of "Graffiti Bridge" as something along the lines of McCartney's "Give My Regards to Broad Street" - studio-backed vanity projects created by artists who demanded a lot of creative control. McCartney tried his hands at screenwriting with "Broad Street" too, with similarly anemic results. His film turned into a series of well-shot music videos too. I honestly think Prince exhibited a more creative vision in "Bridge" (he had the benefit of Morris and Jerome and their long-established comedic chemistry). McCartney managaed to waste a supporting cast that had "real" actors, like Tracy Ullman, Bryan Brown, and Sir Ralph Richardson.

Anyway, I liked to watch "Graffiti Bridge" every few years and I'm glad it's around now more than ever. Even though "Under the Cherry Moon" is Prince's true cinematic best - so misunderstood and so, so good. Though I haven't been able to bring myself to revisit that one just yet.

[Edited 5/18/16 7:07am]

You hit the nail on the head- that's exactly what I was trying to say.

I'm also in the same UTCM boat. I adore that movie so much, I do not understand why it got so much flack. It works so well as film noir and truly a masterpiece. I cannot watch it right now though as I will sob the whole way through.

Google "film noir" and then edit this reply

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Reply #144 posted 05/19/16 11:39pm

SoulAlive

Spanky said:

Militant said:

Graffiti Bridge could have been great, but IMO most of the faults come down to bad sequencing and editing.

There's outtakes? eek

Yes there are scenes and musical performances that were edited out.The "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got" performance is great! Also,there is a performance scene of "The Latest Fashion" that was edited out of the film.Prince's dancing is really superb in this scene!

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Reply #145 posted 05/20/16 1:10am

robertgeorge

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Militant said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

"a different kind of movie. It's not violent. Nobody gets laid." -Prince

I love that Monte is the one that gets to come at Prince, haha. That's too funny.

lol, noticed that too. A better result than Jellybean taking him on (and being so mean) in the deleted scenes in the Purple Rain trailer. MM is in his weight class at least.

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Reply #146 posted 05/20/16 1:42am

Aerogram

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It wasn't just a bad movie, it was terrible and very depressing to watch.

I was used to explaining Prince was excentric but on that occasion, I could no longer defend him from accusations of overindulgence. I couldn't even say "yes, it's a very silly movie, but the performance scenes are great" -- they were not. It didn't help that it all ended with one of his worst songs.

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Reply #147 posted 05/20/16 1:51am

icequeen78	Oh yes. I love Prince but that movie. No no no lol. Aura was quite easily a doozy.. lol ... I couldn't defend this movie at all.
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Reply #148 posted 05/20/16 7:24am

CAL3

Thank U 4 doing this interview. It shed a lot of light on that period and what was actually happening.

I would've talked to him even longer if I could've - Jimmy Jam was extremely generous with his time, especially since his main purpose was promoting the then-new 'Condensate' album. Plus he was very patient, since I had almost completely lost my voice - I still have the recorded audio and it's painful to listen to myself croaking out questions...

But back to defending 'Graffiti Bridge,' I just feel like after accepting the general sense of incompetency that permeates the filmmaking - I can sit back and enjoy the musical sequences, laugh at the humor, and just generally respect the fact that Prince tried something (even if he bit off more than he could chew, wearing too many hats).

I'm kind of surprised that many commenters on this thread seem to feel like they'd be happier if the film didn't exist. Subpar as it is, I'm still tickled by the fact that we have a feature film with Prince, the original Time lineup, Mavis Staples, and George Clinton all featured (George could've at least had a line of dialogue though!). I know I'll continue to pop in the DVD every once in a while, no doubt.

[Edited 5/20/16 7:24am]

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Reply #149 posted 05/20/16 10:10am

kristy

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I really like graffiti bridge ,I think because I knew it wasn't purple rain , and I get where prince was going it just didn't translate like it should have, I was glad to see Jill jones in it because I felt so bad for her in purple rain, the music was great, the set is where it hurt the most but, I got over that, plus prince with long hair lol, under the cherry moon was more put together that's for sure

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