herbthe4 said:

I was watching GB for about 10 minutes the other night; I was embarrassed just watching it - and I was by myself!





Is Prince gonna be one of the Oompa Loompas?

herbthe4 said:

Well, I haven't watched 'em yet. But I know I'll like 'em anyway :p!!

What are you waiting for Harlepolis... Get off this silly device, and go buy them, or simply go rent them for the day.

UTCM... has it's moment's of great humor, as well as some melodramatic performances (all character's), especially some of Prince's facial expressions (too good)... yes, he thinks he's all that (shhh, ... so do I... ). Check them out for yourself. Only you can truly determine whether or not they are worthy of your "time". And to see him perform some of his songs throughout the movie..., is definetly a "Big Plus"!

Enjoy!

Beautiful Day!

Freespirit said:

I bought 'em from CDNOW and I'm waitless to pick my damn copies!!!

I love Under the Cherry Moon, it totally cracks me up. I know a lot of people don't like it but I could give a shit what someone else thinks, they're not in my living room when I'm watching it. As for Graffiti Bridge, I like some of the musical scenes but as a whole it was done very poorly. He chopped it up so bad that the little sense it did make was taken out. I laughed so hard when Aura gets run over and the ambulance comes and just tosses her ass in. to hell with trying to revive her. Then all of a sudden, the Time are on the Skillet, how did they get there? And I wonder how long Jellybean practiced in front of the mirror, "Yeah, we gotta bust him."

Supernova said:

I remember going to see GB, when I lived in SF, with a friend of mine who was onto speed metal/hardcore/punk and such. He was a drummer, and a good one at that, but we had different tastes. There were about 5 other people in the theatre that night, but you could still hear the giggles and the snickers (especially at Ingred's tired, "deep" monologues). Needless to say, this film didn't win over my Prince-hating buddy, and I was embarrassed by the whole thing. "Love Machine" and "Shake" are show stoppers? Please!

On other fronts, Prince would make a great Willie Wonka. Somebody else on the site suggested the idea and I thought it was great. There are already a lot of paralells between Paisley Park and the Chocolate Factory, and Prince's/Wonka's eccentric behavior. Hell, Wonka wore a purple suit for crying out loud.

I've heard this idea suggested before with Marilyn Manson as WW, which is interesting, but P would be much better. i'd go so far to suggest that it had commercial possiblities.

Harlepolis -

I'm sorry! What I meant is that they'll probably never be released on DVD.

You ordered the VHS from CDNow? Are you sure you didn't order the soundtracks?

EverlastingNow said:

cosign

herbthe4 said:

It's funny you mention Willy Wonka. A couple of years ago I just found out that there is a candy bar on the market called a Wonka Xploder. Since I'm not a big chocolate eater or much of a candy fanatic like I was when I was a kid I had no idea that anything with the Wonka moniker was on the candy market. I bought one for the second time a couple of days ago. Had it not had the Wonka name attached I would never have even been interested.

In actuality the movie never became a big hit when it was at theaters. It was only when the tv networks started to show it that it became popular.

I need to get the DVD of the movie.

well, none of Prince movies (Purple Rain, UTCM, Graffit Bridge - I don't count Sign O' The Times since it's a concert movie) have no artistic merits for which they will be remembered in the history of cinema,

The most inspiring is of course Purple Rain. In fact it may have its place in history as an example of the mid-80's and their fascination with music videos. Otherwise, the movie had an interesting story line (a sincere attempt by Prince to understand himself in words of Mr Fargnoli if I remember correctly), decent acting, it was directed by a professional and overall the credits were shared by many people who, as it turned out, knew what they were doing

"Under the Cherry Moon" - still, the story line, albeit a bit silly, manages to keep the audience interested (and it wasn't written by Prince). Acting, apart from a couple Prince's misjudgements (Jesus, he was stroking his hair when he was eloping with his girlfriend!!!), is not really bad, mainly thanks to Kristin Scott Thomas (who, after all is an accomplished actress) and Steven Berkoff (he's in fact a theatre actor which already makes him a professional one). But too many things fell into Prince's hands - thus too many things were not done as professionals could have done it. As a result, directing could have been much better as well as editing. But overall, I like the movie for two things: Prince never before and never since has appeared so loose to his audience - at least on video) and for the beautiful scenery - the decision to shoot the movie at the French Riviera was a right one. And it's fun - PIZZA MAN!

"Graffiti Bridge" - a total cinematic disaster. Nothing works there - the story line is simply non-existent - try to re-tell the story to someone and your're lost. For example, why exactly does he want to kill himself??? Clearly, the movie was cheap, which isn't a fault per se, but why attempt to make a cheap movie look like it's not cheap??? Acting is really bad, especially with Prince - he poses and looks sad, all the time (sorry, he smiles a couple of times). Ingrid Chavez' poetry offends my literary competence. The music is good (I do like the Prince cuts on the album) but does not really connect with the movie. "Joy in repetition", obviously inserted as Prince's dream, doesn't add anything to the story (like anything else in the movie).

The main problem is probably the approach Prince took to the movie when planning it. As I understand it, it was to be a spiritual story about (re)-discovering your own self with the help of some absolute power (God) while fighting for your beliefs. And it is quite a challenge to create a spiritual story. As for music, it is spiritual itself and that's why it's the perfect medium for a musician of Prince's talent and genious to mirror one's spirituality. However, with movies, to convey a message, one still needs to tell a creditable story and it's extremely difficult to convey a deep message through a story which won't appear silly, impossible and/or simply boring. Prince can't do that apparently.

And with all that said, yes, he looks cute in Graffiti Bridge. Simply love it!

SkletonKee said:

If critics universaly pan an artwork, that stll doesn't mean it's not art. It just means they dont like it. Art can be good or bad imo, naming a piece of work as "Art" doesn't always mean it's good, although most of us do attribute positive characterstics to it. It may not be aesthetically pleasing to us, but it can stll be defined as art, if the artist says it is. I dont like GB, i thought it was terrible. Defining art is a tough one.

Freespirit said:

don't do that, they'll laugh your ass right out of the store...if they even still have them there...much better to buy anonymously over the Net...

i didn't see UTCM in the theater, but i saw GB with my then-girlfriend. she kept asking me "what does that mean" since i was the bigger Prince fan between us, and i had no idea where this thing was going. we left the theater saying "i don't get it," and it's still an inside joke to us to this day. someone said it was a spiritual thing and why didn't it do better at the box office, i think because it had the spiritual thing going, it tanked. people don't go to the movies to be blasted by the bully pulpit...

my first reaction to the question "why do you guys hate GB/UTCM so much" was to say "because it ain't TRC..."but i'd rather watch either one of those movies than listen to TRC again...

Supernova said:

Also, there is an "Everlasting Gobstopper". Strange but true. I remember eating them whenver i found myself "gobbing"...

Well, I didnt watch ´Under the cherry moon´ but Graffiti Bridge, as a movie (direction, script, actors), is horrible. It´s recommended only for die-hard fans.

agarze said:

Nice assessment. SOTT is clearly the best Prince movie ever made , and at the same time, the least mentioned.

UTCM: Worst death scene ever! B&W just to be "arty". Occasionally funny, but bad, movie.

Purple Rain: Concert footage and overall style hold it together through the bad acting ("You never let me have...any fun!"... AND "We're here to tell you, there's something else..our music" OR "Every time you say you're gonna' play our music, but you never do. Your'e just being paranoid as ususal...shut up, Lisa, please!" VERY BAD) of which, Prince's was the best of the lot! In the right role, whatever that is, he could work. He definitely has "screen presence". Morris was funny.

Grafitti Bridge: Oh, my. The whole message was heavy handed, overdone and poorly acted. I GOT it, but I just didn't WANT it. Even the performances of many songs I liked were executed like bad mid-80's videos. "Joy In Repetition", one of Prince's greatest songs ever, was just wasted. "Tick, Tick, Bang!" was rediculous. Ingrid Chavez...yeesh...no wonder I loathe "poetry". And how many cuts do we need of "It's just around the corner" on the neon sign? This one should be on Mystery Science Theatre.

Bring me another "Sign of the Times", but let it be "One Nite Alone", "Hit & Run" or something. Wasn't Kevin Smith doing a "Rainbow Children" documentary? If Prince stuck to concert films, I think they'd be succesful and perhaps win over a few non-believers.

This is what I wrote somewhere else (what bugs me is that Cherry Moon could so easily have been a great movie, if only Prince had left his ego at home; trust him to find a way to fuck it up):

How Cherry Moon could have been great:
1) Have all of the Revolution in the movie as themselves. Make it so the band in Purple Rain moved to France and are now a big deal. Lisa and Wendy fans were screwed. Have Prince just be 'the Kid', not fucking 'Christopher Tracy'.
2) Use the music from 'The Family' like 'High Fashion', 'Nothing Compares to U' and 'Desire'. The film needed more hits, less (admittedly excellent) experimental shit.
3) Much, much more dancing and performing. This is from P.'s peak era as a dancer (as someone once said, 'like Nijinsky with his ass on fire') yet the film was all talky bullshit.
4) More SEX. A major sex scene with Kristin Scott Thomas.

Whadya reckon?

herbthe4 said:

My Sentiments exactly. These movies serve simply as entertainment, nothing more. They also don't even do a great job at doing that. PR was a little more than these but not by much. I think by now Prince understands that he IS a GREAT musician, but not a good director at all. U havn't seen him invest too much time or money in it anymore. Even the videos he directs suck. That video for "the One", which Mayte did is a good video and it was her rookie attempt.

Zthe9s said:

To paraphrase Lloyd Benson..."My friend..I know art...And Graffiti Bridge is not art."


and on that note...im just being extreme because there are soo many asskissers who try to validate the waste that is within these two films...i just figured we needed a balances arguement..

toratora69 said:

At the soundcheck I was at, somebody asked hiim if he was planning on doing any more movies and he said "We're not really focusing on that right now. I think I'd like to go to Europe". Good plan.

Unless it's a concert movie, I have little interest. I suppose the girls like these films because "Prince is so cute" and such. Have you noticed that the ladies like these movies more than the guys?

ANSWER: Because they're AWFUL!!!

Seriously, I far from hate UTCM. I think it's one of the campiest movies to come out of the '80s, and is deserving of a spot up there with "Showgirls" and "Mommie Dearest"...the whole movie is silly and is highly quotable...I'm amazed at how many of my friends mention how they got some great new album at "the wrecka stow. Wrecka stow, wrecka stow, wrecka stow!!!" This movie holds a warm place in my heart, no matter HOW bad it is, just because it's a fluffy, silly, idiosynchratic piece of purple goo. In black and white, no less. Silly rabbit.

GRAFFITI BRIDGE, however, is another story. I watched this for the first time in ages on VH1 last week, and it was painful. The sets were horrible, the musical acts were AWFUL (I love how Morris just decides to quit performing during "Love Machine", and how Jill Jones quits singing the female part and Ingrid picks up - real convenient, there), and Morris and Jerome's mugging for the camera just got embarrassing after a while. The one saving grace of the movie was one of the biggest pitfalls: Prince looked DAMN pretty. Not hot. Not handsome. PRETTY. I wanted to dump him into a waffle cone and lick him. Loved the "Thieves" montage, but it was essentially a music video (and I like the extended version of the video far better, anyhoo). Other than that...OUCH. Love the soundtrack, though. I'll defend it till I'm blue in the face.

SOTT had its weaknesses, but it showed the strength of Prince filmed in concert. We need more of that. The Lovesexy "official" filmed concert was amazing. Clearly, this is Prince's stage/screen presence at its best.

If he's ever gonna step in front of a camera again, it should be either another live document of one of his tours, or else maybe a tiny role in a Spike Lee flick or Robert Altman celeb-fest. Take that director's chair away from the little man, forever, PLEASE.

Under The Cherry Moon suffers from being amateur in acting, script and plotline etc but as a Prince fan I enjoy the silliness and almost improvised humour. The ending is a letdown in such a light hearted film.

Grafitti Bridge aside from the music is without merit to me. It lacks humour with even Morris/Jerome re-doing same old lines.

Worst of all it bills itself (alebeit loosely) as Purple Rain Part 2, informing us that Prince's dad died at and of the prequel, as did Billy Sparx who shaares Glam Slam between them etc. And where's Appolonia & The Revolution gone? hehehe

Both movies are terrible. They're not even "good" in the 'please forgive him because he's our Precious Prince' kind of way.

Eye loved UTCM, except 4 Mary Sharon "that was one dingy broad". As 4 Graffiti Bridge, it was ok but not 1 of his best movies.

Harlepolis said:

I think he did a great job in PR, especially in the scene when his father tells him to never get married. I mean, the look on his face is great. He looks tortured. I didn't like Graffiti cuz the damn curbs weren't NORMAL and the clubs were too close together and the whole story sucked. I had a better sequel in my head to PR. I loved Under The Cherry Moon. It was pure fun! I liked how the end didn't have a happy ending

I love UTCM, which I know is not the first movie people will admit to liking, But I thought it was good fun. In fact when my wife (who hated Prince AND b&w movies) liked the movie also.

I saw GB in the theater, and left thinking: "This is supposed to be the sequal to PURPLE RAIN!?!?!?" It sucked. I saw it with a couple of friends of mine. One was a Prince fan the other not. We were trying to tell him how great Prince was all night. Needless to say Prince helped convince our non-Prince liking friend that he was right. What a bomb.

I was to hear a couple of years later that George Clinton said the movie was good until Prince re-edited it.

Graffiti Bridge was my least favorites and I thought the acting was bad. Under the cherry moon is my favorite because it reveals Prince's personality the best, at least of what I would conceive of him.

I don't know what fans you are talking about, because most of the fans here liked and loved 'Under the Cherrymoon'. Now Graffiti bridge is a different story, that one got mixed opinions. I for one, LOVE UNDER THE CHERRYMOON.

Purple Rain, is a classic. Man..! No one can't touch that movie, and Prince's pulled off an EXCELLENT performance from the beginning all the way to the very end.

Graffiti Bridge was not a favorite, I watched it twice, but I like to give things and people second, and thirds, especially when it comes to creative aspects.
[This message was edited Sat Jul 6 19:13:35 PDT 2002 by Starmist7]

I personally REALLY enjoy UTCM!
I love the black and white, I think it has some terrific shots, most of the scenes of Christopher Tracey and Tricky still make me laugh, the music is simply amazing and Mary may have some strange costuming, but she is very fun to watch. I think I like it more since it was an attempt, although small, to step away from being "Prince" for a minute. Honestly, I cried the 1st time I saw it. Granted I was a teen filled with angst and Sometimes It Snows In April was my favorite song in the world, but it still made me cry. I can see why many people DON'T like it, but it's a movie I can still watch and enjoy all the way through.

Graffiti Bridge, on the otherhand...
I just don't get it. I saw it in the theater and didn't get it. I bought it on vhs and after a couple of tries, gave up. The only thing I like is Prince's look in the film. Thieves in The Temple is IMO one of his sexiest moments. The sets were awful, the acting even worse and the great music ruined by songs like Shake, Round and Round and Graffiti Bridge. At the time, P said he was going for a '50s rock musical feel. Which, I guess, explains the obviously fake sets and hoky feel to the whole movie. It just DIDN'T WORK. I can barely bring myself to put it on to just fast forward to the musical sequences now.

The movie that should've come out...
The LoveSexy performance broadcast on TV in Japan and widely bootlegged. It was an amazing tour both musically and visually and would've been a perfect end note to his first major U.S. tour in years.

As much as I love this man, I really hope he never acts again. If he does, I hope it's in a film he didn't write with someone else directing and producing.

Well we all know neither of these movies are "good movies" in the sense of acting, direction, story, etc.
But I've always enjoyed watching UTCM as a fan, I mean parts are just damn hilarious. Plus as someone else mentioned it was the first time we really got to see Prince TALK a lot, just acting cool and semi-regular. I still will watch this from time to time just for the fun of it.

GB, as much as I LOVE the soundtrack, is a laughable film to watch. The sets are so CHEAP, the acting and story are horrid, the dialogue hilarious. I'll never forget seeing this movie the second day of release in the theater. There were probably about 15 people in the theater and by the time it was over maybe 5 at the most. At one point a brutha in the audience yells at the screen "quit actin like a little BITCH!" to Prince during one of his particularly "woe is me" sad faced moments. I just had to laugh at how much people hated this film.

MikeA

Both movies were dreams on film...fairytales...