Did anyone who saw Hot Tub Time Machine notice the Purple Rain font in the credits?

Guess they didn't want to pay big $ to use Prince's music or likeness in the movie, do they have to pay when snatching a font?

LOL I did notice that.

Not sure they even wanted to use Prince's likeness in the movie, and using a font as a trade off is no kind of thought process they'd entertain, I think. The font is not exclusive to Prince, and Prince doesn't own it. Even if he did, is he going to go around and sue anyone who uses it? He's learned his lesson about suing his fans (or has he?)

Besides, fonts are there to buy (if they cost) and use at will. You know how often I see Windows' fonts on business signs on the front of a building? That one with curly-Q ends is all over the place, even in a mall here at a photo studio.

Chris Beat 'EmDown Brown used it on his last album, didn't he? I've definitely seen it in many places. Sometimes the fonts either already exist, or they're created by the design team that puts everything together for an album.

Look at all the different fonts used on the ATWIAD album. You don't think Prince owns all those, do you? Of course not.

PS They could have put up a Prince poster if they wanted, and there's not a lot anyone could have done about it. Prince's 1999 album was in The Breakfast Club, and Ally Sheedy (a big Prince fan) also wore a Purple Rain shirt in Maid To Order. No one paid Prince for that. There's a difference in having someone's picture in the background, and purposely promoting the project using the likeness. If it was "Prince's Hot Tub Time Machine" then maybe there'd be an issue. But to just have a Thriller jacket in a movie, or a Motley Crue poster on the wall - not a big deal.

Yeah, I wouldn't really expect them to have to pay, just thought it odd.

The movie was pretty inane, though. They couldn't even do their own math: The kid who went back in time with them was 20 in 2010, but later we find out that he was born in late '86, so, yeah...

You mean the fat kid? He was conceived in 1986, which means the movie would be taking place in 2006 or 2007, depending when he was born. However, if the film was conceived that far back or started production, then it was "current" at that point, making the character 20 years old.

Also funny was the Back To The Future references with Crispen Glover, using the name "McFly" at one point toward him. There's also the reference of using future knowledge to get rich in the past, which is what happened with a sport almanac in Part II of BTTF.

Also, when they're first in 1986, one of the people skiing can be heard saying something like "I want my $2!" That's a direct nod to Better off Dead, which John Cusack starred in.

ernestsewell said:

You mean the fat kid? He was conceived in 1986, which means the movie would be taking place in 2006 or 2007, depending when he was born. However, if the film was conceived that far back or started production, then it was "current" at that point, making the character 20 years old.

Yeah, I thought the same thing, but noticed that the story does start in 2010, so, yeah, I know, I'm supposed to turn my brain off and not notice that they can't do their math, cuz the kid would be at least 23, but, I can't.

I also can't forget that Poison was unknown outside of Sunset Strip in early '86 and NOT on tour, or that the movie Rambo III came out in 1988 so the bully wouldn't have that poster, or that Motley Crue had already recorded Home Sweet Home in 1985, etc, etc, etc...

Yeah, I know, it's nitpicking, but, why not get it right? It's not that hard to do a little research. I guess they didn't care, too bad, the movie could have been better with just a little effort. I don't remember the Back To The Future movies having a problem keeping their math or their dates right.

djThunderfunk said:

ernestsewell said:

You mean the fat kid? He was conceived in 1986, which means the movie would be taking place in 2006 or 2007, depending when he was born. However, if the film was conceived that far back or started production, then it was "current" at that point, making the character 20 years old.

Yeah, I thought the same thing, but noticed that the story does start in 2010, so, yeah, I know, I'm supposed to turn my brain off and not notice that they can't do their math, cuz the kid would be at least 23, but, I can't.

I also can't forget that Poison was unknown outside of Sunset Strip in early '86 and NOT on tour, or that the movie Rambo III came out in 1988 so the bully wouldn't have that poster, or that Motley Crue had already recorded Home Sweet Home in 1985, etc, etc, etc...

Yeah, I know, it's nitpicking, but, why not get it right? It's not that hard to do a little research. I guess they didn't care, too bad, the movie could have been better with just a little effort. I don't remember the Back To The Future movies having a problem keeping their math or their dates right.

Poison's album was released August 2, 1986. So if the movie takes place in late 1986, they could theoretically be popular by that point, enough to be at whatever venue they were at in the movie. It should be noted that their album didn't really hit its peak point until May 1987 (#3). They did tour in 1986/1987 with Ratt, although I don't know who headlined (probably Ratt since they had a longer tenure at that point). So if the movie is due to take place at the end of 1986 during the holiday season (broadly so), then Poison could have been at a ski lodge doing a few songs.

The Motley Crue thing did throw me because it certainly was before 1986. I graduated in 1986, and I remember that song well before I graduated. But again, condensed 80's.

Sometimes I think that despite people knowing what came out when, and at least having the information at their fingertips on the internet, that they kind of shoot for "the mid 80's" in general, and kind of condense everything. I would have loved to have seen some girl in a jacuzzi singing "Kiss" on her walkman, a la Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.

My brain gets nitpicky too about these things, so I feel ya on that. Like, totally dude. When they mess up, ugh! Just gag me with a spoon.