mozfonky said:

i saw it when it first came out, i didn't think it was that bad, not as bad as graffiti bridge. It was just at a time when he was facing backlash, you know the we are the world debacle and his bodyguards beating up paparazzi did more to damage his newly earned respect than under the cherry moon ever could. People are fickle and every star goes through backlash eventually. Purple Rain was far from flawless too but it's timing was picture perfect, you consider Michael Jackson's success opening a door for an alternative like Prince and then Purple rain as an answer to Jackson's groundbreaking video work, then you add in the fact that 1999 had prepped a core audience for his mega-star status it makes perfect sense. but purple rain was not a great movie, it was maybe a great rock movie but in terms of being a great piece of cinema, it's not. Prince had gotten too big headed by the time of UTCM, he fired people who could have reined in his narcissistic excesses and did everything himself, for a non-filmaker it's great, but as a film to be put up against other films, it's a failure. but i maintain that the time was ripe for Prince failure, the only thing he may have been able to do was to make a good sequel to purple rain, not the mess that was Graffiti Bridge. Also, his attempts to out-Morris Morris were wrong, he knew Morris upstaged him in PR but the way to deal with it was not to take on Morris' character, Prince is best as the mysterious loner which fits with all the great Rock archetypal artists, not some clown making light of everything. No one wanted Prince like that, I didn't.

Hello mozfonky, I agree with you entirely. I felt that UTCM should've been a Prince produced and directed Morris and Jerome movie. It would've been much funnier. During that period, I've noticed how P begin to switch up his style to imitate Morris. Everything from cutting his hair to wear the colorful suits, ie "Anotherloverholeinyourhead."

i can't stand the character morris is in the 2 movies..he's got some good songs but when he's on screen i wanna cringe and knock him the fuck out. what a arrogant asshole. thats the good thing about UTCM. no morris!

[Edited 1/2/11 4:02am]

purplemookiebut said:

i can't stand the character morris is in the 2 movies..he's got some good songs but when he's on screen i wanna cringe and knock him the fuck out. what a arrogant asshole. thats the good thing about UTCM. no morris!

[Edited 1/2/11 4:02am]

haha, he stole Purple Rain though, the critics loved him.

mozfonky said:

purplemookiebut said:

i can't stand the character morris is in the 2 movies..he's got some good songs but when he's on screen i wanna cringe and knock him the fuck out. what a arrogant asshole. thats the good thing about UTCM. no morris!

[Edited 1/2/11 4:02am]

haha, he stole Purple Rain though, the critics loved him.

Mozfonky, I agree. The critics did love Morris. His humor helped save a few down moments in Purple Rain.

[Bait snip - luv4u]

purplemookiebut said:

i can't stand the character morris is in the 2 movies..he's got some good songs but when he's on screen i wanna cringe and knock him the fuck out. what a arrogant asshole. thats the good thing about UTCM. no morris!

[Edited 1/2/11 4:02am]

Prince tried to emulate Morris Day a bit in UTCM, I didn't like that

purplemookiebut said:

Interesting how folks are saying Prince was emulating Morris. He made the Morris Day everyone knows (and loves or hates). From what I recall from biographies and interviews, Morris was just as shy, if not more shy than Prince was. Anyhoo, carry on

etifaim said:

Interesting how folks are saying Prince was emulating Morris. He made the Morris Day everyone knows (and loves or hates). From what I recall from biographies and interviews, Morris was just as shy, if not more shy than Prince was. Anyhoo, carry on

I've heard that P told morris to watch tapes of ali to learn how to be arrogant, I also thought I saw a lot of Richard Pryor in Morris, it's true, but it ends up looking like P is trying to be Morris, and no, he don't do it as well., No he don't.

maybe prince is more like morris then we think...

the shy quiet ones are always the animals behind closed doors

Christopher may have been somewhat gauche, mainly for effect, but he certainly had flair that was in no way leopard skin satin pimp.

mozfonky said:

purplemookiebut said:

i can't stand the character morris is in the 2 movies..he's got some good songs but when he's on screen i wanna cringe and knock him the fuck out. what a arrogant asshole. thats the good thing about UTCM. no morris!

[Edited 1/2/11 4:02am]

haha, he stole Purple Rain though, the critics loved him.

I get it, I really do, but the critics did not know that Prince created the character of Morris. He in fact created the funk foil that was The Time band. The entire Purple Rain world was something Prince envisioned and created from the moment The Time's first album was released in '81. The fact that Prince eventually fell victim to the critics talking up Morris is sad. He didn't have to take on the Character to be the artist he was. But maybe he felt he had to once Morris left the fold. Remember, Prince didn't fire Morris. He was actually writing another Time album when Morris decided to go Hollywood and leave the band.

As for UTCM: I have always loved that film. Whether he is trying to be Morris or not, it is funny and entirely watchable. The ending takes itself too seriously, yes, but I get it. The UTCM experience boiled to down to three factors: He was a fan of 1930's melodramas + at the time he could have done any project he wanted as he was a MEGA-Star after Purple Rain + he hated the fame that PR brought so (just like with his follow up album to PR, ATWIAD) his follow up film was something he wanted to be the total opposite of Purple Rain. So props to him for doing whatever he wanted. If I was given 10 million to make a movie and the studio didn't give a shit what I did as long as there was some funk in it, I would have probably made something unloved by critics too. (I have some weird tastes though lol).

And one more tidbit on Morris Day being compared to Prince: How many Oscars does Morris have?

Spanky said:

And one more tidbit on Morris Day being compared to Prince: How many Oscars does Morris have?

His competition was The Muppets Take Manhattan, not exactly a title fight.

Spanky said:

mozfonky said:

haha, he stole Purple Rain though, the critics loved him.

I get it, I really do, but the critics did not know that Prince created the character of Morris. He in fact created the funk foil that was The Time band. The entire Purple Rain world was something Prince envisioned and created from the moment The Time's first album was released in '81. The fact that Prince eventually fell victim to the critics talking up Morris is sad. He didn't have to take on the Character to be the artist he was. But maybe he felt he had to once Morris left the fold. Remember, Prince didn't fire Morris. He was actually writing another Time album when Morris decided to go Hollywood and leave the band.

As for UTCM: I have always loved that film. Whether he is trying to be Morris or not, it is funny and entirely watchable. The ending takes itself too seriously, yes, but I get it. The UTCM experience boiled to down to three factors: He was a fan of 1930's melodramas + at the time he could have done any project he wanted as he was a MEGA-Star after Purple Rain + he hated the fame that PR brought so (just like with his follow up album to PR, ATWIAD) his follow up film was something he wanted to be the total opposite of Purple Rain. So props to him for doing whatever he wanted. If I was given 10 million to make a movie and the studio didn't give a shit what I did as long as there was some funk in it, I would have probably made something unloved by critics too. (I have some weird tastes though lol).

And one more tidbit on Morris Day being compared to Prince: How many Oscars does Morris have?

I know that prince created the time, but what you guys don't want to admit is that the time grew into a "godzilla" in Prince's words. A band that routinely outdid his on the 1999 tour to the point that Prince had Vanity 6 replace them as opening act. Musically, the band was more in your face and, as a whole, more talented than bobby z, wendy and lisa. Morris did say something to the effect that "black people don't necessarily act like this" about his Morris character in PR, and there was a lot of friction on the set with Morris sinking into cocaine addiction. Morris screwed himself because he couldn't maintain the discipline which Prince did give him and squandered a great oppurtunity. I heard he couldn't even pay rent not long after 84. Prince is a funny guy but he's more kooky and less cool than Morris Day and doesn't come off the same, his character was universally panned in UTCM. I think Prince could have been a filmaker had he developed himself better instead of being the egomaniac he was and floundering. He hasn't even really tried after his misadventures.

Under The Cherry Moon was criticized so much that I never saw it until last year (I was adding the finishing touches to my Prince collection). I enjoyed the movie, actually finding it hilarious at many points throughout. My 13 year old likes it better than Purple Rain...now, personally, I wouldn't go THAT far!

mozfonky said:

etifaim said:

Interesting how folks are saying Prince was emulating Morris. He made the Morris Day everyone knows (and loves or hates). From what I recall from biographies and interviews, Morris was just as shy, if not more shy than Prince was. Anyhoo, carry on

I've heard that P told morris to watch tapes of ali to learn how to be arrogant, I also thought I saw a lot of Richard Pryor in Morris, it's true, but it ends up looking like P is trying to be Morris, and no, he don't do it as well., No he don't.

Well he's still sharper than Morris, can sing, play instruments, and he's pretty. He don't have to be like Morris lol

I have to say that visually though, it's one of my favorite periods, the fashion and hair stuff was one of his better periods.

The problem with the movie is that you don't care or really believe in any of the characters. It's like watching people pretend to be in a movie. But it's light fun, and certainly fun if you are a Prince fan. Reportedly, he originally wanted Martin Scorsese to direct his movie (they happened to meet in France), but Scorsese very politely declined. So Prince used one of Scorsese's cinematographers...???

g

[Edited 1/7/11 6:00am]