5/29/2023 0 Comments Graffiti bridge![]() Sorry, but this viewer just couldn't fit into them.The nightclub scene in Minneapolis since the events in Purple Rain has centered on an area called Seven Corners, which houses four venues: the Clinton House, owned by George (George Clinton) an eponymous club belonging to Melody Cool (Mavis Staples) who is raising a son, Tevin (Tevin Campbell) the Glam Slam, which the Kid (Prince) oversees, and Pandemonium, run by Morris (Morris Day). This guy needs to get out of the house more! The film is a trite miscellany of ``one-inch thoughts'' (to borrow a phrase from David Bowie). ``Graffiti Bridge'' 's biggest flaw, however, is that it's about such a tiny, tiny world. Even cameo appearances by gospel singer Mavis Staples and funk-surrealist George Clinton fail to add any energy. Sure there's singing, but it's so obviously lip-synched that it comes across as feverishly inert. Sure there's dancing, but Janet Jackson does it better. It's a neo-Expressionist tempest in a teapot. Technically, the film is a compendium of stale MTV gimmicks - dry ice, stylized sets. The only woman who isn't dolled up in go-go gear gets hit by a truck. He also seems to have joined Michael Jackson in a Diana Ross lookalike contest - which he's winning because he's got the right hairdo (never mind the three days' growth of beard).Īndrogyny is all very well - but what does it mean when it's accompanied by homophobia and misogyny? Prince wouldn't dream of slithering around anything that wasn't female, and when Morris Day and sidekick Jerome Benton accidentally kiss, they gag and have spasms. While Prince-the-cinema-auteur is obsessed with fitting strapping Amazonian lasses into black leather bikinis, Prince-the-screen-persona is equally adamant about bringing back coy, off-the-shoulder, form-fitting Valley Girl fashions in the '90s - for boys, that is. For those trying to pass the time while watching the movie, it's fun to theorize about this actor-director's deep sexual confusion. The film's subtext is far more interesting. Day recycles his two jokes from ``Purple Rain'' - combing his hair and looking in the mirror - while ogling every chick in sight. He's smitten with the idea of himself as a holier-than-thou rock icon. Prince's onstage performances are less fun than they've ever been. Because Prince wrote all the songs anyway, it's hard to see what all the fuss is about. Ostensibly, ``Graffiti Bridge'' is about a battle between the ``spiritual'' music of The Kid (Prince) and the money-grubbing music of Morris Day. She also gets to say, ``It's just around the corner'' again and again. How could I ever know the real meaning of heaven?'' She's a bit of a beatnik who writes poems and sits on a bridge, when she isn't materializing and dematerializing without rhyme or reason in various nightclubs.Īura whispers her poetry in voice-over: ``Abandoned on the street at the tender age of seven ![]() The Kid hangs on.Įncouraging him is Aura (newcomer Ingrid Chavez). ![]() Without a club, where could he play his music? Day's nasty remarks and brutal antics (he urinates on Prince's palm tree, then sets fire to it) don't make any difference. Most of them are owned by Morris Day (playing himself), but one of them is co-owned by The Kid (Prince) and Day.ĭay wants to buy The Kid out, but The Kid won't go for it. Prince preens more than prances in his latest extended video concept - excuse me, movie. ``PG-13'' - Parental guidance advised, due to strong language, skimpy lingerie. City Centre, Aurora Village, Lewis & Clark, Alderwood, Gateway, Kirkland Parkplace. X ``Graffiti Bridge,'' with Prince, Morris Day, Ingrid Chavez.
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