Big 4th of July edition with:

THE CLONES OF BRUCE - Awesome "Brucepolitation Collection" box from Severin
4Ks - GHOSTBUSTERS FROZEN EMPIRE, PURPLE RAIN, ANCHORMAN, UHF
New Warner Archive Discs
Imprint's THE UNINVITED/THE UNSEEN plus MAN WHO HAUNTED HIMSELF
and the hilarious 1980 Thai "Jaws" ripoff CROCODILE

All this week:
https://andyfilm.com/2024/06/26/7-2-25- ... -fu-to-4k/

Prince also released a movie called Sign of the Times in 1987; it was a concert film that was filmed in the Netherlands somewhere. The footage was too dark (or something like that) so he ended up filming a lot of it at Paisley Park but using the audio from the performances in the Netherlands (I think). Anyway, while it was poorly received it stands for me as his second best film behind Purple Rain. There was absolutely nothing like a live Prince show - you got your money's worth at any show you went to, and I feel the film captures the energy, talent, and sharpness of Prince and his band. I kind of like that he chose to connect the songs together with some "bits" in the film to tell a story of sorts about relationships; the background to the album release of Sign of the Times (Prince breaking up with Susannah Melvoin even though they were going to get married, the dissolution of his band The Revolution and the shelving of the Dream Factory album, etc.) is fascinating (at least for Prince fans). Since Prince did not tour in the US for SotT, he used the film as a way for American audiences to see what it was all about (he had already moved on to Lovesexy by that time).

At any rate, I think it was groundbreaking in a way - concert films were not released in theaters at the time. Prince took the concept and made it his own - only decades later would other artists start releasing full concert films in theaters. It has been super frustrating that a Blu-Ray has not been released in the States (I think the rights are with a Dutch company). My hope is that an official release in America will see the light of day.

It has been ages since I watched Under the Cherry Moon - the music is fantastic...I need to watch that again. Grafitti Bridge has its moments but is esoteric and really doesn't hold up well at all (though again, the music is fantastic on the whole).