Apex Mountain on The Rewatchables
13:35 – 16:30… when you're leaving this movie is like, what is 1985 going to look like for this guy? Right. I was going to say like, you could almost make a case that Apex Mountain is purple. Because that's how Apex Mountain-y Prince was in Purple Rain. You know what else I wrote down? 2024 is the, it's the era of the hagiography, right? Like all the documentaries are produced by the people that made them. We have these movies like the Elton John movie and the Bob Marley movie. And that's just kind of where we're going. Like these sanitized. We're fully there. We're fully there. 1984, 40 years ago, Prince was like, …
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Like every inch of his artistry is on full, active, thrilling display in Purple Rain. And all you, all you're thinking when you're leaving this movie is like, what is 1985 going to look like for this guy? Right. I was going to say like, you could almost make a case that Apex Mountain is purple. Because that's how Apex Mountain-y Prince was in Purple Rain. You know what else I wrote down? 2024 is the, it's the era of the hagiography, right? Like all the documentaries are produced by the people that made them. We have these movies like the Elton John movie and the Bob Marley movie. And that's just kind of where we're going. Like these sanitized. We're fully there. We're fully there. 1984, 40 years ago, Prince was like, fuck it. I'm going to play this complex, abusive, fucked up, narcissistic diva who not that many people in the movie even really like him. And he's fucked up and he might be a waste of talent. And Prince is like, sign me up. That sounds great. Can I just absolutely crush like six scenes? Do I get to act? And can the last 15 minutes of the movie be one of the best concert films ever filmed? And then that's in. Then we're off and we're ready to go. So Questlove had this quote about how he thinks Purple Rain started hip hop culture, whether historians want to admit it or not. I thought it was ambitious. I thought it was a take. But he was basically saying you had the beef between Prince and the time. You had just, this is basically hip hop, even though we didn't know what hip hop was yet. And just all of the pieces would eventually come. I don't know if you have a take on that one. I hear, I hear that. Also, I mean, it's important to mention that in the background of all this happening is the, like, the simmering of, you know, the most important musical format in the last, or genre in the last 50 years. Right. Hip hop is becoming important. And it's already, it's already extremely present in the lives of most, you know, lots of, lots of people. And it's eventually during this period making its way onto the pop charts. So there's this other thing happening in the background. This other, other major thing happening in the background. But I don't know. I feel like I hear, I hear what, I'd be curious to know when Questlove said that. As opposed to, I'm not, I'm inclined to agree with an, like, an aspect of it. But it's not like there weren't, it's not like Kulmo D, or not Kulmo D, that's a little bit later. It's not like, like, the Queens and Brooklyn rappers weren't already fighting over who invented the art form. Right. Right. But I hear what he's saying in terms of localizing the battle to a case of personality disagreements.
20:15 – 23:07… think graffiti bridge is, is a totally good, weird movie. And under the cherry moon, another, it, that is just bad, but it's bad in. I mean, we'll get to like apex mountain and all that stuff and all the things you can do with the power that you have. And it clearly on under the cherry moon went to his head. Yeah. Well, that's a, that's your classic. I flew too close to the sun creative endeavor. And nobody's telling him no at that point. Right. Nobody's nobody's like, I'm going to zag. I know everybody loved purple rain, but I just was on concert for a year and a half playing basically this really elaborate, …
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Because you liked more than purple rain. There were other Prince movies that you defended. I think graffiti bridge is, is a totally good, weird movie. And under the cherry moon, another, it, that is just bad, but it's bad in. I mean, we'll get to like apex mountain and all that stuff and all the things you can do with the power that you have. And it clearly on under the cherry moon went to his head. Yeah. Well, that's a, that's your classic. I flew too close to the sun creative endeavor. And nobody's telling him no at that point. Right. Nobody's nobody's like, I'm going to zag. I know everybody loved purple rain, but I just was on concert for a year and a half playing basically this really elaborate, crazy show. That was the movie every night over and over and over again. And now I need a zag. And that became under the cherry moon. And I think sign of the times. It's also good. I really liked it. Well, that's like a really, I mean, that's if you're talking best concert films, that has to be. Yeah. At least mentioned. Uh, yeah. This album sold 15 million U S copies, 25 million worldwide. They released when doves cry in may. It hit number one. The album was released before the movie that became number one. There was real buzz before the movie came out and Prince isn't doing anything. Like there's no like, Oh, Prince went on letterman. He's like, I'm out. I will do no promotion at all. But the album is a phenomenon and right at a point when thriller was kind of starting to die down. Cause thriller, they got 18 months out of, you know, that's just, they're just pulling like the seventh best song from thriller and releasing it. It's top five. Prince, this album stayed number one for 24 weeks. When doves cry and let's go crazy, we're number one. Uh, and then the album comes out and it crushes. I mean, the movie comes out and it crushes and it all leads to, he wins an Academy award for best original rock score. Which by the way, they eliminated the category the next year. They were like, fuck this. Uh, he wins two Grammys. There's two spinoff albums from the time in Apollonia six. I can't believe they were able to get 10 Apollonia six songs. And, uh, listen, I don't know if you listened to it, but it's, it's what you're saying is barely even true. Well, the funniest thing about all these offshoot albums that weren't Prince albums, but all the songs sounded like rejected Prince songs. Like even in this, even in this movie, the, I want to be a modern nail. Like that easily just could have been a rejected purple rain song. And he just gave it to Des. What a, what a hero. So then the years pass and this album still lives in the stratosphere. Like Rolling Stone did their 500 greatest albums ever. And purple rain was eighth. And then you Apple, Apple did theirs and it was number five. Yeah. And then you actually look at the album and it's like, yeah, that was a great album.
99:35 – 103:31… this movie and you totally understand what toll it took on his body to be that athletic. He's jumping two feet down wearing, like, five-inch heels. Because Apex Mountain, Prince is maybe the all-time example of Apex Mountain for this. Because the album's already out. The movie becomes a huge hit. This is about as apex-y as it gets. Apollonia, no question. The Time, no question. Minnesota Sound, no question. Minnesota. Wow. No, come on. Okay. All right. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. I'm just thinking about Jimmy and Terry and Janet. But that's fine. Is Minneapolis and Minnesota just as a city and a state? …
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And it's like, I don't know, he's like a magician. Of course he was on Painkillers. I mean, you watch this movie and you totally understand what toll it took on his body to be that athletic. He's jumping two feet down wearing, like, five-inch heels. Because Apex Mountain, Prince is maybe the all-time example of Apex Mountain for this. Because the album's already out. The movie becomes a huge hit. This is about as apex-y as it gets. Apollonia, no question. The Time, no question. Minnesota Sound, no question. Minnesota. Wow. No, come on. Okay. All right. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. I'm just thinking about Jimmy and Terry and Janet. But that's fine. Is Minneapolis and Minnesota just as a city and a state? It's conceivable. I don't know if people go 87 Twins. I was going to ask, like, what is happening? Sports-wise, not awesome. Yeah, it's basically more music movies. But Kirby Puckett's coming. Like, I think they win the 87 World Series. They're about to get a team. Like, shit's happening. Magazine Masturbating, unquestionably Apex Mountain. The First Avenue Nightclub. Still kicking, doing great. Clarence Williams III, no. Riding a motorcycle with five-inch lifts. Absolutely Apex Mountain. Lake Minnetonka, which wasn't actually Lake Minnetonka, but I still feel like it's Apex Mountain. Prince's customized Honda Manaconda CM400A motorcycle. Yeah. Which changes, changes, kind of changes during the movie. It becomes a different motorcycle. I noticed. Oh, does it? Yeah. And that's about it. We hit everything. Okay. Is that a motorcycle that we see in movies very often? I mean, I don't- No, it's from 1981. Okay. Cruise or Hanks for the lead role? Cruise. Hanks as the kid would be the weirdest fucking movie of all time. Huh? Cruise. Cruise could at least give it a whirl. Be crazy. He would have, I mean, he would have really, I mean, the thing about this movie is, how would you even, how dare you even think about recasting it? Like, because one of the greatest physical performances anybody's ever given in a movie. I'm saying gun to your head. It's like you, well, you have to. It's got to be Cruise. Sure, you'd pick Tom Cruise, but- Racehorse, rock band, wrestler, or fantasy team name. It's either Lake Minnetonka or the Modern Airs. The Modern Airs is a pretty good fantasy team name. I think that's a really good professional wrestler. Ladies, professional wrestling. The Modern Airs. Here they are. The Modern Airs. They're dressed like this. Yep. They become the Rock and Roll Express, but they start as the Modern Airs. Pick and Nits. Why did the kid live at home? He's fucking crushing it at First Avenue. Like, he can't get like a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Minnesota? That is some real carry business. I mean, I think there's so many movie references happening here. I think having him live in the house with the parents is really- Well, it helps dramatically, but it's ridiculous that he's living there. Yes, yes, yes. Why would Apollonia leave New Orleans to go to Minnesota for music? What was she hoping for? She was just like, I'm in on the funk sound. New Orleans isn't a lively enough musical place to start my career. I need to- No, I'm telling you, she is running from something, and the movie just doesn't ask why. It's a great call. Or what. Well, we know she didn't steal money from anyone because she only had $37. I think jumping into the lake and then getting on a motorcycle is like you'd get something worse than 2020 COVID. I don't even know what kind of level of pneumonia you would get from that. You'd get some level of pneumonia that hasn't been invented yet. We should just try it. I think the pneumonia is called Morris Day in this movie.
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