Pop Screen - S2 Ep50: Pop Screen: Purple Rain (with Gav Smith)

S2 Ep50: Pop Screen: Purple Rain (with Gav Smith)

01/27/22 • 69 min

Pop Screen is 50 episodes old! To celebrate, we've got Gav Smith from the My Favourite Film podcast back in to cover one of the big names (in terms of profile, if not in height) that we haven't covered so far - Prince, and his blockbuster first movie Purple Rain. Gav is a Prince superfan, Graham a Prince ignoramus - can he be converted?
More a vehicle for the extraordinary album accompanying it than a narrative movie, Purple Rain nevertheless maintains a cult following, thanks in part to encapsulating the fascinating contradictions that Prince embodied. He could be macho and androgynous, collaborative and singular, spiritual and pervy - all of these aspects of the man are discussed on this week's show, along with digressions about Tipper Gore, the rival band in School of Rock and Morris Day's superb chat-up lines.
Sadly, we don't have Morris's silver tongue, so we're going to ask you straight up - donate to our Patreon. (Why, what did you think we meant?) You'll get a monthly bonus episode of this show, unrestricted access to our other movie podcast Directors Uncut, Graham's Doctor Who reviews and more. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for more information.
#popscreen #moviereviews #purplerain #prince #princeandtherevolution #morrisday #morrisdayandthetime #musicals #apollonia

Previous Episode

S2 Ep49: Pop Screen: Cobain - Montage of Heck (with Aidan F)

Pop Screen makes another foray into the documentary realm this week, with Aidan rejoining regular host Graham to look at Brett Morgen's Kurt Cobain documentary Montage of Heck. An ambitious film rooted as much in its subject's imagination as it is the facts of his life, it was highly acclaimed as a portrait of the late Kurt Cobain, even as its strict factual accuracy was debated.
As well as Morgen's film, we'll also be discussing Nirvana's legacy across the decades, and how Cobain and the wider grunge scene reacted to his sudden megastardom. There's also choice cuts about Cheap Trick and Eels, as well as the possible world-first of a nuanced perspective on Cobain's widow Courtney Love.
If you enjoyed this podcast and want to help us avoid selling out to The Man and accepting advertising, you can donate to our Patreon, where you'll get full access to our other podcast Directors Uncut, as well as an exclusive monthly episode of Pop Screen and written classic Doctor Who reviews from Graham. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, too.
#popscreen #montageofheck #kurtcobain #brettmorgen #documentary #hbo #nirvana #grunge #courtneylove

Next Episode

S2 Ep51: Pop Screen: Cool As Ice (with Jeff)

Looky looky at our black booky: this week Pop Screen is looking at an artefact of the utmost early '90sness, Vanilla Ice's first and only starring vehicle Cool As Ice. Deeply influenced by the teen rebel films of the 1950s and shot by Spielberg's future DoP Janusz Kaminski, these classy influences sit uncomfortably with a story in which Kristin Minter falls in love with the Iceman after he nearly gets her killed in a horse fall.
This week, first-time host Jeff joins us to unpick the layers of this profound work of cinema, including its unexpectedly Malick-influenced romantic montage, its puzzling attitude towards the conflict of witness protection, and the clash of tones which leads to cartoon sound effects being dubbed over Ice's big action hero moment. We also discuss Vanilla Ice's brief time in the spotlight and long career tail, including his many reality TV appearances and the remarkable speed with which his record company overhauled his image into something more pop-friendly. Stop, collaborate and listen to this podcast!
If you appreciate the fact that we'll voluntarily watch movies like this for your entertainment, you can show your love at our Patreon, where you'll also get an exclusive monthly bonus episode of this very show, as well as Graham's twice-weekly reviews of classic Doctor Who and our other movie podcast Directors Uncut. This week we're looking at Fellini, and any podcast network that can bring you Eight and a Half and Cool As Ice in the same week has to be worth your money. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
#popscreen #moviereviews #coolasice #vanillaice #1990s #hiphop #davidkellogg #kristinminter #candyclark #michaelgross #naomicampbell #januszkaminski