Movie Review – Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
The Lonely Island has turned out to be one of Saturday Night Live’s biggest success stories. Childhood friends Akiva Schaffer, Andy Samberg, and Jorma Taccone formed the group in junior high and joined the SNL writing staff in the days of comedic greats such as Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, Seth Meyers, and Jason Sudeikis. Instead of the traditional pitching process, they began to produce independent material and Lorne Michaels, the creator of SNL, gave them their own division of the program called SNL Digital Shorts. This featured many iconic songs including “Dick in A Box,” “I’m On a Boat,” and “Jack Sparrow.” By placing seemingly nonsense lyrics over a catchy beat, they were able to attract people of all music preferences and branch out from SNL.
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is written, directed, and produced by the trio and is packed with a consistency that SNL sketches have been lacking recently. The movie stars Conner4Real, a former member of the boy band Style Boyz and is about the journey of releasing his second solo album Connquest. The soundtrack hits iTunes the same day the movie hits theaters and features songs such as “Things in My Jeep,” “Turn Up the Beef,” and “I’m So Humble.” Despite the silly lyrics, it features top artists such as P!nk, Seal, Adam Levine, and Linkin Park.
Basically, the movie is a parody of the teenage pop star and boy band lifestyle. Even the title sounds similar to Justin Bieber’s 2011 biopic Never Say Never. Conner4Real goes through ups and downs all in the public eye while also distancing himself from his former band mates. The movie is full of hilarious moments and subtly digs at many popular aspects of modern pop culture (Will Arnett’s TMZ parody had me in TEARS).
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is a must see this summer. After all, where else can you listen to someone singing about wanting to be f**ked like the U.S. government f**ked Bin Laden?
You can catch Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping in a theater near you June 3rd.
