In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Friday 9 September 2016

POPSTAR: NEVER STOP NEVER STOPPING [2016]

Musical-comedy trio The Lonely Island return to the big-screen with the impressively funny mockumentary Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.
In the silly spirit of This Is Spinal Tap, we follow the rise & fall of an idiot modern day pop-star who doesn't realize his real claim to fame was with the other two members from his acclaimed boy-band roots.
The comedy is a smooth mix of clever, dumb, vulgar, immature and satirical but always manages to feel quite natural in it's hilariously artificial execution.  You might need some knowledge of the modern pop music business and the social media hoo-ha that surrounds it to get many of the satirical jokes but there's plenty of universal laughs to be had too.

3 lupus attacks on Seal out of 5

9 comments:

budarc said...

One of my favorite comedies from this year. The soundtrack got airplay from me for a whole month after it came out, only to be dethroned by Swiss Army Man.

4 shit emojis out of 5

cuckoo said...

When it all comes down to it, it's probably one of my favorite comedies of the year as well.
Keanu and Sausage Party are all above it though.
Then if you consider The Nice Guys, Everybody Wants Some!!, Deadpool in a comedic category they'd be above it as well.

However I suspect Hunt for the Wilderpeople will take the crown...
...I missed it while it was playing here for it's short short week. :notgood:

That being said, I'm not a fan of comedies to begin with.

I'm also looking forward to Mascots, Masterminds, Wiener-Dog, Bad Santa 2 and My Blind Brother.

budarc said...

Comedies are probably what I spend most of my time watching. I agree with all the ones you mentioned (except Everybody Wants Some, which I despised), and would probably add The Brothers Grimsby, which was crude but fun. Also, Pee-wee's Big Holiday, but you probably already knew that.

Mascots is going to be good. I'm also anticipating David Brent: Life on the Road to be pretty fun. In the TV world, I'm enjoying Baskets and Vice Principals.

I've seen every comedy (to date) that's come out this year, which makes it particularly surprising that I never even heard of Hunt for the Wilderpeople until now. I've added it to my watchlist.

cuckoo said...

Ooohhh...I forgot about David Brent.
Yeah...I can't wait for that.

I miss having new Gervais and/or Merchant comedy around.

I look forward to Grimsby. I don't know if it's out on VOD yet. I'll check sometime soon.

The Wilderpeople is probably the highest rated film this year and it hardly ever plays anywhere. A real shame.
It's one of the few films this year to make the RT Top 100. I suspect it'll make it's larger rounds near the end of the year.
I have all his other films on NZ DVD, because my family keeps sending them to me as I'm the Canadian movie buff. I'm hoping I see it before I go to NZ in December. They all LOVE it there.
With What We Do in the Shadows, Wilderpeople and Thor 3, I think Taika Waititi is fast knocking Peter Jackson on his Hobbity arse.

budarc said...

Thanks for the info. I loved What We Do in the Shadows (and Flight of the Conchords), but wasn't aware of Taika Waititi's rise to fame.

From the description alone, Wilderpeople kind of reminded me of Captain Fantastic (another great one from this year). But I think it'll be tough to top Swiss Army Man, which is the clear winner for me. No other movie screams "budarc" more than that one.

cuckoo said...

Sometimes when it's late at night and everyone else is asleep I like to scream "budarc" after a particularly disturbing fap. :)

...but yeah...I'm eager to see Swiss Army Man.
I absolutely adore the OST. Definitely a favorite of the year.

budarc said...

I like to scream my own name out in the middle of the night too. It's a lonely thing.

---

Hey, I just came across this blurb:

"Following a successful limited theatrical run, writer-director Taika Waititi’s coming of age adventure Hunt for the Wilderpeople is finally heading to home video September 13 as a one-week iTunes exclusive purchase before launching on other platforms. The iTunes release will include an exclusive intro by Waititi, along with never-before-seen director’s commentary, a behind-the-scenes featurette and gallery, bloopers and more."

So I think it's safe to assume it'll turn up soon.

I also read that he's working on a sequel to What We Do in the Shadows entitled We're Wolves. And I'm interested to see what his take is on Marvel's least interesting character. :P

---

As an aside, I never knew you had a dash of the Kiwi in you.

cuckoo said...

:bearclap:

Wonderful. I can't wait to see it.
I was just talking about this morning with someone who really wanted to see it too.
I had a dream last night Hell or High Water did the same thing and I was SO pissed off I didn't get to see it. XD

We're Wolves. :rofldata:
That can only mean more Rhys Darby and that makes me giddy with uber-joy. Can't get enough of that guy.

My dad's a kiwi. So are quite a few of our family friends around Canada.
They seem to have some sort of homing device that attracts other kiwis and the gives them the ability to locate jars of marmite within minutes.

budarc said...

I think I remember you saying your grandma was Native American or something (or am I thinking of someone else?) so I assumed your ancestry was complicated but this just takes the cake. It's so much more interesting than anything I've got going on (I'm whiter than white).

I've noticed Rhys Darby has been popping up in more and more programs lately. I saw him most recently on Wrecked, a humorous, sometimes uneven take on Lost. That guy always cracks me up whenever he's on @midnight.

I think I've derailed this discussion enough, but just wanted to say I thought Hell or High Water was overhyped. It's a good movie but I've seen one too many films just like it. There's nothing more disappointing than seeing a critically acclaimed movie that doesn't live up to lofty expectations.