Review: Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)

Parody songs were a passion of mine when I was in college. I played Weird Al albums on repeat, and with the rise of YouTube, my friends and I had access to any and every parody song out there. That’s how we came across The Lonely Island, and our collective love for them is one of the things that kept us chatting after college was over. Jack Sparrow featuring Michael Bolton is a firm favourite in the group, if you’ve never heard it I urge you to go straight to YouTube now to find it. These guys are also responsible for Everything Is Awesome from The Lego Movie! Legends.

Anyway, Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer are back, with Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, a movie shot semi-documentary style as a parody of similar movies by the likes of Justin Bieber, etc. The three guys used to be a famous musical trio known as The Style Boyz, known for their most memorable single ‘Donkey Roll’ which came with a dance just as catchy as Gangnam Style. Conner (Andy Samberg) let the fame get to his head, and disputes tore the trio apart, and that’s when Conner started a solo career and became globally successful.

The tone is set almost immediately. There’s a hologram on stage of Maroon 5’s Adam Levine dry humping another hologram version of himself, while Conner sings his hit single ‘I’m So Humble’. It’s just that crazy. It doesn’t stop at Adam Levine, either. I think it’s funnier to witness it yourself, but there are cameos from a crazy number of musical celebrities in this, mostly playing themselves and telling the camera about how Conner’s music inspired them. Another review I read warned not to look up the cameos, and I can’t stress that enough here. Spotting them is half the fun in this movie!

For my fellow British readers, there are a few jokes here that we just won’t get. I’ve actually been watching Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show religiously so when Conner makes an appearance on his show I couldn’t be more delighted, but most of us won’t see that significance. The one I really didn’t get was the CMZ segment, which I know now after looking it up was a parody of celebrity news site TMZ. Other than that, the laughs don’t stop.

There’s nothing I love more in comedies than the jokes that really push the boundary, where your laugh is half ‘this is hilarious’ and half ‘I don’t know if I should even be laughing about this’. That happened to me a few times, such as when Conner visits Anne Frank’s house. Remember the time Justin Bieber visited? Yup. This might just be worse.

Of course, you can’t have The Lonely Island feature in a movie and not have an amazing soundtrack to go with it. The songs are frequent and hilarious, but a few in particular stand out to me, and I’ve already listened to them far too many times (in private, of course). I’d like to pick out some of my favourite lyrics, but we like to pride ourselves on this blog of being strictly PG-13, so I’ll explain the gist of them instead. There’s a song about equal rights in which Conner frequently reminds everyone he’s not gay, there’s a song calling Mona Lisa an overrated piece of...poo, and of course, a song about a girl wanting to be ‘made love to’ just like the US Government ‘made love to’ Bid Laden. 

The plot is predictable of course, and the final third fizzles out a little bit, but the final performance more than makes up for it, especially with the addition of a cameo so amazing that Lonely Island fans everywhere will probably squeal, like I did!

Mini Reviews: She's Funny That Way (2014), The Overnight (2015) & Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2015)

She’s Funny That Way (2014) is a crazy little comedy made from the same DNA as Love Actually and similar movies, where multiple stories all come together. Owen Wilson is a director who enjoys giving large amounts of cash to call girls, including Imogen Poots, who just so happens to be auditioning for the lead in his latest play. Every other main character in the movie is connected to one another, but I won’t spoil it for you because to be honest, that was one of the only things that kept me entertained. A decent movie nonetheless, but it just feels forgettable. I wasn’t sure whether the audience is meant to be on side with Owen Wilson or not, but he was a bit of a douchebag in my opinion.

What even is this movie?! I can’t tell if it’s a really low brow comedy or an indie dramedy! It’s a movie about a married couple (Adam Scott and Taylor Schilling) who are having intimate issues, and have just moved to a new city. They meet another couple at the park one day (Jason Schwartzman and Judith Godrèche) who invite them over for a pizza night. Things get very awkward very fast, when we learn that this couple paint buttholes and make breast pump videos. I’m not even kidding!

I felt awkward from start to finish, but it was still strangely enjoyable and funny. Not one to see in front of your family, friends, or anyone really. Watch this alone, or drunk!

Why did I put myself through this? I wasn’t overly fond of the first movie, but Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2015) was pretty terrible. For the record, I love the idea, and there were a few jokes that were funny. Basically, Lou (Rob Corddry) gets shot and so the group have to go back in time to find his killer. Only they end up in the future instead. There’s a big debate about the theory of time travel, and many gross sex jokes that are just plain awkward. Not even Adam Scott in a skirt(?!) could save this for me.  (Is anyone starting to see a trend in Allie's recent reviews?! Like they all happen to have one particular person in them?! Shuuuush don't draw attention to it!) The nerd song made me laugh though, and the credits scenes are actually the best parts.

Review: A Long Way Down (2014)

I hadn't even heard about this film when I found it on Netflix so I thought I would just give it a go and although the critics may disagree with me, I'm glad I did.

A Long Way Down starts on New Years Eve, Martin (Pierce Brosnan) a disgraced TV personality is on the top of a building London all ready to commit suicide.  He is soon joined by Maureen (Toni Collette) an exhausted mother of one, Jess (Imogen Poots) and JJ (Aaron Paul) who are all there for the same reasons.  Instead of going through with it, they become each other's surrogate family and learn to face their problems.

I can understand why the critics don't like this film, there was a lot that could be done with such a sensitive subject that just wasn't.  It could have made it more brutal and heartbreaking and really touched on a taboo subject that most people are afraid to talk about.  Unfortunately, it actually makes it all too relateable (quite scarily in some places) and it somewhat belittles the idea too much for comedic reasons, which is more than likely why the critics didn't feel it was much cop.

I think the film hit middle ground perfectly. It could have been more honest and really dug into the heart of these characters, and it would have been a depressing drama. On the other hand, it could have skimmed over the serious issues completely, and it would have been a heartless comedy. For me, this was a true to life drama that made me smile just as much as cry.

That being said, I was engrossed.  I didn't look up from the screen or move once throughout the whole thing, I laughed, I cried, I cheered and I really loved the characters and the relationships they have developed with each other.  I've always been a fan of Collette's work, I think she has such a broad range, ever since I saw her in Muriels Wedding a loooong time ago!  I found it so entertaining considering it was a film based around depression and suicide but I also think it showed how one person (or 3 in this case) can have such a huge impact on your life and change the way you think about things. 

This might be the first thing I've seen Toni Collette in so I can't really compare her performance to anything else (Edit: Holy moly, I just realised she was in Little Miss Sunshine! Love this lady!), but as much as I loved the whole cast, Imogen Poots absolutely stole the show. She might be annoying in A Long Way Down, but she was spot on and I really hope she gets some bigger roles following this.

Its a common misconception that depressed people are sad all the time and never smile or laugh or enjoy some moments, I think this can be highlighted more.  Many cases of 'movie' depression find the character not getting out of bed or considering suicide, this turns that on its head and reminds people that you can be depressive and fully functional in the real world, sometimes you just need the right people around you. Absolutely true! 

I could be simplifying this too much but thats my opinion.  I really enjoyed the film and the sentiments attached to it, it got a bit cheesy at times but I could see past it and enjoy it for what it was.  Its worth a watch, just remember not to overthink it and just watch, you might like it.

It's definitely a slow burner! I wasn't bored at all but I was grateful for the shorter running time, as I really felt every minute. That probably comes across way harsher than I mean it to!

Maybe it was just my imagination running away with me, but I couldn't help but wonder whether the reason JJ was up on the roof had anything to do with a certain meth lab incident gone wrong... haha!! Amazing!

Review: Need For Speed (2014)

UPDATED: Now that Jenna's seen the film!

Although I'm not a huge Breaking Bad fan, (please bear with me) I think Aaron Paul is brilliant, and I love the Need For Speed games, so I was really looking forward to seeing this. I can happily say that I wasn't disappointed! I love Aaron Paul and I was disappointed!

I didn't want to spoil anything for myself, but I couldn't help reading a few reviews before I went to see this. I'm glad I did because someone heartily recommended seeing this in 3D, which we did. I don't usually do 3D unless we go to the Giant Screen in Birmingham, and generally I don't like 'real actor' 3D films, but this was something else. The racing scenes in particular were fantastic in 3D!  I wouldn't have minded giving this a go in 3D, even though I have a strict rule of no live action films in 3D, animation only!

Now, as much as I don't want to, I'm going to mention Fast and Furious. I'm sorry! But you just can't help comparing the two. However, I've only actually seen the first and sixth films in the series, so I have a slightly fresher view on it. In my personal opinion, I prefer Need For Speed. I liked the characters more, I liked the racing scenes more, and in some places this film was absolutely hilarious.  I have to disagree, I prefer the characters in the F&F films, although the comedy was a little better in this, I find the storylines in the F&F franchise much better and actually somewhat more logical (see my 5 point rant below that include spoilers - sorry!

 

 

My only criticism would be that it lacked emotional depth. Perhaps a silly thing to say taking into account the genre of film? But that's what I thought, nonetheless. The romance was nice, but I didn't really see how prison really effected Aaron's character. That's all I can say without spoilers, but see what you think. 

I really enjoyed the racing scenes and the comedy element to the film and I actually quite liked the characters but the awful storyline and lack of logic really ruined it for me, I just couldn't understand why half the characters were doing the things they were doing. 

Just some words of advice? If you see this on the big screen, hold back the temptation to drive home like this:

 

*SPOILER ALERT* Please don't be mad at me for including spoilers, if you have seen this film you will understand why I had to do it!! I got so grieved about these points while watching this film, I had to write them down immediately so I wouldn't forget.  Plus I don't think I can do a full review without discussing these points.  I have put them in grey so if you haven't seen the film you can just skim past and head to the ratings at the bottom!!

 

1. Why would a man pay $2.7m for a car and then 2 years later allow a convict (who isn't allowed to leave the state due to parole) to drive it across country to compete in a race to win him $4m and if I heard the rules right all the cars are given to the winner so he has absolutely no collateral if Toby loses!! Ridiculous!

2. Why is this girl happy to vouch for Toby who we are led to believe she has met all of once and why is she happy to help him break parole to go to the race and get herself a criminal record for a guy she doesn't know.

3.  Why does Toby have to compete in the race to get revenge, surely killing the dude would be revenge, what does beating him in a race do, put more lives in danger.  Surely after what he saw happen to Pete he would rather skip the races all together no??

4.  Pete's sister got engaged to the guy who Toby said killed her brother, from what we can tell she has know Toby a long time, even if she didn't know for certain do we really think she would marry him? Are we supposed to believe that??

5.  When some random girl (to her, to us it's Julia) announces on the radio that Toby is only driving across country to prove he didn't do it (how?) suddenly all the doubts (that she should have had all along) come to light and she decides to search her fiancé's  computer, impressive considering she didn't know what she was looking for found compelling evidence of his betrayal within 30 seconds... Genius!!!

Ahhhhh...deep breaths Allie, deep breaths...it's based on a game though, a game which has very little storyline and focuses nearly solely on the racing. Anyone who has ever played a Need for Speed game knew what to expect so I don't think it can bashed for that. 

 

I can confidently recommend watching this film, and I for one can't wait to see it again.

As you can probably tell from my 5 point rant above (if you read it) I would recommend this film for the action and even the comedy but not for the storyline.  If you like films where you don't have to think and just watch fast cars fly by, this is the film for you.  I hate to give it such a low rating because I actually really enjoyed it but the story dropped the rating right down.