(SPOILER WARNING!!! This article does contain spoilers, if you haven’t seen the movie, just see the first paragraph to be informed without spoilers!!!)

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping may have its moments where it is over the top and idiotic; however as a satire about today’s music industry it is hilariously watchable!!!

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Andy Samberg. Probably what I remember him the most is his SNL Digital Shorts with his group The Lonely Island. He has made some of the funniest shorts I have ever seen. Some of my favorite songs are “I’m on a Boat,” “I Just Had Sex,” and my personal favorite, “Threw it on the Ground.” I really don’t remember any other memorable sketches he did on Saturday Night Live. As far as his movies go the only one I remember is Hot Rod, and how stupid that movie was. I haven’t seen Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but I hear good things about it, but all I really like from him is his digital shorts on SNL. Since this movie stars him, I expected a stupid movie. I was surprised with the good reviews it got, and it dawned on me that The Lonely Island are directing and producing this comedy. So with that in mind, I really had to check it out for myself. You can be pleasantly surprised.

What I Like: Sometimes today’s music stars’ lifestyles are crazy, and sometimes these stars’ are crazy too. (Looking at you Kanye West.) They have all the money in the world selling music, and they use it on stupid or unnecessary things. Sometimes when they speak out, it is nothing but stupidity. What’s really funny is sometimes they are actually serious, but really don’t know what they’re talking about and need to fire their publicist. (Still looking at you Kanye West.) This movie focuses on these popstar’s lives satirically. Andy Samberg plays a Popstar named Conner4Real. A popstar who enjoyed early success as a musician, and is feeling the heat as he drops his next album and goes on tour. The movie is filmed documentary style which pokes fun at Justin Bieber’s documentaries. Some of the songs he performed were just straight up hilarious and stupid. One example, when he dropped a rap verse on a song with only catchphrases, I said to myself that is the stupidest thing I ever heard. Then immediately I realized, that is how some rappers rap nowadays, and then I was depressed by the devolution of hip-hop. Other than Conner4Real, another character that I found amusing was rapper Hunter the Hungry, played by Chris Redd. This character really pokes fun at rapper Tyler the Creator, and really captured his crazy persona on and off the stage. A rapper that says whatever he wants and does whatever he wants, and pretty much gets away with it, because he’s famous. What I really like about this movie are the funny cameos like Nas, Snoop Dogg, Pharrell, Usher, Adam Levine, Simon Cowell, Rza, and many many more. Each cameo played a funny role which really strengthens this movie. Music artists acting silly can be a breath of fresh air. Especially seeing singer Seal get attacked by Wolves. Another hilarious scene was the movie’s knock on TMZ which is called CMZ. Seeing comedians like Will Arnett, Eric Andre, and Chelsea Peretti, playing tabloid reporters was hilarious to watch especially when they realize they have no lives in this career. That final performance where Connor4Real brought his original band back, The Style Boyz, and brought in special singer Michael Bolton, I was done with laughter. It was good to see Michael Bolton still living healthy.

The So So: Did I mention this movie can be stupid but funny at the same time. There were scenes where I laughed very hard, and there were scenes where I just shook my head because the joke wasn’t funny. You can tell that some of the scenes were taken from past award shows, and recycled them for this movie. (How do I know? Don’t judge me!!!) I guess they really had a budget to keep.

What I Didn’t Like: Even though the story was a satire on the music industry, it did get a little predictable and cliché. You have a person who became a star, lost his friends in the process as he became a big Popstar, really becomes a jerk to his friends as a Popstar, has a major slump in his career, makes up with his friends, and they all come back to do a big final performance even when the main person really didn’t have to. At least the comedy in this movie made it watchable.

Overall: If you’re a fan of The Lonely Island, you will enjoy this movie for sure. If you are a fan of satire, you will enjoy this movie. I found this movie to be stupid funny, and the laughs is what made this movie watchable. It is not as stupid as it looks, and I promise you will laugh!!!

Rating: 3.5 Stars

(Sidenote: Regression- This movie is a very creepy psychological thriller about a cop, played by Ethan Hawke, who is trying to solve a mystery of a rape of a young girl, played by Emma Watson, which is lead to a belief that it is part of a Satanist ritual by a group of people. The movie was interesting, especially hearing the psychological factors of why people act this way, and don’t remember. Using experimental techniques to solve a crime. This leads to nightmares and delusions from the main character. I kind of saw the payoff coming, but not really. With that said, I really thought the conclusion was underwhelming. What is interesting was in real life in the early 90’s there was hysteria about Satanism that drove people crazy, and in the end it was all a fad. Interesting at least, but not a great movie!!!
Rating: 3.5 Stars)