Tag: Mockumentary

Movie Review – ‘POPSTAR: Never Stop Never Stopping’ – Like A Boss

Directed by Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone
Written by Andy Samberg & Akiva Schaffer & Jorma Taccone
Cast: Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer, Tim Meadows, Bill Hader, Imogen Poots, Sarah Silverman, Maya Rudolph, Will Arnett, Chris Redd, Ithamar Enriquez
Soundtrack: The Lonely Island

Whether you’re familiar with them by name or not, you probably know The Lonely Island.  From “Lazy Sunday” to “I’m on a Boat” to their first feature film, ‘Hot Rod‘ (which, like many classic comedy films, was under-appreciated at the time of its release), the trio of Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone has left an indelible impact on comedy and pop culture at large.

With ‘POPSTAR’, The Lonely Island brings their own twist to the mockumentary sub-genre, no doubt inspired by the recent wave of tour docs from the likes of Katy Perry, One Direction, and, especially, Justin Bieber.  You could say ‘POPSTAR’ is the ‘Spinal Tap‘ of the 21st Century, although I don’t think the boys ever intended on the same level of verisimilitude as Rob Reiner and Christopher Guest, as there are moments where their absurditst tendencies shine through, similar to ‘Hot Rod’.

Unlike ‘Hot Rod’, however, ‘POPSTAR’ is no PG-13 affair.  On the contrary, the movie does everything in its power to earn that R rating, from language to various sorts of nudity, including [possibly] Judd Apatow’s penis; and yet, somehow it doesn’t feel quite as dirty as the average raunch-com (Apatow-produced or otherwise), perhaps because the movie is genuinely funny.  And I do mean really funny.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, my standard for comedies is whether or not they make me laugh, and, in that regard, ‘POPSTAR’ succeeds.  There are great comedic performances everywhere, obviously from Samberg, Schaffer, and Taccone, and other SNL alums like Tim Meadows and Bill Hader, but also from Sarah Silverman, who I normally find to be grating, and especially from Will Arnett, who has a recurring cameo as a Harvey Levin knock-off.

If I have one particular criticism, it’s that the many celebrity cameos, largely done in interview format, could have been played a little more deadpan to give that aspect of the movie more believability, but I understand that most of these people aren’t trained actors, so it’s somewhat forgivable.

Even if you don’t think you’re hip enough to understand everything ‘POPSTAR’ is satirizing, it’s still hilarious on many levels. and there are so many wonderful surprises that I can’t help but recommend it.  Go see it if you’re up for a good laugh (although not before you go see ‘The Nice Guys‘, jerkwad).

Rating: ★★★★☆

Quick Thoughts – Summer Round-Up, Part 5 of 5

Whew, we finally made it.  The last bit of backlog left from the summer.

Best in Show

‘Best in Show’ (2000)

As far as I know, Woody Allen invented the comedic “Mockumentary” with ‘Take the Money and Run’ back in 1969, but it was Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer who took it to the next level with ‘This is Spinal Tap’ in 1984.

Christopher Guest writes, directs, and acts in this pastiche of dog shows, and the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in particular.  Every Guest regular (Eugene Levy, et al.) is in the film, save for Harry Shearer, and everybody gets their moment to shine and give the audience a good laugh.

What makes movies like this so tremendous is that there’s not a single bit of written dialogue.  Every line is improvised by the actors and the reactions are equally on-the-spot, like watching a bunch of great jazz musicians playing together.  Not only that, but the details in this production’s design are spot on as well; I mean, I think the filmmakers pretty much had to put together a reasonable facsimile of a dog show in a real venue, which gives the movie a grounded sense of realism, even when the dialogue is getting over-the-top silly.

I can’t say if ‘Best in Show’ is the best of Guest, but it’s definitely worth seeing.

Rating: ★★★★☆

 

Maniac Cop 2

‘Maniac Cop 2’ (1990)

I can’t lie, I think this one got a little overhyped for me.  People were saying it’s definitely better than the first ‘Maniac Cop’, but I don’t know.  To me, both movies work fine as a continuous story, and seeing as how they’re both 90 minutes or less, you could easily watch them back-to-back in a single evening (I have yet to see the third installment, but will definitely check it out one of these days), but the first one has Tom Atkins, so, I’m hard pressed to say the sequel is superior.

‘Maniac Cop 2’ is pretty good for a late-80s B-horror flick, and, like its predecessor, an interesting time capsule for New York City, but it’s hardly any sort of required viewing in my opinion.  The one sequence of particular note is the police station shootout, which rivals an analogous scene in ‘The Terminator’.

Performance-wise, Robert Davi is strong as usual, and Bruce Campbell and Laurene Landon do a fine job continuing their roles from the first movie.

Other than that, not much else to say.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

 

Above the Law

‘Above the Law’ (1988)

This isn’t the best Steven Seagal movie, but it is the first, which makes it somewhat important.  It’s also the first of two collaborations between Seagal and director Andrew Davis, who would later reunite for arguably Seagal’s best movie, that being ‘Under Siege’.

‘Above the Law’ is far from perfect.  Seeing it now, many of the performances come off as rather hackneyed, but, it does offer some quintessential Steven Seagal martial arts action, and some signature Seagal one-liners.  My personal favorite: “Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet.”

‘Above the Law’ is also a very Chicago movie.  Not only was it mostly shot on location in the Windy City, but every working Chicago actor of note is in the movie.  You’ll recognize them from other movies such as ‘The Blues Brothers’, ‘Backdraft’, ‘The Fugitive’, even ‘The Dark Knight’.

If you’re a Steven Seagal fan, this one’s a must see; otherwise, it’s hit or miss.

Rating: ★★★☆☆