At Least, ‘Popstar’ Is Making Fun Of The Right People
Rarely does something so timely in comedy happen.
‘Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping‘ took the quick-wittedness of a SNL skit and somehow made it work for its feature length. Comparing anything to a film that holds up through cinema history like ‘This Is Spinal Tap‘ is hard but with how relevant ‘Popstar‘ is to this generation of musicians, it’s almost impossible to not to.
The Lonely Island’s first film stars Andy Samberg as a former boy-bander turned solo artist who struggles with fame. His character Conner4Real is a Justin Bieber-knockoff with 32 people on his payroll and a massive ego. His former bandmates are either now his DJ/lyricist or working on a farm. The plot centers around the ups and downs of his career as his second album flops. Thankfully we have cameras along the way to document it.
As someone who is a fan of the sociology behind fame, I was intrigued by the story. It was fairly simple but the martyrdom of being famous always makes for a great viewing. What Samberg and compay did with ‘Popstar‘ was deconstruct society’s obsession with watching others fail. We raise stars to such high standards only to bring them back down. This movie exploits that with a sick smile.
The best part is the brilliant soundtrack for ‘Popstar‘. It’s what makes it rank next to something like ‘Spinal Tap‘. Each song is Lonely Island’s usual smart-humor but on a bigger scale. Offensive tunes like “Equal Rights” or “The Bin Landen Song” really up the ante and makes you wanna listen over & over again.
The supporting cast was strong and the acting was nuts as expected. If the story could have been a bit less cliche-filled, I think this could have hit cult-classic status instantly. Someone needed to callout TMZ or One Direction members for their over-the-top ways so I’m glad it was this hilarious comedy.
‘Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping‘ hits theaters on June 3rd, 2016. Stars Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer, Sarah Silverman, and Tim Meadows.
A Bigger Splash effectively does what so many offbeat indie dramas fail to do: it shows us the story rather than tell us. Very little expository dialogue lets us into the lives of these characters and their complicated histories with one another, histories woven into a tapestry of heartbreak, addiction, and regret. We don’t need to know more than what director Luca Guadagnino decides to show us in brief flashbacks, the words unspoken carrying significantly more weight than the words we hear. It’s masterful filmmaking, tremendous acting, and a breezy respite from the summer blockbuster season.
Tilda Swinton is Marianne Lane, an aging rockstar who we see still has the ability to fill football stadiums on her tours. She and her boyfriend, Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts, the terrific villain from The Drop), are hiding away on the island of Pantelleria, sunbathing nude and making love in the pool. Both are in a state of recovery; Marianne’s is physical as she recovers from throat surgery, rendering her unable to speak above a whisper, and often times not at all. The limitation of the Marianne character plays like a strength in the hands of Swinton, who uses her body language and that quiver in her thin lips to convey more meaning than most words can do.
Paul’s recovery, however, is an emotional recovery, one we learn about periodically once the bull arrives in this china shop.
That bull is Marianne’s record producer and (more importantly) former lover, Harry, a dangerously impulsive man without personal boundaries or the ability to be anything other than purely antagonistic. Ralph Fiennes is electric in the role, almost never able to sit still in any room or any conversation. The lightning fast story he tells about producing one of the songs on The Rolling Stones’ Voodoo Lounge is especially captivating. It’s hard to imagine Harry ever being on coke, he must have been unbearable.
Arriving alongside Harry is Penelope (Dakota Johnson), his long-lost daughter. At least that’s Harry’s story. Everyone is skeptical, and very little effort is made to assuage their doubts about the ties between the two. Johnson has, to this point, been a rather wooden and distant actress in her limited roles. That sort of detachment works well in certain settings, and A Bigger Splash is one of those settings. As complicated as the lives of Marianne, Paul, and Harry seem to be, it’s Penelope’s enigmatic presence starring up emotions and igniting some dangerous desires. Penelope spends a great deal of time at a distance from the trio, watching behind her sunglasses beside the pool and barely masking what seems to be an air of disdain.
No matter how much Harry wants to party and raise hell, even bringing a pair of curious Italian women into the mix at one point, Marianne and Paul keep him at arm’s length. But they do it in such remarkably different ways and for different reasons. We are privy to these reasons over time, though with very little direct explanation. The memories of a former life and time between these three are fragmented and brief, like real memories tend to be. In the present day, it’s a sideways glance, a brief reference, body language, subtle qualities in each and every central performance saddling these characters with almost overwhelming emotional baggage.
The costume design also tells a distinct story here. Each character has their look, and the texture and setup of their clothing goes miles to tell us what we need to know about them. It’s Harry’s unbuttoned shirts and swim trunks, wildly patterned, or it’s the denim, muted hue of Paul’s wardrobe. And it’s especially the matronly attire of Marianne who, as Penelope coldly observes, seems “pretty domesticated for a rock star.” This, the preciseness of the rock and roll soundtrack, and the cinematography – capturing the bleached stone facade of Pantelleria – build a complete picture without bothering to tell us everything we need to know.
A Bigger Splash may not be sensational enough for some viewers who will go into the film expected high drama. This is a film charged with sexual energy from top to bottom, and the danger lies within the sordid lives these characters have had with one another. There is a shocking tragedy which kicks off the third act, but otherwise the story hums along on the backs of four monumental performances. Most notably Ralph Fiennes, who delivers time and time again. This time is no different.
Erlich Bachman himself, T.J. Miller, is joining the growing cast of Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Ready Player One. According to THR, Miller will be playing i-R0k, a pesky troll inside the world of the game. You couldn’t ask for better casting.
Ready Player One, based on Ernest Cline’s bestselling novel, tells the story of a future dystopia, where a teenager battles most of society in a virtual world to try and find a hidden treasure left behind by the creator’s estate. That’s the basic premise, it’s way more convoluted than that. Miller will join an already impressive cast that includes Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Simon Pegg, Ben Mendelsohn and Mark Rylance.
Having Miller play a bothersome antagonist is an inspired bit of casting. The guy has the market cornered on Silicon Valley, and I can’t imagine the small role of i-R0k to be too far of a departure from Miller’s HBO character Erlich, who steals every scene in which he appears.
Ready Player One will hit theaters March 30, 2018.
The apocalypse is nigh… Curtis and Brock reveal why X-Men: Apocalypse is exactly the wrong kind of superhero cinema. The guys also discuss the volatility of the internet and what it means to be critics/creatives in this landscape (sorry for that title, the pun-ability was too tempting).
There’s also James Bond casting talk, Power Rangers Movie Universe revelations, hard-hitting Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson news and plenty of semi-ferocious back and forth to satisfy your UnPOP desires this week.
1:49 Going viral online and rage-filled reactions
9:04 Movie news banter
12:30 James Bond casting
15:30 Power Rangers Movie Franchise
19:01 “What’s Cookin’ in The Rock’s Kitchen?”
21:36 X-Men: Apocalypse Spoiler-free discussion
33:25 X-Men: Apocalypse Full spoiler review
57:09 Soapbox Moment regarding film criticism
Have a topic you’d like to hear UnPOPPED? Send any comments/love/vitriol to unpopentertainment@gmail.com
Room was one of the best movies of last year and now it’s looking like star Brie Larson is going to join the world of blockbusters. At the moment Heroic Hollywood, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter are reporting that Larson is circling the role. Captain Marvel aka Carol Danvers would be the first female lead in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
They are also looking for a female director as well and the names currently in circulation are Niki Caro (Whale Rider, McFarland, USA) and Jennifer Kent (The Babadook).
Whether any of these names pan out is still up in the air but Larson would be an excellent choice for Carol Danvers. The current rumor is that we’re going to find out the Captain Marvel casting sometime during the summer.
Video Games have had a notorious legacy when being adapted to film – from the first live-adaptation Super Mario Bros. to recent efforts like Hitman: Agent 47, many of these movies have been derided by critics and audiences. Even the better movies like Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Mortal Kombat only make it to the standard of average.
The adaptation of the Warcraft series seemed like it could have broken this bleak run – it was directed by Duncan Jones whose previous movies have been critically acclaimed, the series has a large expanded universe, and the game’s developers were involved with the production. Even these convergences are not enough to save this fantasy movie.
The Orc warlock Gul’dan (Daniel Wu) leads a party of warriors from their dying world to the lustrous world of Azeroth. The Orcs are ordered to capture as many citizens as possible so the portal can be open long enough for all the Orcs can come to Azeroth. One Orc chieftain, Durotan (Toby Kebbel), has doubts about his leader’s motives and methods and seeks help from the kingdoms of Azeroth to stop Gul’dan and bring peace to the land.
The war-effort to stop the Horde is led by Sir Anduin Lothar (Travis Fimmel), the commander of the armies of Stormwind and the King’s (Dominic Cooper) brother-in-law. Lothar seeks out various mages and is ordered by the King to find out as much information as possible as Stormwind prepare their defence. There are betrayals and conflicted loyalties on both sides.
The Warcraft movie has been in production since 2006, and Blizzard Entertainment had Sam Raimi attached. Blizzard even rebuked the infamous Uwe Boll when he said he was interested in directing. However, the efforts have all been to no avail.
I have never played a Warcraft game so my reference point was Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, the gold standard of the fantasy genre because of their world building and characters. Warcraft does have a strong opening scene as a knight and an Orc prepare to have a fight before Durotan tells the origins of the war between the Alliance and the Horde. Warcraft is technically an adaptation of the first game Warcraft: Orcs & Humans but most people will see it as a prequel to the World of Warcraft online role-playing game. In some territories like the UK the movie is called Warcraft: The Beginning showing it is a prequel.
Video game critic Ben “Yahztee” Crowshaw jokingly said “f**k the Alliance” when he reviewed World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. There is a certain level of truth to that statement because the Horde were the more interesting faction. Orcs, goblins and similar creatures are often just mindless soldiers for an evil overlord – the orcs in Warcraft are shown to be a more complex warrior race like the Klingon from Star Trek and Dothraki in Game of Thrones – they enjoy warfare but they have a sense of honor when facing their enemies – having trial by combat and believe in fair-play. Durotan is the embodiment of these values as he tries to do the best for both his clan and family. There is humanity on that side of the war despite their monstrous appearance. The Horde has the more interesting characters and better acting, especially Kebbell as Durotan, the most well drawn character in the whole movie. Daniel Wu made a decent antagonist as he uses dark magic that corrupts the land, has no problem killing living things and torturing people. Composer Ramin Djawadi (who also worked on Game of Thrones) gave the Horde a really effective theme, using tribal drums and horns to give the music an imposing feel.
The Alliance is boring in comparison. They are just a generic collection of humans and wizards debating their next action to contend the Orcs. We got the noble hero, the young wizard, the reluctant senior wizard and the king who is trying to lead the defence of the kingdom as the other realms ask for help. There are scenes lifted from other fantasy movies like the Council of Elrond from Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings and certain betrayals come from the Tolkien series.
Jones and his co-writer Charles Leavitt were too willing to borrow ideas from other fantasy movies and books. When one young soldier appears on screen and interacts with the other members of the Alliance my first thought was ‘oh you are so dead’. The number of betrayals in the movie tries to compete with Game of Thrones – but Game of Thrones has a long build up. Many characters also do a noble sacrifice, preparing to give their lives for a greater cause – once or twice is fine but the movie does it four times.
The poor acting makes the Alliance even worst. Vikings star Travis Fimmel is okay, and he knows how to wield a sword. Dominic Cooper and Paula Patton (playing the half-orc Garona) are good actors and some of the better performers on the Alliance side, but Ben Schnetzer, and Ben Foster were dreadful as the mages. They were so stiff that it was embarrassing to watch.
The money was well spent on the special effects at least. The Orcs were motion captured performances, and they were so wonderfully detailed – there were cracks on their skin and small hairs on their bodies. It makes that look like real living creatures. The fantasy creatures like the wolves and griffins were also fantastic to look at, particularly the hairy, hulking wolves. Jones shows competence with the action sequences giving us a big battle fix. They are perfectly crafted as Orcs have punch-ups and humans and orcs battle. There were several sweeping shots like The Lord of the Rings movies.
Warcraft was shot in British Columbia which was beautiful for the forests and mountains but when we see inside the buildings interiors, and exteriors are too glossy. Compared to other fantasy movies and TV shows Warcraft looks too much like a sound stage – it’s too perfect. The worlds of Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, The Chronicles of Narnia and Pirates of the Caribbean felt lived in.
Jones has stated that 20 minutes had to be cut for the theatrical version, and it does show at times – the movie sometimes just skips to events and cuts some subplots to their bare minimum. One example is when a character in the Horde betrays another and that moment is made pointless when we see the next scene.
One of the big defences of Warcraft is it was made for fans. That’s all well and good, but a movie needs to appeal beyond its fanbase if it wants to start a new franchise. The special effects are spectacular, and Jones can handle the huge scale of epic adventure. The Hordes were perfectly represented but the Alliance was a dull collection of fantasy tropes.
The first issue of Marvel’s Civil War II is out and there is quite a bit to talk about. This comes from the minds and talents of Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez and Justin Ponsor, who worked together on the recent Iron Man Reboot story line and other projects. Personally I loved the Reboot arc and was eager to see how they would handle this story.
Civil War II focuses on the conflict between Iron Man and Captain Marvel after the Terrigen Mists creates an Inhuman who can predict the future the “near perfect” precision. However, this doesn’t mean that such an ability makes our heroes’s job easier as is seen in the first issue. In fact, it is the fallout of using this ability that sets the stage for this confrontation.
The concept is excellent and for the most part the story works as it should. There were some beautifully written moments in this issue which connects you to the characters. And this is absolutely aided by the artistic talents of Marquez and Ponsor.
But there is a problem with the story. Ulysses.
Ulysses is the Inhuman who can see into the future, the literal center of this storm. And I don’t feel a bit sorry for his problem. This is a guy who is the reason why the heroes put their lives on the line twice in this issue, and not once do we see his take anything. We see Stark, we see Danvers, we even see Medusa, and they carry their weight of the story excellently.
Honestly you could get rid of Ulysses and the story would probably be better if he was replaced with a computer program, or with an established character who just developed the power themselves. The one time he’s given the opportunity to show some personality it’s devoted to a bad college shout out. If his role wasn’t the sole driving force of the story, then this wouldn’t be such a problem.
And before anyone goes off and say I’m bashing Mr. Bendis’s work, I love this guy’s storytelling from Alias, to Guardians of the Galaxy, to All New X-Men and his work on Iron Man. Furthermore, the last major scene of this issue was nothing short of moving. But this story is sadly hindered by this one weak character. Even if there was a short panel of him reacting to what happens at the end of this issue would’ve been good enough for me.
I’m hoping we’ll get to know Ulysses’s better, and have him be more than a token character. Because the Civil War II story has the emotion, just not in the one character who needs it the most.
Disney and Lucasfilm have launched a line of replica props that are to be the most accurate ever. The Star Wars Collectibles: Ultimate Studio Edition will sell props originating directly from the Propshop at Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom (the same place all the ones for The Force Awakens were created). Using 3-D printers and having access to the original design schematics; these props will deliver maximum authenticity. Check out this video showing off the design process.
Lionsgate Premiere released the latest trailer for the action-thiller ‘Marauders’ starring Dave Bautista and Bruce Willis.
When a bank is hit by a brutal heist, all evidence points to the owner (Bruce Willis) and his high-powered clients. But as a group of FBI agents (Christopher Meloni, Dave Bautista and Adrian Grenier) dig deeper into the case – and the deadly heists continue – it becomes clear that a larger conspiracy is at play.
‘Marauders’ is directed by Steven C. Miller, from Michael Cody and Chris Sivertson’s screenplay. The film stars Christopher Meloni, Bruce Willis, Dave Bautista, Adrian Grenier, Johnathon Schaech, Lydia Hull, Tyler Jon Olson, and Texas Battle.
‘Marauders’ will hit theaters and on-demand July 1.
Released in 1987 and directed by Barry Levinson, Good Morning, Vietnam is a film that is quintessentially about a portion of the Vietnam War in 1965 and in particular one man’s story about his time in Vietnam; however, the film is also a representation of the very important role music can play. Adrian Cronauer (Robin Williams) is an Airman who has been brought to Vietnam to work as a DJ on the military’s radio service and to boost morale of the troops in Saigon. His first show opens with ‘Nowhere to Run’ by Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, this early rock and roll hit represents the characterisation of Cronauer; loud, raucous and animated. This song instantly indicates the journey the audience is about embark on with Cronauer.
After being told he cannot play modern music Cronauer responds with; ‘I Get Around’ (Beach Boys), ‘The Game of Love’ (Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders) and ‘I Feel Good’ (James Brown). The songs are accompanied by Croanuer throwing the approved music (literally) aside, soldiers in the field laughing and dancing and his scowling superiors. The opening golden-oldie, the rock songs, and the war raging off-screen, Cronauer’s humorous irreverence, and the restrictive official stiffness are skilfully entwined to portray conflicting viewpoints about the Vietnam War itself.
A particular poignant moment in Good Morning, Vietnam is the use of ‘What a Wonderful World’ (Louis Armstrong). The visuals of this sequence start with beautiful scenic shots of Vietnam, transitioning into shots of napalm explosions and an assassination. The imagery of this montage show the true horrors of the Vietnam War that were hidden or covered up from the American public up till 1965 by sweet and tranquil tales that are reminiscent of Armstrong’s lyrics.
The contrast of imagery and music in this film are what help to define Good Morning, Vietnam. The images trump the music in almost every case which helps to describe and portray the true tragic reality of what happened in Vietnam at this time. The reality of this war was blinded from the public and the music represents how the general American people were feeling, with happy, upbeat music that does not encourage fear or sadness like the imagery of the film or the true events of the Vietnam War that we now know today. Ironically despite Good Morning, Vietnam putting together an excellent narrative that takes its audience on a journey through the Vietnam War and accurately depicts the reality of war in general, the film is still predominately remembered for its fun, 1960s soundtrack and comedic performance from leading man, Robin Williams.
