Ben Oliver

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Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

Conner’s music may not be what I listen to in my free time, but it seems to make so many people money.
05 November 2016

A mockumentary pastiche of vapid films about bland popstars, like the Bieber movie or the Katy Perry documentary.

This is a great idea for a parody considering the recent trend of everyone getting a film made about their lives. Annoyingly however Popstar isn’t quite scathing enough. The quick Anne Frank quip (referencing the time Justin Bieber wrote that Anne Frank would have been a Belieber) was the only true shot across the bows, while the rest of the film seems to reside in a purely fictional world where no one might get offended.

The number of cameos contributes to this. Literally every popstar you can think of is in this, even just for one second. I’m sure it was supposed to make it feel ‘real’ but it goes too far and backfires.

Still, Popstar is funny in its own right, even if you aren’t all that familiar with the world it satirises. This is an achievement unto itself. The laughs outweigh the duds, and these days that’s all you can hope for in a comedy.

A one hit wonder, but worth a look nonetheless.

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