Crank up the mids for the Lonely Island's hysterical satire of celebrity as superstar Conner4Real finds his charmed life upended by an offensively bad sophomore album, diminishing ticket sales for his tour, and his own ego.
After shooting to fame as the hip-hop group the Style Boyz, childhood friends Conner (Andy Samberg), Owen (Jorma Taccone), and Lawrence (Akiva Schaffer) are torn apart by Conner’s out-of-control ego. Now a solo star surrounded by screaming fans and mindless sycophants, Conner’s world comes crashing down when his sophomore album flops and his new tour’s dwindling numbers necessitate a big opening act, an unhinged rapper (Chris Redd) whose popularity soon rivals Conner’s own. A fantastic satire of pop music and celebrity, Popstar is bursting with hilarious cameos, ridiculous jokes, and unexpectedly catchy songs. Doink-de-doink! [87 min; comedy, musical; English]
Programmed by IU Cinema Communications and Outreach Media Specialist Michaela Owens.
"Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is universally, gloriously stupid. And that’s not a slight—it takes a considerable amount of smarts to make something that so winningly observes the ridiculous facade of the pop music sphere, but gives it a wide-ranging reach." — Kevin Jagernauth, The Playlist
"Popstar is one of the films that arises from sharp minds with sketch comedy backgrounds, overflowing with ideas. The Lonely Island found the right pace for such an endeavor, and gave us one of the best comedies of the year." — Ian Brill, Battleship Pretension
"Popstar has more going for it than outrageousness, though it certainly has that. It has genuine outrage, a goodhumored but clear-eyed take on today’s pop culture as a morass of corruption, idiocy and relentless self-promotion." — Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
Any film screened at IU Cinema may contain content that viewers find sensitive or upsetting. Visit our Audience Advisories page to learn more.
