Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/694893
JUNE 22-28, 2016 UCW 19 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Unauthorized Bieber Biopic Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (Rated R) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (87 minutes) was funnier than I expected. I was prepared for a low-rent Dewy Cox knockoff filled with cheap shots. What I got was a mockumentary, a parody of Justin Beiber: Never Say Never more akin to This is Spinal Tap. Obviously, not as funny as This is Spinal Tap, because that's simply not possible, but still mildly amusing. The Style Boys are a rap trio (think The Beastie Boys) that includes Conner Friel (Andy Samberg), Owen (Jorma Taccone) and Lawrence (Akiva Schaffer). The mockumentary introduces their story via a number of contemporary pop stars (Questlove, RZA, Arcade Fire), discussing how much they love the "Donkey Roll" dance. Conner became the breakout star of the group, the Justin Timberlake, if you will. Now using the name Conner4Real with former bandmate Owen as his DJ, the story picks up with release of Conner's new album, Connquest. There is some back-and-forth regarding a big argument between Conner and Lawrence that occurred when Conner struck out on his own. Lawrence dissociated himself from Conner after failing to receive any credit for his work on the song lyrics that catapulted Conner to stardom. Periodically the setting switches from following Conner and his yes-men to Lawrence wandering around on a farm, showing off his wood "carvings." I am particularly fond of the log with three holes jabbed into it that Lawrence refers to as a "mask." The album drops and Conner goes on tour, but it quickly becomes obvious that his star lost its shine. The album is poorly reviewed and Conner tries to renew interest in his music via increasingly desperate and idiotic schemes. Like, remember when U2 arranged for their newest album to be secretly downloaded via iTunes? I am not kidding. If you didn't know about that, check your "purchased" list. It is in there right now. Well, Conner does the same thing, but into home appliances. There is backlash. The story progresses and dick jokes abound, some funnier than others. The pop stars continue to come out of the woodwork playing themselves, again, some funnier than others. With the tour headed downhill, Conner's manager (Tim Meadows) hires an underground hip-hop artist named Hunter the Hungry (Chris Redd) as an opening act, which helps fill the concert halls. Overall, I laughed at most of the jokes, and the players were smart enough to keep it short and quit while they were ahead. While some of the humor was obviously Beiber-based — remember when he said he hoped Anne Frank would have been a Belieber? — there is more to the film than just mocking America's favorite musical punching bag. The satirical net manages to scoop up a broad net of music's most egregious excesses. Some might say a little too broad a net — I caught a joke that was used 10 years ago on 30 Rock, and Amy Schumer just aired a very similar TMZ sketch. Some of the songs are both completely tasteless and hilarious, so I might need to borrow the soundtrack from someone who still buys albums and give it a listen. Now playing at Patriot 14 + IMAX. Operation Ceasefire a Success by HEATHER GRIFFITHS The Fayetteville City Police Department will sponsor Operation Ceasefire Movie Night Friday, June 24. Operation Ceasefire is a campaign that started in 2007, with the mission to improve the quality of life for all residents of Fayetteville and Cumberland County by reducing gun and gang violence in the community. Operation Ceasefire maintains a strategic and effective partnership throughout our community by offering various outreach and preventative programs. Movie Night is one of those programs. Five times a year a free movie night is sponsored at various locations within Cumberland County. Since its start, more than 10,050 residents have attended and connected with law enforcement during a Ceasefire Movie Night. These movie nights provide the opportunity for law enforcement, neighbors and youth to have fun and build relationships. The goal of the Fayetteville City Police Department is that these movie nights not only to be fun but also informative. To offer education, police officers are available to provide answers to questions that any local resident may have about gun safety and/or gang violence. Lisa Jayne, Operation Ceasefire coordinator, stated that police officers will be on hand to pass out gun locks and provide proper instructions on how to use them for any parent or adult with a gun in their residence. Since its start Operation Ceasefire has been very effective here in Cumberland County. The program is based on a three-tiered strategy of prevention, intervention and suppression intervention, which has led to more than 3,800 children making commitments to stand against gun violence in their communities. According to Fayetteville Police Department statistics, Ceasefire has an 80 percent success rate in intervention. From Aug. 4, 2010 to Jan. 7, 2012, Ceasefire participants absconded supervision less, completed probation more often and remained freer of criminal and technical violations than all the other probation offenders in Cumberland County. Statistics also show that 88.28 percent of Ceasefire participants remained active in good standing, or successfully completed probation. Overall, only 11.7 percent of ceasefire participants returned to prison and over 150 firearms have been recovered and taken off our streets. Ceasefire June's Movie Night is at Massey Hill Recreational Center, 1612 Camden Road, Fayetteville. Family fun festivities begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. with a rock wall, bounce house, K-9 demo, fire truck and police vehicle displays as well as a health and wellness table. The movie begins an hour later around dusk. The feature film for the month of June is Max, the 2014 release about a highly trained service dog, that builds an unbreakable bond with the family of a soldier killed in war. Seating is limited, so be sure to bring a lawn chair or blanket to sit on. Popcorn and drinks will be provided free of charge to all movie goers. For more information about Operation Ceasefire upcoming events, be sure to like it on Facebook or check out the website at http://ceasefire. ci.fayetteville.nc.us/. ASHLEY COBB, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly. com. 910.484.6200 Admission $1.00 • Adult FREE with Paying Child • All Staff FREE HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200.