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Movie Review: Cop Out
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By Vactor
| February 27th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
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Cop Out
Directed by Kevin Smith
Starring Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Michelle Trachtenberg, Jason Lee, Seann William Scott, Adam Brody, Fred Armisen
Rated R
Release date: February 26, 2010
Cop out — an idiom meaning to avoid taking responsibility for an action or to avoid fulfilling a duty.
Kevin Smith has probably been guilty of “copping out” many times in his life. The question is, “Was the title of his latest film a self-fulfilling prophecy?”
I’m a huge Kevin Smith fan. I’ve seen all of his films, purchased every Evening With DVD, and salivate every time a new episode of his popular podcast (SModcast) is released. That being said I don’t think he’s without his flaws. As an actor/director he leaves much to be desired. On the flip side, as a writer/speaker he is tremendous.
Knowing this, I went into Cop Out with some reservations. This was the first film he’s directed that he hasn’t also written. It’s also the first time working without long-time collaborator/SModcast co-host/producer Scott Mosier and his presence seems to be the heart and soul of a Kevin Smith film. So it was an uphill battle from the start with this movie.
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Words That Will Infuriate You: ‘Jaws’ To Be Remade In 3D?
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We say it often here, and we’ll say it again: most rumors aren’t worth even reading, let alone covering. But when a rumor has any kind of a backing or a solid inside source, and when it involves something one simply can’t ignore, then we shall bring it to your eyes.
Cinema Blend has word from a source that they have at Universal Pictures that the studio is “strongly” considering the possibility of remaking Steven Spielberg‘s classic 1975 Great White shark movie, Jaws, and bathing it in 3D for today’s audiences. The logic here is that everything is in 3D these days, and everything is being remade, so the smartest way for them to make a ton of money is to remake their classics with modern technologies. The same source even said that Universal was looking at actors like Tracy Morgan for the role of Hooper, once played by Richard Dreyfus.
If the very whisper of that paragraph doesn’t lead you break at least one thing in your general vicinity, than I would question your mental status as a movie fan.
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Kevin Smith’s Lengthy Explanation For ‘A Couple Of Dicks’ Title Change
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Not one person was happy when A Couple of Dicks — the first Kevin Smith directed movie that wasn’t also written by him — was forced to renovate itself with the new, family-friendly Cop Out title for marketing purposes. Smith was peppered from all angles, particularly on Twitter where he tries to answer as many fan questions as he can, and repeatedly clarified that it wasn’t up to him; it was up to Warner Brothers. He had been in an epic battle not too long ago when that movie’s backers wanted to drop the “porno” from his Zack and Miri Make a Porno, which he ended up (thankfully) winning.
While speaking to Entertainment Weekly recently, Smith explained the whole ordeal in great detail and laced with sharp expletives in true Kevin Smith fashion. Said expletives were censored in the original article, but I’ve gone ahead and uncensored them, because let’s face it: it’s a lot more fun that way. That means there is a tiny language NSFW warning on this one, kiddies.
Click on over to the other side to read some of the juicy bits we’ve included from the whole dirty thing.
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See Bruce Willis & Tracy Morgan In The Trailer For Kevin Smith’s ‘Cop Out’
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The brand new first teaser trailer for Kevin Smith‘s Cop Out has been officially released on Apple (head there for HD!). The movie is one with an interesting bunch of sub-plots that have nothing to do with the actual film. For starters: the movie was known for a long time as A Couple of Dicks; a title most people enjoyed, but which Warner Brothers dubbed too edgy, and had changed to the rather fitting Cop Out. Secondly: this is the first movie that Smith did not write and produce as well. He was hired to simply direct the film, and that is all. Even though this took Smith away from his normal comfortable world, the hope is that with stars like Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan playing off of each other, a comedy success can be achieved.
I’m a big Kevin Smith fan and haven’t met a movie of his that I didn’t love yet…not one. And while we don’t yet know if Cop Out will end up playing really well or very badly, I must say it: you can definitely tell this flick wasn’t written by Smith just by viewing the trailer. Whether you love him like I do or despise his work, the Clerks, Dogma, and Zack and Miri Make a Porno writer/director/producer is known for his writing skills and tremendous attention to dialogue quality. That relentless and witty dialogue would appear to be completely vacant here, and that would be my first concern.
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TV Review: ’30 Rock’ Season 4 Premiere
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30 Rock
Season 4 Premiere
Starring Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan
NBC, Thursdays at 9:30pm
Last season, I tuned into the 30 Rock premiere with high expectations, only to be met by the awkward-and-not-in-a-good-way SeinfeldVision. After a consistently hilarious second season, everything in SeinfeldVision felt off, as if the writers had suddenly changed focus. The episode proved to be the harbinger of a disappointing season that, while still occasionally brilliant, relied far too heavily on big-name guest stars while letting its strong supporting cast fall to the wayside.
Fortunately, this season’s premiere — the cutely named Season 4 — was a happier beginning. We got a good amount of time with all of the secondary characters, including the oft-forgotten Josh, as well as all the clever one-liners we could possibly expect from a half-hour of comedy (my favorite: Pete’s “Another actor? Why? They have so many feelings and opinions!” Okay, it’s in Scott Adsit’s delivery. It’s not as funny written down). Plus, Steve Buscemi! It had its flaws, however. The theme of the episode — drawing in more mainstream viewers — may be a bit too on-the-nose for some, considering 30 Rock‘s notoriously low ratings. And it wasn’t a standout episode for any of the main cast, Kenneth in particular. But I’ll get to that later.
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