I don’t have much experience reviewing children’s movies, so, before writing this, I did some research to glean a few of the points prescient to their reviews. Fortunately the standard kid-flick critique doesn’t differ much from your standard, well, non-kid-flick review. The only theme uniting them all is to note whether adults will enjoy it as much as their brood (or whether either audience will enjoy it).

So let’s get that out of the way: The kids will probably enjoy it (the ones invited to my screening didn’t make too much noise, but that may have been due to the iron fists of their handlers); adults won’t mind it. Rio isn’t particularly sophisticated and comes with your basic (and I use this term only because it does very much apply here) cookie-cutter plot in which you already know everything that’s going to happen within the first 12 minutes, and, beyond that, there’s not a whole lot else—save for the location shots, which I’ll get to in a moment.

The story is that Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) is a rare Spix macaw, taken from his homeland of Brazil when he was a chick and shipped to Moose Lake, Minnesota, where his crate falls off the back of the truck and he’s adopted by Linda (Leslie Mann), a bookish girl who raises him over the next 15 years. Linda doesn’t make many friends in that time, but she does open a bookstore, and the story proper begins when Tulio (Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro), a bird scientist, drops by to inform Linda that Blu is one of the last of his species and must go to Brazil to mate with Jewel (Anne Hathaway), the other last of the species.

Continue Reading →

“A woman cannot subsist on quality films alone”–Shannon Hood

Let me explain with a food analogy, if I may. For the most part, I am a food Nazi. I try to eat really well, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, watch my fat and sugar intake, and every once in a while I find myself in the McDonald’s drive through That quarter-pounder with cheese is damn delicious when I eat it.

Afterward, I usually feel guilty. I know that it is not good for me.  I know it lacks nutritional value, and really is not a quality offering, but I have to admit that I had a good time consuming it.

Such is the case with Cop Out, the first feature film that has been directed, but not written, by Kevin Smith. There is no way I can possibly sit here and tell you this is a good movie.  It is not, by any stretch of the imagination. It is really, really stupid. But I laughed.  A lot.  *hangs head in shame*

Let’s face facts. If you happened upon the trailer for this a few months ago, and after viewing it, you circled February 26 on your calendar and thought to yourself  ”I cannot WAIT to see that,”  then you will not be disappointed. What you see is what you get. You don’t need my advice here. This is pure cinematic junk food, which may or may not be what you are craving.

Continue Reading →

With Kevin Smith causing all kinds of controversy both on land and (almost) in the air, many people feel this could all have something to do with the fact that his film Cop Out hits theaters all over the country this Friday. While that may be the case, we got our hands on some new clips that may speak for themselves.

The film, starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, was originally titled A Couple of Dicks, and revolves around two New York City cops trying to take down an international drug lord. The premise and comedy solely depend on the “buddy cop” formula, with their dynamic running the entire film.

After the jump, check out three brand new clips from the film. In the first, Paul Hodges (Morgan) questions the fidelity of his wife (Rashida Jones). In the second, the partners observe while a victim explains her crime to a translator. Finally, Paul shows off his acting skills in the interrogation room.

Cop Out hits theaters everywhere this Friday.

Continue Reading →

Once again with last night’s lineup of comedies, NBC proved they are a force to be reckoned with on Thursday nights. And if you missed any of the shows, which include Community, Rock and Parks and Recreation, you’re in luck because we’ve got highlights of all of the shows to share with you right here. Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about The Office as we already had a full recap of that show earlier today.

On Community, Jeff and Slater hit a rough patch but Britta saves the relationship by playing some touching moments from a drunken voicemail that Jeff left her. See how Valentine’s Day ended for Jeff and the rest of the gang in last night’s episode highlights. On 30 Rock, Jenna finds out her stalker has been seeing someone else and Liz deals with Valentine’s day by scheduling oral surgery. Of course, that doesn’t go exactly as planned. Plus, the awesome Elizabeth Banks shows up to give Jack (Alec Baldwin) a run for his money.

Finally, on Parks and Recreation, Andy dreams of being a rockstar were slightly derailed last night as his band was relegated to playing at the senior center. He wants to know how his band sounds, but how does he find out?

Check out all the highlights and some deleted scenes, after, you guessed it, the jump.

Continue Reading →

So far, the Cop Out trailer we’ve seen and the TV spots that have popped up haven’t inspired much hope that this latest Kevin Smith film will be very funny. In truth, it just doesn’t seem like a Kevin Smith film at all and instead, plays more like a generic studio buddy-cop picture. Obviously, we were hoping for a bit more.

Perhaps Warner Bros. is concerned as well because they’ve dropped a new Red Band trailer at MySpace that seems to reflect more of the “flavor” we’ve come to expect from Mr. Smith’s movies. Seeing this trailer, the film does look more like a Smith movie (although his name isn’t mentioned at all) and is definitely funnier. I just hope that these aren’t all the funny parts and we get more — and a story — when the film hits theaters on February 26.

The new Cop Out trailer is available after the break. Keep in mind this is a Red Band so it’s NSFW.

Continue Reading →

After months of debate, Warner Bros. and Kevin Smith have finally come to terms on a title for their newest picture The movie, now known as Cop Out, stars Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, and Sean William Scott.

The film, originally titled “Couple of Dicks” then a “Couple of Cops”, is the story of two cops who are trying to find a rare and very expensive baseball card, and the fanatical gangster who wants it. Willis’ character, Jimmy, needs to get the card back in order to pay for his daughter’s wedding. His partner, Paul (Morgan), is too obsessed with his wife’s infidelity to really stay focused on the job.

Having gone through that synopsis, this trailer covers none of that. What we get is a lot of Willis and Morgan being funny, and a movie that looks (almost) nothing like anything that Kevin Smith has ever done before. The script comes from fresh screenwriters Robb and Mark Cullen (TV’s Las Vegas).

Check out the first trailer for the film after the jump, and catch Smith’s Cop Out in theaters on February 26th.

Continue Reading →

Director and writer Kevin Smith’s already had some problems with his film titles. 2008′s Zach and Miri Make a Porno was just called Zach and Miri in many television ads, and it looks like his new flick, A Couple of Dicks, is having similar troubles.

According to /Film, at his Comic-Con panel Smith discussed the ways Warner Bros. is dealing with the problem. When asked, TBS and Fox said they would run the ads all day, but ABC, NBC, and CBS said that they wouldn’t run the ads until after 9:00pm.

“We’re all still paying for Janet Jackson’s tit,” Smith joked. “That boob haunts me.”

Warner Brothers already tried changing the film’s name to the far less funny or interesting A Couple of Cops. Whatever the title, I’m really excited for this movie, as it is the first flick Smith has directed but not written. I hope that ABC, NBC, and CBS lighten up a bit. A Couple of Dicks (or whatever it ends up being called) hits theaters on February 26, 2010.

They say that getting to Carnegie Hall just takes “Practice, practice, practice”, and writer/director Kevin Smith certainly has had practice. Over the years in between making his films, writing comic books, and directing tv shows like Reaper, he’s toured to colleges around the country and has created three Evening with Kevin Smith DVDs. Wednesday night at Carnegie Hall may have seemed different to the naked eye–a sold out show in one of the most prestigious concert venues in the world–but it was just as laid back, hilariously dirty, and raunchy as anything Smith’s done before.

I was lucky enough to attend the performance, a three hour laugh fest that revealed some of Smith’s most embarrassing, but also most touching moments. If you’ve never seen Kevin Smith live, there’s a basic format: fans line up to ask questions, and Smith answers them as honestly and openly as you’d expect. Since this show was a bit bigger than usual (the show sold out all of its 2,000 tickets), fans submitted their questions beforehand and were drawn from a lottery. Sometimes these questions take a few minutes to answer, or a few hours.

Continue Reading →