Cop Out copped out (lols!)

The anticipated buddy cop film, Cop Out hit theaters last week and despite a cast of comedy veterans, it definitely fell flat.
The film was released by Warner Brothers studios and directed by Kevin Smith and this was the first film that smith has directed, but not written. This fact became increasingly apparent, as the film lacked not only most of the recurring characters of Smith’s movies, but also many of the comedic styles that Smith’s fans are accustomed to.
Cop Out follows two veteran detectives, Jimmy Monroe played by Bruce Willis (Die Hard) and his partner, Paul Hodges played by Tracy Morgan (G- Force).   The film opens on the two interrogating a suspect in a narcotics case. Through bad planning, and some horrible split second decisions, the two end up bungling the investigation and getting their informant killed, resulting in their unpaid suspension from the NYPD.
The suspension forces Monroe to consider selling a priceless vintage baseball card in order to pay for his daughter’s extremely pricey wedding. However, while having it appraised, the memorabilia shop is robbed by an inexperienced and quirky burglar named Dave, played by Seann William Scott (Role Models). The rest of the film follows the two suspended detectives going vigilante in an attempt to recover Monroe’s baseball card.
Although the general plot could have made for a very funny movie, Cop Out really disappoints in the humor department, even though the cast includes Saturday Night Live veterans, Fred Armisen and Tracy Morgan, along with Seann William Scott, and Jason Lee, both of whom have been in countless comedy films in the past. The film did have a few funny scenes, but for the most part it seemed that the writers had put potentially hilarious actors in roles that really weren’t very funny, and it caused a sort of tension in the movie, leaving the audience waiting for more to laugh at and not being rewarded.
Some of the secondary character acting also left a lot to be desired. While the main characters held their own on the screen, some of the antagonists were not in the least bit convincing in their roles. While this fact could have been used for a humorous edge in the plot, it was just sort of left to be chalked up to bad acting.
Overall, although the movie was amusing, it did not offer as much entertainment as one would expect from the cast, or the director. However, if you are in the mood for a cops and robbers type film with a few chuckles here and there, Cop Out is now playing in theaters.

Motion City Soundtrack: My Dinosaur Life. ( I give it two thumbs up!)

Eccentric pop punk rockers, Motion City Soundtrack put out their fourth studio album, My Dinosaur Life this week after build up of hype that left fans eager for the release. The album is their first one on the Columbia Records label and was produced by Blink 182’s Mark Hoppus, who also produced their second album, Commit This To Memory.
Worker Bee is the first song on the album, and gets things off to a great start with the suiting first lyrics of “It’s been a good year/ A good new beginning.” Even though it is the shortest of the 12 tracks, it serves as a great introduction to the album, and the bands evolved sound. The lyrics are almost like something one would find in a children’s book, with a chorus of “I’ve been a good little worker bee/ I deserve a gold star” but are almost impossible not to sing along to.
Track three on the album, Her Words Destroyed My Planet is definitely my favorite one on the album. It tells the story of going through a bad breakup, but eventually using the experience to better yourself. The song itself is reminiscent of a lot of the band’s previous work primarily that off their last studio album, Even If It Kills Me. The catchy upbeat melody paired with the vocals of lead singer, Justin Pierre make this song one to listen to over and over.
Disappear offers a change from the band’s usual happy-go-lucky sound and features a darker vibe than most of their other songs. The overall tone is completely different from anything Motion City Soundtrack has ever done, both in sound and the basic point of view. Unlike the other songs on the album where the overall message is that everything will be all right, this song expresses a doubt of that idea, and the notion that it might not be all right, and that the singer may not particularly care. The jumbled somewhat nonsensical lyrics have the sense of someone teetering on the edge, completely unsure of what move to make next and if said move will lead to improvement or disaster. The fast paced, rough sounding verses create a sort of tension with the smoother chorus, where Pierre sings “I can disappear/ any time I want to/ Time I feel you/ Shovel through my skin/ I am with you ‘till the end.”
Delirium is a macabre mix of an irresistibly catchy melody with a heavy base line and quirky lyrics based around a patient in a mental hospital. While the lyrics are still a darker version of Motion City’s past songs, unlike Disappear, Delirium still employs the upbeat sound that the band is known for. The silly opening lines where Pierre sings about a stain on the floor lead into slightly more disturbing lyrics about insects raining from the ceiling, and suicidal thoughts, broken up by a chorus of “I swim in pharmaceuticals.” The slightly monotone quality of the verse melody doesn’t at all take away from the song, and couples with the faster paced more varied notes of the chorus to create a great finished product.
Stand Too Close brings the album back out of the dark with a lighter sound than the previous few songs. The acoustic campfire vibe of the song includes a mellow guitar part, and claps in the background. Pierre sings about finding acceptance with someone special, but remaining afraid of eventual rejection, and acting stupidly because of that with lyrics such as “I have apologized a billion times/ when I’ve gone off the wall like Busta Rhymes/ And pulled a stupid stunt/ That left you thinking/ There was something wrong with me.” While the overall composition of the song is more comparable to most popular Weezer songs, it remains true to the classic Motion City sound, employing an incredibly cheerful rhythm and the quirky lyrics that make their songs great.
Overall, My Dinosaur Life definitely lives up to the hype that fans have been feeling since April of last year when the band announced they were beginning to record the new album. Motion City Soundtrack has definitely pushed the limits of their previous albums and created what may very well result in their breakthrough into the top 40 market. The album is now available thorough most major music retailers, and on the band’s web site.

Daybreakers: The trailer was better.

Amongst the torrent of vampire related films premiering lately, the futuristic vamp thriller, Daybreakers hit theaters last week, and critics fell for the film’s thinly veiled allegories of the wasting of man’s recourses. After seeing the film myself however, I felt like I had just paid $7 to sit through 90 minutes of crap that should have gone straight to the SyFy channel and skipped theaters all together.
The film is set in the year 2019, under the pretense that an outbreak of vampires has essentially led to the near extinction of the human race, leaving the UV intolerant inhabitants of the world looking for solutions to replenish their rapidly dwindling supply of human blood. To make matters worse, researchers have discovered that an extended period without the nourishment that human blood offers is causing a mutation in the deprived vampires and turning them into wild bat-like creatures that creep around in the underground tunnels, and break into suburban homes.
The main character, Edward Dalton, played by Ethan Hawke is the head scientist on a team attempting to create a life sustaining blood substitute. Dalton, unlike his fanged cohorts believes that the blood substitute will help end the hunting of humans and give the human race time to repopulate. When it becomes increasingly obvious that this will not be the case, however Dalton joins ranks with a band of human survivors on the run from the vampire military.
Here enters my favorite character in the film, Lionel ‘Elvis’ Cormac, played by Willem Dafoe. Let me begin by saying that the fact that he was my favorite character at all really says something about this film because in a normal situation Willem Dafoe scares the crap out of me. But I digress, although it is never explained why Cormac’s friends call him Elvis, he comes on the scene with some hot muscle cars, big guns, and an idea to cure vampirism all together. Thinking that the vampire cure may be an answer to their problem, Dalton tests it on himself and after a few failed attempts, his Cullen-esque yellow vampire eyes fade and he becomes human again.
Dalton then approaches the vampires he used to work for, with the help of the humans only to find that he was pretty much the only one that was not happy with being a vamp, and that a blood substitute has been developed in his absence, effectively obliterating his bargaining chip. The climax of the film is a complete cluster of random plot twists ending in a bloody vampire feeding frenzy that looks like something out of Left 4 Dead 2.
The only hope that I had during this film, that perhaps it would not be a complete waste of money was during the end battle scene. Due to technical difficulties the film suddenly looked like it was about to burn in the projector and I sat there silently hoping that it would go up in flames so that I could get a refund.
I think that overall, the biggest disappointment about Daybreakers was that it really did have potential to be an amazing film. However due to the lack of compelling dialogue, graphics that look straight out of the 90’s, and a cast of boring depthless characters, what it ended up being was a total train wreck, leading me to wonder if they blew the entire 21 million dollar budget of the film on crack and booze.
On the bright side, this movie did show me a new less horrifying side of Willem Dafoe, and it put Ethan Hawke back on my radar as an actor I might go on a date with, if Robert Pattinson, Paul Walker, and Gerard Butler all already had plans.

Way to set an example... Douche.

As someone who didn't personally watch the American Music Awards, I have been recently bombarded with secondhand accounts all of the new awardshow scandals that happened that night.

The talk of who wore what, and who walked down the red carpet with who gets redundant and old after about three seconds, but the shocked reactions to the live performances of the show actually interested me enough to encourage me to look them up.

After hearing from my mother what a disturbing performance American Idol winner Adam Lambert put on, I was needless to say, a bit curious.

I'll admit that while the news coverage of the performance is a bit exaggerated, after seeing it on youtube last night, I can't say that I don't understand what the fuss is about. I really didn't expect to see such things from a winner of a family show, but alas, there he was,  acting out bondage and blow jobs, and making out with boys on stage.

Now don't get me wrong... I'm all for having pride in your chosen team. If you're a guy that's not a huge fan of girls, I don't blame you... I'm not either. Quite frankly, I find a majority of my gender to be extremely irritating. The thing of the matter is though, that if you are in the public eye, the behavior that you chose to use to show your rainbow pride should probably be a little more public appropriate.

It's great that he is comfortable with his sexuality and wants other people to know it, but here's the thing... He is a public figure and should be setting an example for the gay community. In my opinion his little on stage PDA only set back all of the battles that gays are fighting right now. How does he expect the public to become more acclimated to the homosexual life style, and more willing to allow them the rights that they should be given when he's making offensive displays on family television programs?

I just really think that he before he decided to display his sexual preferences all over the AMA stage, he should have thought of the effect that it would have on the public, and the fact that it may or may not just give fuel to the prejudiced assholes that are trying to take rights away from homosexuals left and right, which it very well might.

Also, good luck getting any more performances lined up, dude, I'm sure that no one is going to want him to perform, not knowing if he's going to get all "caught up in the moment".

Fall Out Boy: Believers Never Die- Greatest Hits

Chicago natives, Fall Out Boy released Believers Never Die- Greatest Hits last week after six highly successful studio albums.

This is the band’s first greatest hits compilation and is comprised mostly of songs that have been released as their singles through the years, along with two brand new bonus tracks.

The track list starts out strong with a few old Fall Out Boy favorites. Dead on Arrival which was originally released in 2003 on the bands second studio album, Take This to Your Grave kicks off the album. The memorable vocals of Patrick Stump, along with the impossibly fast guitar riffs (as featured in the game Rock Band) make this a great opening song.

Following Dead on Arrival is one of my personal favorites, Grand Theft Autumn/ Where is Your Boy. This song was also released on Take This to Your Grave, and while it didn’t achieve the top 40 radio success that some of the band’s following singles have, it has become a favorite among fans and definitely deserved a place in the greatest hits album.

Among the typically well known singles such as Dance, Dance and Sugar, We’re Going Down, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the band included their cover of Michael Jackson’s Beat it which features the background guitar of John Mayer. Though it’s hard to improve on a classic, I tend to lead toward this song more than the original. Though the overall integrity of Beat It stays intact, the band adds a rock edge to it that can be described as nothing but awesome.

Alpha Dog is one of the two songs to not be featured on a studio album yet, although it appeared as a demo clip called ALPHAdog and OMEGAlomaniac on the Welcome to the New Administration MixTape, a viral marketing project for Fall Out Boy’s album Folie A Deux. This song mixes a lot of usual Fall Out Boy sounds and follows the typical template of their other songs, with a memorable chorus, an upbeat verse tune, and a slower bridge part, smattered with chanting background lyrics from bassist, Pete Wentz. This song, much like other singles from the band speaks a lot of fame, and their position in the limelight.

While the second new song, From Now On We Are Enemies is almost peppy enough to make you want to get up and punch dance, I feel the only strike against it I feel is the overly high pitched sound. Although Stump excels at high notes, the song is mainly comprised of nothing but. It has the sound of something that has been sped up and turned into a youtube chimpmonk rendition of a previously slower, lower keyed song.
Overall, if you are a Fall Out Boy fan, this album leaves nothing to be desired. The band has included all of their best song from all five of their previous albums, along with a few new tunes that definitely don’t disappoint.

Dashboard Confessional: Alter The Ending

My review for this week. Should be published next Tuesday!

Dashboard Confessional, advocates of teen angst and defenders of the right to cry in a dark corner released their sixth studio album, Alter the Ending last week, giving misunderstood adolescents everywhere reason to rejoice.
Chris Carrabba returns to the mic with his voice that has been known known to make 14 year old girls dissolve to tears belting out 12 emo anthems that sound like a happy medium of their earlier, peppier albums, and the mellow sounds of their last studio album, In the Shade of Poison Trees.
The album gets off to a rocky start with the first track, Get Me Right which was a three minute and sixteen second train wreck of repetitive subpar lyrics with an almost irritating verse tune. Overall, the song sounds less like the work of well seasoned professionals, and more like something one would expect from a garage band at a frat party.
Until Morning picked up the pace a bit and was more reminiscent of Dashboard’s earlier work on A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar. Overall though, I felt that track three, Everybody Learns from Disaster marked a definite upswing in the album as a whole. This stereotypical ‘runaway together’ song is one of the longer ones on the album, but unlike the first track, isn’t almost painful to listen to in its entirety.
The title song of the album, Alter the Ending is by far my favorite track. The song mixes a lot of the old Dashboard signatures, such as simple but memorable guitar parts, and the almost impossible high notes of Carrabba’s vocals. While the familiarity of the music makes this song worth listening to, I think the vocals and overall catchy tune definitely put it in the running to go on the “Top 25 most played” list of my iTunes.
Another candidate for overplaying on my personal playlists is The Motions. This song adds a surprising new sound to the album, with its light electric vibe. The song’s lyrics are quirky, mostly consisting of scientific terms of nerves and frontal lobes, with the repeated line “This is chemical.”
Overall, Alter the Ending is pretty much what could have been expected from a Dashboard Confessional album, standing up to the stereotypical emo sound that they have been associated with from the beginning, with a side of upbeat and fun.
You can find Alter the Ending in stores now.

Glee: The Music, Volume 1

This will be my first official review for the Sagebrush. It'll be published next Tuesday!


After catching onto the popularity of the hit TV show, “Glee,” Fox and Columbia Records released the first installment of “Glee: The Music” last week, which features favorite songs from the show, performed entirely by the cast. It makes it hard to not jump out of your seat and sing along while listening.
The show itself takes viewers back to high school with the social struggles and worries of fictional William McKinley High’s Glee Club, along with  those of their instructor, Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison, “Hairspray”).
“Glee” follows the members of the Glee Club as they battle to fit in and make friends, and Schuester fights to bring the club out of the dumps and back into the limelight. Difficulties arise when cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch, “Julie & Julia”) fights to keep the Glee Club down and her “Cheerios” on top.
Though the plot is entertaining and the characters are lovable and hilarious, the show is successful due to its collection of stellar voices and the musical numbers by the cast.
The track list of “Glee: The Music” includes covers of songs that span numerous genres, from the hip-hop hit “Gold Digger,” originally by Kanye West, to a stylish rendition of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”
The album starts out strong with one of my personal favorite songs from the show, “Don’t Stop Believin’,” which was featured in the first episode. Although it seems unlikely that anyone could improve on the classic Journey song, I find myself loving this cover almost as much as the original. The mix of the familiar guitar solos and great background harmonies add a very “Glee” touch to the song, and the leading vocals of Lea Michele as Rachel Berry and Cory Monteith as Finn Hudson definitely don’t disappoint.
Another favorite from the list is easily Heart’s ‘80s ballad “Alone.” This song was the first in the series to showcase the lead vocals of Morrison and also features Kristen Chenoweth (“Wicked”). The duet is one of the few songs on the album not done by the whole chorus; however, the two-part harmonies and nearly glass-shattering high notes show the Broadway training of the two and leave nothing to be desired.
The last half of the album, I feel, falls a bit short. Although the vocals continue to amaze throughout the CD, the first half of the album contains more of the upbeat and recognizable tunes, whereas the closing numbers are the slower, more obscure ones.
“Dancing with Myself,” originally performed by Generation X, showed that perhaps it is possible for the “Glee” cast to do a less-than-fantastic cover of a song. The melancholy rendition by Kevin McHale,  who plays Archie, is less like the upbeat original and more reminiscent of the woe-is-me song, “Mr. Cellophane,” from the musical “Chicago.”
All in all, “Glee: The Music” delivers exactly what it promises in the form of audience favorites from the show, along with a fresh new take on loved songs, both old and new.
Glee can be seen on Fox at 9 p.m. Wednesdays.