releasing this week: Prince of Persia and Cop Out

There’s a couple of big films coming out this week… one which I will talk about and one that I don’t really want to talk about. So I won’t. The films I AM going to talk about are…. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Cop Out.

I’ll deal with Prince of Persia first because, handily enough, I’ve already written the review! Course if you don’t fancy reading that and just want to get the gist of it then here goes…

It’s a big budget action film based on a video game. A very old and cool video game I might add. I know some people will pooh-pooh that but as far as I’m concerned, if Jerry Bruckheimer can produce a film out of a Disney ride then he can definitely give a video game a go.

It stars Jake Gyllenhaal as the Persian prince of the title. I wouldn’t have pegged him as an action hero but, having seen some shots from the set, it would appear that he has taken the action star role as seriously as he has taken all his other roles to date. It also stars Gemma Arterton but let’s not talk about that either.

Expect swords, sandals and a surprising faithfulness to the video game.

Second up is Cop Out, the new film from Kevin Smith.

Apparently this is the first film he’s directed that he didn’t have a hand in writing. I’m not really a big fan of Kevin Smith so I guess I can’t really appreciate if this is a big deal or not. It seems like it kind of is a big deal but I dunno. What I do know is that he didn’t get to keep the title he wanted for it. He wanted to call it A Couple of Dicks. I’m surprised but glad they let him call it Cop Out.

I don’t think this bickering particularly bodes well for the film but I’m willing to give it the benefit of doubt because I like Bruce Willis. He’s a cool guy. Also I did really like (and review) Kevin Smith’s last film, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, so he’s got a bit of leeway with me at the moment.

You can probably tell from the poster and title what kind of film this is, but just in case… it’s a buddy cop comedy, a homage to the ’80s buddy cop films like Lethal Weapon, 48 Hrs. and Beverly Hills Cop. Personally I think this sounds like a bit of fun and I’d say it’s worth a look if you’ve already seen (and enjoyed) Hot Tub Time Machine

Other films releasing this week…

StreetDance (3D) – This is the one I don’t want to talk about. And I’m really tolerant of bad films… seriously I am, I’ll watch pretty much anything. In fact I’d watch this if it were free… but that doesn’t mean I have to talk about it now. Though, I will mention, even though it’s called Streetdance 3D on the posters, it is available in 2D in a select few cinemas.

Ok, it’s about dancing and it stars Diversity (yes, from Britain’s Got Talent) as well as Flawless (from Britain’s Got Talent and George Sampson (yes… he’s also from Britain’s Got Talent…). Do you sense a pattern here? Yeah? That’s why I don’t want to talk about it.

The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans – I actually thought this had come out two weeks ago so you can read about it in this article. Quickly though… This is one I’m very interested in. Now I’m a bit worried because it stars Nicolas Cage and I really don’t like seeing Nicolas Cage’s face in films I watch. But it was out in the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival earlier in the year and all reports were that it’s mad as hell. It’s directed by Werner Herzog so I believe them. I love watching mad films so I’m totally on for this.

Trafficked – New feature film from Dublin based production and distribution company, Stoney Road Films. The film depicts a side of Dublin that some would rather pretend doesn’t exist. Taiwo, an African immigrant, comes to Dublin with hopes of a new life… however her illegal route into the country has forced her into prostitution. Limited release.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Cop Out, Trafficked and Bad Lieutenant are all in Irish cinemas from Friday 21st May 2010. StreetDance has actually been previewing in cinemas since last week but it’s only on general release from this Friday… but do you really want to see it? Really?