Written/directed by Floria Sigismondi, The Runaways, the true story of rock’s first successful all-girl band (pre-70’s), is a nimble romp through the early days of the genre-busting group. Based in part on the book by former lead singer Cherie Currie, The Runaways is not The Doors with lipstick. Instead it comes off as The Doors as if made by Lifetime. I assumed if there was a movie made about a famous rock band there would be an interesting tale to tell. Rock and roll, right?! Kind of. It all felt very simple to me – like an easy math problem: Desire + Luck = Famous. It isn’t that easy of course or I would be writing for Judd Apatow. My point is the success felt a little too pat for my tastes. But I do remember those days – if vaguely…

I was only 7 or so when heard ‘I Love Rock N Roll’ by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts for the first time. I can remember my older brother making me get up and flip the records back then – his mumbled threats of ‘beating my ass if I didn’t’ so real to me my knuckles would crack I would be flipping so fast. But man she could rock. It was, along with Centerfold by The J Geils band – one of my early favorites. Her videos slammed into my cortex like an 8 ball of grape Pixy Stix (see for yourself). Something about her struck a nerve with me – the dark hair, smoky eyes, fu attitude – it was quite a package. And I was only 7!

Way before girls would become an overwhelming, thought-obliterating tri-breasted (thanks Total Recall) monster in my life – there was Joan Jett (and Wonder Woman. I’ve been told, again, that there isn’t room in my reviews for any of my classic Wonder Woman fan fiction (still waiting for a valid reason why Eddie V) so I will instead make clever use of WordPress and hide a link to my WW erotica somewhere in the review of this watered down, still enjoyable movie). Regrettably, for the next 28 years or so, I would hear ‘Joan Jett’ and only think of I Love Rock N Roll, Crimson and Clover and my brother punching me. Her past rock life was as unknown to me as Divx is to our beloved Apple TVs. But no more – and I am not talking about XMBC.

15 year old (!) Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) runs into a mental record producer, Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) and he takes a bit of a shine to her. Flash forward about a second and they are trolling the teen hangouts/bars for other bandmates. Enter Cherie Currie played by Dakota Fanning. Fast forward another few seconds and they are touring Japan as a one of the biggest acts around. Wha-?

The Runaways is over before you know it and not because of losing track of time in the sumptuous story telling. A tidy 85 minutes in and then a rushed and somewhat confusing 5 minute final act swiftly brings this piece of rock candy fluff to an end. Alas, what could have been. 2 ½ stars*.

*I know, I know. ‘Half star? But you promised! And there aren’t any unicorns!’ Calm down. Watch this movie and tell me the performances of Dakota Fanning and Michael Shannon don’t warrant the unusual inclusion of the ½ star.

Cop Out stars Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan as two cops who unravel a moronic mystery served up by an anemic villain born from Rosie O’Donnell and Tony Borowiak of All-4-One fame (‘I Swear’ – you know you remember). Sean William Scott stole the trailer and continued on to steal the movie as his character is pretty amusing. The rest of the cast bears no mention and reminded me of the roster of the Cleveland Cavs when LeBron still fake-cared: Money for one star and 10 guys from the Y fill out the rest. I would bet they wanted Eddie Murphy but couldn’t afford him. And yes I know Eddie is box office death but this movie would have been perfect for him. They even tried ripping off the great Beverly Hills Cop theme ‘Axel F’ by Harold Faltermeyer. Unreal.

The movie zooms along frenetically from plot point to plot point, ham fistedly throwing story arcs around like batarangs. They try very hard to fill your mind with subplots so that you don’t focus on the fact that one of the cops is mentally handicapped.

Plotlines aside, the movie is still terrible. It seems the directors main job was to give Tracy Morgan a face full of meth-laced blow before every scene and watch him scream his lines. Even with the meth I still think it was only a fraction of the ratass crazy swirling around his dome. Unleashing the full force of Tracy Morgan might end the world. I think the Mayans had it right and the end of the world is coming on December 21 2012 when they release Cop Out Deux.

Cop Out is one of the worst movies I’ve seen since last week. There – I said it. No preamble. No waxing lyrical about anything. The extended skit is brutally bad and an insult to Bruce Willis and his tough guy legacy. The movie spreads the chuckles out like a one legged hobo at a candy convention. It has been done better – much better – in many other films. Look for Midnight Run, Lethal Weapon, Hot Fuzz et all.

Get ready for more because it is one of the first of an inevitable avalanche of buddy cop movies coming out over the next few years. They mixed it up with a little chocolate in the vanilla pudding but a mentally ill Tracy Morgan can’t save an inept Bruce Willis. Bruce should stick to Die Hard and The Whole Nine yards threequels. 1 star.

Below is a list of just some of the movies added today, or newly available in HD, to the iTunes Movie Store. For a complete list head over to Cinemira now.

Brooklyn’s Finest (iTunes Purchase)
A Single Man (2009) (iTunes Purchase)

… and more »

Below is a list of just some of the movies added today, or newly available in HD, to the iTunes Movie Store. For a complete list head over to Cinemira now.

Hot Tub Time Machine (Unrated) (iTunes HD Rental)
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010) (Also Available In HD on iPad and Apple TV) (iTunes Extras)

… and more »

Below is a list of just some of the movies added today, or newly available in HD, to the iTunes Movie Store. For a complete list head over to Cinemira now.

Green Zone (iTunes Extras) (Also Available In HD on iPad and Apple TV)
Stone in Exile (iTunes Rental or Purchase)
She’s Out of My League (Also Available In HD on iPad and Apple TV)
Day & Night (iTunes Purchase)
Date Night (Pre-Order)

… and more »

Below is a list of just some of the movies added today, or newly available in HD, to the iTunes Movie Store.

The Book of Eli (Review) (Also Available In HD on iPad and Apple TV) (iTunes Extras)
Youth In Revolt (Also Available In HD on iPad and Apple TV) (iTunes Extras)
Repo Men (Pre-Order)

Below is a list of just some of the movies added throughout the last week, or newly available in HD, to the iTunes Movie Store. For a complete list head over to Cinemira now.

Alice In Wonderland (2010) ( iTunes SD Rental)
The Dark Knight (Also Available In HD on iPad and Apple TV)
Legion (2010) (Also Available In HD on iPad and Apple TV)
Shutter Island (Now available for HD Purchase)
Death at a Funeral (Pre-Order)

… and more »

Below is a list of just some of the movies added today, or newly available in HD, to the iTunes Movie Store. For a complete list head over to Cinemira now.

Alice In Wonderland (2010) (iTunes HD Purchase)
The Wolfman (2010) (Also Available In HD on iPad and Apple TV)
Clash of the Titans (2010) (Pre-Order)

… and more »

This weeks new release titles are now available for purchase and rent. Head over to Cinemira to see all of todays new additions.

The Lovely Bones (Also Available In HD on iPad and Apple TV)
Crazy Heart (Also Available In HD on iPad and Apple TV)
44 Inch Chest (iTunes HD Purchase)
The Young Victoria

A total of 18 new movies were add to iTunes today and all of them available in HD for the Apple TV & iPad. Head over to Cinemira to rent, purchase, or add them to your Favorites Stack to save for later viewing.

Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Apple TV & iPad HD)
Some Kind of Wonderful (Apple TV & iPad HD)
A Place In the Sun (1951) (Apple TV & iPad HD)
Irreconcilable Differences (Apple TV & iPad HD)
Rambo: First Blood Part II (Apple TV & iPad HD)
Stalag 17 (Apple TV & iPad HD)
Rio Grande (Apple TV & iPad HD)
My Left Foot (Apple TV & iPad HD)
Live Nude Girls (Apple TV & iPad HD)
Missing In Action (1984) (Apple TV & iPad HD)
The Evening Star (Apple TV & iPad HD)
Flight of the Intruder (Apple TV & iPad HD)
First Blood (Apple TV & iPad HD)
Leap of Faith (1992) (Apple TV & iPad HD)
Sunset Boulevard (1950) (Apple TV & iPad HD)
Hard Eight (Apple TV & iPad HD)

This weeks new release titles are now available for purchase and rent.

Tenderness (iTunes HD Purchase)
Defendor (iTunes Extras)

Once you load up Cinemira in your browser you will notice the “Todays New Movies” column along the right hand side of the interface. Every new movie added to the iTunes Movie database on a daily basis is listed in this column, with the newer movies listed at the top. With Apple TV Junkie we only listed HD content, with Cinemira you get all new HD, SD, and even pre-order movies listed. Movies listed in this column have a lifetime of 72 hours as to make room for new movies added every day and to keep the list from getting to long.

The Apple TV isn’t so special anymore when it comes to unique HD content.

Up until now Apple had been offering HD movie rentals unique to only the Apple TV. But with the release of the iPad, and its ability to play 720p video, it looks like Apple is offering the exact same HD rentals to iPad users

We’ll continue to keep an eye on this and when we can confirm for certain that all HD rentals are shared between the two media players we’ll also update Cinemira to keep track of those titles as well.

This weeks new release titles are now available for purchase and rent.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (iTunes Extras) (iTunes HD Purchase)

Below is a list of recently added Apple TV HD or iTunes HD rental or purchase titles.

No Man’s Land (2001) (Apple TV)
The African Queen (Apple TV)
What’s the Worst That Could Happen? (Apple TV)
Under the Sea (Apple TV)
Deadly Impact (Unrated) (Apple TV)
Edward Scissorhands (Apple TV)
Armored (Apple TV)
Wall Street (1987) (Apple TV)

Just in time for the release of the iPad the studios released close to 200 titles, previously only available for purchase, as rental titles. I listed a handful below which are also available as Apple TV HD or iTunes HD.

Blue Velvet (Apple TV)
Cherry 2000 (Apple TV)
All the King’s Men (Apple TV)
Spring 1941 (Apple TV)
Speed Racer (Apple TV)
Animal (iTunes HD Purchase or Rental)
Charlie Bartlett (Apple TV)
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (Apple TV)
Dirty Dancing (Apple TV)
Bundy: A Legacy of Evil (iTunes Rental)
Splinterheads (Apple TV)
2012 (Apple TV)
Super Capers (iTunes HD Rental)
Mixed Nuts (Apple TV)
In the Line of Fire (Apple TV)
The Breed (iTunes HD Rental & Purchase)
Timecode (Apple TV)
Necessary Evil (iTunes HD Rental)
Rock Slyde (Apple TV)
Tapped (Apple TV)
The Patriot (Apple TV)
Five Fingers (2006) (Apple TV)
Mr. Woodcock (Apple TV)
Threesome (1994) (Apple TV)
Code Name: The Cleaner (Apple TV)
Punchline (Apple TV)
The Razor’s Edge (1984) (Apple TV)
Shoot ‘Em Up (Apple TV)
Leatherheads (Apple TV)
To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday (Apple TV)
Baby Mama (Apple TV)
Deception (Apple TV)
Mama’s Boy
Scooby-Doo (Apple TV)
The Eyes of Laura Mars (Apple TV)
Spray (Apple TV)
Twister (1996) (Apple TV)
Semi-Pro (Unrated) (Apple TV)
True Believer (Apple TV)
Cruel Intentions 3 (Apple TV)
Next Friday (Apple TV)
Snow Angels (Apple TV)
Semi-Pro (Apple TV)
A Passage To India (Apple TV)

This weeks new release titles are now available for purchase and rent.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (iTunes Extras)
An Education
Sherlock Holmes (2009) (iTunes Extras) (Apple TV)

Below is a list of recently added Apple TV HD or iTunes HD rental or purchase titles.

My Own Two Feet (Apple TV)
Dead Of Winter (Apple TV)
The Return of a Man Called Horse (Apple TV)
Not Without My Daughter (Apple TV)
Someone Like You (Apple TV)
The Players (Apple TV)

Below is a list of recently added Apple TV HD or iTunes HD rental or purchase titles.

Fatal Beauty (Apple TV)
Son Of The Pink Panther (Apple TV)
The 9 Ball Diaries (Apple TV)
Bright Star (Apple TV)
St. Trinian’s (Apple TV)
Universal Soldier: Regeneration (Apple TV)
Soul Power (Apple TV)
The Accidental Husband (Apple TV)
Lorna’s Silence (Apple TV)
Fall from Grace (Apple TV)
Body of War (iTunes HD Rental)
The Edge of Love (iTunes HD Rental)

Below is a list of recently added Apple TV HD or iTunes HD rental or purchase titles.

Robert Blecker Wants Me Dead (Apple TV)
Archy: Built for Speed, Born to Ride! (Apple TV)
Vincent & Theo (Apple TV)
The Vans Warped Tour 15th Anniversary Celebration (Apple TV)
Bionicle: The Legend Reborn (Apple TV)
Fall to Grace (iTunes HD Rental)
Brothers (2009) (iTunes HD Rental & Purchase)