Wrong Cops (Blu-ray) (2013)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Trailer-x 6 for other films
Rating
Year Of Production	2013
Running Time	82:00
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Quentin Dupieux
Studio Distributor	Gryphon Entertainment	Starring	Mark Burnham Ardin Myrin Steve Little Eric Wareheim Daniel Quinn Eric Judor Hillary Tuck Marilyn Manson Eric Roberts Ray Wise
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	Mr Oizo

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Dolby Digital 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.20:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     In Wrong Cops the Police do not solve crimes, they perpetrate them! Officer Duke (Mark Burnham) drives around selling marijuana packaged up in dead rats, Officer Holmes (Ardin Myrin) is blackmailing Sunshine (Steve Little) because she found his picture in a gay porn magazine while her partner Officer De Luca (Eric Wareheim) is using his gun to force women to bare their breasts. Duke however has a couple of problems; his supplier is unable to catch any more rats to put the weed into, and has suggested fish instead, and Duke has accidentally shot his neighbour (Daniel Quinn) and put him into the boot of his car. However the neighbour is taking an inordinate length of time to bleed to death, so Duke is looking at alternatives, including dumping him on Officer Rough (Eric Judor), who really only wants to put together the next big electro dance music track.

     Wrong Cops is the latest film by writer / director / editor / musician Quentin Dupieux, whose previous films have included the off-beat comedies Rubber (2010) and Wrong (2012). Wrong Cops has no plot to speak of, and no climax; instead it is a succession of pretty much unrelated scenes loosely tied together by the character of Duke. The comedy is quirky and hit and miss, ranging from the ludicrous, to the deadpan to the bizarre; some scenes are humorous, some very funny and while the humour is decidedly non-PC it is never cringe-worthy, gross-out or mean spirited. The acting on the whole is fine, with Mark Burnham and Eric Wareheim good while the expressions on the face of Hillary Tuck during the funeral which ends the film are priceless. There are also fun cameos from Marilyn Manson, Eric Roberts and Ray Wise.

     Wrong Cops is quirky but good fun and at just at 82 minutes the time flies by. If you think the idea of a cop selling marijuana to his customers in dead rats is funny or a man slowing bleeding to death in a car boot who complains about the music on the radio, then you will enjoy Wrong Cops.

Video

     The cover of Wrong Cops lists the aspect ratio as an unusual 2.23:1. The film is presented in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code. The original ratio is listed as 2.35:1; my system could not give me an accurate aspect ratio but I can say that the film’s aspect on the Blu-ray looks fine.

     Wrong Cops was a low budget film shot using a Canon 5D camera and the results are variable. Exterior static shots are sharp and clear with nice, natural colours. Interiors are also crisp enough although some have that glossy digital colour without much depth. Scenes filmed inside moving cars, of which there quite a few, fare the worst and look glary with variable colour and contrast; however, nothing too serious. I cannot remember any night scenes, so shadow detail is not an issue. Skin tones are fine.

     There is some motion blur against mottled surfaces, such as a wire fence or leaves, but marks and other artefacts are absent.

     There are no subtitles available.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is a choice of English DTS-HD MA 5.1 or English Dolby Digital 5.1.

     I listened to the HD audio. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand. This is a film where music is an important part in the plot, both the score and music played as part of the film, all of which is provided by Quentin Dupieux in his alias as Mr Oizo. This is a synthesizer score and both music and the effects, when they occur, are front oriented. There was some ambience in the rears, and in one place a helicopter circled overhead, but there is not a lot of surround use. The sub-woofer added some bass to the score.

     There are no lip synchronisation problems.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Trailers

     Trailers for The Harvest (2:08), Awful Nice (2:07), Maladies (2:32), Shame the Devil (1:48), Sirius (2:10) and Montana (1:46) can be selected from the menu.

     Amazon.com lists only a Region 1 DVD of Wrong Cops, but it does have an audio commentary with Dupieux, Burnham, Wareheim and Myrin. If there is a Blu-ray out or coming with this commentary it would be the preferred option. There is no Region B UK Blu-ray either, only a Region B German release which adds a German dub, but no extras as far as I can tell. For now, our release wins Blu-ray.

     Quentin Dupieux is a filmmaker with a sense of humour all his own so if you are a fan of his previous off-beat comedies you will appreciate Wrong Cops. If you are not aware of Dupieux’s films Wrong Cops is funny and bizarre and a good place to start.

     The video and audio are acceptable. Trailers for other films are the only extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall