Code Name: The Cleaner

MPAA Rated – PG-13
It’s 1:24 Long
A Preview by:
The Dude on the Right

Code Name:
The Cleaner
Movie Stats & Links
Starring: Cedric the Entertainer, Lucy Liu, Nicollette Sheridan
MPAA Rated: PG-13
Released By: New Line Cinema
Release Date: 2007
Directed By: Les Mayfield

Cedric the Entertainer is Jake. He gets bipped on the bean and doesn’t remember who he is – he thinks he is Joe Average. But he gets wrapped up with some weird undercover folks, and now Jake is starting to think he might be an undercover agent, and hilarity ensues.

Look, I’m not going to waste your time with the preview because the trailer looked pretty bad, but coming into the new year, maybe what you need is a mindless comedy to get you back to facing the real world.

We’ll see how my weekend goes if I catch this one!

That’s it for this preview! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Clockstoppers

MPAA Rated – PG
It’s 1:34 Long
A Preview by:
The Dude on the Right

Clockstoppers
Movie Stats & Links
Starring: Jesse Bradford, French Stewart, Paula Garcés, Michael Biehn, Robin Thomas
MPAA Rated: PG
Released By: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: 2002
Directed By: Jonathan Frakes

Zack (Jesse Bradford) finds a watch that makes time stand virtually still around him. He starts having fun with the watch, watchiing, and chasing the girl, but now the bad guys want the watch and they’ll stop at nothing to get it. Now Zack has to also be a crime-fighter. Such is the life of a teenager.

This actually looks like it could be a fun movie if you suspend belief in a little bit of reality. What I wonder about, though, it the PG rating. That kind of turns this movie into something like “Spy Kids.” I’m not saying that’s bad, in fact Nickelodeon is involved, so this could actually be a fun movie to take the kids to. I might catch a matinee, or maybe I should catch a late-night showing when the kids are at home? We’ll see.

That’s it for this preview! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Cinderella Man

MPAA Rated – PG-13
It’s 2:24 Long
A Preview by:
The Dude on the Right

Cinderella Man
Movie Stats & Links
Starring: Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger, Paul Giamatti
MPAA Rated: PG-13
Released By: Universal Pictures / Miramax
Release Date: 2005
Directed By: Ron Howard

Russell Crowe stars in this movie as boxer Jim Braddock, he’s a real dude, and this movie comes across as kind of a “Seabiscuit” except with a boxer.

Pretty much Jim Braddock was a boxer who was really good, then failed a bit, and then as the depression hit and people were looking for any story of anyone, or anything, who was the underdog fighting their way back, he came along as their vision of hope.

This one looks emotional, has the fabulous Paul Giamatti who has really shown he is the actor to compete with, and has potential to be one of those movies the Academy Award people will forget because it’s in the middle of the year and not in December, sadly.

I hope to catch this one as I always like a good underdog story, and this has the makings, especially with the likes of Ron Howard directing, to be a great movie.

That’s it for this preview! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

The Chronicles of Riddick

MPAA Rated – PG-13
It’s 1:59 Long
A Preview by:
The Dude on the Right

The Chronicles of Riddick
Movie Stats & Links
Starring: Vin Diesel, Judi Dench, Colm Feore, Alexa Davalos
MPAA Rated: PG-13
Released By: Universal Pictures
Release Date: 2004
Directed By: David Twohy

You know, I never saw the movie “Pitch Black” a few years ago, and because of that I didn’t even realize Vin Diesel was associated with that movie, and as I watched the trailer again I wondered about this movie.

The synopsis kinda goes that Riddick (Vin) has been on the run for the past few years as people try to hunt him down because there’s a bounty on his head. In the meantime, there’s this Lord Marshal dude (Colm Feore), who pretty much captures humans with these things called Necromongers. Well, Riddick gets captured, hooks up with some chick, and finds himself fighting Lord Marshal and his Necromongers, and because of this it’s up to him to save the planet he’s on.

Okay, so the story is as strange as any other trying to save another planet from evil people, but this one’s got Vin so you can pretty much assume the action gets kicked up a couple of notches. As Dwayne Johnson (that’s The Rock if you didn’t know) and Vin fight for bragging rights for action bad-ass, I think Dwayne’s got an edge with him in “Walking Tall,” but Vin is fun in his own right, so I plan on catching this movie even if I’m not really sure what it’s about.

That’s it for this preview! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

MPAA Rated – PG
It’s 2:23 Long
A Preview by:
The Dude on the Right

The Chronicles of Narnia:
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
Movie Stats & Links
Starring: Georgie Henley, William Moseley, Skandar Keynes, Anna Popplewell, Tilda Swinton
MPAA Rated: PG
Released By: Disney Pictures
Release Date: 2005
Directed By: Andrew Adamson

I’m pretty sure I have never read anything by C.S. Lewis, let alone recalling him as a classic, but supposedly he is an acclaimed author, and this movie, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” is based on his classic novel. Fine. I have no idea what any of that really means, but the trailer does show a magical adventure movie about four kids sent to a weird house.

So the four kids end up in this weird house with this weird professor dude, and they are pretty bored except for playing hide-and-seek. One of them opens up this wardrobe while trying to hide, and low and behold finds this weird world where animals talk and life seems grand, although it isn’t. It seems some evil witch is keeping things perpetually cold, even winter-like, and it’s up to the kids to join together with the animals to get rid of the witch.

The movie looks good, but it’s only shot at a blockbuster is that Potter-mania has died down and the kids are ready for another adventure because “Goblet of Fire” opens a mere three weeks prior.

I can’t say I’m excited about this film, but then again, it’s not really meant for me. I does look like a good one for the kids who enjoy adventure stories and talking animals.

That’s it for this preview! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Christmas with The Kranks

MPAA Rated – PG
It’s 1:38 Long
A Preview by:
The Dude on the Right

Christmas with The Kranks
Movie Stats & Links
Starring: Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Julie Gonzalo
MPAA Rated: PG
Released By: Sony Pictures
Release Date: 2004
Directed By: Joe Roth

What a bummer for John Grisham. Alright, I guess it won’t kill his pocketbook, but you write a book called “Skipping Christmas,” it’s pretty popular in the story circles, and you license the story to a movie studio. The problem is the MPAA folks tell the studio folks that they can’t name the movie “Skipping Christmas” because it is too close to the Ben Affleck movie “Surviving Christmas,” a matter of first come, first named. I suppose, in the end, it might be better for the “Kranks” movie people because of all of the crappy press “Surviving Christmas” has gotten.

Anyway, Tim Allen, who is quickly cornering the “if it’s a Christmas movie it better have Tim Allen in it” market, plays Luther Krank. When their daughter decides she won’t be home for Christmas, and being a little dismayed with the entire Christmas scene, Luther convinces wife Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis), that a tropical climate is a much better place to spend Christmas. She reluctantly agrees, much to the dismay of the neighbors, who always looked forward to the Krank’s Christmas displays and general yuletide cheer. Then, at the last minute, Blair, the daughter, decides she can’t be away from home for Christmas, and mom and dad only have hours to set up the beautiful Christmas they are known for. Oh, and yea, hilarity ensues.

Rated PG, this looks like a really cute family film for Christmas time. Grisham is always a great storyteller, even in his branching away from legal stuff, so this has tons of potential to be tons of fun.

That’s it for this preview! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Children of Men

MPAA Rated – R
It’s 1:54 Long
A Preview by:
The Dude on the Right

Children of Men
Movie Stats & Links
Starring: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine
MPAA Rated: R
Released By: Universal Pictures
Release Date: 2006
Directed By: Alfonso Cuaron

Right now I don’t know who to believe. I suppose I’ve got to believe the official web site, because it says “Children of Men” opens December 25th, but IMDB shows it opening on September 29th. It does seem like a weird movie to open on Christmas day, unless of course you tie-in the “birth that will save the world” thing, but here’s the basic story…

It’s a few years from now, and for whatever reason that no one can seem to figure out, no one can get pregnant, and that means we are facing our own extinction. Science is baffled, the public is going crazy, and the cities are not safe places to live. Then some underground folks find a pregnant girl, and they must get her to the safety where the public won’t tear her apart, and scientists can safely study her and make sure she actually delivers that child.

Looks like a wacky futuristic movie, but nothing to fantastic at this point. I guess this is on my “wait and see” list right now.

That’s it for this preview! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Cheats

MPAA Rated – PG-13
It’s 1:26 Long
A Preview by:
The Dude on the Right

Cheats
Movie Stats & Links
Starring: Trevor Fehrman, Elden Henson, Matthew Lawrence, Martin Starr, Mary Tyler Moore
MPAA Rated: PG-13
Released By: New Line Cinema
Release Date: 2002
Directed By: Andrew Gurland

In my younger days I heard stories about students in high school and in college who cheated. These were the days before the internet, before pagers, before cell phones, and before technology. These were stories of one dude who would pencil in equations on his calculator for a class where he knew the teacher wouldn’t walk during the test, so, basically, the dude had all of the equations he was supposed to memorize written on his calculator. The dude even had a plan to easily swipe away the pencil marks with his finger between the keys smudging the evidence if need be. Then there was the story of the “Flying V”. I was told it was a simple plan, only really able to be done in an auditorium setting, and only done without assigned seating, where the smartest dude of the group would sit in the middle, towards the front, while all his buddies would sit at an angle to him, going towards the back, simply giving the group an easy line of copying answers off of their smartest friend and passing those answers to the friend behind them. Then there was the class where the friends knew the professor didn’t care if you shared your eraser with your neighbor, so, well, answers easily went from friend to friend. And lastly there was the graduate class where the Dean would leave during the exam and the group of Asian friends would start talking to each other in their native language so they could get the right answers while the American dudes in the class couldn’t benefit from their cheating ability. My only advice is to always go to the last day of class because the tricky professor will base 90% of the final exam questions on what he said the last day of class where he knew 60% of the class didn’t show up.

That was the old days.

“Cheats” deals with the new days.

Now you can get answers via pager, now kids try to hack into teacher’s computers to get the tests, now kids become more devious in the masterminding to get the grade, and this seems to be the movie “Cheats.”

Basically, for this movie, things have turned a little more high-tech (although the drop-ceiling still isn’t a great hiding place) in the student’s recon missions to get the answers, or at least the test questions, and thus get the grade. It isn’t so much about learning things to pass the test; it’s about finding the easiest way not to learn, about finding the answers, even if an all-nighter could have probably helped more than the spy tactics used to get the answers. But, in any case, this looks to be a movie where many a student will go to see looking for a way to get that edge while many a teacher will see to spot the warning signs.

In a way this movie will should relate to just about any person who tried to sneak a peek at their neighbor’s paper, and hit a higher note for those with well-planned missions to pass a test. This could be a good one.

That’s it for this preview! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Charlie Bartlett

MPAA Rated – R
It’s 1:37 Long
A Preview by:
The Dude on the Right

Charlie Bartlett
Movie Stats & Links
Starring: Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr., Hope Davis
MPAA Rated: R
Released By: MGM
Release Date: 2008
Directed By: Jon Poll

Here’s a tricky movie to promote, kinda like “Superbad,” where even though some of the core group of folks who might want to see this movie are high-schoolers, it’s rated R. In any case we get Charlie (Anton Yelchin). He comes from a wealthy family and doesn’t fit in at his new school, the new school he is at because he gets tossed from all of the private schools. Going to therapy himself, one day he helps a fellow student and suddenly Charlie is the “psychiatrist” for his fellow classmates. Suddenly Charlie is cool, falls in love, and the Principal sees that things are amuck and that Charlie must be dealt with.

A dark comedy with what looks like clever writing, Charlie Bartlett looks like a fantastic character and this might be fun for adults who were the snooty kids in high school but have since grown up, kinda like us nerds could relate to the boys of “Superbad.”

That’s it for this preview! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Catch a Fire

MPAA Rated – PG-13
It’s 1:41 Long
A Preview by:
The Dude on the Right

Catch a Fire
Movie Stats & Links
Starring: Derek Luke, Tim Robbins
MPAA Rated: PG-13
Released By: Focus Features
Release Date: 2006
Directed By: Phillip Noyce

The trailer says this movie is based on a true story, so I’ll take its word for it. In any case, the trailer shows Derek Luke playing Patrick Chamusso. It’s South Africa in a time when things aren’t that great for the black population, in fact it pretty much sucks, but he’s been flying under the radar just trying to raise a family while working at the oil refinery. When there’s an explosion at the refinery, he gets taken in as a suspect, and while being held, and in trying to make him spill any beans, the bad folks fuck with Patrick’s wife. Low and behold they are both let go, but Patrick now knows that he has to now stand up for the rights of those being persecuted, so he takes the cause of the folks fighting the oppressors, because he knows that is the only way the blacks in South Africa can finally be recognized as people.

This looks like a really good movie, and Tim Robbins as the Secret Police dude looks great, but things are getting busy on the movie front (as they always do in the fall), so I have to sometimes decide between good films and popular films. I would like to catch this one, though, no matter what.

That’s it for this preview! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!