In grand “X-Files” manner, the film’s storyline is being kept under wraps. This much can be revealed: It is a stand-alone story in the tradition of some of the show’s most acclaimed and beloved episodes, and takes the complicated relationship between Fox Mulder and Dana Scully in unexpected directions. Mulder continues his unshakable quest for the truth, and Scully, the passionate, ferociously intelligent physician, remains inextricably tied to Mulder’s pursuits.
 
TRUE DUDES REVIEW:
 
Without giving too much away, you know that there is a problem when the film’s most sympathetic character is a pedophile.  While I enjoyed the film, I think it’s going to disappoint a lot of the fans.
 
The god news: the story is original, and unpredictable.  The two leads are back and played perfectly (as always).  And there are a few (and only a few) tense and thrilling moments.  The bad news: much of this film is strictly dulls-ville.  The pacing is unusually slow for an X-Files story.  The characters go nowhere.  We learn nothing new about them and at the end of the film they are exactly the same as they were at the beginning.  While the story is unpredictable it’s mostly because the climax is so off the wall.
 
It was nice to see another X-Files but this will likely be the last.  I don’t see this doing well.  Casual viewers will be put off by the slowness of the story and by not being familiar with the characters, while fans will be disappointed by the lack of new Mulder/Scully relationship info.  All in all, X-Files: I Want To Believe is only mildly entertaining and just bizarre enough to keep the hardcore fans watching.
 
True Dudes gives X-Files: I Want To Believe 3 out of 5 middle fingers.

Batman and James Gordon join forces with Gotham’s new District Attorney, Harvey Dent, to take on a psychotic bank robber known as The Joker, whilst other forces plot against them, and Joker’s crimes grow more and more deadly.

TRUE DUDES REVIEW:

This is an amazing movie.  This is definitely the year of the great comic book movies, and The Dark Knight is right there with the rest.  Dark, brutal and surprising, this film is a must see.

It’s the performances that make this film.  Christian Bale, once again, is great in his role as the caped crusader.  And Gary Oldman does (as always) a nice job reprising his role of Jim Gordon.  But it’s Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent and Heath Ledger as The Joker that really make this film surpass the 2005 Batman Begins.  Their performances are nothing short of astonishing.  Also the film is filled with surprises and tension.  And the ending is extremely dark and depressing.  I can’t wait for part 3.  My only complaint is the run time.  While I was never bored, the film is lengthy.  The long periods of time between action scenes make it more noticeable.

True Dudes gives The Dark Knight 4 out of 5 middle fingers.

The story of a bride-to-be trying to find her real father told using hit songs by the popular ’70s group ABBA.

TRUE DUDES REVIEW:

I’m embarrassed to say I actually liked this.  Catchy songs and likable leads make up for a lackluster story and non stop corny-ness.  I’m not saying I loved it but it’s better than one might expect.

When the movie was over, I found myself humming some of the songs.  That was when I knew “Damnit, I liked that”.  Meryl Streep gives a nice performance and surprisingly has a great voice as the bride to be’s mother.  The bride, played by Amanda Seyfried, is so cute and likable you can’t help but route for her.  And of one of her three possible dads, Pierce Brosnan is charming and cool.  One of the film’s few setbacks was the extreme silliness that left me rolling my eyes for the majority of the movie.  Also the plot is only there to move the film along to it’s next song.  No surprises or twists of any kind (except for how much I liked the music).  While not an ABBA fan at all, the songs were the best part of the film.

True Dudes gives Mamma Mia 3 out of 5 middle fingers.

When the mythical world engages their campaign to take over the Earth, the U.S. government reaches out to the only department staffed to handle the potential catastrophe: The Bureau for Paranormal Research, who once again turns to the demon hero Hellboy and his teammates to stop a merciless dictator from carrying out his plan.

TRUE DUDES REVIEW:

This movie is fucking awesome!  Possibly the best comic book film of the summer and easily the most inventive.  Hellboy 2 sticks with the tone of the first film but really amps up the action, effects, and characters.

I think it was the small moments that made me love this movie.  Don’t get me wrong the action is great and the effects are awe inspiring (I couldn’t tell what was digital and what wasn’t).  But it was the smaller character moments that give the film it’s heart.  There is a little more comedy and a lot more romance.  The characters really grow in this sequel and become more than just retreads of their same characters from the first film.  Everyone’s acting is amazing.  Even behind layers of make up the actors expressions shine through.  Hellboy 2 is one of summer’s must see action flicks.

True Dudes Reviews gives Hellboy 2: The Golden Army 4 out of 5 middle fingers.

A geologist on a special mission with his nephew discovers the entrance into a previously unseen world.

TRUE DUDES REVIEW:

I fully expected this to suck, but was pleasantly surprised. I’m not saying this is a great movie or anything, but I enjoyed it.

If you have a choice between seeing this in 2D or 3D, I highly recommend the 3D. It definitely made the difference. While the film is fast paced and exciting, it is also unbelievably cheesy. The characters are corny and so is the dialog. It was the 3D effect and the amazing special effects that kept me glued to my seat. Brendan Frasier seems perfect for this type of family film. His acting was over the top and ridiculous, but it worked for this movie. The rest of the cast was decent (no one was spectacular or anything). While this won’t be winning any Academy Awards (except maybe for visual effects), it was overall a fun time at the movies.

True Dudes gives Journey to the Center of the Earth 3 out of 5 middle fingers.

COMING SOON TO A THEATER NEAR YOU ON JULY 11TH:

HELL BOY 2: THE GOLDEN ARMY:

When the mythical world engages their campaign to take over the Earth, the U.S. government reaches out to the only department staffed to handle the potential catastrophe: The Bureau for Paranormal Research, who once again turns to the demon hero Hellboy and his teammates to stop a merciless dictator from carrying out his plan.

Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, and Doug Jones

“This is one of my most anticipated films of the year. Del Toro is a great director and this movie is going to rock!”

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH:

A geologist on a special mission with his son discovers the entrance into a previously unseen world.

Starring: Brendan Fraser, and Josh Hutcherson

“This looks like it’s going to be a stupid kiddie flick, but if the 3D is good I’ll see it anyway.”

MEET DAVE:

Tiny aliens pilot a spacecraft that takes the form of a human, while the captain of the ship jeopardizes his crew and their mission to save their planet when he falls for beautiful earthling.

Starring: Eddie Murphy, and Elizabeth Banks

“More unbelievably terrible shit from Eddie Murphy. And what the hell is Elizabeth Banks doing in a film like this? I guess the high cost of gas is hurting every bodies pocket books. Let’s hope Eddie makes amends with his upcoming and R rated Beverly Hills Cop 4.”

USA Weekend Box-Office Summary

Week of 4 July 2008

Rank / Title / Weekend / Gross

1  Hancock (2008) $62.6M $62.6M
2  WALL·E (2008) $32.5M $127M
3  Wanted (2008) $20.1M $90.2M
4  Get Smart (2008) $11.1M $98.1M
5  Kung Fu Panda (2008) $7.32M $193M
6  The Incredible Hulk (2008) $4.9M $125M
7  Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) $3.77M $306M
8  Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008) $3.3M $5.82M
9  Sex and the City (2008) $2.38M $145M
10  You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (2008) $1.98M $94.8M

Well, Hancock’s a flop.  It was estimated to open at 150 million (yeah right).  Wall-e and Wanted both took bigger than average drops, but Get Smart seems to be hanging in there (less than a 50% drop every week).  Indy continues to hang on and at this right should overtake Iron Man in a couple of weeks to be the highest grosser of the year.

The Rocker tells the story of a failed drummer who is given a second chance at fame. Robert “Fish” Fishman is the extremely dedicated and astoundingly passionate drummer for the eighties hair band Vesuvius, who is living the rock n’ roll dream until he is unceremoniously kicked out of the band. Twenty years after his rock star fantasies are destroyed, just when Fish has finally given up all hope, he hears that his nephew’s high school rock band A.D.D. is looking for a new drummer. They reluctantly make him the newest member of the band, giving him a chance to reclaim the rock God throne he’s always thought he deserved, and taking the young band along for the ride of their lives.

TRUE DUDES REVIEW:

Mostly generic, sometimes funny rock and roll comedy.  I laughed out loud a few times, but only a few.  This movie could have been a lot funnier, but mostly tries to keep things light and family oriented.
The cast is likable, especially Rain Wilson in the lead role as Fish.  My main problems with the film was the plot and the music.  This could just as easily have been another underdog sports flick.  They just replaced The Team with The Band.  It’s nothing that we all haven’t seen time and time again. As for the music, this is supposedly a rock comedy.  I found it surprisingly light on rock.  Most of the music is extremely poppy, generic garbage for the bubblegum crowd.  At least the jokes are a plenty, even if only half of them hit their target.

True Dudes gives The Rocker 3 out of 5 middle fingers.

A hard-living superhero who has fallen out of favor with the public enters into a questionable relationship with the wife of the public relations professional who’s trying to repair his image.

TRUE DUDES REVIEW:

Hancock is a disappointment.  It could have been great.  It has a great concept and great actors.  But the film is only mildly entertaining.  While watching the film I got a weird sense that I was seeing the edited for tv version.
For starters, Hancock is a mess.  It is tonally all over the place.  The film starts off nicely as an action comedy, but halfway through it really loses it’s focus and becomes some sort of strange sci-fi drama.  And the drama is over almost as soon as it starts.  The film only has a measly 92 min. run time.  In the last 30 min. the film takes it’s bizarre turn, but doesn’t give the viewer enough time to care or understand exactly what is going on.  Too many questions are asked and not nearly enough of them are answered.  Also, the film is poorly edited.  Choppy and hard to follow, I barely knew or cared what was going on.  Hancock was originally rated R, but the powers that be (AKA asshole studio big wigs) wanted the safe PG-13 rating.  There may have been a decent cut of this film at one time, but it’s not the one that has been released.  Besides the originality of the basic premise and the acting ( which is all around good), there just is not enough to recommend about Hancock that makes it worth seeing.  I also feel that I should mention that the film’s chief villain (introduced in the last 20 min.) is among the worst and most poorly conceived bad guys of all time.  He is such a shitty criminal that it’s almost comical (even when it’s not supposed to be).

True Dudes gives Hancock 2 out of 5 middle fingers.