I went to see a sneak preview of a pretty good war flick last night, "The Great Raid". I liked it because it was a throwback to the kind of war movie that shows up on AMC or Turner on Memorial Day. Very Hitler Channelesque. You know the type, the Japanese are very, very bad and the US is really, really good. And we actually had help from allies, in this case, the Filipino Army. Quick backstory: When MacArthur pulled out of the Philippines, the Bataan Death March took place. The survivors of the March ended up in three POW camps. This movie dealt with the rescue mission of one of the camps.

Cool story, because the rescue mission had two problems. The Japanese had already burned POWs alive at one of the camps, as there was an order to exterminate all POWs, so they had to get there ahead of that action. On the other hand, MacArthur returned and was advancing. The reality was if MacArthur got close, those POWs would have been exterminated anyhow. So, the rescue mission, in effect, had to beat MacArthur to the camp. Pretty neat, huh?

I went strictly on the recommendation of Stephen Hunter, movie critic of the Washington Post, who mentioned it on Tony Kornheiser's radio show a week or so ago. And it was well worth it. John Dahl ("Rounders", "Red Rock West", "The Last Seduction") directed and it was filmed like an oldie. Top-notch acting from Benjamin Bratt, who I used to think was a toss-away, but actually has done some interesting things lately. James Franco and Joseph Fiennes are also very good. Franco might be the best young actor out there, with the least amount of publicity. Trust me, this will disappear faster than dessert at Bob Wickman's house, so if you get a chance, see it on the big screen. It starts Friday.

Meal of Links

I was extremely bored while watching the pre-movie slides at Cinemark last night. But this caught me eye. About three times. It's Movie Loan Guy.

The trailers last night were pretty bad. "The Brothers Grimm" looked bad, but Monica Belucci got my attention. They actually had one for "The Da Vinci Code". Mark that for May 19, 2006! The one that caught my eye was Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash in "Walk The Line". Reese Weatherspoon as June Carter Cash. I'm there in November. Shelby Lynne plays Carrie Cash, BTW.

The guy eating popcorn in front of me was unbearable to watch. He had a method of wife holding the largest bucket imaginable. He would do the reach into said bucket with right arm, tilt head back, stuff piehole with kernels, then chomp loudly, repeat 1,000 times without stopping. This is what I like on mine.

Exercise Yard

Jenna Jameson wants Mike Tyson to star in a porn film. I find it ludicrous, but I also know it will sell.

Visitor

None, it's Sunday.