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It's Monday January the 29 around 7:25AM and

Movie Shorts: Smokin' Aces, Iwo Jima, Road House, Gunga Din & More

In Theatres.

Smokin' Aces. The buzz on this was kind of "Tarantino knockoff". But the dialogue isn’t always there and the violence is, well, beyond senseless. Girls with 50 caliber guns? In Vegas? Come on. Whatever, Alicia Keyes is total hotness. Ben Affleck has a handlebar mustache (in fact there were plenty of cool mustaches in this. Well-played Mathew Fox.) Jason Bateman is worth the price of admission alone, while no one could possibly believe for a second that smarmy Ryan Reynolds could be in the FBI, ever. Bonus points for a taste of Ennio Morricone’s “The Story Of A Soldier” from The Good, The Bad & The Ugly and the end titles, which were cool. I had high hopes for this, after reading the director's blog. But, no. C.

Letters from Iwo Jima. All you need to know is that this is a far superior film to Flags of our Fathers. The colors – muted earth tones – turn alive during the battle scenes, and it looks great. When you walk out of the film and think about the soldiers from Imperial Japan being just like our side, you know Eastwood did his job as a filmmaker. The only slip up would be the introduction of the film with the modern bookends (always a questionable call) and a bit of subtle bending of some details of history. But a stunning meditation on war and those who fight it. And the music is just about perfect. How does Blondie make a foreign film? That rules. A-.

On DVD.

Road House, Deluxe Edition (1989). Okay, okay. Quiet down. This is pure fromage. And a real stinky foot odor cheese too. But wait, the commentary by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier. Brilliant. Hearing them talk about ‘the Swayze” or his “Swayze” (Gross) or the Swayze cannon, or about how much time “Swayze” spends the movie glissening sans shirt is priceless. It makes you wonder why they didn’t roll out this “For your consideration” campaign in 1989. Here’s more of Smith on Road House. Bonus points for Smith referencing Eight is Enough - Can you even imagine shows opening up like this anymore? So hot. My goodness. Movie: D. Commentary: B+.

Gunga Din (1939) and An American in Paris (1951). Two uber classics. One is about British soldiers in India and one about post-war Paris (both shot entirely in the USA). They simply don’t make movies like this anymore. Campy hijinks of Cary Grant in the old British empire is exactly as the tagline suggests, “Barbaric Splendor - Gasping Magnitude - Adventure !” So amazing, just watch the trailer. Man that Gene Kelly kid could dance. 17 minute dance number at the end? Hello. Gunga Din: B. An American in Paris: A.