MOVIES Rocker's prepared for job

Highly opinionated about movies, Rollin takes leap into role of critic.
By JOE NEUMAIER
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
The days of the sweater-clad, thumb-ranking, warm-and-fuzzy TV film critic may be at an end: Rocker Henry Rollins is in the movie house.
The front man for '80s punk band Black Flag, radio talker, spoken-word artist and self-proclaimed "angry man" now hosts his own movie review program, "Henry's Film Corner," airing the first Saturday of every month at midnight on the Independent Film Channel.
The first episode airs Saturday.
True to his contrarian ways, Rollins -- who has acted in such films as "Heat" and "Bad Boys II" -- proclaims his love for art-house dramas and such foreign directors as Akira Kurosawa and Werner Herzog before rhapsodizing about "Die Hard" and "Predator."
"Every genre will get a fair shake on my show," Rollins said. "I love big blow-'em-up films. Yet I want to say to young people, 'Sure, go watch all your action films, get yer ya-yas out. But leave time for 'Cool Hand Luke' and 'The Godfather.' If it's junk into your mind, then it's junk out. If all kids do is watch 'Dumb and Dumber,' then they, too, will be dumb and dumber."
Politics, too
In addition to such staples of review shows as discussions of recent blockbusters and DVD choices, "Henry's Film Corner" will include an examination of political and social issues in films and "Rollins' Revenge," a segment in which no movie is safe from the host's pentup wrath.
Rollins, wearing a black T-shirt, also will discuss cinema with celebrity guests and everyday folks. In the first episode, he talks with his mailman, Raoul, about the similarities between the Tom Cruise epic "The Last Samurai" and Kurosawa's "The Seven Samurai."
"Hollywood wants guys like Raoul to shut up and consume, so they can feed him another turgid, overdone, CGI-filled piece of junk. But I want to hear Raoul's thoughts," said Rollins.
"Reviewing can be an art, and if Hollywood listens to the right critics, maybe their films can be better. I'm approaching my show as a guy who loves movies," he said. "As a fan, I'll respect a film enough to care when if it's bad. But if a film angers me, I'll torch it.
"I have a contempt for lazy filmmaking," he said. "A movie like 'Terminator 3' was boring and insulting to the bricklayer who pays 10 bucks times two, with parking, for him and his date. Arnold Schwarzenegger owes that guy dinner!"