Nov 22nd Reviews

This week I'm looking at two polar opposite movies, Red and Antibodies. One is a fun action flick that never takes itself too seriously and pulls all of it's ridiculous stunts quite well. The other is a German film that lacks any fun or humor at all and is possibly one of the most grim movies I've ever seen and still enjoyed.
Red Brief:  "The Town" is the tale of four men -- thieves, rivals and friends -- being hunted through the streets of Boston by a tenacious FBI agent and a woman... A group of retired, extremely dangerous spies have been marked for termination by their own government, for reasons not immediately apparent. This group of aging mystery men (and women) must band together again to survive the onslaught of a ruthless CIA agent and uncover the reason behind the attacks on their lives. My Take:  This movie is a lot of silly action fun, made all the more amusing by a wonderful all-star cast that clearly enjoyed their work in this movie. The biggest surprise for me was Helen Mirren, who looked ridiculously comfortable as a renowned wet works agent. I have yet to see The Queen, but suspect that if and when I do see it, I'll be sadly disappointed to see she's not armed in any way. Aside from the cast, the movie did a great job of playing off the "CIA conspiracy web" without ever trying to be paranoid or serious. The plot is relatively secondary to the action, but again, that really doesn't matter as the action and comedy is strong enough you won't care. Should You See It: Yes. There is no argument to be made. See this. It's fun (how many times have I used that word this review?), action-packed and enjoyable throughout. There's not a lot of substance to it, so I suppose if you're only into thinkers, this won't be for you. Still, everyone needs a break from the heavier plots and this is the perfect movie for that. Should Kids See This: Maybe. The film is a pretty solid PG-13, with violence (lots and lots of gunfire and explosions) being the biggest reason for the rating.
Antikörper (Antibodies) Brief:  A serial killing pederast is caught after a violent shoot out with police. But, there is still an unsolved murder of a young girl in a small tA serial killing pedophile is finally captured by the police, ending his reign of terror over the country... or has it? The murders have hit one particular small town and it's lone cop quite hard. The cop remains dubious that this killer is the same murderer who killed a young local girl, but thinks he may be the key to finding out who did. A mind game then ensues between the cop and the deranged serial killer in this intense psychological thriller. My Take: There are a lot of negatives about this film, a couple of which hit you in the face before you even start watching it. The name is really quite clumsy (I thought this was a germ-warfare movie at first glance) and the cover (not the one shown above) is really... awkward. A quick Google search will reveal what I'm talking about. Yes, it raised my brow as well. Fortunately, once you get past those two issues, you end up with a brilliant movie. Some of the best acting and directing I've seen are contained in this film and the story is quite gripping. Unfortunately, the brilliant movie is also punctuated with some of the most disturbing content I've ever seen. The film deals with evil personified, who's goal it is to "infect" as many lives as he can with evil. I think that's where the title actually comes in. He says, "Evil is a virus." Unfortunately, he's very good at infecting others and watching the hero fight back against it is a difficult struggle to watch indeed. Should You See It: Honestly? Probably not. You'll need to gauge how sensitive you are to some of the more disturbing content (talked about below), but the villain is probably one of the most evil characters I've ever seen portrayed. Hannibal Lecter seems a harmless all-American neighbor you'd like to invite over for tea and brains, by comparison. The hero wrestles with doubt, guilt and evil in and around him, often in graphic or disturbing ways. If, however, you are willing to wade through the struggle and all of the nasty bits, the pay off really is amazing. I've never held my breath like that at the end of a movie, nor been that emotionally involved in a character. Should Kids See This: No. I cannot stress enough how bad an idea it would be to have children watch this. I'm still fairly certain there are many adults who shouldn't watch this either. There's a fair amount of nudity (most of it non-sexual) as well as sexual acts and dialogue that are all tinged with a sense of violence and aggression that's very off-putting. There's also a fair amount of violence, though most of it is implied. None of the actual acts of molestation are ever shown, though talked about several times. To top it all off, the language is also pretty rough.