'Body of Lies' and my last 'Friday the 13th' ramble (for now)

Russell Crowe and Leonardo
DiCaprio in 'Body of Lies'If you like movies loaded with suspense, loud noises and people getting hurt, this is your week.

In theaters, I'm pleased to report, you can hardly go wrong with "Friday the 13th." I saw it opening night in a packed theater and had a blast. It's crude but funny. Very politically incorrect, definitely leave the kids at home.

If you're a fan of the original series, you'll find much to like. All the elements that made the original movies great are here, suitably updated for a post-"Saw" horror audience.

Our sports guy, Eric saw it with me. He once sat down and watched the first nine Friday the 13ths straight through, with occasional bathroom breaks. He's easily a bigger fan than I am and he really dug the remake. So there you go.

If you're looking for a nice violent evening at home, my pick among the DVD crop coming out tomorrow is "Body of Lies." This is an intelligent spy thriller that my wife and I both enjoyed in the theater last fall.

It was a commercial flop, which is really a shame. For reasons I'll never understand, "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" ruled the box office for weeks on end while this was out.

"Body of Lies" stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a rough-and-tumble CIA field operative in the Middle East. Russell Crowe plays his scheming handler. Golshifteh Farahani is a young Iranian actress who plays DiCaprio's spirited love interest. She hasn't had many starring roles in English-language films to date, but she is great here. I'd love it if she continued to get more work in Hollywood.

The acting is superb all around and the script is based on a novel by David Ignatius, a former Middle East correspondent who also covered the CIA and Justice Department. The story seems more realistic than the James Bond style spy stories. I wouldn't know, but this feels more like the way spies operate in real life.

Director Ridley Scott ("American Gangster," "Black Hawk Down," "Hannibal") is a maestro when it comes to filming explosive action sequences. "Body of Lies" doesn't disappoint on that front either.

That's all I've got for today. Remember: Nothing in life is ever so bad that you can't fix it with a movie and some popcorn. And maybe some Junior Mints. Yeah, Junior Mints are good.

(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com)