Movie Diary 4/12/2010

Carrie (Brian DePalma, 1976). You probably know this movie. DePalma’s usual mix of elegance and clumsiness laid very bare. The bravura stuff still works really beautifully. Though set in the Seventies, it feels much more like the adolescent turf of DePalma and Stephen King, the 1950s.

In Bruges (Martin McDonagh, 2008). This will end up being a movie to put on every now and then. It all works, even McDonagh’s reaches. A fine-tuned watch: even a man coming up short of coins at a tourist stop will pay off later.

No One Knows About Persian Cats (Bhaman Ghobadi, 2009). An offbeat film for the blunt but talented Ghobadi, full of contemporary Iranian pop music. (full review 4/30)

Barking Water (Sterlin Harjo, 2009). It’s all pretty earnest, but the road-movie aspects of this Native American indie are beguiling and non-glamorized, and the whole thing has a nicely-judged rhythm. (full review 4/16)

WarGames (John Badham, 1983). I remember seeing Matthew Broderick sprint up the stairs at Red Square on the University of Washington campus one day while they were filming this thing. The rest of it looks kind of silly now.

The Eclipse (Conor McPherson, 2009). The low-key nature of this Irish literary satire/ghost story is appealing, and the turns by Ciaran Hinds, Iben Hjejle (I always think I’m going to spell her name right without checking IMDb, but I never do), and Aidan Quinn make it watchable. (full review 4/16)