Reserve a seat for ‘In the Loop’

As I while away the morning here, grading a few residual papers and watching On Demand episodes of “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations,” I’m thinking that I probably won’t hit the Magic Lantern this weekend.

That’s not because nothing good is playing there (notice the clever use of the double negative?). It’s because I’ve already seen the two films that I really want to see: the Iranian offering “Song of Sparrows” and the dark political comedy “In the Loop.”

I liked “Song of Sparrows,” though I had … uh, some reservations (sorry, Tony). Directed by Majid Majidi, the film has several things going for it. Primary among those is the lead actor, Reza Najie , who – once you get over thinking of him as the Iranian Judd Hirsch – takes the big screen with one of the most cinematic faces I’ve ever seen. Yeah, the film is a bit derivative of other Iranian films (Majidi’s own “Children of Heaven,” for example, and Jafar Panahi’s “White Balloon”). But it has much to offer, from occasionally luscious cinematography to Najie, who can say more in a single gaze than most actors can in their entire careers.

I also liked “In the Loop” , which I saw in May during the opening weekend of the Seattle International Film Festival. As I said then, much of what occurs in the movies might be lost on American audiences (I do seem to have big problems with English and Scottish accents). But the audience in Seattle liked the movie, and so might Spokane moviegoers.

As for the third film playing at the Lantern, “The Room,” I’m not sure I’m ready for a guilty pleasure – not when I have to, uh, wash my hair. Or car. Or both.