Friday night after Shabbat services at Kol haLev, I saw “In Bruges,” which turned out to be much better than I expected–pushing the boundaries of movieness into filmdom. Tight story, interesting characters, lovely scenery, a few surprises, nothing superfluous. Other people said it’s gory, but maybe multiple viewings of “No Country for Old Men” has inured me to such things.

On Sunday, I saw “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” which turned out to be pretty much as I expected, but perhaps not quite as upbeat as I’d been led to believe. Good thing I was in a good mood! Interesting camera work to give you the author’s point of view. Spelling in a different language was difficult to fake in the subtitles, which made me wish for dubbing or something. I only barely know any French, but found myself trying to beat the subtitles and guess what was really being spelled out.