DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week.

Repertory: Labyrinth
Jim Henson continued to indulge the darker doors of his mind that he'd thrown wide open with The Dark Crystal in this, regrettably his last feature film. How a film made by Jim Henson and George Lucas, and starring David Bowie managed to tank as badly as this did upon release is a mystery, though perhaps parents thought it a little too scary for kids used to the more subtle subversions of The Muppet Show and its various spinoffs. As with many excellent films that just lack vision in the studio marketing department, it went on to assume its rightful position as a cult classic. Landmark theatres are showing a brand new 35mm print of the film, and it gets its turn in D.C. for one week only starting on Friday night.

View the trailer.
Plays for one week only, beginning this Friday at E Street Cinema.

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Special Event: Henry V
Kenneth Branagh was a lad of not even 30 years when he released his directorial debut. Perhaps not coincidentally, he chose to film the same play of Shakespeare's on which Laurence Olivier had cut his director's teeth nearly a half century prior. It was a ballsy move, and it paid off, if only because Branagh managed the daunting task of measuring up to an acknowleged legend both in front of and behind the camera. Branagh's Henry makes up in guts what it may lack in clarity, and packs a powerful emotional punch. Branagh may not quite have the "I was born to speak these words" delivery of Olivier, but he's got a fire in his eyes throughout that carries the performance admirably. His devastating visual take on the Battle of Agincourt sequence should not be missed in this rare opportunity to watch it on the big screen.

Playing at the Library of Congress' Mary Pickford Theatre Thursday at 7 p.m. Admission is free, but seating is very limited. Call for reservations, 202.707.5677.

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Major Release: The Bourne Ultimatum
The international spy action film was dying a slow death, just the occasional loud rattle when a new, and ever more slick and plastic Bond film would come out every few years. Enter Jason Bourne. The first installment in the filmed version of Robert Ludlum's popular series of novels was a breath of jittery, manic fresh air, and the second continued the trend, making an unlikely action hero out of Matt Damon. Director Paul Greengrass, fresh from an examination of international violence of an entirely different kind, re-teams with Damon and screenwriter Tony Gilroy on what promises to be another wild and heady action spectacle.

View the trailer.
Opening on Friday at a multiplex near you. It's also worth mentioning that this will be showing this weekend along with the excellent Knocked Up at the area's closest drive-in, Bengies, outside of Baltimore. If you've never made it up there to get the genuine drive-in experience, this'll be an excellent double feature. Get there early and take a nap through the Adam Sandler embarrassment that's opening the night.
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Foreign: Viridiana
In 1960, Francisco Franco invited Luis Buñuel to return to Spain to make a film for the first time since his exile in the United States and Mexico had begun. It was a calculated PR move on the dictator's part, and, in retrospect, a pretty dumb one to boot. Buñuel did what one would expect: he made a film that was outwardly a sharp criticism of the Franco-supported Catholic church, and underneath a thinly veiled attack on Franco's regime. The dictator destroyed all the copies the filmmaker left in Spain when he departed, but was unsuccessful in his attempts to withdraw the film from Cannes, where it won the top prize for 1961. Franco was left with egg on his face while Buñuel had scored a huge success, one that would kick off the latter period of the director's career, during which he made his best known and most fascinating films.

Playing at the AFI Silver Theatre August 4-6.

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Indie: Talk to Me
Don Cheadle's acclaimed portrayal of D.C. radio personality Ralph "Petey" Greene has been playing for a few weeks already, but it's worth mentioning again as it can't last much longer in area theaters. If you haven't had a chance to catch this slice of local history, now's the time.

View the trailer.
Playing at a number of area theatres tonight and tomorrow, and continuing through next week at the Avalon.