IRON MAIDEN: FLIGHT 666  (2009)  ****  Travel around the world in 45 days with heavy-metal legends Iron Maiden as they play 23 sold-out stadium shows from Asia to South America, battle the rigorous demands of an ambitious touring schedule, and even pilot their own custom-made airplane. Filmed during the Somewhere Back in Time world tour, this documentary grants viewers unprecedented access to the band members as they entertain nearly half a million fans.

My Review: Brilliantly entertaining, this is one of the best documentaries about a rock band I've ever seen.  I was under the mistaken impression that it was merely a concert video, but instead "Flight 666" chronicles the 2008 Somewhere Back In Time Tour, as the band and crew traveled (in a 757 piloted by lead vocalist and licensed pilot Bruce Dickinson, above) all the way around the world, playing in 24 countries in 45 days, packing arenas wherever they go (quite a feat, considering they haven't had significant radio airplay in nearly 20 years).

The film is hugely enjoyable - funny, beautifully filmed and it accurately portrays and pays tribute to the amazing loyalty and devotion that Maiden inspires in their fans, who, somewhat amazingly, keep getting younger (the sold-out audiences are not made up solely of aging ex-mulletheads as you might have thought).  Even if you know nothing about Iron Maiden I can't recommend this movie highly enough, as the affable band members (whose good humor and professionalism are a wonder to behold - no drugs or trashing hotel rooms here), the excellent cinematography and the fascinating 'round-the-world-in-an-airplane world tour would keep anyone's attention.  But of course if you're a Maiden fan it's even better, as the band sound as amazing as ever, and I would wager that anyone unfamiliar with them would be inspired to learn more after watching this great doc.

SURVEILLANCE  (2009)  ***  Revealing the stunning truth behind a horrific string of homicides near Santa Fe, a young girl (Ryan Simpkins), police officer (Kent Harper) and drug addict (Pell James) spill their wildly different witness accounts to FBI agents Elizabeth Anderson (Julia Ormond) and Sam Hallaway (Bill Pullman). Jennifer Chambers Lynch (Boxing Helena) directs this thriller that co-stars Michael Ironside, Cheri Oteri and French Stewart.

My Review: Jennifer Chambers Lynch is David Lynch's daughter, and though I still haven't seen her infamous "Boxing Helena" (1993), she has certainly inherited many of her father's trademarks (grisly violence shrouded in esoteric mystery, eccentric FBI agents struggling to put the pieces together...), if "Surveillance" is any indication.  Something like "Rashomon" meets "The Devil's Rejects", it concerns a heinous string of killings that seemingly culminated in a violent confrontation on a desolate road, and the truth slowly becoming apparent as the three surviving witnesses recount their stories to the FBI agents played by Pullman and Ormond.  It's a dark, truly disturbing film, but a very good, very well-made one.  Well-paced, creepy, darkly funny, and the editing is terrific, milking the flashback-heavy structure for all the suspense and tension it's worth.

Of course there's a Big Twist, and it's one that I saw coming but it still works (though I wish the ending were a bit stronger).  And unlike a lot of movies that feature a Big Twist, this one actually improves on a second viewing, when you know all along what's actually going on.