Movies I've seen lately...
Concert for Bangladesh - 10/10
Maybe not the best concert film ever, but certainly one of the most significant concerts ever put down on film.
The line-up for the band:
George Harrison
Leon Russell
Eric Clapton
Billy Preston
Ringo Starr
Klaus Voormann
Jim Keltner
Jesse Ed Davis
and many others
Opening set by Ravi Shankar & Ali Akbar Khan
And Bob Dylan does a remarkable walk-on set. One of his best performances on film that I've seen.
This is a
great concert film if you're into the good music of that era. I intend to buy myself a copy.
V for Vendetta 8.5/10
I bought this film for my daughter for Christmas because she is a huge Hugo Weaving fan. Neither of had seen it but it was only a small disappointment that you never see his face in the film, lol. I found it to be enjoyable with, of course, an eerily relevant plot. The choice of John Hurt to play the role of the fear-mongering chancellor in this rather Orwellian drama I thought was a neat little *nudge, nudge, wink, wink* for the fans of the film version of Orwell's
1984. The movie has some flaws - stilted moments, plot holes, etc. - but overall we both liked it very much.
Okay, last night....
The Descent 10/10
I LOVED this film. But I NEVER want to see it again, lol. Probably the best horror movie to be made in...I don't know, I can't even say. I can't remember the last time I saw a horror film that used suspense (
excruciating suspense) and DARKNESS to better effect. Normally I would find all of the jarring cuts of the action scenes to be annoying, but they worked perfectly in this case to convey the sense of disorientation you would have in that situation - Spoiler:
being in a dark, enclosed place under attack by unknown, slimy white, blind, wall-crawling, cannibalistic humanoids. *shiver* It seems to take a long time for the action to build up, but when it does it is non-stop - just be patient and soak up the atmosphere. I also commend this film for its sincere attempt to establish solid characterizations with conflicts and motives - unusually so for a horror flick - but at the same time, not being overbearing with it. And finally, the performances by the all female cast are rock solid and if you're a woman you might take more than a little satisfaction from watching these chicks throw down with the "bad guys" and kick a good deal of Spoiler:
slimy white ass 
- there is no cowering in the corner waiting for a guy to come and save them. It was kind of exhilarating.
I could go on more about this flick, but that's probably enough, lol. I recommend it highly for those who like horror films and are not squeamish - it is quite gory. The version I got from Netflix is an unrated version so I'm not sure how it compares to the theatrical version. Also, from what I understand, the ending in this version is different from the US theatrical release.