ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL

January 1, 2010

Watching Behind The Music can easily give someone the idea that rock stars live a fast life of hot women, VIP parties, and endless nights of money raining from the sky. Of course, Behind The Music never shows you the stories of the countless bands who never made a dime doing what they love.

But now there is finally a film that reveals the devastation of a band that never found success. Anvil: The Story Of Anvil follows late seventies/early eighties metal band Anvil as they play community centers and obscure bars in Eastern Europe in today’s changed musical landscape. Each member of the band, now in their fifties, squeezes out a meager living doing menial jobs for very little pay. As lead singer Lips says early on, the shitty jobs are only tolerable because of the energy and excitement they receive onstage.

Director Sacha Gervasi does an excellent job of keeping his camera focused on the band and the dynamic between them. Gervasi is truly lucky to have a subject like frontman Lips, who is sweet, honest, emotional, and loveably goofy; he is like some sort of heavy metal puppy dog. Emotions spill out everywhere as the various band members struggle with the reality of their situation. They want to succeed so badly that it nearly threatens to destroy their relationships, and they honestly confront the realities of their ages, their finances, and their dwindling fanbase. It is sad, hilarious, and inspirational.

It is wonderful to see that Anvil has achieved a certain amount of respect and financial windfall from this film. Ultimately these are good guys who deserve to achieve their dream.

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  1. ANVIL Concert Review : sammyray says:
    January 31, 2010 at 4:05 pm

    [...] documentary Anvil: The Story Of Anvil was one of the best of 2009; here is my review. The film showed Anvil, one of the pioneers of heavy metal music, laboring at menial jobs because [...]



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1-31-10
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With the DGA and the Producer’s Guild lining up behind Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, it’s pretty much guaranteed to take the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. And that’s a good thing; it was the best film of 2009 in a weak year. Just as long as Avatar doesn’t win, I’m fine.

1-29-10
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It’s hard to believe that Miramax will now be absorbed into Disney and will disappear forever. This is the studio that produced gems like Pulp Fiction, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, and Clerks. Of course, it also produced over-hyped crap like The English Patient and The Aviator.

Hmm … perhaps it was for the best after all.

1-22-10
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My first thought when I saw these promotional stills for the upcoming Oscar show was: “Geez, Steve Martin looks like he’s lost or in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s.” My second thought was: “Man, this show is going to feel like it’s Oscars 1978.”

1-21-10
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This is a surprisingly in-depth look behind the scenes at the making of Avatar. Like the movie itself, there is very little attention paid to the story, while the effects take center stage.

1-20-10
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This news segment is interesting in that it shows how defensive and weird Mel Gibson has become in recent years. That 2006 anti-Semitic remark still haunts him. I say it’s time to move on.

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