Anvil Takes a Step Toward Oscar, Rocks Out in ‘Green Hornet’
Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 9, 2009
First we rock, then we go out and get those Oscar votes, then we rock Michel Gondry’s Green Hornet movie so hard that it explodes!
That’s the plan for aging rockers Anvil, the subjects of Sacha Gervasi’s head-banging documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil. Quite possibly the best rock documentary I’ve ever seen — full of heart and sadness and triumph — Anvil! has become the first movie of the year to send out screeners to Academy Awards voters. This week, voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science will receive copies of the doc, which is a long-shot for a Best Documentary nod.
But that’s not all. There is also this from The Los Angeles Times (warning, this includes potentially spoilery info about The Green Hornet): Wednesday they made their movie debut on the set of fan and director Michel Gondry’s big-budget flick The Green Hornet, filming a cameo where they (literally) explode playing in a rock club.
I wish that I didn’t know how their scene ends, but it is awesome to know that they will be bringing hard rock to Michel Gondy’s flick. As well, it is a great distinction to be the first out of the gate during Oscar season. Originally debuting at Sundance in 2008, Anvil! is one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year and currently sits at a 98% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The flick tells the story of Steve “Lips” Kudrow and his bandmate Robb Reiner, the founding members of Anvil. The Canadian powerhouse of rock began in the early 70s in Toronto, when the two men (then in high school) made a pact to rock together for the rest of their lives. Hailed as the “demi-gods of Canadian metal,” Anvil influenced a musical generation that includes Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax. But they never actually hit it big. The doc pics them up in their late fifties, right as they’ve come off a devastatingly calamitous European tour. But where others would pack it in, Lips and Robb set off to record their 13th album in one last attempt to complete the rise to fame that began nearly 35 years ago.
It’s an awesome film, deserving of any and all acclaim that it receives. If you’re smart and like to rock, you’ll check it out on DVD. It was released this past Tuesday.
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