I finally got around to “Anvil! The Story of Anvil” this week and seem to have found myself in an instant minority. Where so many see a moving tale of friendship, brotherhood and dedication, I saw a somewhat derivative and at times even inauthentic portrait that didn’t elicit the proper interest in the subjects.
Sue me. I’ll give it another look at some point.
Anyway, that’s neither here nor there. What is of interest is that, as Pete Hammond reports, the film has the designation of being 2009’s first screener sent to the 6,000-strong membership of the Academy. “The Hurt Locker” was primed to be the first out of the gate but it never happened.
In recent years films such as “Once,” “The Namesake,” “Waitress,” “Junebug” and “Frozen River” have been the first to hit members’ doorsteps. They landed four nominations between them, so jumping ahead early doesn’t guarantee big awards success, but it doesn’t hurt to hop onto people’s radars early. Regardless, “Anvil” isn’t likely to show up anywhere outside of the documentary feature category.
And here we go…
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16 responses to “‘Anvil’ first Oscar screener”
I skipped it initially because it looked like a poor man’s Spinal Tap. Now that it is on your list, I am going to view it tomorrow. Should be interesting.
“Waitress” should have been nominated for best actress (Russell insted of Cate Blanchett or Laura linney), Supporting actor (Griffith instead of Philip seymore hoffman) and original screenplay (instead of the savages), but I suppose it did not appeal to the academy. what a shame.
What exactly is Anvil???
If anything, it’s authentic. I don’t get that criticism from you.
Huh?
it’s “elicit”, mr. know it all
Indeed it is. It happens to us all.
Kris…completely off topic, but have you see the vampire flick Thirst, and if so, how does it compare in your mind to Let The Right One In???
Kris…completely off topic, but have you seen the vampire flick Thirst, and if so, how does it compare in your mind to Let The Right One In???
sorry for the repeat post…
When I saw Anvil, Sacha Gervasi gave a Q&A where he said that he had enough footage to make ten different films. Pity he went for the one with the most standard of Hollywood structure and cliched themes.
inauthentic???
you could not be more wrong if you tried.
Alfie: Like I said, sue me.
Chad: Exactly.
David: Haven’t seen Thirst yet, no.
I seem to remember “Fahrenheit 9/11” being disqualified from a nom for appearing on PBS. I loved “Anvil” (and being a musician in many bands that almost went somewhere, I found it very authentic), but assumed its recent airings on VH1 disqualified it from consideration. Is it because it’s on cable instead of broadcast TV? That’s the only thing I could think of.
Yeah, I didn’t like it either. Inauthentic definitely hits the nail on the head. It all felt pretty darn forced, as if the filmmakers were organizing certain elements, certain tours. How they got a hold of that old producer, how he agreed, how he interceded in the fight – it all felt planned. The two guys felt authentic, but the filmmakers seemed to be placing things together for them to become so, reducing their authenticity with the film’s artifice as a whole.
Gervasi seems to be exploiting Lips and Reiner during much of the film, almost like he was making This Is Spinal Tap Part II. Whose idea was the stonehenge visit? Then he wants us to feel sorry for them after he’s been making fun of them for over an hour. The guys were real; Gervasi’s intentions don’t seem honest.