Film Threat | June 25, 2008 LA Weekly | June 18, 2008 Sydney Morning Herald | June 12, 2008 The Village Voice | June 1, 2008 WorshipTheGlitch.com | June 1, 2008 Slant Magazine | May 30, 2008 New York Times | May 18, 2008 EyeWeekly.com | April 16, 2008 Globe and Mail | April 16, 2008 The Star | April 13, 2008 National Post | April 11, 2008
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THANK YOU MICHAEL MOORE AND TRAVERSE CITY YOU ROCK!!!!"The best documentary I've seen in years!"
"Some of the scenes in "Anvil" are so outrageous, it feels like this must be a Spinal Tap sequel. It isn't. These guys are for real. "Anvil! The Story of Anvil": The year's great rock movie!"
"Hilarious and achingly touching." "Screw Robert Downey Jr., Kudlow and Reiner are the true IRON MEN." "Far too candid and heartbreaking to deserve its common pigeonholing as "a real-life This Is Spinal Tap," former roadie Sacha Gervasi's reunion with the long-forgotten, still-struggling Canadian metal band Anvil is an absurdly side-splitting underdog tale without a hint of condescension." "A hymn to the human spirit, played loud in power
chords".
The only heartwarming film ever made about a heavy
metal band.
Without question the Anthem of Sundance '08.
No other film that I saw at Sundance brought me to
tears as much as "Anvil!"... a hilarious and moving
tribute to two 50-year-old guys who won't give up on
their dream.
Very entertaining doc is amusing without being
condescending, touching without straining for pathos...
"Anvil!" is an underdog saga even non-metalheads will
root for. Surprisingly inspirational.
Anvil! explores the lengths that people go to in order to create what they love. It's a socially rebellious, in-your-face, harrowing, discouraging, inspiring, ever-idealistic--and not to diminish any of its hard-edged caliber-- touching film.
One of the best movies at the Sundance Film
Festival...This is a feel good movie of rockin'
proportions! 9 out of 10.
It really doesn't matter if you like metal or not,
this film can appeal to anyone. ****
From the first frame, the room was engaged. It was
funny, then funnier still. It was Spinal Tap, but all
the more compelling for being true. Beautifully shot
and full of wit and rhythm, the film began to uncover
in its tawdry subject matter a sense of the profound.
The jokes faded and the focus moved away from heavy
metal. It was about friendship and family. It was
about doing what you love and never giving up, about
the capacity of failure, much more than success, to
foster a kind of enlightenment. All this and a man in
leather trousers playing a guitar with a vibrator. The
Sundance audience were whooping with delight.
A story that will resonate with most of us who, for
whatever reason, have modified our dreams over time to
adjust to the expectations of real life... A must-see
for dreamers everywhere.
An alternatively moving and hilarious love story -- a
tale of two people hopelessly devoted to playing heavy
metal music.
Anvil: The Story of Anvil isn't about metal; it's
about hope. It's not about rock; it's about belief.
It's not about dreams; it's about work, sacrifice,
friendship... And finally, most importantly, in a world
that says 'quit,' they have not...
What makes the movie a real-life Spinal Tap without,
necessarily, being a joke is that its joy is rooted in
the cocky/befuddled personalities of its stars.
Anvil is this year's American Movie... a pleasure to
watch and engage with, even if you, like I, would flip
off the radio the second any metal came over the
airwaves.
At this fest, I loved exactly one movie: Anvil: The Story Of Anvil. It's personal, unexpected, emotionally involving and real - my idea of a great film. The question I asked myself over and over at Sundance '08 was whether I was watching something that needed to be made, needed to be seen, and will stand the test of time. I found a few films intense and deeply felt enough to meet the first criteria... and a few films entertaining enough or informed enough to meet the second... But in the third category? Only the one.
To say the audience was electric after the conclusion
of Sunday's noon screening of Anvil! The Story of
Anvil is an understatement.
'Anvil! The Story of Anvil' kicked my ass. You'll
definitely laugh. You might cry and you certainly will
be entertained. (They) are the energizer bunny of
metal bands. They will play until one of them is six
feet under and then whoever is left will rock out at
the funeral!
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