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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
48
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59
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80
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55
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78
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xx
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xx
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Gomorrah
87
Goodbye Solo
85
Forbidden Lie$
83
U2 3D
82
Let the Right One In
81
Hunger
81
Everlasting Moments
81
Wrestler, The
81
Sugar
80
Wendy and Lucy
80
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
79
Katyn
79
Tokyo Sonata
78
Sin Nombre
78
Betrayal - Nerakhoon, The
74
Two Lovers
73
Song of Sparrows, The
71
Shall We Kiss?
70
Lymelife
65
Examined Life
64
Che
63
Tokyo!
63
Great Buck Howard, The
63
Medicine for Melancholy
62
Cherry Blossoms
61
Sunshine Cleaning
61
Guest of Cindy Sherman
60
Cake Eaters, The
59
Brothers at War
59
American Swing
58
Reader, The
58
Defiance
57
Last Chance Harvey
55
Escapist, The
55
Bart Got a Room
54
Explicit Ills
50
Education of Charlie Banks, The
48
Alien Trespass
46
Skills Like This
45
Fanboys
40
Paris 36
39
Edge of Love, The
38
Mysteries of Pittsburgh, The
34
Gigantic
33
Caller, The
31
Lifelines
25
Perfect Sleep, The
20
Spinning Into Butter
xx
Bob Funk
xx
C Me Dance
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Abramorama Films
MPAA RATING: Not Rated
Starring
Kevin Goocher,
Glenn Gyorffy,
Steve 'Lips' Kudlow,
Robb Reiner,
and
Chris Tsangarides
At 14, Toronto school friends Steve "Lips" Kudlow and Robb Reiner made a pact to rock together forever. They meant it. Their band, Anvil, went on to become the "demigods of Canadian metal," releasing one of the heaviest albums in metal history, 1982 Metal on Metal. The album influenced a musical generation, including Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax, that went on to sell millions of records. But Anvil's career took a different path, straight into obscurity. (Abramorama Films)
| GENRE(S): |
Documentary
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Sacha Gervasi
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
Theatrical: April 10, 2009
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
90 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Empire
Sam Toy
The lyrics to AC/DC’s Long Way To The Top were never more appropriate. Anvil! is exactly what's needed to slap the recent rash of doomsayer documentaries in the face -- preferably with a studded, fingerless leather glove.
100
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
It's a hilarious, and unexpectedly moving, documentary about the greatest metal band you've probably never heard of.
91
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Noel Murray
Yet in his despair, there's something Kudlow misses, and it's what makes Anvil! as moving as it is hilarious.
90
The New Yorker
Anthony Lane
The most stirring release of the year thus far is a documentary.
88
USA Today
Claudia Puig
Neil Young once said: It's better to burn out than it is to rust. But moviegoers are lucky Anvil didn't take Young's advice. Who knew heavy metal could seem like fine art when it rusts?
88
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Want to find the heart of rock & roll? You can hear it thundering in Anvil.
80
Variety
Dennis Harvey
Well-shot and edited, Anvil! is an underdog saga even non-metalheads will root for. It tows that fine line between chuckling at its protags' somewhat absurd situation and celebrating their sheer unwillingness to give up.
80
Village Voice
Camille Dodero
Phenomenal rockumentary.
80
Salon.com
Andrew O'Hehir
From the too-good-to-be-true desk comes this loving and hilarious portrait of Spinal Tap-esque Canadian metal band Anvil, who were briefly a hard-rock sensation in the early '80s (mainly for the song "Metal on Metal") and have been struggling along in total obscurity ever since.
80
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
You may never have expected to see the words heavy metal, endearing and warmhearted in the same sentence, but you just did.
80
New York Daily News
Elizabeth Weitzman
Alternately funny, sad and outrageous, Sacha Gervasi's terrific documentary feels like the lost sequel to “This Is Spinal Tap” -- and everyone involved seems to know it, except the leads.
80
Slate
Dana Stevens
The director, Sacha Gervasi, is a fan first and a documentarian second. If Anvil! has a flaw, it's that it's too enthusiastic, a reverently uncritical valentine to the director's adolescent heroes.
75
New York Post
V.A. Musetto
Not exactly as well known as Megadeth or Metallica, Anvil did indeed have 15 minutes of fame back in the 1980s. Then it went into obscurity. Now it's back, trying like hell to be somebody.
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
Surprisingly touching and funny.
75
Premiere
Staff (Not credited)
You won't be seeing any stretch Hummers, wild late night parties and 75,000 seat arena shows in this documentary, but that's what makes this so good.
70
New York Magazine
David Edelstein
The documentary is solid as … as … an anvil. And if you can forget Spinal Tap (hard), it's also rather touching the way these 50-year-olds still have the forged-in-fire fortitude.
70
Wall Street Journal
Joanne Kaufman
A loopy, endearing documentary.
70
The New York Times
A.O. Scott
Mr. Reiner and Mr. Kudlow may not quite merit full-metal glory, but they don't deserve oblivion either, and Anvil! The Story of Anvil makes both a case and a place for their band.
 The average user rating for this movie is 0.0 (out of 10) based on 0 User Votes
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