Utopia is a film distribution and sales company that specializes in independent and documentary cinema. This will be followed by a Q&A with Anvil’s Steve “Lips” Kudlow, Robb Reiner, Producer Rebecca Yeldham, and Director Sacha Gervasi, moderated by Steve-O of JACKASS fame. It also made the year-end Top 10 lists in publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, Village Voice, and many others.Ī special event premiere and performance will be presented in conjunction with Beyond Fest on Septemin Los Angeles at the Saban Theatre, with a live concert by Anvil and appearances from surprise musical guests. It was named one of 2009’s best documentaries by numerous Film Critics Associations, including Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, and Las Vegas, as well as the International Documentary Association, the Online Film Critics Society, and the National Society of Film Critics. The film is tied for 6th place as one of the highest rated documentaries of all time on Rotten Tomatoes with a 98% certified fresh rating, and a 90% audience score with over 5000+ votes. I can’t wait to wake Sacha and tell him.”ĪNVIL! THE STORY Of ANVIL follows Canadian heavy-metal band Anvil as they delivered a highly influential 1982 album Metal on Metal that would inspire the likes of Anthrax and Metallica, and then dropped off the map to begin what would become decades of toiling in obscurity.ĭirector and former Anvil roadie Gervasi follows guitarist Steve “Lips” Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner as they stumble through a harrowing European tour and reflect on failure, friendship, resilience and the will to follow even the most impossible of dreams.ĪNVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL (2009) received widespread critical and public acclaim following its release by Abramorama and features appearances by an array of heavy metal icons, including Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, Guns N’ Roses’ Slash, Motörhead’s Lemmy, Anthrax’s Scott Ian, and Slayer’s Tom Araya. “Is this film really being released into theatres again? Someone please wake me!”Ībramorama’s CEO Richard Abramowitz stated “exhibitors across the country have been wildly enthusiastic about booking Anvil, to the tune of 200 theaters. “Sorry, am I on magic mushrooms right now?” said Director Sacha Gervasi. You have to love them.Abramorama first released the critically acclaimed documentary in 2009 and have partnered with Utopia and Portobello Electric to bring the film that captured audiences’ hearts back to theaters. But neither of those films had anything like the sheer heartbreaking dedication and lovability of Gervasi's heroes, drummer Reiner and lead vocalist Steve "Lips" Kudlow, as they do a tragic European tour playing in front of a handful of metal fans in some Croatian student bar. Tony Montana and Mark Brian Smith's Overnight (2003) looked at wannabe film-makers and rockers suddenly catapulted into, and then out of, the big time. Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (2004) was a study of that band's unlikely group therapy. There have, in fact, been other films like this. (Rob Reiner directed This Is Spinal Tap.) A cosmic joke? A karmic hoax? An imp from a parallel, ironic universe poking its drumstick through into our dimension? It's a nagging suspicion fuelled by the drummer's name: Robb Reiner. This film really does look like a spoof, though. Tap is the hard-rocking elephant in the living room that is never mentioned, though one brief shot of an amp going up to 11 coyly acknowledges the debt. Everything about the film is naturally reminiscent of Spinal Tap - even the happyish ending in Japan.
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