Would you dig this doc, or are you tired of horror-related docs?

Best Feature

• 500 Days of Summer
• Amreeka
• Precious
• Sin Nombre
• The Last Station

Best Director

• Ethan and Joel Cohen – A Serious Man
• Lee Daniels – Precious
• Cary Joji Fukunaga – Sin Nombre
• James Gray - Two Lovers
• Michael Hoffman - The Last Station

Best Screenplay

• Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman - The Messenger
• Michael Hoffman - The Last Station
• Lee Toland Krieger - The Vicious Kind
• Greg Mottola - Adventureland
• Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber - 500 Days of Summer

Best First Feature

• A Single Man
• Crazy Heart
• Easier With Practice
• Paranormal Activity
• The Messenger

Best First Screenplay

• Sophie Barthes - Cold Souls
• Scott Cooper - Crazy Heart
• Cherien Dabis - Amreeka
• Geoffrey Fletcher - Precious
• Tom Ford & David Scearce - A Single Man

John Cassavetes Award

• Big Fan
• Humpday
• The New Year Parade
• Treeless Mountain
• Zero Bridge

Best Female Lead

• Maria Bello - Downloading Nancy
• Nisreen Faour - Amreeka
• Helen Mirren - The Last Station
• Gwyneth Paltrow - Two Lovers
• Gabourey Sidibe - Precious

Best Male Lead

• Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
• Colin Firth - A Single Man
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt - 500 Days of Summer
• Souleymane Sy Savane - Goodbye Solo
• Adam Scott - The Vicious Kind

Best Supporting Female

• Dina Korzun - Cold Souls
• Mo’Nique - Precious
• Samantha Morton - The Messenger
• Natalie Press - Fifty Dead Men Walking
• Mia Wasikowska - That Evening Sun

Best Supporting Male

• Jermaine Clement - Gentlemen Broncos
• Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
• Christian McKay – Me and Orson Welles
• Raymond McKinnon - That Evening Sun
• Christopher Plummer - The Last Station

Best Cinematography

• Roger Deakins - A Serious Man
• Adriano Goldman - Sin Nombre
• Anne Misawa - Treeless Mountain
• Andrij Parekh - Cold Souls
• Peter Zeitlinger - Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Best Documentary

• Anvil!: The Story of Anvil
• Food, Inc.
• More Than a Game
• October Country
• Which Way Home

Best Foreign Film

• A Prophet
• An Education
• Everlasting Moments
• Mother
• The Maid

Acura Someone to Watch Award

• Kyle Patrick Alvarez - Easier With Practice
• Asiel Norton - Redland
• Tariq Tapa - Zero Bridge

Truer Than Fiction Award

• Natalie Almada - El General
• Jessica Oreck - Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo
• Bill & Turner Ross - 45365

Plaget Producers Award

• Karin Chien - The Exploding Girl, Santa Mesa
• Larry Fessenden – I Sell the Dead, The House of the Devil
• Dia Sokol - Beeswax, Nights & Weekends

Welcome to New Release Tuesday for October 6^th on Killer Film! Click the cover art to get your ordering on, and lets see what’s out today, shall we?

Trick r’ Treat

Well, here it is. The long unseen (well to most of us) horror film that every online site loved, and you didn’t seen. I find it amazing that a film so apparently good cannot get theatrical distribution, but everyone who loves a good horror movie or horror anthology should buy this! (Formats: Blu-ray/DVD) Jon says: Buy Donny says: Buy

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Disney unleashes their new line called Platinum Edition, and they’ve picked a fine title to do that with. A great new transfer, new extras, the whole nine yards, essentially. Collectors, get ready. (Format: Blu-ray only) Jon says: Buy Donny says: Buy

Anvil! The Story of Anvil

This rock documentary is filled with incredible hope, spirit, and sadness, making it one of the 2009 films you should see and even if you’re not a metal fan, you’ll find great things to love about it. (Format: DVD only) Jon says: Rent Donny says: Buy

Year One

Sloppy, unfocused, and worst of all, unfunny. One of the worst of 2009. (Formats: Blu-ray/DVD) Jon says: Avoid Donny says: Rent

Audition

This new re-release is for its 10 Anniversary. Miike’s film still holds some incredible power and still is that classic we all know and love. Shout Factory’s new 2 disc is stacked full of extras, just re-read my review here. (Formats: Blu-ray/DVD) Jon says: Buy Donny says: Rent

It’s Alive (2009)

Here’s the remake of Larry Cohen semi-classic mutant baby film. Wonder if it’s good? (Formats: DVD only) Jon says: Rent Donny says: Rent

New to TV

Nip/Tuck: Season 5, Part 2

Bones: Season 4

New to Blu

Contact

Kurt Cobain: About a Son

Ghost Ship

Number 23

Pretty interesting releases this week, don’t you think? With Halloween around the corner, you’ll see more horror titles being released. Keep it here for all of these titles reviews and more, only on Killer Film!

We have all heard about the horrors of the music industry, an industry in shambles. You can try to blame downloading, but we all know the villain in this story. It’s the damn CEO’s of record labels who decide what we listen to and don’t listen to. There have been many victims to this.  Hell, a friend of mine had to call his band Venaculas, and quit after 8 years of being one of the more popular Midwest metal acts around. Why? Because record label CEO’s determined that their sound wasn’t relevant in today’s musical landscape and that was that for him. He gave his all to the band, and they quickly rose to the top. When they opened for Sevendust, I couldn’t tell who the crowd was more excited to see, them or Sevendust. We’ve all got our memories of their live shows and their CDs, but the members have now gone onto “normal” jobs. Regadless, of if it was their time or not, it was hasty decided by some corporate big-wig without a clue, because the Midwest loved Venaculas. Sad.

The boulevard of broken dreams indeed.

This brings me to Anvil, the band documented here in Anvil! The Story of Anvil, perhaps one of the most influential 80′s metal acts around, yet have you heard of them? Anvil’s use of guitar work influenced future acts like Metallica, Motorhead, and Slayer, yet those bands went on to be huge in the metal world, and Anvil faded into obscurity. But the members of Anvil haven’t faded away into meaningless jobs yet (although they still do those to provide for their families), as they still are together nearly 30 years later.

The film is a pure rock documentary, and as such, it apeals to a niche audience, but despite your love or distaste for hair metal, wacky clothes, or big loud choruses, director Sacha Gervasi captures a true underdog spirit here that transcends anything niche about it. Using interviews with the family members, fans, and industry colleagues, Gervasi shows the undying determination of Steve “Lips” Kudlow, the lead vocalist for Anvil and drummer, Robb Reiner. The film picks up right around when Anvil gets signed to a European tour and follows their pitfalls. How many more hard-knocks can these guys take? Even one family member candidly admits they should just hang it up. I don’t deny a degree of film making manipulation here or there, but it doesn’t feel staged like a reality show, because of the real drama and struggle behind it all.

Some of the film that I wish we had more of is the interviews with fellow musicians who admired Anvil, like Lars Ulrich (drummer from Metallica), Scott Ian (guitarist from Anthrax), Tom Araya (vocalist from Slayer), and Lemmy (vocalist from Motorhead). They all claim how influential Anvil was on their careers and how Anvil got a bad break, never making it big. I wanted more of this story from their perspectives.  Why was Anvil influential to Metallica and Slayer, and what do they think were the reasons for Anvil’s fall into obscurity rather than popularity? The film answers the latter question, or at least you might draw your own conclusions, but as a fan of the modern metal scene, I was curious to see how Anvil inspired the bands that inspired bands I currently listen too. Nobody loves their bands and the music more than metal heads, a there are plenty of great stories within the main story of Anvil, one being the fact that their fans are the rock that keep them in the game.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil is a rock documentary that all musicians and metal heads should see and love. But within the archival footage of Anvil at their peak and heartfelt stories of woe, despair, and dreams, lies a true underdog story, akin to Rocky that is emotional and inspiring all the same. It’s a love ode to passion and a dream, rare ideas that are sometimes quickly let go. After this film, you’ll know Anvil and will seek their CDs out, eventually skipping past The Scorpions and Anthrax on your iPod to rock out to some real “metal on metal”.

Keep on rockin’/Keep on rockin’/To this metal tonight…

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars