tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14575780.post4788185432557115638..comments2024-01-31T18:37:07.424+00:00Comments on The Agitation of the Mind: Anvil: The Story of AnvilNeil Fulwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14686296295535235988noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14575780.post-64026855275099746742010-03-03T21:26:31.884+00:002010-03-03T21:26:31.884+00:00Well, I'll be...someone else who saw this the ...Well, I'll be...someone else who saw this the same way I did.<br /><br />Like you, every review I read held this film up as some sort of triumph of the human spirit. While I'm all for trying to live out your dreams, doing it the detriment of those who rely on you seems to be selfish, not valiant.<br /><br />The editing manipulation actually irks me quite a bit -- that final concert took place before they made the new album, which grossly misrepresents things.<br /><br />But the strangest thing for me was the claims of greatest documentary ever or even a top 10 film of the year. Documentaries are so varied that I guess there's different ones for different people, but even comparing this to KING OF KONG, let alone an Errol Morris or Werner Herzog doc, seems a bit off.<br /><br />And so I don't come off like a complete asshole, hooray for Anvil for making some money out of this whole endeavor.Troy Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14843741571724231174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14575780.post-17396010869589480912010-03-02T08:55:46.060+00:002010-03-02T08:55:46.060+00:00J.D. - good call about the tendency to subjective ...J.D. - good call about the tendency to subjective editing. Particularly evident in the cut from Lips enthusing about sending the album 'This is Thirteen' out to record companies to a shot of him, two weeks later, standing forlornly in an overgrown backyard ruminating on the total non-response. There seem to be a lot of moments like this in the film, very heavily juxtaposing Lips's pie-in-the-sky optimism with the less-than-glorious reality of things.<br /><br />Aaron - glad I'm not the only person to find 'Anvil' slightly overrated (it <i>did</i> clog up a hell of a lot of top ten lists). Like you, I found Lips an often annoying individual despite his passion and commitment. But still, as you say, Anvil got what they wanted out of the documentary; it put them back in the public eye and they're getting the gigs. Now all I need is a film crew to follow me around and document my quest to be a bestselling and stupidly overpaid novelist ...Neil Fulwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14686296295535235988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14575780.post-32874172493542944492010-03-02T00:06:10.966+00:002010-03-02T00:06:10.966+00:00I didn't love it as much as a lot of other peo...I didn't love it as much as a lot of other people did (I certainly wouldn't put it in my top ten of last year, nor would I call it one of the best documentaries I've ever seen), but I still enjoyed it. And it's interesting that you basically point out the fact that we're laughing at them instead of with them, because I really don't think that was the point of the doc. I found the singer to be quite annoying after a while, but for the most part I enjoyed ANVIL and found some of the stuff interesting. But don't be too sad, though, because these guys are playing some pretty big gigs nowadays from what I understand! Despite whether they were being exploited or not, they're the ones who are having the last laugh.Aaronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08390842606960468754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14575780.post-61526668813623370972010-03-01T21:38:10.848+00:002010-03-01T21:38:10.848+00:00Sadness is certainly a significant component to th...Sadness is certainly a significant component to this documentary and is there is show just one other hurdle these guys had to get over in order to realize their dreams. I think that whether knowingly or not, this doc. says that in order to realize the kind of dreams that these guys are after, you have to have a single-minded determination and an almost obsessive drive to make it, esp. the genre of heavy metal music which has always been regarded as an unimportant, juvenile genre of music and relegated to the margins.<br /><br />I do agree that the ignoring of their spouses is problematic but that may have also been due to the editing job by the filmmakers, omitting most of the footage with them (obviously, Lips and Robb are the focal points for this thing) but as you point out, when the women are interviewed they don't hold back and speak honestly.<br /><br />Still, I thought that this was a great doc. and being from Canada it was great to see these guys get some much deserved props and recognition. And, thanks to the success of this film, these guys finally have their happy ending.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08164105442273577128noreply@blogger.com