2008's best music film still to come?

It won't be released until April around these parts, but terrific movies and music blog the Playlist has deemed "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" as 2008's best music-related film.

In a year-end post chock-full of good tidbits ("best score that sounded like classic classical music"), the Playlist singles out "Anvil" twice, noting that the film stood out as an honest portrayal in a year that saw music movies "getting increasingly cornier."

The documentary tracks a little-known Canadian metal band, one now in its third decade of existence. The Times' John Horn wrote about "Anvil" last year during Sundance, and noted that it captured the band's "resolute determination in the face of countless setbacks" and that it "is an alternatively moving and hilarious love story -- a tale of two people hopelessly devoted to playing heavy metal music."

"Anvil! The Story of Anvil," will be released April 10 in Los Angeles, as the Playlist earlier reported.

As for its claim that music-related films are getting "cornier," the Playlist singles out "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" as its prime example, and calls it the "worst music movie" released in 2008, saying that the flick felt as if it were "made to simply market, endorse or propagate a lifestyle or way of living." However, this Pop & Hiss writer hasn't seen the movie yet, as films in which the geeky guy gets the super adorable indie rock girl seem like cruel and unjust fantasies.

Elsewhere, the Playlist and Pop & Hiss will agree to disagree on "Rachel Getting Married," but the lengthy post has reminded us of a number of terrific scores ("Mister Lonely"), and turned us on to some ones we missed ("Mister Foe").

Read the complete rundown of the Playlist's "best soundtracks, scores and movie music moments of 2008" here.

-- Todd Martens

Photo: Anvil

Comments

[Andy Markowitz]

Amen! I saw something like 30 music movies last year as co-editor of the catalog for the MOFFOM (Music on Film-Film on Music) festival in Prague and developer of the website MusicFilmWeb, and Anvil! The Story of Anvil was my favorite. I love this movie. You're in for a real treat. You can read or listen to an interview with the band at http://www.musicfilmweb.com/feature-stories/anvil-interview-anvil08104427.html.