No Oscars for Rock Docs this year
This year we were lucky enough to have gotten two amazing documentaries on rock n’ roll. The first one being the wildly popular and the very well done film called Anvil! The Story of Anvil which focused on the members of the 80′s metal band and their re-rise to stardom. The other, It Might Get Loud, featuring three masters of the guitar: Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White.
Sadly, however, these documentaries will not be honored come next year’s Oscar awards. The short list for documentaries considered as possible nominees was released yesterday and neither of those films made the cut (via TwentyFourBit). Do I think that this is bullshit? Of course I do and not just because I’m a music blogger. I have legit reasons this time.
With It Might Get Loud, not only did we get a look into the minds of three generations of guitar god but we also got a well made film that was directed by Davis Guggenheim. He’s already won an Academy Award for a little film called An Inconvenient Truth? You may have seen it. But it’s Anvil’s film that should absolutely receive a few laurels.
Not only did the movie really dig deep into the struggles of a band that once toured with the greats and now was all but forgotten by the world, but because of this movie it inspired the rock world to bring them back to the forefront. These guys have now toured with AC/DC, are currently on their own world tour and will star in the movie The Green Hornet next year. If documentaries are supposed to inspire change then this movie should at least be nominated as it changed the rock music landscape over the last six months.
I guess if your documentary doesn’t have a direct political message then it really doesn’t matter what you have to say. I suggest you look at the potential nominees to see what I mean.
Tags: Anvil, it might get loud
November 19th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
[...] No Oscars for rock docs New Interpol album in 2010 New Dead Weather in 2010 Metallica touring Europe in April Ben Gibbard not seeing New Moon [...]
November 30th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
[...] For everyone that wants to relive the glorious few months from this past summer when Blur was a band again, you might want to watch the video up top. It’s the official trailer for the documentary No Distance Left To Run which focuses on Damon Albarn and the boys of Blur getting the band back together for the first time in nine years. All the footage is from the summer of 2009 as well as unseen archive material and new interviews. In addition to focusing on the reunion, the film also harps on the ups and downs of Blur’s career. It hits theaters on January 19, 2010. It definitely looks like a good watch but I’m pretty sure it won’t be nominated for an Academy Award if the people who vote for the category of “Best Documentary Feature” continue to have their say. [...]