8. 'Anvil: The Story of Anvil'

I once saw Anvil open for Metallica, in a club, back when both bands were just starting out and before their career paths diverged. One group streaked upward like a missile, with millions of albums sold, loyal legions of fans worldwide, and a berth in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The other act disappeared from sight, the two albums I owned eventually deposited in a used record store and the band itself relegated to a dark, rarely visited corner of my musical memories. That group was not named Metallica. If "Anvil: The Story of Anvil" proves anything, it's that nothing done with love and dedication ever truly dies. No one would ever mistake Anvil for a truly great band, but I would never quite call them losers either. Sure, they toiled in obscurity for the better part of 25 years, and large chunks of this lovingly made and bittersweet documentary play like a real-life, more depressing version of "This Is Spinal Tap." But they never gave up on their dreams, and the movie, not just one of the best of 2009 but one of the best rock movies of all time, is a celebration of this more than anything else. Anvil's moment of truth at the climax of this film moved me to tears, perhaps not just for them, but for every youthful ambition I ever had and abandoned to the slow grind of time, age and responsibility. The men of Anvil are buffeted by those forces, too, yet again and again get to their feet one more time and keep going. Losers? No way. By the end of "Anvil" these possibly delusional but definitely defiant rockers almost look, just a little, like conquering heroes. -- Don Kaye