Anvil Left Off Shortlist for Best Documentary Oscar

Anyone hoping to see Steve "Lips" Kudlow play his guitar with a vibrator at the Academy Awards is in for a disappointment--the film Anvil! The Story of Anvil has not been included in the shortlist for Best Documentary Film for 2009. Lips is unlikely to care too much--the fortunes of his band have escalated beyond his wildest dreams since the film's release--although director Sacha Gervasi may feel slighted. Here, we celebrate the storied history of the rock documentary with four of the best examples of the genre.

1. The Flaming Lips - The Fearless Freaks (dir. Bradley Beesley)



Brad Beesley's film, which is one of the best examples of the rock doc genre, showed exactly what he could do with unprecedented access to one of North America's most inventive bands. It helps that Wayne Coyne is so naturally charismatic and charming, but the director also shows a dark side to the band by filming Steven Drozd shooting up with heroin, which he used as an attempt to finally escape from the drug.


2. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (dir. Penelope Spheeris)



There are almost too many highlights to list from Penelope Spheeris's film, which documented the Los Angeles hair metal scene from the mid to late '80s. It's perhaps most famous for the scene of W.A.S.P. bass player Chris Holmes sitting in his swimming pool drunk off his ass while his mom looks on, but major players such as Lemmy from Motorhead and Ozzy Osbourne also provide plenty of amusement.

3. Metallica - Some Kind of Monster (dir. Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky)



Metallica's decision to go into group therapy while they recorded the awful St. Anger album was documented by Berlinger and Sinofsky in this relentlessly fascinating feature. Metal bands clearly make for good documentary fodder, but so does drummer Lars Ulrich's dad, who appears here as a wise, sage-like character who casts judgment over all the band's recordings.


4. The Rolling Stones - Cocksucker Blues (dir. Robert Frank)



Like Spheeris's film, Cocksucker Blues is tied up in litigation and difficult to find, and is likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future. Frank's document of the Rolling Stones' debauched North American tour from 1972 captures the band taking drugs and abusing groupies, and is possibly one of the most brutally honest portrayals of a huge rock band in existence. Currently, a bizarre court ruling dictates that the film can be shown in public, but only if the director is present.