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HOLLYWOOD -- Like the old saying goes, "Strike while the Anvil is hot."
Okay, so technically, it should be "iron," but that wouldn't be taking into account the current status of the cult heavy-metal outfit founded three decades ago by a pair of Toronto high school buddies.
The film that brought Steve "Lips" Kudlow and Robb Reiner back from near obscurity, Anvil! The Story of Anvil, is a critically acclaimed underdog-umentary that has won a big-name following running the gamut from Ryan Gosling to Dustin Hoffman.
Last Tuesday it was released on DVD after earning some $666,600 in theatres--an entirely fitting sum for a band who once recorded a song called 666.
But that's not the big news.
Anvil! The Story of Anvil has the distinction of being the first "For Your Consideration" screener of 2009 sent to Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences members.
Anvil?
Oscar material?
Given how things have panned out so far this year, why the heck not?
Kudlow and Reiner recently took part in a Q&A screening at the prestigious Writers Guild of America theatre in Beverly Hills, with fans Catherine Keener and Tilda Swinton on hand to lend support.
They also put in DVD-promotional appearances on The Tonight Show and ABC's Nightline, and, oh yeah, they also filmed an intense cameo for Seth Rogen's The Green Hornet, playing themselves performing in a club where they, to quote a beloved, recurring SCTV sketch, "blow'd up real good."
Hope they find some time in that hectic schedule to work on an acceptance speech, because you never know ...
Oooooh ... Scary!
What do Jason Reitman, Soleil Moon Frye and Jordin Sparks share in common?
No, fortunately the acclaimed filmmaker isn't planning on doing a big screen edition of Punky Brewster with the American Idol winner performing the theme song.
They have all seen the no-budget thriller, Paranormal Activity and aren't ashamed to admit they've been scared silly by all the haunting, Blair Witch-style goings-on.
Each has Tweeted the fact, with the Up in the Air director reporting that it freaked out all his friends at a screening held in his home and that he's been keeping his Maglite near his bed ever since.
The film, about a young couple who have reason to suspect there could be a demonic presence in their new suburban home, collected $7 million over the weekend from just 159 screens.
Celeb tweet of the week
Things just aren't the same in Twitterland now that Miley's closed her account, but, in celebration of Canadian Thanksgiving, we nevertheless give thanks for the following:
"Ran my first marathon on Sunday ... then ate 3 entire turkeys. Wow. That was an intense Thanksgiving."
-- country singer Paul Brandt