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Music fans rejoice! Two of Canada's greatest documentarians have returned to Hot Docs in 2014 to examine one of the most enduring stories in rock 'n roll: Alice Cooper, in "Super Duper Alice Cooper." Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen are a pair of super-duper filmmakers that have so far given us "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey," "Global Metal," "Iron Maiden: Flight 666," and "Rush: Behind the Lighted Stage."

This production super duo have a real knack at getting you to care about bands you may have never wanted to know anything about. Alice Cooper has legions of fans around the world, and they will love this film, but for many, he's just the guy in the scary make-up. If that describes you, prepare for a highly enjoyable Alice Cooper education.

The real heavy lifting in "Super Duper Alice Cooper" is carried by the story itself. It's unreal. Born in Detroit, raised...

As films about Ginger Baker and the Stone Roses are released, here's our pick of the movies in which film-makers focus on the drama behind the songs

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We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen (2005)

"Our band could be your life," sang the Minutemen in History Lesson Part II – a line that embodied the fierce love the audiences of the Us indie underground held for their bands. The Minutemen were pioneers, coming out of the southern California hardcore punk scene, but to be tied to it, and living what they preached – "We jam econo," was a phrase bassist Mike Watt coined to describe a commitment to doing everything cheaply and independently. More than a history lesson, though, We Jam Econo is a deeply moving love letter from Watt to his friend – and the Minutemen's leader – D Boon, who died in...

With "Rock of Ages" thundering through theaters on Friday, the retro spotlight will once again shine on the crazy '80s, the decade of decadence when rock stars were true rock stars and unapologetic about being so.

In anticipation of the nostalgia this will inspire, we're looking at nine hard-rock and heavy-metal films that have made noise in the mainstream. Horns up!

9. 'Detroit Rock City' (1999)

While a majority of teen flicks tend to focus on love, partying and sex, 'Detroit Rock City' has a singular directive -- getting four teenage Kiss fanatics to a concert after one of their mothers burns their tickets and banishes her son to Catholic school. Naturally that's not going to stop them, and once reunited, the four garage bandmates (including Edward Furlong) go on a wild road trip that involves drugs, fights, a botched mugging and robbery, a strip club contest and other ridiculous situations.

Of all the genres of music that exist in the world, metal probably receives the least credit. It's controversial, for sure, and aside from rap, it's the only other music that has an unfair, biased connotation to it. People think "metal" and they think of long, hair-sprayed hair, or ridiculous glam performances from the '80s. The truth is, metal is a wide, expansive genre with several different subgenres -- including, but definitely not limited to, Norwegian black metal, nu metal and thrash metal.

Canadian metalheads Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn are the uncontested historians of metal. Their debut metal feature, Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, was released in 2005 to amazing reception, and since then they've been creating more documentaries. Their latest, Metal Evolution, is an 11-episode collection of historical and expository vignettes, focusing on how metal has grown into its own distinct genre.

Moviefone met up with Dunn and McFadyen...

Quadrangle Film Festival, Shoreham

Leave your red carpet gear at home and get out the tent for this rural festival, set in 19th-century farm buildings, with screenings in the stables, discussion in the granary, and camping in the meadows. The mainly documentary programme is filled with curiosities: film-makers in conversation (Iain Sinclair, veteran experimentalist John Smith), special guests introducing their favourite documentaries (Herzog making-of Burden Of Dreams, eccentric family study The Moon And The Sledgehammer, etc), a preview of Afghanistan doc To Hell And Back Again, plus short films, art installations and the great outdoors.

Fri to 4 Sep, quadranglefilmfest.com

Metal On Film, Wolverhampton

As part of the project to reclaim Birmingham and the Black Country's musical heritage, a series of screenings hammering home just how important the genre is. And how ridiculous. The line between the two is often blurry. At one end, Spinal Tap is a compulsory inclusion,...

If I’m having a particularly crappy day, and there seem to have been quite a number of those lately, there’s a sure-fire way to perk myself up: Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen. Now pull your head out of the gutter, we’re not talking kinky sex or anything. What I am talking about is hard rock documentaries – some of the best. Ever.

For the uninitiated, Dunn and McFadyen first arrived on the scene in 2005 with Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, a comprehensive introduction to the world of metal. Dunn, an anthropologist, put his two passions (music and anthropology) to good use and the resulting doc was entertaining and informative while not bloated with information. They followed it up a few years later with a second documentary, this one on fans of heavy metal throughout the world and the result, Global Metal was an introduction to not just fans of...

Longtime fans of the Canadian rock group Rush may sometimes get annoyed by the fact that however long one has been following the band, the trio of musicians tend to be so cagey and secretive, we rarely learn much about them outside of their music. Fortunately, the band whose work has been a favorite among musicians while at the same time being misunderstood by the mainstream public for decades, are the subject of a new documentary called Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage courtesy of Scott McFadyen and Sam Dunn, the filmmakers behind Metal: A Headbanger's Journey and the Iron Maiden concert movie Iron Maiden: Flight 666 . While it may be a fairly straightforward and linear examination of the band's music and history since their formation in 1971, what longtime Rush fans will...

The first time I heard Rush, everything else I was doing suddenly didn't matter. My body just started releasing Dopamine like some sort of excited puppy with a weak bladder. I had been playing drums for about five years at the time and was listening to guys like Rod Morgenstein of the Dixie Dregs, John Bonham, Steve Smith, who played with Ahmad Jamal, Montrose and Jean-Luc Ponty before joining Journey, Billy Cobham, Steve Gadd and Stuart Copeland; anyone who gave me inspiration. As I sat there completely immersed in the syncopated precision of this Canadian power trio, I remember thinking to myself, "Who are these Gods?" Twenty-five years later, that question was skillfully answered by writers/directors Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen, creators of Metal: A Headbanger's Journey and Iron Maiden: Flight 666. Their latest in-depth documentary, Beyond The Lighted Stage...

Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage Directed by: Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen Featuring: Neil Peart, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson Interviews: Sebastian Bach, Jack Black, Les Claypool, Billy Corgan, Kirk Hammet, Taylor Hawkins, Vinnie Paul, Mike Portnoy, Trent Reznor, Gene Simmons, Matt Stone, Zakk Wylde There are three types of people in the world: people who love Rush, people who hate Rush, and the rest of the world who have never heard of Rush. Regardless, after 36 years the band has accumulated two-dozen gold records and fourteen platinum records, and are responsible for influencing many of the modern metal and hard rock bands of today. Their story, like any other band, has its ups and downs and the most interesting aspect is that they have strayed away from complete mainstream acceptance from traditional press and critical praise. Director Sam Dunn (Metal: A Headbanger's Journey,Iron Maiden: Flight 666) has thoroughly dug through...

This film telling the story of Canadian prog-rock legends Rush is an entertaining and absorbing documentary, writes Andrew Pulver

A wonderfully engaging and genuinely interesting career profile of Rush, those most derided of prog-rock shriekers, tracing their path from anonymous Toronto suburbia to self-effacing power-trio legends. As they enter their late 50s, all three of them are in surprisingly good shape; in fact, they look considerably less nerdy and offputting now than they did in their 70s heyday. Geddy Lee – he of the massive schnoz, lank hair and eardrum-shattering squawk – appears a thoroughly likable, almost magisterial figure, while Neil Peart, the "troubled" drummer, somehow manages to make the rambling, overwrought lyrics he was responsible for sound almost – almost – inspired. Directors Dunn and Macfadyen have form in the area, having collaborated on Metal: A Headbanger's Journey; they certainly do their subjects justice here, even if their film, in the manner of many a rock doc,...

In honor of the passing of Ronnie James Dio, the heavy metal singer who is most famous for his work in Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio, and Heaven and Hell, here are several clips from the excellent documentary, Metal: A Headbanger's Journey. In the doc, directors Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen, and Jessica Joy Wise traveled the world to interview the legends of heavy metal, not just as lifelong 'bangers but with an eye towards its musical family tree, thematic elements, battles with censorship, and much more. Dunn's academic background as an anthropologist makes Metal much more than a fanboy's tribute. (For a true fanboy tribute, check out Tenacious D's song "Dio.")

Although outsiders might have poked fun at Ronnie James Dio's theatrics, his stunning range, or his predilection for fantasy novel swords-and-dragons imagery, metal fans remain loyal to the man who brought us songs like "Heaven and Hell...

The full line-up and schedule for this year's Hot Docs film festival went online earlier today, and if you're a documentary fan living in the Toronto area, I think you'll be pretty pleased with the selections. This year's festival runs from April 29th to May 9th, and even if you don't plan on attending, it's still worth perusing the listings just to make a note of some of the intriguing non-fiction films to keep an eye on in the coming months. Although there don't seem to be quite as many high-profile films this year, there are still a lot of cool hidden gems buried among the various programs. I've made a short list of some of the highlights after the jump, but you should head over to the Hot Docs official site [1] to browse the full line-up for yourself. You can also see reviews of some of these films over...

It seems as though some readers are concerned that the soundtrack of Heavy Metal won't be metal enough. Well, if you're looking for heavy metal, look no further: Severed Ways: The Norse Discovery of America is probably the most death metal movie I've ever seen, other than the most excellent documentary Metal: A Headbanger's Journey. In a nutshell, Severed Ways is an alternate version of the discovery of America with Vikings.

There's very little dialogue, other than "translations" of Old Norse, a few memorable scenes of killing and dismembering animals, and one scene of the lead Viking (writer/director/star Tony Stone) literally pooping in the woods. Like, up close. This is all to the tunes of bands like Dimmu Borgir, Popol Vuh, Burzum, Brian Eno, Morbid Angel, Old Man's Child, Queens of the Stone Age and Judas Priest. As Manohla Dargis points out in her review of Severed...

Documentaries about bands may seem to be pretty niche films (which I suppose explains why there was a lot less participation in this poll than in previous weeks), but when you can find a story that relates to viewers outside of their fanbase, then you know you've got something special on your hands. Metallica's popularity probably helped push Metallica: Some Kind of Monster to #1 on last week's poll about rockumentaries, but the movie certainly doesn't make them out to be heroes. Similarly, the #2 and #3 movies Gimme Shelter and Dig! have great stories to them beyond the music. I'm a little disappointed that Shut Up & Sing was all the way down at #9 since it's also a great film, but I know a lot of people don't like The Dixie Chicks. Do you agree with the poll results? Will you watch a musical documentary even if you're not a fan of the band being featured?...

TORONTO -The Canadian phalanx at the American Film Market was toasting a bevy of business deals Saturday after wall-to-wall meetings since the market opened began paying dividends.

Montreal-based distributor Seville International pre-sold Global Metal, the follow-up documentary to Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen's 2005 hit film Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, to Amuse Soft in Japan and D Prods. of Turkey. The Canadian film also was picked by Pretty Pictures of France, and Europa Films of Brazil.

Seville also said it has sold the rights to bilingual Quebec comedy hit Bon Cop, Bad Cop to Alphaville Filmes for Brazil, J-Bics in Thailand and Turkey's D Prods.

In addition, the distributor sold the Erik Canuel-directed comedy, which recently became Canada's biggest-ever domestic boxoffice hit, to Tandem Film for Bulgaria and MG Film Distribution for the former Yugoslavia, while Lizard Trade bought the Quebec movie for the Russian market.

Seville vp international sales Anick Poirier said she expects Bon Cop, Bad Cop to sell into additional foreign territories before the market wraps.

TORONTO -The Canadian phalanx at the American Film Market was toasting a bevy of business deals Saturday after wall-to-wall meetings since the market opened began paying dividends.

Montreal-based distributor Seville International pre-sold Global Metal, the follow-up documentary to Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen's 2005 hit film Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, to Amuse Soft in Japan and D Prods. of Turkey. The Canadian film also was picked by Pretty Pictures of France, and Europa Films of Brazil.

Seville also said it has sold the rights to bilingual Quebec comedy hit Bon Cop, Bad Cop to Alphaville Filmes for Brazil, J-Bics in Thailand and Turkey's D Prods.

In addition, the distributor sold the Erik Canuel-directed comedy, which recently became Canada's biggest-ever domestic boxoffice hit, to Tandem Film for Bulgaria and MG Film Distribution for the former Yugoslavia, while Lizard Trade bought the Quebec movie for the Russian market.

Seville vp international sales Anick Poirier said she expects Bon Cop, Bad Cop to sell into additional foreign territories before the market wraps.