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It's National Canadian Film Day

Control

By Control
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Control

Control

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Posted

It's National Canadian Film Day, motherfuckers, so bask in the glory of Canadian film!

That's right, bitches, Canada has a film industry and it's time you respected it.

If you want charming, oddball Canadiana mainlined straight into your veins, then look no further than the films of actor/director Don McKellar. Think Canada is, basically, quaint and non-threatening? Then THE GRAND SEDUCTION is for you! Marvel as Brendon Gleeson affects a fakey Newfie accent and tries to convince doctor (and hunk of back-bacon) Taylor Kitsch to move his practice to their pleasant fishing village by--get this!--pretending that they are all nuts for Dr Dreamy's favourite sport, cricket! Enough old-timey charm make even the hardest among you all warm and flaccid!

But if you want more of Canada's weirdo stuff then McKellar has you covered there as well. Witness his 1998 film LAST NIGHT, in which a bunch of Canadians have to decide what to do with their time after learning that the end of the world is inevitable. Do you try every sex position possible, like McKellar's friend Craig? Or celebrate Christmas every day, like McKellar's parents? This film features David Cronenberg as a dude at a power company who decides to phone every one of his clients to assure them that they power will stay on, and even as a nice guy he's David Cronenberg and creepy as fuck. Also features the always-magical Sandra Oh:
 

Speaking of David Cronenberg: David Cronenberg is Canadian. Almost all of his films are Canadian, but the typical rule is the earlier you go in a Canadian director's filmography, the more Canadian the film. I'm a big fan of VIDEODROME, but James Woods' douche-baggery is so profound that that film may be ruined for you. Instead, try SCANNERS, and see Canadian TV legend Louis del Grande do some of the finest head-exploding acting ever put to celluloid:
 

And if you are thinking to yourself "Dude I have seen all these movies, Canadian film has nothing for me" then perhaps you need to witness that most Canadian of all films, HIGHWAY 61, a road trip film involving the devil playing bingo!
 


Of course, if rural surrealism tinged with Kids in the Hall quirkiness isn't your thing, you should know that Canada isn't all white folks and Canadians come from all over the fucking place. Wild! Canada can offer not only it's kinda homogeneous, CBC-esque, dominant culture, but a more heterogeneous, international view. Observe:
 

 

Post about Canadian film here! No excuses: you're on lockdown!

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driver

driver

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If you want a wholesome Canadian coming of age story then look no further than My American Cousin.

If you want wholesome Father and Daughter take in a stranger Canadian movie then look no further than Cold Comfort

If you want a wholesome Canadian cop buddy movie than look no further than Bon Cop/Bad Cop

 

 

Edited by driver
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caley

caley

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In the last couple years, I've been trying to watch 100 new films for the first time each year and then after the first year I added a checklist component to it (So many from the 60s, 50s, from female directors, out of the pile of DVDs I own but never watched etc. etc.) and a couple years back I added a category for Canadian film.  The year I started was great because CBC did a Saturday night movie every week with a little discussion about it (And apparently...that was the end of the series), and that's where I found a handful of these like

 

Into the Forest Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood are sisters, living with their dad out in the country, when an apocalyptic power outage leaves them battling for their own survival and independence.  Page and Wood are great.  It's unbelievably intense, sad and, ultimately empowering.

Tom at the Farm: Xavier Dolan was somewhat of an International name for a few years ago after his 'It's Just the End of the World' earned him the Cannes Grand Prix award (I'ts good, too, but this one is better) but his star seems to have cooled the last few years.  But this is great.  Tom goes to his boyfriend's small hometown to deliver his eulogy, only to find out that no one back homes knows that the deceased was gay.  He's soon drawn into a fascinatingly intense and strange psychosexual relationship with the deceased's brother.  It's pretty harrowing and great.

 

 

Through Black Spruce: This just came out last year (Maybe the year before...it's often hard to tell with Canadian films) and I dug it.  A young woman journeys from her rural village to track down her missing twin sister, then quickly ends up drawn into her seductive world of modeling and partying.  Meanwhile, back home her uncle ends up the target of a local drug dealer.  Some of the acting is a little awkward, but I like that it focuses on a modern Cree family and their struggles rather than in an historical setting, as there's not a ton of films about the former.  Brandon Oakes is completely mesmerizing as the uncle.
 

 

Werewolf: This is NOT a Canadian Werewolf film, a la Ginger Snaps, rather it's an uncompromising look at a drug-addicted couple who try to mow lawns in order to earn money to go straight.  It's really good and well-acted but man it can be exasperating, which, after my brother worked for two years with homeless people and addicts alike, I undestand is very much based in reality.  And I repeat: there are NO were wolves.
 

Marion Bridge; An alocholic woman returns to her hometown to help care for her ailing mother.  She is reunited with her sisters and forced to confront her dark past. Features the bigscreen debut of Ellen Page (Who pretty much steals all the scenes she's in).  It's sad, it's surprisingly funny and it nicely focuses on a female cast without hammering you over the head about it, just tells their stories.  Well-acted and enjoyable.

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J.T.

J.T.

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3 minutes ago, Control said:

Absolutely. Part marks for Canadian co-productions like THE WITCH, too.

I love how Control did not judge me for watching one of the sleaziest films ever made.

Then again, I am keenly aware of his own film appetites as well.  Pot, kettle, black.

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J.T.

J.T.

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4 hours ago, Control said:

I’ve seen ILSA: HAREM KEEPER OF THE OIL SHIEKS which I’m sure I’d of similar quality.

Actually that's arguably the best of the series although that is a very low bar to hurdle.

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