Essential Canadian Cinema
In honour of this month’s foray into LGBT Cinema, writers Will Brownridge and Liam Volke took a look at Anne Wheeler’s 1999 film Better Than Chocolate, about the passionate relationship between Maggie (Karyn Dwyer) and Kim (Christina Cox) and what happens when Maggie’s recently divorced mother Lila (Wendy Crewson) decides to move in with them, unaware of her daughter’s sexual orientation. Is Better Than Chocolate Essential Canadian Cinema? Let’s find out. Will: So, I watched the film, and it wasn’t bad. The only thing that managed to take it out of the running for great was how it still managed...
Since it’s documentary month here at TFS, we thought we’d look at A Married Couple, the classic Canadian doc by Allan King. Is it indeed a “classic” worth putting on our essential viewing list? Liam Volke and Harry Cepka discuss. Liam: A Married Couple is an “actuality drama” directed by Allan King about a young married couple living their day to day lives while raising their 3-year old son and trying to keep their marriage from falling apart, and the simple idea of filming their lives seems strangely familiar in our reality-TV culture. The irony is how this 44-year-old documentary...
Patricia Rozema’s debut film I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing is one that seems omnipresent when people begin making lists of classic Canadian films. The story centres on the ever-whimsical Polly (Sheila McCarthy), a naïve amateur photographer in Toronto who becomes embroiled with the beautiful and sophisticated Gabrielle (Paule Baillargeon) after Polly’s hired to assist in the running of a trendy art gallery. Motivated by adoration, Polly smuggles Gabrielle’s artwork into the gallery for display, initiating events which eventually reveal a conspiracy between Gabrielle and her lover Mary (Ann-Marie MacDonald), to pass off Mary’s artwork as Gabrielle’s. The film also features several...
Still Canada’s reigning domestic box office champ, Bon Cop, Bad Cop is hailed by some as an important move towards trying to join the francophone and anglophone film industries within Canada. The film is entirely bilingual and takes on the concept of mixed cultures and languages – something you’d think would be more common in a mixed language country like ours. Fun facts about Bon Cop, Bad Cop: the entire movie was filmed using 2 scripts – one written in French and one written in English; the language used in each scene was decided upon during the editing process; and...
There’s no doubt that the experience of re-watching a film you loved as a child can sometimes be disappointing for an adult. It’s not as funny as you remember, the acting isn’t as good and the effects look downright primitive. It’s something universal that we’ll probably all go through at some point in our movie watching careers. This is especially true for people who grew up in the ’80s, when kid cinema was on the rise in Canada…more than likely a result of the tax shelter era. Kids, you see, aren’t always so particular about what they watch so making...
The story of Ralphie, his family and his quest for a BB gun has become part of the Christmas time lexicon. Its old-timey setting, feel and subject matter make some nostalgic for a simpler time while others want to set their DVD players on fire. This month TFS Editor-in-Chief Trista DeVries and reviewer Will Brownridge discuss A Christmas Story, its place in some people’s hearts and whether or not the film is Essential Canadian Cinema. Will: First, this happens to be one of those movies that I can’t understand when people don’t like it. It’s so perfect, how could it...
As we’re looking at Asian Cinema this month at TFS, it seemed appropriate to look at a Canadian film that wooed critics in the ’90s with its tale of Asia-to-Canada immigration and the adventures and woes of these immigrants’ Canadianized kids. Mina Shum‘s Double Happiness was released in 1994 and, at the time, seemed to charm the pants off everybody. Pam Fossen and I re-watched the film (it was the second viewing for both of us, and neither of us had seen the film in years) and decided to dole out our musings. Why don’t we let Pam give us...
When we started our TFS Essential Canadian Cinema column a few months ago, it was with the intention of shining a spotlight on Canadian films that didn’t make the splash they should have when they were released. The Dark Hours is a prime example of a film that, whether or not you agree with TFS writers William Brownridge and Liam Volke about its “essential” status, deserved to be made available to discerning horror fans all across Canada. Written by Wil Zmak and directed by Paul Fox, The Dark Hours was produced through the Canadian Film Centre’s Features programme (then called...
It’s the TIFF Issue, so we thought we would take a look at the work of a Festival regular: Atom Egoyan. Where better to start than with the film that marked a significant turning point in Egoyan’s career, The Sweet Hereafter. While the film did not screen at TIFF the year it was released, it was recognized at Cannes winning the Grand Prize, the International Critics’ Prize and the Ecumenical Prize. It was further recognized at the Academy Awards, being nominated for Best Director and Best Screenplay (losing out to Titanic and LA Confidential respectively), and was recognized here at...
Each month, two intrepid TFS writers will watch a Canadian film and debate on whether or not it deserves to be essential viewing for the Canuck movie enthusiast. Since TFS’ July theme is focused on pornography as a legitimate art form, it seemed like a no-brainer for Editor-in-Chief Trista DeVries and Managing Editor Kristal Cooper to discuss 2007′s Young People Fucking which was written and directed by Martin Gero, with co-writing by Aaron Abrams. Kristal: I hadn’t watched this since its opening theatrical weekend and the thing that struck me the most was the fact that for a film with...
