Kevin's Watch

This may be a loaded question because there is a general concensus (especially in Canada) that Canadian movies reek. But let me throw the topic out anyway...

I can think of a few Canadian movies that ar pretty darn good. Add or comment as you will...

- Cube
- In the Belly of the Dragon (a strange Quebec movie that has stuck with me)
- Dead Ringers (and a few others by Cronenburg)
- The Sweet Hereafter (and a couple others from Agoyan)
- Highway 61 (a crazy 'road' picture as if done by a Canadian David Lynch)
- Leolo (a weird tale of a boy... I can't write about it...it has to be seen)
- Murder By Decree (joint with UK - a very good Sherlock Holmes movie)
- The Changeling (one of the creepiest movies I have ever seen)
- 32 Short Films About Glen Gould (well-moving, extremely well-acted film about the (should-be) ledgendary pianist)

Well, that's all from me right now...

Kissed. I love that film, but I would agree with the Atom Egoyan choice. I love his films they are indeed great.

"Kissed"... good one...
Have you noticed that many Canadian movies can be very easily terms 'weird' or 'strange'....?

I don't know if these are Canadian made, but two of my favs filmed in Canada are Never Cry Wolf and Black Robe.

not sure about "...Wolf", but "Black Robe" is Canuck. That was pretty good. really kinda haunting. I read the book long time back and felt the movie captured the futility and sadness of both side well.

Never saw Cube, but it has a sequel that probably belongs on the "Worst Sci-Fi Movies" over on the General Sci-Fi Discussion thread... which is sad, because Geraint Wyyn Davies was in it. Not that he can act, but still...

Well, Cube is the only Canadian movie I've ever watched knowing that it was a Canadian movie.

As I said in the other thread, it was damn good.

--A

The Boondock Saints was filmed in Canada and the "epic" miniseries that Spielberg just produced (they're showing it on some cable channel right now), Into the West, was filmed in New Mexico and Canada, Actually the Costner/Robert Duvall western, Open Range, was partially filmed in Canada--those scenes are, by far, the prettier landscapes.

The Changeling - Talked about that movie for a month! (Good things)

I don't know if Trains, Planes, and Automobiles was a movie from the Great White North or not, but there was a few Canadians in it.

Oh yah, The Changeling. That one had me scared for months. I love how a simple multi-coloured rubber ball can be frightening.....

Usivius wrote: - The Sweet Hereafter (and a couple others from Agoyan)

I missed that one. I have seen Agoyan's Exotica and Calendar. I thought Exotica was remarkable, Calendar not so much.

- Highway 61 (a crazy 'road' picture as if done by a Canadian David Lynch)

I can't recall much of it, but I think I had fun watching it at the time.

- Leolo (a weird tale of a boy... I can't write about it...it has to be seen)

Well, the, er, playful emphasis on bodily functions in the movie might certainly be considered weird by a lot of folks, heh. Aside from that though, I didn't think there was anything really special about this film. I know it was critically acclaimed in Canada, but I just didn't see what the fuss was about. And even though the circumstance of the woman being fertilized by the "tampered" tomato was meant to be for a good chuckle, I can't get over the obvious implausibility of such a thing. (See? Weird.)

- 32 Short Films About Glen Gould (well-moving, extremely well-acted film about the (should-be) ledgendary pianist)

Yes, excellent movie. For those curious about the title, the "32" is in accordance with the 32 parts of Bach's Goldberg Variations, the work that Gould was most closely identified with.

I don't know about "Best" Canadian movies, because I don't think I've seen enough to make an informed opinion on that. But I will mention two definite "favorites":

For The Moment (1994) -- Made in Manitoba, yay! And starring one of my favorite actors, too: Russell Crowe. You can read my post about the film [url=ttp://kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3765]here[/url] in the Flicks forum. And here it is in the Internet Movie Database.

Montreal vu par (1991) -- or Montreal Sextet for us anglophones

This is six short films gathered as one, six different takes on the city of Montreal. There is a good summary of the film here in the IMDb. I'm a bit more enthusiastic about the film than the person who posted the review there, but I agree with the observations. I especially loved the evocative segments by Lea Pool and Atom Egoyan, but hey, they're all good in my book.

I'd also like to give honorable mention to Deny Arcand's The Barbarian Invasions (2003), which also happened to snag an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, a rare win for Canadian cinema at the Academy Awards. Plus, it's actually a good film, too.

David Cronenberg is one of my fave directors and he has made quite a few very good movies...and some very weird...

In no particular order:

The Fly
Videodrome
Naked Lunch
Deadringers
Scanners
The Brood
Rabid
Spider
M Butterfly
Crash
eXistenZ

and his latest starring Viggo Mortensen
History of Violence


All Sci-Fi, Horror, Fantasy (or related), just love it!

Atom Egoyan is good too...

Best. Canadian. Movie. Ever.

Strange Brew

Take off, eh!

...yah, taking all the best (horrible) cliches about Canada and making them funny ....

.... OK, 'funnier' than they actually are...

Cail wrote:Best. Canadian. Movie. Ever.

Strange Brew

Besides RUSH and TRIUMPH, Bob & Doug McKenzie are some of the best things that came from Canada.

NOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooo......!

cheval wrote:Besides RUSH and TRIUMPH, Bob & Doug McKenzie are some of the best things that came from Canada.

Heh. I'll give 'em credit for Molson Canadian too.

Okay, I don't think it falls into the category of "Best Canadian Films" but it does fall into the category of "Canadian films Alynna likes," so here goes:

Treed Murray

Also known as Get Down in the US. Basic plot: Advertising executive gets chased up a tree by a gang. Great premise, pretty good execution, and yeah, I saw it because of my David Hewlett thing, but it actually turned out to be a pretty decent movie. Predictable and cliched in places, but worth seeing.

never heard of it before. Shall have to give it a try if I can find it.

Oh and one I raved about but no one apparently saw it:
Bon Cop Bad Cop

Great cast and smart writing taking all the buddy-cop/canadian cliches and mushing them around to make a hilarious (and action packed) movie.