It's been a long time since I posted anything, so I think I'm going to let this blog rest indefinitely. While I still have a passion for Canadian cinema, I don't have the time to research a lot of information on Canadian films. And while I live in a Canadian city with a population of over one million people, there still are too few Canadian films playing at our three arthouse cinemas.

I will continue to check out Canadian films as they play in theatres, I will pay Alliance Atlantis' outrageous prices for Canadian films on DVD (over $30 is Criterion range, sigh) and I'll continue to put up with the merciless taunts of my friends who dislike Canadian films (without seeing many of them). Keep watching the screens, my friends.

Wow, a lot has happened since my last post and my two-month vacation! Since I left off at the TIFF, let me start up again with news from the conclusion of the TIFF. Guy Maddin was the big winner of the Best Canadian Feature with his documentary, My Winnipeg. If there's a more-deserving Canadian filmmaker, I can't think of anybody. Maddin has been the toast of avant-garde film afficionados south of the border since his debut Tales from the Gimli Hospital in 1988, but he's still a virtual unknown to most Canadians. I think he shares a lot in common with David Lynch, taking nostalgic imagery and manipulating it to create something totally different (and a lot of European influence too), but calling him Canada's David Lynch would be unfair. You can find The Saddest Music in the World at most video stores, but try seeking his older work on DVD (most of it has been released by Kino Video in the US, available from amazon).

David Cronenberg didn't leave empty-handed either, winning the Audience Choice Award with his Eastern Promises (one of my most anticipated films this Fall). Stéphane Lafleur won for Best Canadian First Feature Film with Continental, Un Film Sans Fusil. I hope it actually plays in arthouse theatres here in Western Canada.

Next up: I'm trying to secure a VIP pass for the Calgary International Film Festival (My girlfriend works for one of the major sponsors). With The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford set to open the festival, there is speculation that Brad Pitt might attend. Either way, the shot-in-Alberta film is getting very good notices, so it should be a memorable screening.

The Toronto International Film festival has announced the lineup of Canadian films to be screened this year and it's an impressive list. Topping the list are gala screenings of David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises and Denys Arcand's L'Âge Des Ténèbres (Days of Darkness). Other Canadian premieres include:

• My Winnipeg (Guy Maddin)
• Shake Hands with the Devil (Roger Spottiswoode)
• The Stone Angel (Kari Skogland)
• Silk (François Girard)
• Normal (Carl Bessai)
• Weirdsville (Allan Moyle)
• Poor Boy's Game (Clement Virgo)
• American Venus (Bruce Sweeney)
• Young People Fucking (Martin Gero)

It's good to see some familiar faces return to the festival with new films, but I can only wonder how many of them will actually arrive in Canadian theatres outside of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

Having seen Factory Girl last night, I wish there were some good Canadian films freshly available on DVD. I don't want to write a proper review, but Factory Girl is a big bore, especially on a hot summer night. While Guy Pearce is creepily effective as Andy Warhol, Sienna Miller overacts her way through the film as spoiled heiress Edie Sedgwick, a flash-in-the-pan member of the Factory. Yes, Ms. Miller uses an American accent, wears a lot of retro clothes and even pops up naked in several scenes, but alas, one never cares for Edie because she's not the main character but a caricature of titanic proportions. She parties, boozes and shoots up drugs and talks a lot of nonsense and that's all you get. Bah. Don't even get me started about Anakin Skywalker as is-he-or-isn't-he Bob Dylan (never named in the film of course). There's a tease with an appearance of Nico and mention of Warhol's entrance into the music biz, but nothing more, just an insubstantial quasi-indie film. Now if they could make a film about the Velvet Underground, that would be interesting!

Summertime = Blockbusters

So there's not much in the way of Canadian fare playing at the theatres right now (at least in Calgary). I've been meaning to watch Snow Cake for a future review, but I had other films to get out of my system first (i.e. showing my girlfriend how the Blade trilogy is silly fun--and no, I don't lose my film cred for that. I'm not a complete snob.). I like what I saw in the trailer for Snow Cake, especially a scene where Alan Rickman says, "I'm going to Winnipeg." Like Mr. Rickman would ever make a winter trek to the 'Peg in a car!

It's not film-related, but I'm particularly excited that the third and final season of Slings and Arrows arrives on DVD on July 3. This wonderful comedy series deals with the ecstasies and miseries of running a nationally-renown theatre festival and features many excellent Canadian film actors like Paul Gross, Colm Feore, Mark McKinney, Rachel McAdams, Sarah Polley and the always-great Don McKellar as an eccentric theatre director. Perhaps I shall expand the scope of this blog to include worthy Canadian televison fare, hmm...

You'd be amazed how vital drinking several Rock Star Vodka and Pomegranates can be to the movie-viewing process. Were it not for those tasty beverages, I would have suffered immeasurably through a complete viewing of Peyton Reed's treatise on cheerleading choreography, Bring It On. Wow, Kirsten Dunst is really bad here, but with alcohol, all is forgiven. And what's with Eliza Dushku's permanent-wet-hair-meets-dreadlocks look? At least Jesse Bradford's mugging reminds me of a much-younger version of Don McKellar and that's good enough for a CanCon reference. Just one of those nights where you just can't be bothered to watch something worthwhile.

DVD Alert!

Because Alliance Atlantis, Canada's biggest film distributor, doesn't like to make much noise about upcoming DVD releases, I always have to do a lot of online searching for release dates. Reg Harkema's Monkey Warfare is listed on amazon.ca for a June 26 release and Gary Burns' quasi-documentary Radiant City is slated for August 7. Of course A. A. charges nearly-Criterion prices for Canadian films (and without Criterion's sumptuous supplementary features), so pre-order online while you can at the discounted prices. It's difficult to find a lot of Canadian films on DVD at Future Shop or Best Buy, so buying online is often the only option, sigh.