Canadian Crossing

Rutherford Falls a first for Indigenous people on U.S. television

Indigenous people on U.S. television: the first one I remember is the old man standing by the side of the road with a tear for all the litter. Otherwise, there has been few to anything or anyone since then.

Indigenous people on Canadian television: APTN is a channel in Canada. FNX is based n the United States that shows a lot of Canadian programming. Mohawk Girls, who has been on CBC and CBC Gem, might be the most famous show with a significant Indigenous cast. Trickster made an impact on the CBC and the CW in the United States. Brandon Oakes is on Diggstown, a show coming soon to Fox in the United States.

Rutherford Falls has a mix of Indigenous and white characters. Mixed Blessings is a show that also has a mix of Indigenous and white characters. Rutherford Falls has ups and downs but is definitely better than Mixed Blessings.

Rutherford Falls is a new show from Peacock (think Comcast and NBCUniversal). The show has an Indigenous co-creator in Sierra Teller Ornelas (co-created with Ed Helms and Michael Schur) and a majority Indigenous writers room.

This is a big deal in the United States in terms of visual representation. Canada has been slightly better over the years in terms of putting people on television from different backgrounds. The cries for a "Muslim Cosby Show" ignored the existence of Little Mosque on the Prairie. Fresh off the Boat (U.S.) and Kim's Convenience (Canada) both made an impact in East Asian representation.

We try to cover Canadians on U.S. TV shows. A U.S. TV show might have 1-2 Canadians: Superstore has had Mark McKinney and Lauren Ash. The Moodys, recently on Fox, has Francois Arnaud, Jay Baruchel, and Gerry Dee. Rutherford Falls, perhaps as a result of Canadians being further along in Indigenous programming, has a surprising number of Canadians.

• Michael Greyeyes (Nêhiyaw from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation) as Terry Thomas, the Minishonka casino CEO). Greyeyes is up for a Best Actor nomination for Blood Quantum at the 2021 Canadian Screen Awards later this month.
• Dustin Milligan as Josh Carter, a journalist looking for the real story in the small town. Milligan (Schitt's Creek, X Company) has worked on television on both sides of the border. Milligan is of European descent.
• Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs as Jess Wells. Jacobs was a 2018 TIFF Rising Star. She was stellar in Rhymes for Young Ghouls. You may have seen Jacobs in Mohawk Girls, Level 16, and Blood Quantum.
• Kiawentiio as Maya Thomas. She was the lead in Beans (TIFF 2020) from Tracey Deer and was in Anne with an E.

(This may not be a full list of Canadian actors on Rutherford Falls. Let us know if we missed someone.)

Seek More embraces inclusion in Canadian television and film

Canadian TV notebook: Trickster one and done, Nurses ends next week in U.S.

Katie Couric's search for a Muslim Cosby Show should take her to Canada

Rutherford Falls has its moments. Episode 4 devoted to Terry Thomas is brilliant in telling stories white people aren't used to seeing. The episode was written by Rupinder Gill, who happens to be Canadian. Gill has written for Schitt's Creek and This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

The show has a bit too much Ed Helms at times. That said, the friendship between the Helms character with Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding — Cheyenne River Lakota Sioux) is tremendous in that their differences are barely mentioned.

Canada has had leaps and bounds beyond the United States in terms of Indigenous characters in film. Our film reviews section is filled with our take on Canadian films from Indigenous filmmakers and actors. We also have a section devoted to Indigenous content.

Your humble narrator has had an education over the last few years, mostly due to Canadian film. I could say I know more than a lot of white people on either side of the border but that doesn't mean a lot. Angry Inuk made a large impact on me. Kaniehtiio Horn's beautiful video on Twitter about how to pronounce her full name is also part of my education.

The films were entertaining, mostly. Indian Horse bummed me out. Birth of a Family was sad but highly engaging. The Sixties Scoop was shocking to find out and that it happened so recently in our lifetimes.

Seeing Indigenous characters and people helps people who are not Indigenous to see them as people, flawed people. Sierra Teller Ornelas told Tom Power on Q on CBC Radio about how Hollywood tends to flatten out Indigenous characters, presenting them as one-dimensional. The Indigenous people I have seen on Canadian television and Canadian film have broad experiences, all flawed, some more than others.

Trickster really did show that world more than we've seen on either side of the border. Yes, the whole Michelle Latimer thing. Not to dismiss what was behind the controversy, but that show made an impact. We will see later this month how that might translate at the Canadian Screen Awards.

The show was engaging and entertaining. Americans and Canadians were able to watch the show without cable. Trickster, even with 6 episodes, is part of the path to having Rutherford Falls on television.

CanadianCrossing.com Indigenous coverage

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

You can find Rutherford Falls on Peacock in the United States and Showcase in Canada.

photo credit: Rutherford Falls/Peacock

Finding good Canadian films not just because they're Canadian

"I can sometimes take a bit of a dismissive tone towards the Canadian film and TV industry. I've been known to sometimes be a bit critical on the basis of that it's kind of not real. You know. It's sort of like this weird thing where we just make film and TV whether or not anyone watches it and it's funded by the government and it's not really that good, usually. And it's sort of just detached from the usual system of making things so people might watch them and enjoy them. And then you make money off of them and the critics say things about them and maybe you make more of them if they're good. And it's seems like we got this whole other thing where we make them 'cause it's nice to make them." — Jesse Brown, Canadaland; April 29, 2021

We like Jesse Brown and Canadaland. We love the content of criticizing Canadian media with a thoughtful and insightful approach.

This makes what Brown said all the more interesting on Canadian film in the recent podcast.

Brown is above average intelligent yet he said what many English Canadians feel about Canadian film. Why are we doing this, making films that no one knows they exist and we don't get a chance to see.

The irony was that Brown had this take in the middle of noting Mongrel Media's new streaming service in Canada. Brown got the concept of "Canadian Netflix" from an article in The Globe and Mail. Brown noted that you could check out films from the local library and not pay $6.99/month for the service.

We should let Brown and others know that Mongrel's service is for art films and independent films from around the world, most of them not from Canada. The only Canadian film noted in the article was Sarah Polley's Take This Waltz, which is a rather awesome Canadian film.

Emilie Nicolas, Canadaland’s French language media correspondent, was the co-host on that episode. Nicolas pointed out how Canadians don't take enough advantage of the National Film Board (NFB). Brown pointed to the documentaries available and seemed to point out with pride that Canada is known for those types of films.

This falls into another casual observations about English Canadians and Canadian film: Canadians can make documentaries. This is true but sets a limit, as in Canadians can't do feature films.

We will quite surprised Nicolas didn't point out the thriving Quebec film market. French Canadians don't have these woes about Canadian films.

Celebrating National Canadian Film Day 2021

Canada Now has gone digital to bring Canadian film into the United States

Telefilm Canada presents the Canadian Movie of the Week

Canadian film notebook: Marketing Canadian films as not Canadian

Trying to find the quintessential Canadian film

Brown might be justifiably confused by a few factors about Canadian film. Made | Nous promotes film and television shot in Canada, even if not Canadian. There are many films technically Canadian that don't look, act, or sound Canadian. We know Funny Boy and 14 Jours, 12 Nuits are Canadian but most people could be convinced otherwise.

Some Canadian films might seem too Canadian: horror films, slacker films, Trailer Park Boys.

Brown praised the Mongrel Media effort to "go direct to consumers and give people choices and try to engage them on the basis on the content itself and not the flag waving of CanCon."

Brown is absolutely right about one very important issue: You should not see a film because it's Canadian. You also shouldn't reject a film you might like because it's Canadian.

The beauty of the Best International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards is to showcase films from around the world. Most countries outside the United States have arts funding from their governments to make films. 

As we noted during our 2021 Oscars coverage, other countries are rising to the occasion. Tunisia and Romania made the Top 5 for the first time ever and only the second film from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Honeyland (North Macedonia) was the first documentary to receive a nomination in both categories (Best Documentary, Best International Feature Film) in 2020. Canada needs to do better to be in the fight.

Brown and others might look at the Canadian Screen Award nominations this year and scratch their heads. They could have watched some of them at TIFF 2020 on their computers (Beans). They also include Canadian films such as French Exit and The Nest, neither of which seem very Canadian.

Top 10 best Canadian films in the 2010s

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

So how do we appeal to Brown's sensibilities. We want him to find Canadian films that he might enjoy without him seeing them because they're Canadian. No hometown or home country advantage. 

Black Cop is about race and the police, something he cares about. He might enjoy the trilogy of Highway 61, Roadkill, and Hard Core Logo from Bruce McDonald filled with Canadian music. He might love or hate Xavier Dolan's French-language work, but he might have more respect as a result. He might like the take in female-dominated films such as Mouthpiece and Into the Forest from Patricia Rozema.

If nothing else, Bon Cop, Bad Cop and The Sweet Hereafter may be all he can handle. Our Top 10 Canadian films of the 2010s might not conform to his taste but offer a few good examples.

Our goal is to point out good and bad films that fall into the Canadian label. You don't have to love some or most Canadian films; just have an open mind to a Canadian film you might enjoy. 

To find the specific conversation, go about 16 minutes into the Canadaland episode.

photo credit: Take This Waltz film

Canadian film review: 14 Jours, 12 Nuits

In a world where 14 Jours, 12 Nuits would have been the first and only pick from Canada for the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film, you would have noted that the film fits the criteria seen as doing well at the Oscars. Find a film that is Canadian that looks nothing like Canada.

Incendies and Rebelle had little visibility and zero visibility of Canada, respectively. 14 Jours, 12 Nuits is a beautiful film that showcases Vietnam and barely spends any time in Canada.

Isabelle Brodeur (Anne Dorval) is in Vietnam. This isn't her first trip to the country. Years ago, she and her husband went to Vietnam to adopt a baby girl. Isabelle is returning to Vietnam after the accidental death of her teenage daughter.

Isabelle is in Hanoi. We know she is confused and disoriented because we see several shots of her in that state. Her plan is to find the girl's birth mother, Thuy Nguyen (French actor Leanna Chea).

14 Jours, 12 Nuits is not about Isabelle's husband (Francois Papineau), left back in Quebec. The film is surprisingly not about the daughter Clara (Laurence Barrette). The film is about the mothers.

Isabelle finds out the identity of Thuy and hires her travel services. The film takes its very sweet time getting to the meeting of the women. Surprisingly, I could have used less time leading up to that point and more time with them. At one point early on, Thuy asks Isabelle if she has any kids. Isabelle says no. The reverse is asked. Thuy says no.

The film uses music early on to build tension that doesn't actually exist. Director Jean-Philippe Duval otherwise leaves the characters to do what they need to do. Writer Marie Vien does a lovely job of examining what these women have in common and how their worlds are different.

Vietnam is presented as warm and inviting. Canada, when shown on a limited basis, is snowy and very cold.

14 Jours, 12 Nuits misses the Oscars cut for Best International Feature Film

Canada selects 14 Jours, 12 Nuits for the Best International Feature Film for the Oscars

The film uses a lot of back and forth storytelling so if you blink, you are at a different part of the story. The version I saw had several passages of Vietnamese that did not have subtitles.

Even though she was very young, Thuy was severely impacted by the Vietnam War. The fact that the women speak in French is significant, given the impact of France in that war and colonialism. The film also explores northern Vietnam, where typically southern Vietnam is mentioned. Thuy explains the difference between northern and southern Vietnamese.

As Ann Coulter found out on Canadian TV more than a decade ago, Canada did not send troops to the Vietnam War. That nuance doesn't matter as much in Vietnam, especially when speaking French.

Chea does a marvelous job in her role and deserved her Canadian Screen Awards nomination. Dorval, an actor who is one of Xavier Dolan's top players, communicates well but a lot non-verbally in the role. Difficult to play a character trying to find out truth while hiding in the shadow of lies.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

If Telefilm Canada had submitted 14 Jours, 12 Nuits | 14 Days, 12 Nights as the first choice instead of Funny Boy, the Oscars race wouldn't have been any different. The strategy was to promote Funny Boy for other categories, though that film received 0 Oscar nominations.

Funny Boy started out strong but suffered problems about halfway through. 14 Jours, 12 Nuits starts really slowly and finishes strong. Antigone started strong and finished weak. The Canadian entries are up against films that are strong all the way through. Another Round (Denmark), the Oscars winner in 2021, was strong all the way through the film.

Chea was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 2020 Canadian Screen Awards for the 2019 film, but did not win.

The film was the Canadian entry for the Best International Feature Film but did not make the shortlist.

14 Jours, 12 Nuits is available for rent via streaming.

video credit: YouTube/Cogeco
photo credit: 14 Jours, 12 Nuits film

NHL the month in preview May 2021

NBCSN won't carry any Canadian regular season games for the rest of the life of the network. In past years, late season games involving Canadian teams would end up on the network because the Anaheim Ducks or Florida Panthers needed a game on television.

The NHL Network will carry games in 3 of the 4 HNIC slots. While the U.S. channel has ignored Canadian teams (mostly) in the matinee rebroadcasts, the games in the final week or so should get airings in some form.

There is a potential HNIC game of sorts scheduled for May 15. If Vancouver and Calgary don't make the playoffs, those last few games may run alongside the playoffs.

The NHL Network and ESPN+ schedules stop at May 9. We will have updates if Canadian games are added.

The regular end of season NHL Center Ice free preview might run earlier than literally the end of the season. Keep awake just in case we get a preview.

NHL Network

May 1
Edmonton @ Calgary, 10p (HNIC)
May 8
Montréal @ Toronto, 7p (HNIC)/Vancouver @ Edmonton, 10p (HNIC)
May 12
Edmonton @ Montréal, 5p
May 14
Toronto @ Winnipeg, 8p

ESPN+

May 4
Edmonton @ Vancouver, 10p
May 6
Vancouver @ Edmonton, 9p
May 9
Ottawa @ Calgary, 8p

Hockey Night in Canada

May 1

Vancouver @ Toronto, 7p/Ottawa @ Montréal, 7p/Calgary @ Edmonton, 10p

May 8

Montréal @ Toronto, 7p/Ottawa @ Winnipeg, 7p/Vancouver @ Edmonton, 10p

Rogers Sportsnet national telecasts

May 5 Montréal @ Ottawa, 7p

May 6 Edmonton @ Vancouver, 9p

May 12 Toronto @ Ottawa, 8p

May 13 Vancouver @ Calgary, 9p

Curious if @CBC will run a #cdnfilm in the late #HNIC slot this week. Game postponed due to #COVID_19 protocols. Would be a chance to get more eyes to see a Canadian film. @NHL

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) April 2, 2021

There were doubts the Vancouver Canucks would return to the ice in the spring of 2021. The team had the roughest experience with COVID-19 of any NHL team: Number of players and others, impact on family members, and time lost. Braden Holtby helped out the team in a huge way in the restart.

The schedule originally was going to end on May 8 but that had been pushed back long before the Canucks hit the COVID-19 wall.

Hockey Night in Canada didn't run a late game on April 3 and April 17. We suggested that CBC run a Canadian film in the HNIC slot. CBC went with a combination of Schitt's Creek, Just For Laughs Gags, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and other programming.

The last regular Saturday night without a late game might have been the 2014 Winter Olympics. Hockey Night in Canada still had a doubleheader at 3 pm and 6 pm Eastern that day. CBC went straight to Olympics coverage at 9 pm.

A reminder that we update the monthly previews.

ESPN acquires primary U.S. NHL package in new 7-year deal

ESPN and TNT will form an exciting duo for NHL TV rights in the new U.S. deal. ESPN/ABC get the A package and 4 Stanley Cups. Turner will get the B package: 3 Stanley Cups and the Winter Classic.

TNT has more flexibility than USA or Fox Sports 1 though not as much as NBCSN, which is going away before the end of 2021. The ESPN/ABC money is $400 million per season; Turner $225 million. NBC, in the current deal, paid $200 million for the whole deal.

Speculation on announcers is wide open. Eddie Olczyk, Keith Jones, and Brian Boucher along with Liam McHugh and Kathryn Tappen likely have enough ties to stay at Comcast/NBC. Gord Miller, Ray Ferraro, and Mike Johnson could work for ESPN or Turner. Dave Randorf would get good consideration, Darren Pang will get recruited, even if he isn't likely to say yes. AJ Mleczko should be recruited.

We would have been concerned about a Wednesday doubleheader on TBS since Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (featuring Canadian Samantha Bee) airs at 10:30 pm Eastern on Wednesdays. HBO Max will be in the mix.

As for the NHL on NBC, some praise the network's focused presence on hockey. We criticize poor hiring choices (Mike Milbury and Boucher as game analysts), bailing out of playoff games, short intermissions, biased coverage of national games. Coverage on ESPN and TNT will have problems; they will be different problems than what we saw from NBC.

Canada surpasses 1 million COVID-19 cases

Congratulations to the 2021 Kraft Hockeyville winner: Elsipogtog First Nation, NB. The community will get $250,000 in arena upgrades and a NHL preseason game. Elsipogtog First Nation beat out Bobcaygeon, ON; Lumsden, SK; and Saint Adolphe, MB in the voting.

The 2020 Kraft Hockeyville winner — Twillingate, Newfoundland and Labrador — still hasn't had its NHL preseason game. When we do get preseason games with fans, there will be a tilt in the direction of the Atlantic provinces.

2021 NHL season preview

NHL the month in preview April 2021

Greg Millen returned to Hockey Night in Canada on April 3. We mentioned that Millen hadn't been working Toronto Maple Leafs local games on Rogers Sportsnet Ontario. COVID-19 changed everything so no judgments on any of this. Millen worked with Chris Cuthbert on the Ottawa-Montréal game. The two were partners back in the CBC days with Cuthbert pointing out that this was their first game together in 17 years.

Millen also worked with John Bartlett in Montréal on April 10.

NHL the month in preview March 2021

NHL the month in preview February 2021

Victor Findlay got more TSN5 Ottawa Senators games on April 5, 7, and 8. The Mississauga announcer called a Sens game on February 4. Jon Abbott called the Sens game on April 12. Abbott previously called a game in January and 4 games in March. Both of them are sort of filling the TSN hole once held by Chris Cuthbert.

TSN shifted Bryan Mudryk to international hockey from his Montréal Canadiens duties. This was shortly after Mudryk announced that he wouldn't call Canadiens in person at the Bell Centre. This presumably was due to the Ontario-Quebec border closure. Jon Abbott called the Habs game April 26 in Calgary. Dan Robertson, the Habs radio voice, will finish the season on TSN2.

NHL the month in preview January 2021

Our guide to the NHL Canadian teams coverage

April 7 Edmonton at Ottawa 5p Kenny Albert/Brian Boucher
April 7 Montréal at Toronto 7:30p Brendan Burke/Pierre McGuire

The beauty of the 2021 NHL season was not having to hear Brian Boucher. You could find men and women in random small town Canadian rinks who could deliver better analysis than Boucher, His analysis is painfully simple, he repeats himself often, he offers little from his own experience, and he won't travel outside the tiny box of thought he draws out for himself.

Fascinating to watch NBCSN cover a team (Ottawa Senators) where some viewers know more about the team that the U.S. national announcers. Brady Tkachuk got a lot of notice but ignoring Thomas Chabot and Tim Stutzle felt hollow. The NBCSN team also ignored most of the players on the Edmonton Oilers, the channel's new favourite Canadian team.

The local Edmonton announcers know more about the Ottawa team (and vice versa) than the U.S. national announcers. Other national announcers in other sports have a sense of the players on their teams.

Could Turner do worse than NBC? Possible but difficult to imagine. Here is hoping (outside this spring's playoffs) to never hear Brian Boucher ever again.

NBC did show some lovely shots of Ottawa and Kanata in the April 7 telecast.

We thought Gord Miller would work that game for TSN5, but Victor Findlay worked that game.

NBCSN used the Gord Miller/Mike Johnson combo in the first game this season and didn't go back to using Canadian announcers. We will be curious how they might be used in the first round of the playoffs.

NBCSN picked up the Rogers Sportsnet feed for the 3rd period of the Battle of Alberta on April 29. Thought the NHL Network might carry the game or at least put the game into Chicago on NBCSN, since the market was blacked out of the national feed. Nope. They wouldn't do this to U.S. teams.

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

"Friends, family, and a whole lot of laughs. More than a store. Kim's Convenience final episode Tuesday at 8 on CBC and CBC Gem." We had been surprised that Kim's Convenience wasn't showing up too often in the CBC promos during Hockey Night in Canada. The series finale did get a mention on the April 10 games.

When Chris Cuthbert first read a CBC promo for the show in January, his copy said Tuesday at 9 pm instead of 8 pm.

We realise the NHL Network lost a HNIC game due to COVID-19 rescheduling. The NHL Network did take away another HNIC game, leaving the 2 games as the only live broadcasts involving Canadian teams for the whole month of April.

The British seat fillers shared a promo: Miss Scarlet & the Duke and Victoria filled the gaps on Monday nights. Good to see that even if a promo has 2 shows, the promo is counted as a single promo.

The April promos weren't as dynamic since the regular shows ended before the NHL season did. Pretty Hard Cases ended on the first Wednesday in April.

The 2021 Junos celebrate Canadian music on June 6.

April 10 late game: CBC Gem; Family Feud Canada auditions (1st); Miss Scarlet & the Duke/Victoria; Kim's Convenience (2nd); CBC Gem; Tokyo 2020 Olympics (3rd)

April 24 early game: Miss Scarlet & the Duke/Victoria; Family Feud Canada auditions (1st); CBC Gem; Tokyo 2020 Olympics (2nd); 2021 Junos; CBC Sports app (3rd)

Twitter capture: @canadian_xing
photo credits: @TurnerSportsPR; Hockey Night in Canada/Sportsnet

The sugar daddy concept making its way into Canadian films

A friend of mine mentioned The New Romantic as a 2018 Canadian film to watch. The New Romantic was on Netflix, one of the "many" Canadian films where the films don't feel Canadian.

Blake is writing a sex column for her school newspaper. Her editor wants to cut the column because it's boring. Blake is boring in general so this makes sense. She falls into the sugar world by accident and becomes a sugar baby.

Your humble narrator has no experience with the sugar daddy/sugar baby world but the premise felt unrealistic. If writer/director Carly Stone did any research on the subject matter, the proof isn't on the screen. The subject was worth exploring but in a way that would actually show how the premise really worked.

Fast forward to 2020 with the arrival of Shiva Baby. I knew of Shiva Baby from its presence as a Canada-U.S. co-production at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival. Emma Seligman's writer/director debut incorporates the existence of the relationship within the film but that relationship is part of a complex scenario within the film. Based from the trailer, Danielle is already more interesting than Blake in The New Romantic.

I learned about Sugar Daddy on March 30 from the Canadian Screen Awards nominations. Colm Feore is up for Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for his role in Sugar Daddy. The film features more recognisable Canadian talent, including Feore, Amanda Brugel, Aaron Ashmore, Kaniehtiio Horn, Jess Salgueiro, Ishan Davé, Nicholas Campbell, Rob Stewart, and Michelle Morgan.

Kelly McCormack wrote, co-produced, and starred in Sugar Daddy while Wendy Morgan was the director.

All of these films are written and directed by women. This is a small consolation yet noteworthy.

These are fiction films so they don't need to get every detail correct (they should come close). These are not documentary films.

Canadian film case study: The New Romantic

Canadian film review: How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town

2021 Canadian Screen Awards nominations: Film

You could argue that these films are about young women being empowered by sex, being the aggressor on some level. Most Canadian films are timid on sex, very much un-French in their approach. As we learned from How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town, Canadians aren't that much in touch with sex on screen.

Maybe the run of sugar daddy/sugar baby films in Canada have little to do with sex but are more about power and money. The wage gap is significant in society. Student debt, while not as high in Canada as in the United States, is still an important factor. Housing in Canada is getting even more ridiculous. Wanting to be part of the have vs. the have not is enough reason to see the sugar daddy element as a fantasy.

Wendy Morgan told Tom Power of Q on CBC Radio that there is a conversation in the film on the pros and cons of being a sugar baby. A good start.

Darren, McCormack's character in Sugar Daddy, is a struggling musician who plays multiple instruments yet has a hard time describing what her music is about. Associating money with getting your music heard doesn't have to be about sex at all.

The next logical step is to make the situation more progressive where a woman is with a sugar mama and/or trans people are involved.

Relaxed nudity would make Canadian films stand out

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The sugar route is a way into drawing attention to the film. As sweet as the sugar analogy might seem, the film needs to be more than salacious. Power and money are more important for some than sex might be. That is worth exploring into the world of films.

Shiva Baby and Sugar Daddy are available for rent online.

photo credit: Sugar Daddy film

Canadian film case study: The New Romantic

Some films are meant to be over the top with little to no realism. Some films are too realistic. The New Romantic is over the top in concept and premise but tries to pass itself off as an independent film.

Being a sugar baby is a thing because this film says so. Being a sugar baby is better than being a prostitute. The film takes us into a world where student debt is really high (so not Canada) and no one goes to class.

Blake (Jessica Barden) is a humanities major who is concerned about losing her sex column, which isn't really about sex. She has a narrative line early on looking down on college guys like she's 31. For someone in her early 20s in real life and looks 14, she comes across as a star-struck, whiny 14-year-old who labels herself as a "hopeless romantic."

Blake somehow ends up as a sugar baby with Ian Brooks (Timm Sharp), a professor who somehow needs the company of this whiny college student. Even the actors don't think this is believable.

Blake is also using the "sugar baby" experience to get a gonzo journalism award, which is difficult to imagine since she isn't studying to be a journalist. The sugar baby thing looks great since it has all the advantages of being a hooker with none of the bad parts. Realism doesn't belong here.

Blake goes on a failed date with a journalist friend Jacob (Brett Dier) so you know eventually they will get together.

River (Avan Jogia) plays their boss at the school paper. River is the only character drawn beyond a single dimension and is the only actor having fun in this film.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Carly Stone was a writer for Kim's Convenience before writing and directing her debut feature film. There is an interesting concept about a young woman dealing with finding romance in an atypical fashion. Unfortunately, inane dialogue and cardboard acting does injustice to the concept. Blake and her best friend Nikki (Hayley Law) have an actual conversation about Marie Antoinette being a teen idol who slept with everyone and being beheaded for being slutty. Maybe they were kidding but the viewer can't tell.

If Nora Ephron hadn't passed away in 2012, she could sue based on the comparison to her films. Even if you aren't a rom-com fan, you can recognise that Ephron brought real people together. Stone was watching those films but not really paying nuanced attention to her work.

In a Canadian film that isn't designed to look like anywhere, Stone cast 3 Canadians (Law, Dier, Jogia) and 3 non-Canadians (Barden, Camila Mendes, Sharp) in the 6 primary roles. Barden is completely wrong for this role. The high-pitched voice, the person who doesn't get noticed. She clearly can act, but like her co-stars, she doesn't have much to work with in the script.

A fantasy, under-realistic film can be worth 80 minutes of your time. You should be entertained by a film with that concept. The New Romantic can't even deliver on that front.

The New Romantic is just the Canadian film that Netflix adores: a not-very-good Canadian film that doesn't look the least bit Canadian.

video credit: YouTube/Zero Media
photo credit: The New Romantic film

Canadian film notebook: Kelly Fyffe-Marshall drawing attention with short films

Looking forward to watching the short film, BLACK BODIES. From Toronto to #Sundance2021, this film from @directedbykells and her beautiful Black Women team of collaborators should make Canada proud. Congratulations, sis. 🖤 https://t.co/KSEC51rYbZ

— Ava DuVernay (@ava) February 3, 2021

Kelly Fyffe-Marshall did something Canadian filmmakers rarely do: call attention to the lack of coverage for her Canadian film. Black Bodies premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, one of 6 Canadian films in the festival.

The film is inspired by a real-life incident when Fyffe-Marshall, Komi Olaf and Donisha Prendergast were in California. A neighbourhood woman called the police because she thought the women were burglarizing their Airbnb rental.

Tom Power interview with Kelly Fyffe-Marshall on CBC Radio's Q

Despite the relevance and importance of the story, there is a reason why the film likely didn't get too much publicity. The film is 5 minutes long.

Short films don't get as much love as full-length films. We are as innocent or guilty of that as anyone.

Short films are harder to find and watch. Short films should be celebrated, perhaps inspiring a longer version of that film down the road. Short films are a sampling at a grocery store. They aren't full-length films.

Fyffe-Marshall also has Haven, Marathon, and Black White Blue as other short film releases. The next step is feature films: When Morning Comes and Summer of the Gun. The former is an immigration story and the latter deals with the 2005 summer in Toronto.

Black Bodies premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, where Fyffe-Marshall won the inaugural Changemaker Award. TIFF put the film on its Canada's Top Ten list for short films. Fyffe-Marshall also won the Jay Scott Prize by the Toronto Film Critics Association.

Top 10 Canadian films I still want to see

Bird (2017) is a 12-minute short film about the impact on a woman of the disappearance of her mother's pet bird. My interest in the Canadian short film is mostly because Molly Parker wrote and directed the short film.

For over 3 years, your humble narrator has tried to find a way to see the film but has been unable to find a solution.

Blue (1992), a short film from Don McKellar, is also on that list. Wavelength (1967) is longer than most short films at 45 minutes. The film is revered by Canadian film critics as a classic but that might be in the eye of the beholder. Did find a way to see Wavelength.

Even with the notice that Black Bodies is receiving, finding a way to see this film will also be difficult. That is the nature of short films.

Fyffe-Marshall is definitely correct in that Canada loses "so many of our artists to the US." Ignoring a 5-minute film is not one of those reasons.

Canadian film case study: Paper Year/Jean of the Joneses

We love the idea of a Canadian filmmaker standing up to protest the lack of attention to Canadian film. We also recognise that being aware of Canadian stories from people of colour adds to the landscape that is Canadian film.

“We’re very heavily dependent on grants here, so all of our filmmaking goes through gatekeepers,” Fyffe-Marshall said. “The infrastructure of Canadian film means that we’ve gradually become this service machine for American film production. There’s no support here for Canadian creatives to flourish and to build their career here.”

When Fyffe-Marshall was talking about opportunities, we did reflect on the path of Stella Maghie. Maghie debuted with Jean of the Joneses, a Canada-U.S. co-production. Since then, Maghie has made "American films" in the United States. 

Until we have better access to short films, full-length films will get more attention than short films, regardless of other factors involved.

2021 Oscars through the lens of Canada

2021 Oscar nominations through the lens of Canada

"Frances McDormand, you've just won the Oscar for Best Actress for Nomadland. What are you going to do now?"

Fortunately for Sarah Polley, McDormand is starring in her latest film Women Talking, based on the Miriam Toews bestselling novel.

Women Talking tells the stories of women in an isolated religious colony as they confront the ugly reality of sexual assaults committed by the men in their colony.

While Polley did write Alias Grace, the last full-length film she wrote and directed was Stories We Tell (2012).

Here are a bunch of Canadian films that pass the Bechdel test

Canadian film review: My American Cousin/American Boyfriends

My path down the TIFF Top 10 Canadian films of all time

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) ran a series last fall entitled Women Make Film. The series spotlighted films from female directors over the years. While there has been few female directors of high-budget Hollywood films, women do get to direct smaller budget, more independent type films.

We love to watch strong films from the creative minds of women, presenting perspectives on stories otherwise not told.

The series featured 3 Canadian films:

• My American Cousin (1985) Sandy Wilson
• Angry Inuk (2016) Alethea Arnaquq-Baril
• Stories We Tell (2012) Sarah Polley

These are 3 very fine choices, a small sample of great Canadian films from female writers and directors. If you are looking for non-Canadian examples, Agnes Varda (France) and Nicole Holofcener (United States) are great filmmakers, regardless of gender.

Anne at 13,000 Ft. wins 2020 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award

Canadian film review: Anne at 13,000 Ft.

Canadian film review: Disappearance at Clifton Hill

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

I Used to Be Darker is not a Canadian film but has a strong Canadian connection. As we have noted, Canadian actors do not determine the country origin of a film. American filmmaker Matthew Porterfield directed and co-wrote this film. Porterfield cast Canadian actors Deragh Campbell and Hannah Gross as the leads in the film.

Campbell, who made her feature film debut in this film, plays a Northern Ireland character. Gross plays her cousin from Baltimore.

There is likely a joke somewhere that all Canadians know each other, even if they don't. Porterfield noted in an interview that Campbell and Gross have known each other all their lives. "Their parents are best friends and Canadian acting royalty."

Campbell comes from multiple generations of actors. Gross is the daughter of actors Martha Burns and Paul Gross.

Campbell starred in Anne at 13,000 Ft. while you would recognise Gross from Disappearance at Clifton Hill.

The film would best be described as a solid, sleepy, independent film. I Used to Be Darker is available in the United States on Amazon Prime Video.

Twitter capture: @ava
photo credit: Black Bodies film

2021 Oscars through the lens of Canada

Good luck to all of the amazing nominees at tonight’s #Oscars, including Canadian filmmaker, Ben Proudfoot! @bgproudfoot is nominated for Best Documentary Short Subject for the short doc, "A Concerto Is a Conversation". Canada is rooting for you, Ben! 👏 pic.twitter.com/j3sa4mo34r

— Canada (@Canada) April 25, 2021

Canadian filmmaker Ben Proudfoot was up for Best Documentary Short for A Concerto Is a Conversation at the 93rd Academy Awards. The film lost out to Colette. The other films in the category were Do Not Split; Hunger Ward; and A Love Song for Latasha.

A Concerto Is a Conversation features Kris Bowers (co-director) and his conversations with his grandfather.

Christopher Plummer was featured in the In Memoriam section.

The Oscars ceremony was downshifted to Union Station in Los Angeles. The Canadian Screen Awards would look cool in Toronto's Union Station.

2021 Oscar nominations through the lens of Canada

14 Jours, 12 Nuits misses the Oscars cut for Best International Feature Film

Canada selects 14 Jours, 12 Nuits for the Best International Feature Film for the Oscars

TIFF selects Top 10 Canadian films of 2020

Funny Boy disqualified as Canada entry for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars

A follow up to our Funny Boy Canadian film review

Canadian film review: Funny Boy

Our Funny Boy preview with debuts soon on CBC and Netflix

Deepa Mehta's Funny Boy is Canada's Oscars selection

Another Round from Denmark won the Best International Feature Film award. The film beat out Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia and Herzegovina); Collective (Romania); Better Days (Hong Kong); and The Man Who Sold His Skin (Tunisia).

The films that made the shortlist: The Mole Agent (Chile); Charlatan (Czech Republic); Two of Us (France); La Llorona (Guatemala); Sun Children (Iran); Night of the Kings (Ivory Coast); I’m No Longer Here (Mexico); Hope (Norway); Dear Comrades! (Russia); and A Sun (Taiwan).

Collective (Romania) was also nominated for Best Documentary Feature. Honeyland (North Macedonia) was the first documentary to receive a nomination in both categories in 2020. Neither film won an Oscar.

We noted that 2021 was a year for opportunity. The top 5 featured the first ever film from Tunisia and Romania to make the final cut. This was the second film from Bosnia and Herzegovina; No Man's Land won the Oscar 19 years ago. Canada's competition has risen the stakes.

Famed Danish director Thomas Vinterberg was nominated for Best Director for Another Round. You might know Vinterberg's work from The Celebration and The Commune. Chloé Zhao for Nomadland became the second female to win Best Director. Zhao and Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) were the first 2 women to be nominated in the same year and only the 6th and 7th women nominated ever.

As we've noted, Night of the Kings | La Nuit des rois by Philippe Lacote is technically a Canada co-production (Cote d’Ivoire/France/Canada/Senegal). The film played at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.

Canada's entry 14 Jours, 12 Nuits was not under serious consideration even for the shortlist. These Oscars were a great opening for countries in the Best International Feature Film category but Canada didn't even come close.

The secretly Canadian film that contended for an Oscar

Canadians Oscars nomination scoreboard

Looking at how Canadians have done at the Oscars

Christopher Plummer (finally) wins his first Oscar

We don't normally focus on Canadians trying to watch American films. Canadians normally have an easy time watching American films. They dominate the local theatres and have strong marketing budgets.

The pandemic made theatre trips difficult if not impossible. Streaming helps but availability has been limited. Nomadland, the Best Picture winner this year, is a good example. Americans got access to Nomadland in the winter via Hulu on February 19. Canadians had to wait until April 9 to see the film on Star, the Canadian equivalent of Hulu. Star is relatively new so Canadians would have had to seek out Star, a part of the Disney family.

16 days before the Oscars is a short window to jump on a film. Your humble narrator can tell you the longer you have to go without seeing a hyped film, the less interested you are in that film. Deprivation affects how you feel about a film, even if you eventually get to see a film and, yes, like the film.

Nomadland won the TIFF 2020 People's Choice Award. Winning the award isn't a guarantee of Oscars success but sometimes that works out well.

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia and Herzegovina) won Best International Film at the Film Independent Spirit Awards Thursday night. They didn't have the tent in the parking lot at the beach in Santa Monica, CA.

The ceremony was reduced to 2 hours and devoted more than a half hour to television, giving awards but only for new scripted series. The independent element of films usually involves small budgets and studios. Not sure what TV qualifies as a similar analogy.

Some Canadian notes from the ceremony:

• Annie Murphy (Schitt's Creek) gave out the best male performance in a new scripted series award. Would Schitt's Creek qualify under a scripted series if it was new?
• Maitreyi Ramakrishnan was nominated for best female in a new scripted series for Never Have I Ever on Netflix, but didn't win.
• Valerie Mahaffey is American but was nominated for Best Supporting Female for French Exit, which is actually a Canadian film. Michelle Pfeiffer is nominated for a Canadian Screen Award in a leading role for the same film.
• One Night in Miami — featuring Canadian Eli Goree as Cassius Clay — won the Robert Altman Award. The award is presented to the ensemble cast, director, and casting director of a film.
• Théodore Pellerin is in Never Rarely Sometimes Always, a film that received consideration.

Another Round won the BAFTA for the best Film Not In The English Language. The film won over Dear Comrades!; Les Misérables; Minari; and Quo Vadis, Aida?.

Twitter capture: @Canada
photo credit: A Concerto Is a Conversation film

Canadian film review: The Grey Fox

The chase for The Grey Fox wasn't as significant as the search was for Goin' Down the Road. Still, the film's spot on the TIFF Top 10 all-time Canadian films list in 1984 (tied for 5th with Les Ordres) and 1993 (8th) brought a lot of curiosity. The premise for The Grey Fox seemed simple: after 33 years, stagecoach robber Bill Miner leaves prison as an old man in 1901. Miner eventually gets to Canada where he then robs trains.

Bill Miner was a real person who went from the United States to Canada. American actor Richard Farnsworth is very well-cast as Miner.

The early part of the film focuses on how the world has changed around him: new technologies such as a mechanised apple peeler, automobiles, and movie theatres.

Miner and his new partner Shorty (Wayne Robson) hide out in Kamloops, British Columbia after robbing trains. There, Miner meets feminist and photographer Katherine Flynn (Jackie Burroughs). He doesn't seem like a hardened criminal in trying to woo Flynn but that is part of his charm.

Learning a lot from lists of top all-time Canadian films

Canadian film review: Goin' Down the Road

TIFF ranks top Canadian films

Miner is inspired in the film to rob trains based on the 1903 film The Great Train Robbery. A younger ex-con needles Miner because there are no more stagecoaches after Miner says professionals have to specialise.

The time gap is a concern since you don't get the impression that 2 years have gone by within the film. Amusing that the only time we see snow is when Miner first crosses into Canada. Almost a secret message that Canada means snow.

The writing of John Hunter and direction of Phillip Borsos gives the audience a dry presentation. The slow pace and beautiful British Columbia scenery tell their own story. Farnsworth's charm as Miner helps the story go along.

The film debates whether an animal can change its stripes or is destined to keep doing what made them who they are.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Is The Grey Fox a Top 10 Canadian film? I've seen the top 9 Canadian films from both the 1984 list and the 1993 list. I wouldn't rank the film as high in either survey but a Top 10 finish for what Canadian film was back then is understandable. The standards were pretty low for a long time in Canadian film.

I've seen every film on the 2004 list; The Grey Fox would not have made my Top 10.

The Grey Fox is a heartily recommended film. The film tells a story in a way that is heartwarming but not in a corny way. Just not in a Top 10 kind of way.

photo credit: The Grey Fox film
video credit: YouTube/kinolorber

Canadian government promos in the COVID-19 era

The government of Canada promos aren't really ads. They aren't trying to sell you a product. They are reminders of what the Canadian government does for its constituents. In the COVID-19 time, those promos have a new reflection: encouraging behaviour to help reduce the impact of the pandemic.

The ads were a huge contrast to the insanity of the reaction of the U.S. federal government in the beginning of the pandemic. None of the Canadian messages involved drinking bleach.

These promos are courtesy of the NHL Center Ice free preview on local and national NHL telecasts.

Canada surpasses 1 million COVID-19 cases

Remembering the COVID-19 'anniversary' in Canada

This promo shows a few halfway actions. The look of confusion on the young girl with the uncooked spaghetti is hilarious. The punchline is the guy wearing the mask over his mouth but not his nose.

The young woman giving a non-verbal clue to the incompletely masked man and having that work is more fantasy than reality. Still, a good visual to encourage people to be compliant with wearing the mask properly.

Governments provide services. They don't help as much if people can't or don't take advantage. There are several programs in the promos, though the job training credit is tied to the pandemic. A lot of people lost their jobs when COVID-19 kicked into Canadian society. Going through training for a new career can bring inspiration for a good economic future once the pandemic subsidies in intensity.

Canadian ads from winter 2021 NHL Center Ice free preview

CanadianCrossing.com advertising coverage

We noted a couple of promos from the government of Canada back in February. The U.S. may be in better shape on vaccines but skipped past the COVID-19 alert app. The second promo is about keeping the pace to get back to a relatively normal world.

We have been tooting the horn of Canada government promos under the previous prime minister and the current prime minister. All prime ministers run these promos. We think this is a great non-partisan idea.

Some Americans get confused sometimes with bipartisan vs. non-partisan. Having covered American politics, be suspicious of bipartisan and always ask for non-partisan. We consider Canada government promos to be a great non-partisan idea and should not be used in a partisan fashion.

Our friends in Ontario will be surprised that there is a vaccine plan for the residents of the province. The vaccine rollout has been very slow in Ontario. "Your turn is coming soon" only works if indeed the turns are coming … soon. Good luck to those in Ontario.

video and photo credits: government of Canada; government of Ontario