Mommy is currently playing in Chicago; the film opened in New York City and Los Angeles on January 23. Chicago might be the better test for whether the film will spread much beyond the major cities.
The film is playing at one theatre in Chicago. Sadly, this is typical. I went to see the film on Saturday night and the crowd was a decent size. I did talk to some people who ended up there because their intended film was sold out.
If the film gets to play for 2 weeks, we'll get a better feel how well Mommy can do elsewhere in the States.
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Xavier Dolan wins coveted Cannes Jury Prize for Mommy
Mommy might be your last chance to see Xavier Dolan in true Quebec form. Dolan's next directorial project is in English, The Death and Life of John F. Donovan set in New York and London, with Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, and Jessica Chastain. Great actresses but they aren't Anne Dorval and Suzanne Clement.
The new film is written by Dolan and Canadian writer-director Jacob Tierney.
Even in watching Mommy for the second time, I still had tears at Clement's performance. Dorval was absolutely amazing, especially with the complexity of her character.
We are legitimately concerned about Canadian directors who are shifting their filmmaking south of the border. Jean-Marc Vallée definitely leaps to mind with Dallas Buyers Club and Wild. David Cronenberg did his first film in the States with Map to the Stars.
These directors have the right to make films wherever and with whomever they wish. But Canadian directors making films that are only Canadian based on the director takes away chances for Canadian films to shine under great directors.
Dolan writes and directs his own films, so he does have a advantage. His first 5 films are, and feel, Canadian. Canadian settings, actors, mentality, vision. All of that Canadian and Quebecois.
Dolan's next film might get more notice in the United States, but at what price?
Besides the Canadian Screen Awards, the next chance for Mommy to win a prize could be the Independent Spirit Awards.
Mommy is up for Best International Film along with Force Majeure, Ida, Leviathan, Notre, The End of History, and Under the Skin starring Scarlett Johansson.
The Independent Spirit Awards will air on February 21 at 5 pm ET on IFC.
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Corner Gas: the Movie serves long-time fans quite well. The show, which ran on CTV from 2004-2009, is popular in some circles south of the border and did run on WGN America in syndication.
The plot of the film is that Dog River is in bad financial shape. Comedy ensues.
Don Lake and Will Sasso make appearances in the film. They are relatively known actors in the States, but both are actually Canadian.
Current TSN personality Darren Dutchyshen and the Fox Sports 1 team of Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole (former TSN personalities) make cameos in the film.
The fear in doing a film based on a show is that the story lasts the length of 4 episodes. Surprisingly, the film pulls that off well. The actors and characters pick up where they left off.
We don't want to give away any spoilers, but we can say Wanda has the best time of any character in the film, with Davis a close second.
The film aired on CTV in Canada on December 3. We don't have timelines for video release on either side of the border. But that shouldn't take too long.
photo credit: Mommy film
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