Canadian Crossing

2015 Grey Cup returns to the City of Champions

Edmonton won 10 games in a row to finish the 2015 season with the Grey Cup, a 26-20 win over the Ottawa RedBlacks at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg.

The Esks ended a 10-year drought in appearances and victories at the Grey Cup. In 2005, Edmonton defeated the Montréal Alouettes to win the Grey Cup.

Jordan Lynch plunged over the top for a 1-yard TD run with just over 3 minutes left in the 4th quarter for the winning score. That was the only touchdown of the second half.

For the city of Ottawa, the drought stands at 39 years. This was the first Grey Cup game for the RedBlacks and only the second for the city since 1981.

Ottawa started the game with 13 points before the Edmonton offense took the field. Henry Burris capped off the opening drive with a 3-yard TD pass to Patrick Lavoie. After a fumble off the kickoff, the RedBlacks marched down as Burris ended the drive with a 3-yard TD pass to Ernest Jackson.

Ottawa actually led for longer than Edmonton in the game. The Esks led for the last 12 seconds of the first half, the first 7:57 of the 3rd quarter, and the final 3:22 of the game.

After the first 6:09 of the game, the RedBlacks could only manage 7 points on a pair of field goals and a rouge. Amazingly, that was almost enough to pull out the Grey Cup.

When I saw these two teams live in Ottawa in August 2014, the RedBlacks led for most of the game but the Esks scored late in that game to pull out the win.

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Mike Reilly deservedly won the Grey Cup MVP. Reilly missed quite a bit of the season. Matt Nichols had rather good success but ended up traded to Winnipeg. James Franklin also started at quarterback for the Esks. But Reilly was the impetus for the 10-game winning streak, including the Grey Cup.

Reilly appeared late in the last Esks loss, on Labour Day in Calgary, returning from an injury. He started every single game in the winning streak.

Chris Jones has had a stellar start, going 26-10 as the Edmonton head coach. The team was 4-14 in 2013, the last year before Jones came over from his role as defensive coordinator for the Toronto Argonauts.

Edmonton has 14 Grey Cup titles in 25 games. The Toronto Argonauts are tops in the CFL with 16 Grey Cup titles.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Investors Group Field was sold out at 36,634. The decision to put the stage where seats could have been sold led to a reduced capacity. The 1998 Grey Cup, also in Winnipeg, drew 34,157, the only attendance smaller than the 2015 Grey Cup since 1975.

Small crowds are in the Grey Cup's near future with the 2016 game at BMO Field in Toronto and the 2017 game likely in TD Place in Ottawa.

When BMO Field became the official home of the Toronto Argonauts, we found out the Grey Cup was coming in 2016. Rogers Centre hosted the 100th Grey Cup in 2012. Toronto has hosted almost half of the Grey Cups; 2016 will be #48 in Canada's largest city of 104 Grey Cups.

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The opening ceremonies and the first minute or so of the game aired in the United States on ESPNews. ESPN2 finished up a college basketball game but the channel did let the audience know to switch over.

ESPN2 stayed around after the game for the presentation of the Grey Cup before fading out for another college basketball game.

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The 2016 Super Bowl is somewhere near San Francisco, though the area hasn't hosted a Super Bowl since 1985. So with that as an excuse, long-time Bay Area sportswriter Ray Ratto has been covering the Grey Cup festivities for CSNBayArea.com.

Ratto definitely has an appreciation for how the Grey Cup is not the Super Bowl without a hint of irony. Ratto is having a good time in Winnipeg.

"The Spirit of Edmonton trumps all Super Bowl parties" was one headline. Ratto also wrote about the Atlantic Schooners and coitus, though not in the same column.

As an American who writes about the CFL, I applaud U.S. sportswriters who write about the CFL (our Peter King/MMQB coverage can be found here and here). Though I am a little jealous that Ratto was in Winnipeg, a Canadian city still on my bucket list.

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Even if you pay a lot of attention to the CFL, you might not have noticed that the CFL had a logo. Or that the logo has been changed … just not everywhere.

The old logo (right) and that logo is what you see at CFL.ca.

The new logo (left) is part of the new branding of the league along with a new slogan "What We’re Made Of," and a new video to explain what all this means.

“Our great fans will be the first to tell you: we need more fans. And in particular, we need to attract the next generation of fans, so this league is strong for years to come," said CFL Commissioner Jeffrey L. Orridge.

This is Orridge's first Grey Cup. Canadian TV ratings are down, attendance is down. And the fans that are there aren't getting any younger.

The Web site and smartphone apps will be updated soon, likely this week. One action that needs to stop right now is automatically playing a commercial with blasting audio when you log onto CFL.ca.

We won't spend much time on the site outside of the next couple of days but nothing will make a lot of us run away faster from a Web site than one playing commercials automatically with audio.

We understand the league has to skew younger, but we don't want to see another Rogers/NHL debacle.

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Edmonton's return to the Grey Cup after 10 years means for the first time in a decade, we are having a conversation about the team's nickname.

We have had Inuit groups talk about changing the nickname of the team. The Ottawa Citizen came out with an editorial this week about changing the name.

Supporters point out that Edmonton doesn't exploit the nickname in terms of a mascot, and are often referred to as the Esks. For the record, CanadianCrossing.com has not and will not use the complete team nickname, though we refer to the team as Esks.

Changing college nicknames has been an much easier ride, especially in the U.S. with Stanford, Marquette, and Miami of Ohio as prominent examples. Changing professional team nicknames is a much more difficult path.

While the Cleveland MLB franchise is a bad example, the Washington NFL franchise is the most egregious. As to where the Edmonton CFL franchise falls within those examples, we will let those offended the term speak louder than us on the subject.

Though it shouldn't be up to the critics to come up with an alternative, having a better option might help ease fans to a name change. We all might agree on a word that begins with E.

The Edmonton Elks did exist and played for the Grey Cup in 1922. Explorers would be a great fit. Energy would tie in to the oil in the region. The Eagles nickname is obvious but worth a mention. Express and Empire are possibilities though Earthquakes aren't relevant.

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With huge holes in CFL coverage later in the season and the East final on ESPNews, we knew the ratings would be bad. This was worse than bad.

The game drew 24,000 viewers on ESPNews. Imagine a full TD Place in Ottawa or Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton and that would be the entire U.S. TV audience.

Last year's West semifinal with Saskatchewan @ Edmonton game drew 68,000 viewers on ESPN2, but last year's contract had more late-season games and more playoff games on TV.

Having the game on ESPNews did bring the numbers down, but 24,000 is a really bad number.

The more obvious presence late in the season, the higher the ratings would be.

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photo credit: Al Charest/Calgary Sun/Postmedia Network
logos and video credit: CFL

NHL the week in preview November 27, 2015

Welcome to Black Friday! The NHL stopped yesterday but will make up for that, especially on Friday and Saturday. The NHL Network gives us a Black Friday game with the Vancouver Canucks in Dallas. The channel will carry the CBC feed Saturday night with Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals at the Air Canada Centre.

There are 6 HNIC games Saturday night with 3 doubleheaders. The CBC nightcap has the Calgary Flames in San Jose.

City TV has its first Saturday doubleheader ever, starting with the Habs hosting New Jersey early and the Ottawa Senators in the desert late.

Rogers Sportsnet has a doubleheader so the CBC late game will be only on CBC. The channel starts out with the Edmonton Oilers in Pittsburgh and finishes up with the Winnipeg Jets in Denver.

The channel will have Hometown Hockey but with U.S. teams because of the Grey Cup and having 6 teams on Saturday night. Rogers Sportsnet will have a pair of all-Canadian matchups with the Oilers in Toronto on Monday and the Maple Leafs in Winnipeg on Wednesday.

Rogers Sportsnet One has the Oilers on Wednesday hosting Boston. Rogers Sportsnet 360 has the same 2 teams featured on the NHL Network last Friday, but this time the Stars are in Vancouver.

Hometown Hockey will be in Wolfville, Nova Scotia this weekend. Though the game is in the afternoon, the NHL Network surprisingly isn't picking up the pregame.

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NHL Network

Friday
Vancouver @ Dallas, 8:30p
Saturday
Washington @ Toronto, 7p

Tape delayed
Tuesday Edmonton @ Toronto, 1p
Vancouver @ Anaheim, 3p
Wednesday Columbus @ Montréal, 1p
Thursday Boston @ Edmonton, 2p

CBC

Saturday
Washington @ Toronto, 7p
Calgary @ San Jose, 10p

City

Saturday
New Jersey @ Montréal, 7p
Ottawa @ Arizona, 10p

Rogers Sportsnet

Saturday
Edmonton @ Pittsburgh, 7p
Winnipeg @ Colorado, 10p
Monday
Edmonton @ Toronto, 7:30p
Wednesday
Toronto @ Winnipeg, 7:30p

Rogers Sportsnet One

Wednesday
Boston @ Edmonton, 9:30p

Rogers Sportsnet 360

Thursday
Dallas @ Vancouver, 10p

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Vancouver had its first home game since the Paris Attacks on Saturday night. Mark Donnelly sang O Canada entirely in French. When the crowd started its applause, Donnelly gently raised his hand as if to say, "There's more." Donnelly then sang O Canada in English, including the middle where the crowd sings a cappella.

What an amazing gesture from Donnelly, the best NHL anthem singer, and the Vancouver Canucks. Class act. So rare to hear O Canada entirely in French. There were people in the crowd who were singing along en Francaise.

Donnelly also sang the "Star Spangled Banner" for the Chicago team.

CBC and Rogers Sportsnet aired the anthems in Canada. WGN-TV carried the anthems in the States. Ironically, the signal airs in Canada but the games are no longer an option on the superstation in the United States.

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NHL Network used the Dallas feed for the Ottawa game on Tuesday night. Blame it on using the home feed or the U.S. feed or how well the Stars are playing this year. We wouldn't be surprised if we see the same pattern today against Vancouver.

These are rare times where the channel will carry a Canadian team outside the HNIC and Hometown Hockey windows. TSN5 would have been a nice treat, but wasn't meant to be.

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Stephen Harper became infamous for taking only 5 questions at press conferences in the last election campaign. Mike Babcock only got asked 4 questions but that was because the Rogers studio crew is only 4 people. Each crew person asked a single question of the Maple Leafs head coach.

The Saturday pregame spent the first half on the Maple Leafs. Ottawa had a few minutes of mention. Winnipeg's time was devoted to Max Domi, who played for the other team, and Shane Doan, who many years played in Winnipeg but again plays for the other team.

The impression is that Rogers is working really hard to make its pregame irrelevant to the games of the night. If that is the goal, the company is doing very well. The fans who are concerned about the games at hand have to go elsewhere.

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The Saturday headlines threw in a kicker story about Canadian teams wanting outdoor games. Elliotte Friedman mentioned Montréal, Ottawa, and Toronto wanting consecutive months for outdoor dates. The actual year wasn't mentioned in the story, so Friedman's explanation left us a bit mystified.

The segment has rarely seen anything controversial, though Canadian outdoor games shouldn't be controversial.

Winnipeg was supposed to get an outdoor game this season, but Gary Bettman deliberately screwed over the Jets knowing a December date wasn't going to be viable. Friedman never mentioned the Jets.

The unofficial consensus was that Ottawa would have an outdoor game in late 2017 just after the Grey Cup that should be scheduled for the nation's capital. Both would tie in Canada's 150th anniversary.

Toronto could get one in early 2017 for the NHL's 100th anniversary. This could leave Winnipeg for a December 2016 date.

The idea that there would be 3 Canadian outdoor games in about 12 months time would be highly unusual with only 2 outdoor dates in the modern era. After all, Gary Bettman gets to decide and Canada doesn't fare well in his decisions.

Montréal's options are slim unless Olympic Stadium serves as a large indoor game. Saputo Stadium and Molson Stadium are pretty small.

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Catching up with Hometown Hockey … By being in Fredericton during the week, I missed the Saturday farmers market. Tara Slone said the consensus place to go in Fredericton was the Fredericton Boyce Farmers Market on George Street. The market is year-round but only on Saturdays.

The footage was more about art than food, especially true this time of year. Fresh squeezed orange juice in central New Brunswick is definitely not local. The donairs did look good.

The market crowd did look like they were having fun at the farmers market.

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Black Friday isn't technically a holiday in Canada. NBCSN will use a pair of Canadians, Gord Miller and Ray Ferraro, to call the Chicago/Anaheim game on Friday. Ottawa and Toronto are idle on Friday. As for Chris Cuthbert, he has a football game to cover on Sunday.

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The NHL Network ran the CBC feed for the Maple Leafs game Saturday night. We normally get 6 in-game promos per game but this game only produced 5 promos. The second promo did not run in the 3rd period.

Early game: Murdoch Mysteries; This Life (1st); Rick Mercer Report; Romeo Section (2nd); Dragon's Den (3rd).

Stephen Colbert mentioned "Dragon's Den" Friday night during a segment on curling brooms. Colbert referred to "Dragon's Den" as the Canadian version of "Shark Tank." ("Dragons Den" came before "Shark Tank.") Many more people in the United States watch "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" than any NHL game.

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NHL Network matinee feeds

Tape delayed
Saturday Montréal @ NY Islanders*; Chicago @ Calgary (unknown feed due to blackout)
Monday NY Islanders @ Montréal*; New Jersey @ Vancouver*
Tuesday Colorado @ Winnipeg*; Edmonton @ Washington*
Wednesday Ottawa @ Dallas*; Calgary* @ Anaheim
Thursday Winnipeg @ Washington*; Montréal @ NY Rangers*; Vancouver @ Minnesota*

2015 CFL Grey Cup preview

The Ottawa RedBlacks have gone from worst to first to reach the first Grey Cup in the city's history since 1981. The opponent in 1981 and 2015 is Edmonton; this year's version has won 9 straight games, including the West final over Calgary.

Edmonton won that fateful Grey Cup in 1981 coming from a 20-1 halftime deficit. The Ottawa Rough Riders had gone 5-11 this season; except for a mysterious double interference call, Ottawa might have been champs that year.

You have to go back to 1976 to find the last time Ottawa won the Grey Cup. Edmonton's last appearance was 2005, but the Esks won that day over Anthony Calvillo and the Montréal Alouettes.

ESPN2 will have the TSN feed from Investors Group Field in Winnipeg starting at 6 pm. Canadians will have more opportunities for pregame all weekend.

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ESPN2

Sunday
Ottawa vs. Edmonton, 6p

TSN

Sunday
Ottawa vs. Edmonton, 6p

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Even though Ottawa hasn't won a Grey Cup since 1976, the Rough Riders won 4 Grey Cups between 1967-1976 and 9 Grey Cup titles overall.

Ottawa has won 9 Grey Cups, most of them with the Rough Riders and none since 1976. Even though a majority of Canadians might not remember 1976, the 9 Grey Cups is above average in terms of sheer numbers.

The Toronto Argonauts have won 16 Grey Cups followed by Edmonton with 13. (These numbers don't count other franchises in those cities in much earlier times).

Franchises with fewer wins but more recent wins include Calgary (7, 2014); Saskatchewan (4, 2013); BC Lions (6, 2011); and Montréal (7, 2010). Hamilton has 8 as the modern Tiger-Cats but haven't won since 1999. Winnipeg has 10 Grey Cup wins but haven't won since 1990.

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Edmonton swept the RedBlacks this season rather easily, winning in back-to-back weeks early in the season. The Esks won handily at home 46-17 in Week 3 and got by 23-12 in Ottawa in Week 4.

In fact, Ottawa has never beaten Edmonton since its return to the CFL. The closest contest is one your humble narrator remembers fondly. On August 15, 2014, a cold night in Ottawa, the teams combined for 0 touchdowns in the softball-like score of 10-8. Grant Shaw kicked the winning FG with 20 seconds left, giving the Esks their first lead of the night.

I saw that horrible offense output, er, tremendous defensive battle. We don't expect that in the 2015 Grey Cup, given that the 2 division finals accounted for 139 points.

Regular readers will also remember that I would have attended the Calgary-Hamilton game if Tim Hortons Field would have been open. That was the 2014 Grey Cup matchup.

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Ottawa, Edmonton to play in 2015 Grey Cup

2015 CFL division finals preview

2015 CFL playoffs preview

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

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Ottawa and Edmonton last played each other in the Grey Cup in 1981, the last appearance for Ottawa.

This was the infamous double interference call, which thwarted the Rough Riders chances that days. Objectively, Ottawa got screwed on the call that prevented the catch by Tony Gabriel. The 4-14 Rough Riders almost upset the Esks that day, in fact, Ottawa had a 20-1 lead in that game.

The Ottawa QB that day was J.C. Watts, who later became a Republican Congressman from Oklahoma. Watts was the first African-American Republican Congressman from south of the Mason–Dixon line since Reconstruction.

Hugh Campbell coached Edmonton to the win that day; yes, Ottawa Coach Rick Campbell is Hugh's son.

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Edmonton's last CFL loss was on Labour Day, a 16-7 loss to Calgary. Since then, the Esks have beaten Calgary, Hamilton, BC, Winnipeg, Calgary, BC, Saskatchewan, Montreal, and Calgary.

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Investors Group Field has been in operation for the last 3 seasons of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The regular capacity is 33,500 but the Grey Cup will have extra seating in the neighbourhood of 40,000.

U.S. readers might recognize the stadium for the 2015 FIFA World Cup this summer though the CFL turf looks much nicer and less lime green on screen.

Winnipeg has only 3 previous Grey Cups. The CFL hasn't always been about spreading the Grey Cup around to the teams in the league.

Canad Inns Stadium/Winnipeg Stadium hosted the previous 3 games, all with extra capacity added for the Grey Cup. The largest crowd was the first ever Grey Cup in Winnipeg in 1991 with 51,985.

The 1998 Grey Cup drew 34,157 while the 2006 Grey Cup had a crowd of 44,786.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have won 10 Grey Cup championships, but none since the city was first allowed to host a Grey Cup. The last championship came in 1990.

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The music pattern continues of having a Canadian music act play before the Grey Cup but an American act is the halftime show.

This year, 2014 Juno Award and 10-time CCMA Award winning artist Dean Brody gets the nod for the pregame.

Fall Out Boy will be the halftime music act at the Grey Cup. Then again, ESPN2 will show the halftime festivities, adding to the allure of playing at the CFL championship game.

The anthem duties go to Quebec singer-songwriter and two-time Juno Award nominee Bobby Bazini.

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2015 marks the 20th anniversary of the only U.S. team to win the Grey Cup. The Baltimore Stallions beat Doug Flutie and the Calgary Stampeders in Regina. Rolling Stone magazine had a really nice story looking back at the 1995 Grey Cup.

Speaking of Flutie, our condolences to Flutie and his brother, Darren Flutie, on the loss of their parents. They died about an hour apart.

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For those readers 25 and under 😄, there will be a #GreyCup sign in Winnipeg where the colour changes based on the power of tweeting for your favourite team.

For those readers older than 25 😠, if you send out a tweet using #GreyCup or #CoupeGrey and the hashtag of your favourite team (listed below), you can potentially change the colour of the nearly 7-foot-high #GreyCup sign.

• BC Lions — #LionsOrange
• Calgary — #StampsRed
• Edmonton — #GreenAndGold
• Winnipeg — #BlueAndGold
• Saskatchewan — #RiderGreen
• Hamilton — #BlackAndYellow
• Toronto — #DoubleBlue
• Ottawa — #RedAndBlack #RougeEtNoir
• Montréal — #AlsRed #AlsRouge

Likely, you would see the 2 squads in the Grey Cup — Hamilton @ Ottawa vs. Calgary @ Edmonton — be the most active since their teams are in the big game. But maybe #RiderGreen will get more action than anticipated.

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photo credit: Winnipeg Sun
logo credit: CFL

Ottawa, Edmonton to play in 2015 Grey Cup

2nd and 25. Bad snap. Henry Burris secures the ball to throw a 93-yard TD pass to Greg Ellingson for the winning score in the 35-28 win over Hamilton.

At 40, Henry Burris will lead the Ottawa RedBlacks to their first Grey Cup and the first for the city since 1981.

Edmonton had an easier time in defeating its provincial rival, the Calgary Stampeders, 45-31, though the Stamps finally looked alive in the 4th quarter. Counting the regular season, the Esks have won 9 in a row.

Calgary had an impressive 14-4 record, but had significant injuries on the offensive line. Not being able to get a touchdown in the first half buried the Stampeders in a hole that they ultimately couldn't dig their way out.

The two Grey Cup teams from last season ended up losing in the division final games. If Calgary and Hamilton had been healthier, the outcomes might have gone in a different direction.

John Hufnagel moves upstairs for the Calgary Stampeders as Dave Dickenson moves up to head coach for next season. The future of Jon Cornish is a huge concern in Calgary. Even with a 14-4 record, the Stamps missed him, especially in the playoffs.

Hamilton, despite using a 4th string quarterback, came close to going to the Grey Cup. In fact, this loss was Kent Austin's first playoff loss as a coach. With a healthy Zach Collaros and another year of chemistry, the other East teams should be concerned.

2015 CFL division finals preview

2015 CFL playoffs preview

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Hamilton almost had the story of the day, coming from behind to tie the game with the wind in the 4th quarter. Luke Tasker had an amazing TD catch to help tie the game at 28.

Why points count? Justin Medlock actually missed a FG but since the ball wasn't returned out of the end zone, the Tiger-Cats got a point.

Ottawa had several drives thwarted but were able to salvage every FG attempt thanks to Chris Milo. The RedBlacks kicker started the season with Saskatchewan but things didn't work out in Regina. Going from last place to the Grey Cup is a wild journey.

Jeremiah Masoli used the option well all game. Masoli pitched the ball to Luke Tasker who then threw a long successful pass to Andy Fantuz for the Tiger-Cats.

Hats off to the Ottawa RedBlacks for beating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 3 games in a row in a 4-week span.

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The 25,093 crowd is the largest home crowd in the history of the franchise. In fact, the Ottawa RedBlacks have only played in front of 4 crowds above 30,000. In 2015, Ottawa played before 30,480 in Regina on September 19. In 2014, the RedBlacks played in front of 33,427 in Regina on September 21; 31,521 in Edmonton on July 11; and 31,217 in Vancouver on October 11.

The 2015 Grey Cup will have a relatively small attendance versus recent Grey Cups but will be by far the largest crowd ever to see the Ottawa RedBlacks in person.

We are being serious about this being a big deal, but also poking fun since the East either limits attendance (Ottawa, Hamilton) despite demand or has limited attendance (Montréal, Toronto).

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Edmonton drew a more respectable 34,414 in the West final, but in Commonwealth Stadium, the crowd didn't look as impressive.

Esks fans had it rough before Chris Jones came to town. But with a team with a 8-game winning streak, a home West final with Calgary in town and favored to win, you would imagine a larger crowd.

Attendance has been down in the CFL. Vancouver closed off the upper bowl but had trouble filling the lower bowl. People in the East are limited either by capacity or enthusiasm.

We were surprised that Ottawa didn't increase capacity for the East final. There were people sitting on the lawn on the east side, but so many more people would have been there. Years from now, more people than 25,093 will claim to have been there to see such an eventful game.

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If there were politicians or celebrities in Ottawa, we missed them. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pretty busy days. We speculated on that last week.

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We got the CFL rules primer promo as well as a spotlight on Brandon Banks in the ad breaks for ESPNews during the East final.

James Duthie and Ottawa resident Jock Climie along with Paul LaPolice handled duties in the nation's capital. The regular CFL on TSN studio crew were out west in Edmonton.

Both division finals deserved to be on U.S. television. We don't think the ratings will be that good because of the lack of second half telecasts and using ESPNews. Then again, the ratings threshold on ESPNews is much lower.

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video credit: YouTube/CFL Global
logo credit: CFL

NHL Center Ice Fall 2015 free preview analysis of Canadian ads

What can be more Canadian from a NHL standpoint than Sidney Crosby and Tim Hortons? Crosby was joined by fellow Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia native Nathan MacKinnon at a nearby Dartmouth Tim Hortons drive-thru location.

Crosby and MacKinnon were clearly better on the ice than serving ice(d) coffee. The NHL duo were seen in a later commercial trading NHL cards, also available at Tim Hortons.

The demographics are covered since Crosby is a veteran despite the baby face and MacKinnon is a young player.

This ad was particularly prominent in the 2015 NHL Center Ice free preview period last month.

Canada Post was promoting a service called Flex Delivery where you can get your packages delivered to any post office. In the ad, we see a young woman at home, visiting a friend, and on vacation. When she is on vacation, she clearly is in Lunenberg, Nova Scotia.

Canada Post has had a few bad years, especially with the community mailboxes. The new government has stepped in to halt those community mailboxes, but the organization can still use plenty of help, in part due to services such as Flex Delivery.

This is a great idea especially if you travel a lot.

The creepiest ad, but still funny, was the way Wendy's is selling its Bacon Portobella Mushroom Melt. The burger is sold in a sexy way with untold emphasis on the brioche bun.

The theme is a bit silly but cool is that Canadians are not as uptight about sex. And unlike Carl's Jr. in the States that uses models in bikinis to sell burgers, Wendy's Canada is more classy and more fun about selling its burgers.

We should note that the ad above is NOT the actual ad that has been running but is close in theme and words and with the same actors.

This cute Scotiabank commercial features a girl giving her old hockey equipment to her younger brother, going through each item and its impact in her success. The brother embraces all this amazing equipment but balks at the pink mouthguard, telling his sister that he'll get one of his own.

Along with The 5th Season, Scotiabank has been good at showing that girls play hockey, too. In a country that is the home of the best women's team in the world, a nice reminder that you need girls to play so that women can play.

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-- Elliotte Friedman and Christine Simpson shot a Sportsnet promo with Henrik and Daniel Sedin. The cafeteria setting reminds us of ESPN ads in the States. The subject is about passing and assists. Daniel asks for the salt, and when Friedman goes to pass the salt, Henrik comes along and says, "Only I pass to my brother."

Click here for the closest we could come to finding the video. The first few seconds are cut off but you get the idea. Thanks to Twitter @JovanHeer for posting the video online.

-- Fallsview Casino has amusing ads. The latest was a guy caught outside his hotel room door with his robe stuck in the door. People walk by being completely impressed in a subtle sexual manner. We then see he is wearing a Fallsview Casino shirt. Ads such as this and the Wendy's commercial are likely to be seen in Canada but not in the United States. Subtle and sexy is not something Americans, as a whole, can get away with doing.

-- McDonald's Canada is promoting its 2 new breakfast wraps. One of the wraps contains kale … and feta, 2 ingredients not normally associated with fast food. The wrap also comes with scrambled eggs, presumably from fresh-cracked eggs.

-- Chicken was a theme for Harvey's, Swiss Chalet, KFC, and A&W. Harvey's talked about 8 million ways to do chicken with different sandwiches and combos of condiments. Swiss Chalet had chickens partying since the restaurant is now offering rotisserie beef as well as chicken. That theme is a variation of cows happy that people were eating Chick-Fil-A in the States.

A&W was promoting its chubby chicken burger, noting the naturalness of the chicken. "Chubby chicken" is an odd name, but the chicken, when not sold as a burger, is called chubby chicken. You would think people wouldn't be reminded of what can happen when you eat the chicken, i.e., becoming chubby.

KFC promoted its popcorn chicken poutine bowl, one of 5 fill-up bowls for $5. In the States, we've seen these $5 bowls but the idea of a poutine bowl is a lot more tempting and relevant in Canada.

-- Manitoba tourism was aimed at Manitoba and Saskatchewan on TSN3 with the polar bear tourism ad where the bear comes up to the vehicle. There was an Whistler tourism ad that ran during a Calgary game.

The preview started before the election was over. We saw the Hazel McCallion Liberal Party ad during TSN3 on October 16 in the Winnipeg vs. Calgary game.

The ad called out Harper's deception, implying that Trudeau would cut income splitting for seniors. Getting a senior, long-time Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion, was brilliant.

This ad is worth watching again, even though the election is now over.

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videos credit: Tim Hortons; Canada Post; Wendy's Canada; Scotiabank; Liberal Party of Canada

photo credit: McDonald's Canada

Remembering an amazing grilled sourdough bread in Halifax

Jane's on the Common was a very memorable experience in my initial trip to Halifax in 2009. The best memory was this incredible grilled sourdough bread.

Jane's is gone, but Edna's — Jane's daughter — has a place in Halifax, though not on the Common. The bread was still rather good at Edna's.

Though I spent more of this trip outside Halifax, I still enjoyed a few good meals in the Nova Scotia capital. In my next trip to Halifax, I'll be back for more of that bread and a lot more.

Our friends at our sister blog, BalanceofFood.com, have a lot more about the 2015 adventures with that bread as the base for mushrooms on toast. You can find that column here.

photo credit: me

NHL the week in preview November 20, 2015

In festive pre-U.S. Thanksgiving fever, the NHL Network lets us have 3 games this week involving Canadian teams. The Original 6 matchup of Toronto at Boston will be on Saturday night with the CBC feed. The channel will show the Hometown Hockey game from Corner Brook, NL as well as the Bell Centre as the Habs host the New York Islanders via Rogers Sportsnet.

The bonus game will feature the Ottawa Senators at Dallas Tuesday night. Would love a TSN5 simulcast.

In the second half of the CBC Saturday doubleheader, Chicago will be in Vancouver.

City TV gets the Senators as they host Philadelphia Saturday night.

Rogers Sportsnet will have the Winnipeg Jets Saturday night as they host the former Jets. Besides Hometown Hockey, the Wednesday game has the Habs at Madison Square Garden.

Since the NHL takes Thursday off, Rogers Sportsnet One and 360 will run concurrent games alongside Rogers Sportsnet on Wednesday. The Vancouver Canucks are on Sportsnet One at Minnesota and the Edmonton Oilers are on Sportsnet 360 at Carolina.

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NHL Network

Saturday
Toronto @ Boston, 7p
Sunday
NY Islanders @ Montréal, 7p
Tuesday
Ottawa @ Dallas, 10p

Tape delayed
Saturday Montréal @ NY Islanders, 1p
Chicago @ Calgary, 3p
Monday NY Islanders @ Montréal, 1p
New Jersey @ Vancouver, 2p
Tuesday Colorado @ Winnipeg, 2p
Edmonton @ Washington, 3p
Wednesday Ottawa @ Dallas, 1p
Calgary @ Anaheim, 2p (2-hour)
Thursday Winnipeg @ Washington, Noon
Montréal @ NY Rangers, 2p
Vancouver @ Minnesota, 4p

CBC

Saturday
Toronto @ Boston, 7p
Chicago @ Vancouver, 10p

City

Saturday
Philadelphia @ Ottawa, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet

Saturday
Arizona @ Winnipeg, 7p
Sunday
NY Islanders @ Montréal, 7p
Wednesday
Montréal @ NY Rangers, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet One

Wednesday
Vancouver @ Minnesota, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet 360

Wednesday
Edmonton @ Carolina, 7p

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Still catching up on Hometown Hockey, but loved seeing Jimmy Rankin perform live at Sydney, Nova Scotia during the first intermission of the game. The video during the "You Feel the Same Way Too" song had some colourful shots of the Cape Breton area of the province.

"Hometown Hockey" would make a fine 30-minute ad for Canada's small towns, even if hockey weren't involved.

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The music was mixed so loud that George Stroumboulopoulos was literally drowned out in the beginning of the show. Adam Oates in for Kelly Hrudey. And the return of the Puck Wall.

We've seen so many pre-taped interviews on the show. These interviews aren't necessarily bad, but the urgency of the interviews in the old Hockey Tonight CBC pregame show was what made the pregame show more relevant.

Strombo made a joke about Henrik Sedin needed to get quickly to the rink after the interview. Uh, Sedin left hours ago for the rink.

The pre-taped interviews take time away from analysis, especially from Nick Kypreos, so there is a benefit.

We learn so little from the pregame show; Rogers has stripped most of the relevancy to the 30 minutes leading up to game time.

The NHL Network bailed right around the 7 pm ET mark to move to its studios to promote its all-U.S. matchup.

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Good to hear Bob Cole call a game with the Maple Leafs in New York. You have been missed.

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True to form, the NHL Network live look-ins to the 3rd period of West Coast games are limited in markets where one of the teams is playing. When the Flames were in Chicago Sunday night, most of the country saw the 3rd period live while those in Chicago saw brief cut-ins from Sportsnet One.

This will be especially painful Saturday night as the Chicago team is in Vancouver so I'll miss CBC promos from the late game.

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We got to see the final CBC promo of the 1st period for "This Life" in the matinee rebroadcast on the NHL Network.

The 3rd period of the Oilers in Los Angeles was shown live on the NHL Network. The CBC promos ran very late in the period but we did get both of them. The first promo was for the "Romeo Section" with under 5 minutes remaining in the 3rd period. The final promo ran in the final minute of a close game for "Canada's Smartest Person," featuring guest judges Dan O'Toole and singer Jully Black.

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The old TSN gang of Gord Miller and Pierre McGuire worked the Minnesota-Pittsburgh game Tuesday night for NBCSN. McGuire is definitely different than what he was in his TSN days. The only one that can get a bit of the old McGuire to come out is Miller.

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NHL Network matinee feeds

Saturday Calgary @ Washington*
Sunday Vancouver @ Toronto (CBC*)
Monday Calgary @ Chicago (unknown feed due to blackout); Toronto* @ NY Rangers (Sportsnet)
Tuesday Vancouver @ Montréal*; Winnipeg @ St. Louis*
Thursday Vancouver @ Winnipeg (Sportsnet*); Chicago @ Edmonton (Sportsnet likely, but unknown feed due to blackout)

2015 CFL division finals preview

The Battle of Eastern Ontario. The Battle of Alberta. The 2015 CFL Final Four.

Both #3 seeds were knocked out last weekend: the Toronto Argonauts on a field goal, the BC Lions on only getting 3 field goals.

For the 3rd time in 4 weeks, Hamilton will play Ottawa. The RedBlacks swept the 2-game regular series to take the East Division crown. No surprise that the East final was sold out even early in the week.

ESPNews will carry the East final from TD Place, taking the TSN feed. The West final will be Internet-only in the United States.

Edmonton won 2 of 3 from Calgary this season. The teams split games at McMahon Stadium with the Stampeders winning 16-7 on Labour Day and the Esks edging out the 15-11 win on October 10. Edmonton pulled off a 27-16 win on September 12 at Commonwealth Stadium.

John Hufnagel is trying to win a Grey Cup in his final season as the head coach. Edmonton won 8 straight to win the West Division. One of these forces will not make it past Sunday.

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ESPNews

Sunday
Hamilton @ Ottawa, 1p

TSN

Sunday
Hamilton @ Ottawa, 1p
Calgary @ Edmonton, 4:30p

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Swayze Waters was certainly in the limelight on Sunday. Waters almost recovered a punt that could have led to a Toronto major score. And yes, a couple of his FG attempts got caught up in the wind at Tim Hortons Field in the 4th quarter.

Justin Medlock might have been able to overcome the wind, but the Tiger-Cats coin toss win before the game made the difference in the East semifinal.

Both offenses played highly conservative in the game. Jeremiah Masoli did his best impression of a 2015 Montréal Alouettes QB in the first half.

A healthier offence, such as we've seen in Ottawa, should have an easier time on Sunday, unless the weather is a factor in the nation's capital.

2015 CFL playoffs preview

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

How long has it been since the Canadian capital has seen playoff football? The Montréal Alouettes were the Montréal Concordes back then. Warren Moon was Edmonton's quarterback. BC Place had just opened and there was no SkyDome.

The 1983 Ottawa Rough Riders were 8-8 and hosted the East semifinal at Landsdowne Stadium (on the site of TD Place). The Rough Riders lost 33-31 to Hamilton.

The 1982 Ottawa Rough Riders were 5-11 and traveled to Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton and defeated the Tiger-Cats 30-20. The next week, the Toronto Argonauts trounced the Rough Riders 44-7 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

And yes, the prime minister back then was Trudeau, but Pierre Elliotte Trudeau, not Justin.

The last time an Ottawa team was in the playoffs was the Rough Riders in 1994. The 4-14 Rough Riders lost their last 7 games yet made the playoffs because Ottawa had a point-differential tiebreaker over Hamilton. The Rough Riders lost to first-place Winnipeg that year.

TSN has never carried a playoff game in Ottawa … until Sunday.

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The BC Lions did about as well as could be expected. Travis Lulay had injury issues all season, but the Lions discovered what they had in Jonathon Jennings. 

Free agency will impact a lot of teams in the off-season, and the Lions will be heavily in the mix, pro and con. Right now, BC is a team with a lot of young potential but is a mid-level team. 2016 could be a completely different story.

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Calgary and Edmonton have a rich playoff history playing each other. For a bit of recent history, the Stampeders won 43-18 in the 2014 West final in Calgary and the Esks won 33-19 in the 2011 West semifinal at Edmonton.

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We often saw Stephen Harper at sports games, especially in Ottawa. With the first CFL playoff game in the Canadian capital since 1983, you would hope that new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would be in the stands at TD Place.

However, this month, Trudeau's schedule is pretty busy. There was the G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey, earlier this week. Several meetings, including meeting with Queen Elizabeth II, will happen in between before the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris that starts November 30.

Then again, Harper didn't go to climate change conferences while being prime minister.

Canada hasn't had a deputy prime minister since the Martin Government in 2006. Carla Qualtrough is the new Minister of Sport and would be an ideal choice to attend the game in Ottawa in place of the new prime minister.

We don't know whether the new prime minister is as much of a sports fanatic as the previous prime minister. We might find out this winter at Ottawa Senators games and next summer at TD Place for the RedBlacks.

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Chris Cuthbert and Glen Suitor were in Hamilton last weekend. Rod Black and Duane Forde were in Calgary. The teams should switch sides of the country for the trips to Ottawa and Edmonton.

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image credit: CFL

Breaking down 2015 WIFF Canadian films

We knew this was going to be a slow year for films. Our initial analogy of comparing them to NDP MPs from 2011 proved to be frighteningly true. Some intriguing films but few that will make a splash.

Even within the 5 films with crossover potential, 2 of them rank well above average, and those 2 films are likely overrated in crossover potential.

There are some jewels in the list but they will be harder to find, even for Canadians.

2015 Windsor International Film Festival preview

2015 TIFF Canadian film wrapup

Strong crossover potential

My Internship in Canada was our top pick from the festival. We reviewed this film separately. As for crossover appeal, the film is smart and clever. True, some of the subtleties will be lost in a non-Quebecois audience. U.S. audiences sit through films such as "The Kings's Speech" and "The Queen" about British politics, so foreign politics isn't that foreign. Patrick Huard and Suzanne Clement are known entities for those who have seen recent major Quebecois films: in fact, both were in "Mommy." The film has a limited release in Canada and no known U.S. outlets at the moment.

Film review: My Internship in Canada 

Elephant Song features Xavier Dolan in his acting world playing a mental patient who might have information about a missing doctor. Bruce Greenwood is a fellow doctor who is trying to get information from Dolan's character. The vast majority of the film is Dolan and Greenwood in a meeting of the minds. Beautiful acting in a chilling story. Catherine Keener plays the nurse with a link to the past with Greenwood's character. Carrie-Anne Moss plays Greenwood's wife. The film actually played at TIFF in 2014 so "Elephant Song" has been out for awhile. It has played in Canada, but outside a few festivals, the film hasn't played in the U.S.

The Anima Profile is a documentary about the real story about the "A Gay Girl in Damascus" blog, though the blog itself turns out to be less than real. The film offers a hybrid documentary with fiction elements to set the mood. The film needed a bit more of the fiction to make things interesting. The real story of the blog is convoluted, and the film suffers as a result. The Canadian connection is a French woman who now lives in Montréal, and while we can sympathize with her story, the film makes this more about her than the suffering in Syria.

Every Thing Will Be Fine gives us James Franco as a writer who accidentally kills a young child with his car. The legendary film director Win Wenders gives us Montréal from an anglophone standpoint. We see the city's skyline, including Olympic Stadium, from the South Shore. French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg spends the entire film in English, including reading The Gazette. The closest we get to Quebecois is Canadian actress Rachel McAdams in an unconvincing Quebecois accent. Look carefully for a brief appearance by Julia Sarah Stone, star of "Wet Bum." Wenders takes us down a path in the way his films tend to go, so you may not understand it all but the ride is worthwhile. The film should be out in the States next month.

Born to Be Blue is a Canadian look at the life of American jazz legend Chet Baker, who is known for his heroin use as much as his trumpeting. The filmmakers set the film in the 1960s after Baker launched his career but after his fall from the limelight. We see Baker trying to play himself on film and how his girlfriend is also the actress who played his girlfriend in the film about Baker's life. The filmmaker made some good and bad choices in how to portray the story, kind of like the highs and lows of a drug high. Ethan Hawke does a good job at taking us into Baker's head and his need to get high. Look for Callum Keith Rennie as Baker's long-time manager and Kevin Harchand as Dizzy Gillespie. Other than the surf and beach scenes that were filmed in Los Angeles, "Born to Be Blue" was shot in Sudbury, Ontario.

Good but harder to find

Guidance is a twisted comedy that actually is funny. Pat Mills is the writer, director, and lead character, an over-the-top alcoholic who is a recovering child star who decides to help people by pretending to be a school guidance counselor. The character is a bit of Stuart Smalley with mannerisms remnant of Bruce McCulloch from "Kids in the Hall." Mills' character turns out to be helpful but not in the ways the school intended. Toronto is the setting though the film smartly stays away from downtown where we get a different vibe of Canada's largest city. Look for Kevin Harchand as the principal: U.S. audiences know him from playing Detective Art Bell on "Orphan Black." This film is likely headed to video-on-demand in both countries after playing in theatres on both side of the border.

La Passion d'Augustine is the latest film from Lea Pool. The film takes us to a convent school in rural Quebec in the 1960s post Vatican II that specializes in music. The actresses sing and play the piano themselves. The primary plot is the niece of the mother nun comes to the school with amazing talent and an attitude. Pressure also comes from forces higher up (but not too high) who don't understand the need for a school devoted to music. The changes are also coming within Quebec in terms of the loosening of the dominance of the Catholic Church in La Belle Province. Change in a world that may not be ready for change is a theme throughout the film. Pool does a marvelous job in telling a story that is female-dominant in a church that doesn't think all that much about the fairer gender.

Sandwich Nazi brings us the story of a Vancouver deli owner who grew up in Lebanon. Salam Kahil loves his customers so he isn't rude like the Soup Nazi, but he is definitely very un-PC. If you are more sensitive or are housing young children, this may not be the film for you. For mature adults, this film is seriously hilarious. You learn that the sandwich guy has an elaborate background that brought him to Canada.

Haida Gwaii: On the Edge of the World showcases the series of islands off the coast of western British Columbia. Mining and logging have done their damage to the island but the documentary shows us that the native people have successfully fought back. The islands have more natives than non-natives. The scenery is amazing and well worth the price of watching, but you get a cool story about a place that is Canadian and aboriginal with majestic beauty.

Al Purdy Was Here is a hearty look at one of Canada's best poets. The film shows us the poetic impact Purdy made as well as celebrating the A-frame house where Purdy created a lot of his poems. Margaret Atwood, Gordon Pinsent, Sarah Harmer, and Bruce Cockburn are some of the Canadian icons who make appearances in the documentary; look for now disgraced Sen. Pamela Wallin in her previous life as a TV journalist interviewing Purdy. A documentary about poetry could put some people to sleep, but the film tells the story of a guy with a Grade 10 education who produces some amazing takes on Canadian life and culture. "Al Purdy Was Here" is the debut film from Bruce D. Johnson, long-time MacLean's film critic.

Good but difficult to find

Le Mirage is about a mid-life crisis from director Ricardo Trogdi, who brought us "1987" in last year's festival. The film starts as comedic with exaggerated expectations for what the manager of a sporting goods store considers to be a fantasy world. We saw poignant scenes of trying to keep up with the neighbors, including a scene where we see price tags of what items cost, something that feel straight out of a Denys Arcand film. "An Eye for Beauty" hits on some of the same targets as "Le Mirage." Both films take us to Quebec City as a forum for romance. "Le Mirage" takes a serious turn toward the end of the film. While the film starts out as a light comedy, the ending is true in its sadness, definitely not a focus-group tested American ending.

Our Loved Ones is a family drama about depression set in rural Quebec. The family patriarch has died of a "heart attack" but the real reason is kept from one of the sons. The film moves through the years and is mostly about the relationship between him and his daughter Laurence. The film is well-made and gives us rich, real characters. Our Loved Ones does drag toward the end but is true to the story. One side note: the children are named Laurence and Fred, the same names as the primary characters in Xavier Dolan's "Laurence Anyways." A very clever shout-out to lovers of Quebec film.

Us is set up as a film with a young person returning from Los Angeles to the fictional city of Davenport, Ontario after failure. However, the film turns out to be a Breakfast Club setting with 25-year-olds and a nice mix of animation and reality to show how our peers don't always have the ideal life they pretend to have. This film is surprisingly well-made given the premise.

Ville-Marie is a film that has levels above the script even if we aren't quite sure what they are. European actress Monica Bellucci plays an European actress doing a film in Montreal. Pascale Bussières, whom you should remember from "When Night Is Falling," plays Marie, a nurse in Hopital Ville-Marie. The two end up with a bond of sorts even though their backgrounds are quite different. The film felt incomplete as if you weren't getting the whole story. Though the focus is more on the European actress, the story of the nurse would have made for an amazing film that would have been better than this film.

Short, local, or bad

Liminality is a quarter-life crisis film centered around a number of characters set in London, Ontario. If you are paying enough attention, you see signs of Ontario throughout the film from milk bags to the Beer Store. The film feels more of an indulgence to the filmmaker as opposed to the audience.

Stillwater is a short film from director Min Bae, who works at WIFF. The actors and story are local set in the prohibition times about a teenage boy trying to get medicine for his ailing baby sister. The film is only 23 minutes. The potential for a full-length film is there so we will hold off a full conclusion until we see the finished product. But Canadian prohibition is a great topic and Windsor's history and geographic proximity to the United States is a story that should be told on film.

Whatever It Was is a surprisingly complex story about relationships and trying to find what you want. The local Windsor film is legendary in those circles and is based off of a play. The characters make you want to care, even if they are headed toward poor relationship choices. Windsor native Dylan Pearce directed this film and "40 Below and Falling" but clearly had a better writer for this film.

40 Below and Falling was very close to being a parody of a rom-com. The couple is decent with not much chemistry. The family members are oddly cast and are given scenes that are poorly written and act pretty wooden in them. Again, this is close to being a parody but those scenes aren't funny or interesting. You almost wonder if the intended bride and groom even met, much less be in love. The winter scenery is gorgeous, set in Alberta north of Edmonton. If you rent this for the scenery, you'll be spending a lot of time fast forwarding the film.

One-time shot

The Mask (Eyes of Hell) is a landmark in that this is the first (of many) Canadian horror films, dating back to 1961. The film and plot are pretty simple: a mask is found in an archaeological dig and anyone who wears the mask sees unspeakable horror that leads to unfortunate consequences. You can see the cult elements and the 3-D effects are rather cool, especially for 1961. This version is remastered and has a limited run.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

I didn't get to see "The Trick with the Gun." There was a conflict with another Canadian film. I didn't hear any buzz; found a single person who liked the film. "Chameleon" was probably a very fine film about Ghanaian journalism, but I didn't get a chance to see it. I can't speak to the Canadian content, if any, of "Miss Julie," "Suite Francaise," and "The Wanted 18." 

Canadian film review: My Internship in Canada

I had one Canadian film in my head even back to the time of our 2015 TIFF preview. Combine Canadian politics, Patrick Huard, and Suzanne Clement, and my interest is heightened.

Turns out the film actually exceeded my expectations.

We did draw a parallel to the U.S. film "Swing Vote" based purely on the plot. After seeing both films, you can take the parallel off your mental list. "My Internship in Canada" is a much more layered film.

The film is real when it needs to be real, but allows a bit of overindulgence when needed. The premise is clearly a bit unrealistic: the country is potentially headed to war in the Middle East. Through a series of circumstances, Steve Guibord, Huard's character, is the deciding vote.

2015 Windsor International Film Festival preview

2015 TIFF Canadian film wrapup

TIFF 2015 announces Canadian film lineup

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Guibord is helped by his Haitian intern, played delightfully by Irdens Exantus. Suzanne Clement plays Guibord's wife and her character is pro-war. Their daughter Lune, played by Clémence Dufresne-Deslières, is against the war.

The intern suggests Huard's MP character go out and ask the people in his riding. The pro-war movement is tied to jobs, though there isn't a direct correlation. The anti-war movement is peaceniks above anything else.

The fact that Philippe Falardeau, who wrote and directed this film, treats both sides with a cynical eye is an encouraging sight of letting the audience figure out what might happen. You might remember that Falardeau is the same director that brought us "Monsieur Lazhar" where he also wrote the screenplay.

Guibord is swayed in a number of directions, especially the prime minister, who looks and acts a lot like the prime minister at the time this film was made.

The film also spotlights a real northern rural Quebec battle: logging rights vs. land rights of the native Canadians.

The film pokes gentle Canadian humour at all parties and mostly at Guibord. Its heartwarming moments come across as very sincere, something you get with well-written characters.

After having seen Clement doing very dramatic roles in Xavier Dolan films: "I Killed My Mother"; "Laurence Anyways"; and "Mommy." — watching her do comedy was a pleasant non-surprise. Her portrayal as a dominant wife is in huge contrast to the typically meek "sidekick wife" roles American actresses are trapped in far too often.

Huard plays well the seeming meekness of his character, a far cry from the rough exterior we saw in "Bon Cop, Bad Cop" and "Starbuck."

Falardeau gives us outside characters in "My Internship in Canada" and "Monsieur Lazhar" to tell us about Canada. In both films, we appreciate what Canada has from an outside perspective (sort of like, well, this blog).

For a film that is spoofing Canadian politics, the message of the true nature of democracy is a prominent cloud through the film in a light-hearted fashion that teaches us about what democracy means by the time the film ends even if the message isn't dominant through the story.

video credit: YouTube/LesFilms Christal