Ryan Gosling may be singing and dancing his way to a status few Canadian actors have ever held: a Oscars statue. Christopher Plummer and Anna Paquin are the only Canadian-born actors in the modern era (1949-present) to win an Oscar.
Gosling was nominated in the Best Actor category for La La Land. He will go up against Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea; Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge; Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic; and Denzel Washington, Fences. Gosling won the Golden Globe for their best actor nod, amusingly in a musical or comedy, for La La Land. Gosling beat out the other Canadian acting Ryan as in Ryan Reynolds, who was nominated for Deadpool. Gosling also beat out Colin Farrell, The Lobster; Hugh Grant, Florence Foster Jenkins; and Jonah Hill, War Dogs.
This is Gosling's second Best Actor nomination: he previously was nominated for Half Nelson (2006). Rachel McAdams was the last Canadian actor nominated for a major acting award for Best Supporting Actress for Spotlight (2015).
Denis Villeneuve received a nomination for Best Director for Arrival. Villenueve is up against Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge; Damien Chazelle, La La Land; Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea; and Barry Jenkins, Moonlight. Arrival is the second time Villenueve has been recognized by the Academy. Incendies made the Top 5 cut for Best Foreign Language Film in 2010. Arrival is the 4th film Villenueve has directed since his unofficial split from doing French-Canadian films. His next film, Blade Runner 2049, also stars Gosling.
The only Canadian director to win an Oscar for Best Director was James Cameron for Titanic in 1997.
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Besides Incendies, Villenueve made a name for himself in Quebec and Canada for directing Polytechnique, Maelstrom, and August 32nd on Earth.
Arrival received 8 Academy Awards nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Other Canadians nominated for their work on Arrival are producer Shawn Levy (Best Picture) Paul Hotte (set decoration); Bernard Gariepy Strobl and Claude La Haye (sound mixing); Patrice Vermette (production design); and Sylvain Bellemare (sound editing).
Canada nominees for Best Foreign Language Film |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Film | Year** | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| War Witch | 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monsieur Lazhar | 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Incendies | 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Water | 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Barbarian Invasions* | 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jesus of Montréal | 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Decline of the American Empire | 1986 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| * Oscar winner **Year of the film, not the ceremony. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Xavier Dolan can look on the fact that 3 of his 6 films have been submitted by Canada for the Best Foreign Language Film. And It's Only the End of the World reached the highest plateau of any of those films by making the shortlist.
In the end, Dolan and his film are on the outside looking in as the film didn't make the cut for the Oscar nominations for Best Foreign Language Film.
His latest film was the least visibly Canadian film he has done but, in many ways, the most accessible to film audiences.
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We knew Toni Edrmann (Germany) and The Salesman (Iran) were certain to make the cut. Land of Mine (Denmark), A Man Called Ove (Sweden), and Tanna (Australia) took the other 3 slots. I've seen A Man Called Ove and it is a very fine film. That film is very sentimental whereas Land of Mine from the trailer looks depressing.
The other films besides It’s Only the End of the World to miss the cut were The King’s Choice (Norway); Paradise (Russia); and My Life as a Zucchini (Switzerland).
So what was "wrong" with Dolan's film? Too many recognizable French stars? The way it was shot with intense intimacy? Or not heartwarming enough?
Then again, if somehow the most un-Canadian of his films made the Top 5 cut, there would have been a different set of intense emotions behind the decision. The fact that Mommy didn't come close to making the cut and the latest film made the shortlist can leave a film reviewer bewildered. Each film year is different; a cliche but occasionally true. Not that Cannes success should mean something, but finishing second at Cannes and not making the Top 5 Oscars cut is a bit of a surprise.
Dolan's other films selected by Canada for Best Foreign Language Film were J’ai tué ma mère and Mommy.
It's Only the End of the World is the 3rd Canadian film to make the shortlist but not the top 5 cut. The Necessities of Life (2008) and Denys Arcand's Days of Darkness (2007) are also on that list.
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CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
Blind Vaysha, from the National Film Board of Canada, received an Oscar nomination for best animated short. Jason Reitman was one of the presenters during the Oscars feed this morning.
The 89th Annual Academy Awards will be on February 26 on ABC and CTV.
photo credit: Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for Landmark Vineyards
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