NBCSN carries back-to-back games featuring Canadian teams. The U.S. channel starts out with the Toronto Maple Leafs shortest road trip to Buffalo on Tuesday. Wednesday Night Hockey showcases Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers in St. Louis.
The NHL Network blows off Hockey Night in Canada for the second time in 3 weeks and picks up a different Sunday night game other than Hometown Hockey as the Calgary Flames are in Chicago.
CBC starts out Saturday night with the Maple Leafs in the Twin Cities. Gary Bettman's dream desert team will be in Edmonton in the nightcap.
Citytv is content to get the Winnipeg Jets in New Jersey.
Rogers Sportsnet has a weekend of Montréal Canadiens home games with the New York Rangers on Saturday. San Jose will be in town on Sunday with Hometown Hockey from Boisbriand, QC. The regional channels will match NBCSN with the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday Night Hockey.
NBCSN
Tuesday Toronto @ Buffalo, 7:30p Wednesday Edmonton @ St. Louis, 8p
NHL Network
Sunday Calgary @ Chicago, 7p
Tape delayed Friday Los Angeles @ Edmonton, 1p Chicago @ Winnipeg, 3p Sunday Toronto @ Minnesota, Noon Monday Winnipeg @ NY Rangers, 2p (2-hour) Thursday Edmonton @ St. Louis, 1p
ESPN+
Saturday San Jose at Ottawa, 2p Thursday Minnesota at Edmonton, 9p
CBC
Saturday Toronto @ Minnesota, 7p Las Vegas @ Edmonton, 10p
Citytv
Saturday Winnipeg @ New Jersey, 7p
Rogers Sportsnet
Saturday NY Rangers @ Montréal, 7p Sunday San Jose @ Montréal, 7p Wednesday Edmonton @ St. Louis, 8p
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Toronto's Andreas Johnsson had a hat trick in the first 12:20 of the game, but didn't have the best performance by a player on a Canadian team Saturday night. Patrik Laine had 5 goals for Winnipeg in St. Louis. Thought the NHL Network might switch the matinee rebroadcasts to carry the stellar performance but that did not happen.
Rogers took the Canadiens leaving the Jets for Citytv, but the Rogers-owned OTA network got the much better game.
Ron McLean and Bob Cole were the only current people who knew the baby blues from 1971-1987. Special guest Dave Hodge looked very familiar in that jacket. McLean took over for Hodge in March 1987 after the pen-flipping incident. McLean had a nice interview with Hodge in the pregame.
Speaking of older CBC nostalgia, the NHL Network ran the 2003 Heritage Classic on the 15th anniversary on November 22. Was fun to hear Chris Cuthbert with Greg Millen and Glenn Healy from that night in the cold in Edmonton. Cuthbert was with CBC during the era of the baby blues.
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The Grey Cup mentions were limited to the promotion for Hometown Hockey. The Hockey Night in Canada baby blue blazers might have proved to be a distraction. Even with 4 games, the CFL cities didn't match up with the NHL cities. The Grey Cup was not held in the east.
We are nearing the end of the fall season for the CBC so CBC promos will switch to such activities as alpine skiing. The early game only had 5 promos likely because the 3rd period went so quickly. We should note that the telecast added a power play promo when there was no power play.
Early game: Frankie Drake Mysteries (1st); Alpine Skiing; Still Standing; Canada's Smartest Person Junior (2nd); Mr. D (3rd)
We are sorry if you came to this article looking for NBA basketball or if you were chasing an In-N-Out burger with 2 beef patties with 2 slices of cheese.
This double double is about something truly Canadian. For those not familiar, a double double is a coffee with 2 creams and 2 sugars at Tim Hortons. The fun part is that they put in the cream and sugar so you get the drink without the extra work.
During the 2018 Windsor International Film Festival, I decided to be a part of that Canadian experience. To give some perspective, I am not a coffee drinker. If you are looking for someone to tell how great anyone's coffee is, you are on the wrong blog post.
I ordered the Simply Sausage biscuit, 2 chocolate Timbits, and a small double double. I did order the drink to get the hockey trading cards too.
My double double was quite hot. I opened the little flap but couldn't get it to close properly. I brought the drink into my first film of 6 films that day, so the caffeine would be helpful.
I did let the coffee cool off a bit. When I went back to the coffee, the drink was warm but not hot.
The double double was pretty satisfying though a bit on the sweet side. I could drink the coffee, which isn't always true for a black coffee. In the future, I might want to play with getting a double single (2 creams, 1 sugar) or a double (2 creams). The Double Double did accomplish what few cups of coffee can do: mask the taste of coffee so I could drink it.
There are non-coffee ways to feel Canadian. They don't always involve donuts or poutine or donair but often they do. Eating ketchup chips or all-dressed chips or having fries with gravy are gateways to feeling Canadian. Lamb burgers seem Canadian. A double double might be the quickest and cheapest way to feel Canadian.
Hochelaga, Terre des âmes was not a white whale on the level of Goin' Down the Road. Waiting for the film to cross the border in some form had been frustrating but mostly to satisfy the streak of seeing the Best Foreign Language Film entry for the Oscars. After seeing the film and Chien de Garde, the streak goes back to 2005.
The premise is that the history of Quebec is tied to a spot around the 30-yard line at Percival Molson Stadium, home for the McGill Redmen and CFL Montréal Alouettes.
In a game with McGill hosting Bishop's Gaiters from nearby Sherbrooke, a massive sinkhole opens up and swallows the Redmen's kick returner.
The film goes back and forth from ancient Quebec stories to Mohawk archaeologist Baptiste Asigny working on his thesis by investigating remains from the sinkhole in the football stadium. We hear the Asigny name in a conversation between 2 indigenous men in a faraway time.
François Girard wrote and directed Hochelaga, Land of Souls. Girard has a fine reputation, including Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould and The Red Violin.
The modern-day shots are presented with as little fanfare as possible. They recite the dialogue but you aren't excited about anything that happens in the modern time. The girlfriend of the deceased player is visible on screen but not in dialogue. Samian, who is more musician than actor, plays Asigny with as much blandness as poutine without cheese, gravy, and the cooking of the fries.
As someone who doesn't think history is boring, Girard goes out of his way to make the Quebec history pretty boring. Why were these stories chosen? We do see a story about Jacques Cartier but there isn't much there.
I've seen Quebec historical stories such as Chaise Galerie (Wild Run) and Louis Cyr, so I know Quebec history can be told in interesting ways. Hochelaga, Terre des âmes isn't one of those films.
We do see a couple of prominent Canadian actresses in small roles. Karelle Tremblay plays a nun in a hospital in one of the historical scenes. Caroline Dhavernas plays a TV news anchor in the modern times. We also hear a sports radio talk show conversation about P.K. Subban.
If you fast-forward through the modern sequences, you can come up with a decent look at Quebec history that will be in almost as much context as if you watched the whole film. Hochelaga, Terre des âmes is certainly not the worst Quebec film to go before the Academy Awards (Chien de Garde holds that honour) but there are better ways to learn about l'historie du Quebec.
video credit: YouTube/Victoria Film Festival photo credit: Hochelaga, Land of Souls
The Calgary Stampeders had made it to the last 3 Grey Cups and put together a complete game in winning the 106th Grey Cup 27-16 over the Ottawa RedBlacks. The Stampeders played in their 5th Grey Cup since 2012 and also won the Grey Cup in 2014.
Bo Levi Mitchell became the 5th quarterback to win the MOP and Grey Cup MVP in the same season. Coach Dave Dickenson has now won the Grey Cup as a quarterback, offensive coordinator, and head coach. The Stampeders went 41-11-2 in the last 3 years.
Terry Williams set a new Grey Cup record with a 97-yard punt return TD late in the first half.
Ottawa had 6 turnovers with a Diontae Spencer fumble on a punt return early in the 4th quarter perhaps being the most crucial.
Trevor Harris had more passing yards than Mitchell (288-253) but threw 3 interceptions. Mitchell had 2 interceptions.
The weather conditions produced turf issues that didn't bring out the best in either team's offence.
Calgary receiver Lemar Durant was named the game's Most Valuable Canadian with 4 catches for 30 yards and a 22-yard run.
The Ottawa RedBlacks have been in existence for 5 years and are 1-2 in Grey Cups. This is a far cry from the futility of the 4-year run for the Renegades as well as the last 20 years of the Rough Riders before the team folded in 1996.
Bakari Grant gets a Grey Cup ring. For weeks, we had wondered why Grant hadn't been signed. He was a stellar receiver for Saskatchewan last year yet when released by the Roughriders, Grant couldn't even get a cup of coffee. Several CFL teams lost multiple receivers but the Stampeders were smart enough to get quality receivers such as Grant.
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The 106th Grey Cup drew a crowd of 55,819 to Commonwealth Stadium. The last Grey Cup attendance to surpass that amount was 2010 in Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton with 63,317. The last 3 years in Winnipeg, Toronto, and Ottawa drew 36,634; 33,421; and 36,154.
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The Calgary Stampeders became the fourth team in the modern CFL era to lose 2 straight Grey Cups but win the next Grey Cup. Since 1958, no CFL team has lost 3 Grey Cups in a row. Hamilton (1963), Edmonton (1975), and Hamilton (1986) had the same fate as Calgary (2018).
I look away from the #GreyCup106 for a few minutes after the game ended and when I looked back I saw a player on a horse. This sport is wild pic.twitter.com/v51eAsSDg4
The potential 10th CFL team will be called the Atlantic Schooners. The name was determined by fans who purchased season ticket deposits. The announcement was made at the Atlantic Schooners Kitchen Party. The Schooners name was the franchise that received a conditional franchise in 1984 but couldn't put together what was needed for a franchise. The hope for the Maritime Football Limited Partnership is to have the Atlantic Schooners on the field by 2021.
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The CFL en Espanol became a reality with the Grey Cup being the first CFL game broadcast in Spanish. Mexican sportscaster Aaron Soriano provided the play-by-play and current Toronto Argonauts defensive lineman Frank Beltre provided colour analysis. CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie signed a letter of intent Friday with the Liga de Futbol Americano, an 8-team Mexican semi-pro American spring football circuit.
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The ESPN2 coverage was flawless. The channel jumped in at 6:02 pm Eastern without a glitch.
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We had seen fewer appearances from Jock Climie on the panel in the last couple of seasons. In his regular life, Climie is a lawyer with a firm (Emond Harden) specializing in labour and employment law. Climie's expertise has been missed even with the growth of Henry Burris and Davis Sanchez. Now Climie will retire from the panel after 18 years of expertise. Climie was a receiver for 12 years with Toronto, Ottawa, and Montréal.
Hopefully, Climie will be able to help out on TSN during the playoffs but that remains unknown.
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The 107th Grey Cup will be at McMahon Stadium in Calgary on November 24, 2019. There are 2 teams looking for a coach and a few quarterbacks may move around in the off-season.
The NHL Network returns with the CBC feed for the Maple Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada.
CBC starts out with the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting Philadelphia. The Canucks gravitate to the warm weather in Los Angeles in the Saturday nightcap.
Citytv showcases the Winnipeg Jets in St. Louis on Saturday night.
Rogers Sportsnet spends Saturday night with the Boston Bruins in Montréal. Hometown Hockey from Dieppe, New Brunswick gets an early start with the Grey Cup matinee as the Calgary Flames visit the neglected desert team. Wednesday Night Hockey has Toronto hosting Patrick Marleau's old team.
Rogers Sportsnet One follows the Calgary Flames to the bright desert lights on Friday and a home game with Dallas late on Wednesday.
NHL Network
Saturday Philadelphia @ Toronto, 7p
Tape delayed Sunday Boston @ Montréal, 2p Monday Edmonton @ Los Angeles, 1p Tuesday Boston at Toronto, 12:30a (90-minutes), 2p (2-hour) Wednesday Pittsburgh @ Winnipeg, 2p
ESPN+
Monday Boston at Toronto, 7p Tuesday Ottawa at Philadelphia, 7p Wednesday Dallas at Calgary, 9p Thursday Las Vegas at Vancouver, 10p
CBC
Saturday Philadelphia @ Toronto, 7p Anaheim @ Vancouver, 10p
Citytv
Saturday Winnipeg @ St. Louis, 7p
Rogers Sportsnet
Saturday Boston @ Montréal, 7p Sunday Calgary @ Arizona, 3p Wednesday San Jose @ Toronto, 7:30p
Todd McLellan started Tuesday in San Jose where he was the coach of the Edmonton Oilers and used to be the San Jose Sharks coach. Edmonton replaced McLellan with Ken Hitchcock.
The average hockey fan could tell you GM Peter Chiarelli was the better candidate for firing. McLellan didn't trade Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle for pennies.
Edmonton acquired Ryan Spooner for Ryan Strome with the New York Rangers. You had to feel bad for Strome, who was singled out in a horrible one-sided deal when he was acquired from the New York Islanders for Jordan Eberle. Spooner may not be that much of an upgrade scoring-wise but he will be a different Ryan.
When Edmonton goes to the New York City metro area, they have to deal with the ghosts of Taylor Hall (New Jersey) and Eberle (NY Islanders) and possibly Strome (NY Rangers).
Hitchcock's debut came in the only NHL game on Tuesday complete with NBCSN coverage. You could get excited that NBCSN carried the Edmonton Oilers Tuesday night, but for the second time in as many attempts this season, the U.S. channel used the other team's announcers. We got San Jose broadcasters Randy Hahn and Bret Hedican for the "national" telecast. It would have been funny if NBCSN had brought in Drew Remenda, former Sharks colour analyst and current part-time Oilers colour analyst, especially in San Jose.
Earlier this month, NBCSN used the Tampa Bay announcers. NBC has exclusivity for producing national telecasts in the United States. This was literally the only game on the schedule that night. Kevin Quinn and Louie DeBrusk would have been better and that is saying a lot.
The intermissions were actually helpful. Paul Burmeister may be #3 on the NBC depth chart but is the best friend of Canadian teams in that category. Jeremy Roenick and Anson Carter lent great insight into Hitchcock's methods. The segments even looked at Calgary and Vancouver. Unfortunately for NBCSN, Calgary had its only telecast already shown and Vancouver continues to be banned by the network.
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Checked out ESPN+ for the Battle of Alberta last Saturday night. The service ran a bit of the first intermission, but that seemed to be an exception. The intermissions should be part of the programming but there may be issues with the coverage. Still, people are paying for the ESPN+ service. The game telecast went off without a hitch. The amount of fighting reminded the studio crew of the 1980s. Back then, fighting was more of a thing. Edmonton and Calgary were among the top teams in the NHL in the 1980s.
If Edmonton was as good at scoring as the team was in fighting, Todd McLellan would still have a job.
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The NHL is considering an outdoor Heritage Classic game at Mosaic Stadium in Regina. The league has been focused on neutral sites such as South Bend, IN and State College, PA. The Winnipeg Jets would be a logical pick with a Canadian opponent that could be Calgary, Edmonton, or Toronto.
We have to point out that Montréal still hasn't hosted an outdoor game. If they have to remove the roof at Olympic Stadium to replace it, that would be an obvious spot. Stade Saputo and Molson Stadium would need additional seats to be viable.
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Calgary sports fans get a doubleheader on Sunday with the Hometown Hockey game early and the Grey Cup late. At least they aren't playing at the same time like what Ottawa had to deal with in 2016.
The NHL Network ran a matinee rebroadcast with Montréal in Edmonton last week that didn't seem out of the ordinary. The first commercial break in the 3rd period had all Canadian ads. We saw ads for A&W Canada for their Beyond Meat burger; Mopar tires; 630 CHED, a news/talk radio station that is also the home of the Edmonton Oilers; and Fountain Tire.
The Mopar ad could have been American but an American ad inserted in what was clearly 3 Canadian ads isn't terribly likely.
Sometimes, Canadian ads can sneak through in a live game. Having Canadian ads in a tape-delayed game is rather remarkable. The NHL Network are never that exciting so maybe the channel couldn't sell that air time. Still, those Canadian companies got some free advertising in the United States.
After Hours tomorrow night will be the best ever because Ryan Leslie is filling in for me. Questions for NoahHanifin and David Rittich? Send them to @ryanleslie73
Hard to imagine an episode of After Hours without Scott Oake but that is what we had on Saturday. Ryan Leslie, who worked as the reporter on the Battle of Alberta, hosted the program.
Oake had the weekend off to do fundraising, presumably for the future Bruce Oake Recovery Centre. There might have been a time or two in the CBC days when Oake didn't host. Elliotte Friedman might have filled in at some point.
Leslie started the show with a video call from Oake for Calgary goalie David Rittich. Oake mentioned 2 earlier interviews and asked if Rittich knew who he was. Rittich said he didn't know.
You might have noticed that City is now Citytv on our NHL previews. The channel changed its name from City to Citytv so we are modifying the posts accordingly.
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Rogers did need 5 crews on Wednesday and didn't use Jim Hughson, Craig Simpson, and Bob Cole. They made do with what they had but did violate what should be a cardinal rule. In an all-Canadian matchup, do not use a local crew. Rogers used the Calgary crew in a Flames-Jets game. We like Rick Ball and Kelly Hrudey but that was rude to Winnipeg Jets fans. Yes, Rogers doesn't have rights to the Jets but should still respect their fans. At least Rogers could have used Drew Remenda to counterbalance the Calgary bias.
NBCSN used Gord Miller on U.S. Thanksgiving Eve in a game barely in the United States in Buffalo.
The 106th Grey Cup will be a battle of black and red vs. red and black, a rematch of the 2016 Grey Cup. The division finals produced home wins for the Ottawa RedBlacks and Calgary Stampeders.
Ottawa advanced with a convincing 46-27 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Calgary held off Winnipeg with a 22-14 victory.
Ottawa's last Grey Cup win was in 2016; Calgary last won the Grey Cup in 2014. This is Calgary's 3rd straight Grey Cup and 5th Grey Cup appearance this decade.
The Stampeders swept the season series. Calgary posted a 24-14 home win on June 28 and handled the RedBlacks 27-3 in the nation's capital on July 12.
ESPN2
Sunday Ottawa vs. Calgary @ Edmonton, 6:30p
TSN
Sunday Ottawa vs. Calgary @ Edmonton, 6:30p
The longest Grey Cup streaks will last another year. Hamilton and Winnipeg — the 2 defeated teams on Sunday — have the longest streaks without a Grey Cup. The Tiger-Cats last won in 1999 while the Blue Bombers have a streak back to 1990.
Every other CFL team has won a Grey Cup in the 2010s. Montréal has the third-longest streak without a Grey Cup back to 2010.
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How bad are the BC Lions? Hamilton took care of the Lions 48-8 and then Ottawa handled the Tiger-Cats 46-27.
The crossover team came very close to getting to the Grey Cup in 2017. The East may have only had 2 teams in the playoffs but those teams were strong enough in 2018.
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Trevor Harris had a playoff game for the ages with CFL playoff records with 6 TD passes and a 90.6% completion percentage. Harris lost his first playoff start last season to Saskatchewan last season. Though Harris has as many playoff starts as Grey Cup rings (2), winning a Grey Cup as a starter has to be a significant goal.
Bo Levi Mitchell does have a Grey Cup win as a starter for Calgary. His significant goal is to have as many Grey Cup rings as Harris does.
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Calgary got the ball in the end zone 3 times vs. 0 for Winnipeg. The Stampeders had help with the return of Eric Rogers to the receivers corps. Rogers caught all 3 TD passes from Bo Levi Mitchell.
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Jonathan Rose's CFL East final went from huge success to being removed from the game. The Ottawa defensive back had a key interception. When Hamilton got the ball back after the RedBlacks scored, Rose slammed Hamilton’s Bralon Addison out of bounds for a unnecessary roughness penalty. In the skirmish, Rose pushed an official, which led to his dismissal from the game late in the first half.
The CFL suspended Rose for the Grey Cup. The Ottawa defensive back has appealed his suspension.
This picture is a reminder that Alessia Cara is the halftime entertainment for the 2018 Grey Cup. Cara became the the first Canadian artist to win the Best New Artist award at the 2018 Grammy Awards.
The Reklaws will provide the pregame music. You might remember the band was supposed to play at halftime of the initial Thursday Night Football game in Winnipeg but the stormy weather didn't allow for that to happen.
Country music star Brett Kissel will perform O Canada. NHL fans might remember Kissel during the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs when he was going to sign the U.S. anthem in Edmonton but the mic didn't work, so the crowd sang the song without assistance.
The Grey Cup Festival starts today and runs through Sunday. The events will take place along Jasper Avenue from 99th Street to 96th Street in downtown Edmonton just north of the North Saskatchewan River.
If I were in Edmonton, I would check out the CFL Atlantic Schooners Kitchen Party at the Shaw Conference Centre in Hall D on Friday and Saturday. They don't have a team but they have a gathering every year for the Grey Cup. The party both nights goes to 1 am in Edmonton, which is 4 am back home in Halifax.
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This will be the 5th Grey Cup in Edmonton. Commonwealth Stadium has hosted the Grey Cup in 1984, 1997, 2002, and 2010. Outside of Vancouver (16), Grey Cups have been predominantly in the East. Toronto (48) has hosted Grey Cups in numerous stadiums. Hamilton is the only other city in double digits (10) but hasn't hosted the Grey Cup since 1996
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The CFL on TSN coverage has had some extra help with James Duthie, Jock Climie, Davis Sanchez, Farhan Lalji, and Dave Naylor. That goes along with the studio panel Rod Smith, Matt Dunigan, Milt Stegall, and Henry Burris who were on site in Hamilton, Ottawa, and now Edmonton. Matthew Scianitti worked the sidelines for the East games while Sara Orlesky has worked the sidelines for the West games. Of course, we have to acknowledge Rod Black, Duane Forde, Chris Cuthbert, and Glen Suitor on the calls.
TSN3 didn't carry the Winnipeg game or the East game. Each TSN regional outlet had a team in the finals (TSN1 — Calgary; TSN3 — Winnipeg; TSN4 — Hamilton; TSN5 — Ottawa).
All the eligible TSN channels will have the Grey Cup coverage. TSN4 won't have the 5 hour pregame coverage that begins at 1 pm Eastern. You can read about all the TSN coverage including Grey Cup Saturday.
ESPN2 CFL coverage starts at 6 pm Eastern. The start time is subject to whether the 3rd place game of an early-season college basketball tournament you've never heard of will be over in time. For those paying for ESPN+, the service should offer Grey Cup coverage via TSN from pregames through the season to the hours of Grey Cup coverage. Why should Canadians get to have all the fun?
While Americans will have to wait until 2026 to have a woman of colour on currency, Canadians now have the new $10 bill with Viola Desmond on the Canadian note.
The new $10 bill is the first to feature a Canadian woman; Queen Elizabeth II is on the $20 bill. The bill is also the first vertical bill in the history of Canadian currency. The Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg is on the back of the new bill.
Wanda Robson (above), younger sister of Desmond, was the first person to make a purchase with the bill.
On November 8, 1946, Viola Desmond bought a movie ticket after her car broke down in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. She wanted to sit in the main floor of the theatre, but the theatre would only sell Desmond a balcony ticket. Desmond sat on the main floor. She was forcibly removed from the theatre, arrested, and spent the night in jail.
Black people weren't allowed to sit in the main floor of the theatre. Desmond was charged with tax evasion over the 1¢ difference between the balcony vs. the main floor ticket.
Desmond was given a pardon in 2010. She passed away at the age of 50 in 1965.
Robson said she would take the $10 bill and buy a book co-written by her and Cape Breton University professor Graham Reynolds about her sister. Robson would then give the book to her 12-year-old granddaughter.
Viola Desmond's story has been made into a Heritage Minute. Canadian actor Kandyse McClure portrayed Desmond in the Heritage Minute feature.
Canada's first vertical bill meets the first Canadian woman to grace a banknote. pic.twitter.com/K1mb40CM9a
I was thinking about Desmond when Cory Bowles was in Chicago for his film Black Cop. The discussion after the Q&A talked about the North End in Halifax and the history of discrimination against black people in Nova Scotia. I said out loud that those stories belonged on the big screen.
Just getting back from Canada, I may not end up with a $10 bill anytime soon. But I hope to hold on in my hands in the next few months. When I do, I'll think of Viola Desmond's courage and struggle in the fight for civil rights in Canada.
photo credit: Global News video credit: YouTube/Historica Canada Twitter capture: @HuffPostCanada
"I didn’t have the courage to do Cleopatra, so I did it in Canada." — a paraphrase of what Dame Maggie Smith said in Tea with the Dames (2018).
Tea with the Dames is not a Canadian film but Smith's comedic timing made a Canadian audience laugh. That is a good way to start out our look at the Canadian films at the 2018 Windsor International Film Festival.
Feature films
Giant Little Ones is about 2 teenage boys — Franky Winter (Josh Wiggins) and Ballas Kohl (Darren Mann) — who are very tight. Both are key members of the school swim team. They have an unseen encounter after Frankie's birthday party. The next day, Ballas accuses Frankie of making a sexual move on him and ends the friendship.
All the signs are there. Franky's best friend is a lesbian (Niamh Wilson) who is trying to come up with a replica phallus. He isn't aggressively into girls. And his dad (Kyle MacLachlan) left his mom (Maria Bello) to be with another man.
Franky starts hanging out with Tash, the kid sister of Ballas. Tash has the reputation of being a "slut" but we find out that was more sexual assault than "slut."
Writer-director Keith Behrman doesn't take the obvious paths for Franky or the other characters. Female characters in these type of films are often 1-dimensional at best. Taylor Hickson as Tash will break your heart with her surprising vulnerability around Franky that no one else gets to see. Wilson as Mouse, Franky's lesbian friend, is sweet and funny in her phallus curiosity.
I did wonder if the presence of American actors MacLachlan and Bello would be overwhelming but both actors respected the story and responded accordingly. This story is a great example of how Canadian film can tell certain stories in a mature adult fashion that an American film could never do.
Splinters is not your typical coming out story from a filmmaker (Thom Fitzgerald) who is stellar in handling gay and lesbian issues on film. Belle (Sofia Banzhaf) returns to her family in the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia for her father's funeral. Belle left the family after the acrimony of coming out as a lesbian to her mother. Now Belle has a boyfriend but doesn't want to tell her mother.
The interaction with Belle, mother Pearl (Deb Allen), and brother Greg (Bailey Maughan) feels like a play at times, even after the boyfriend Rob (Callum Dunphy) shows up anyway.
Belle is wrestling whether to be with Rob or with women. Her ex-fiancee Claire also lives in the small town and Belle and Claire run into each other. Sofia Banzhaf performs well as the lead and has to do a lot in this film.
Fans of The Hanging Garden from deep in Fitzgerald's past will recognize the ghost imagery in both films. Look for folk musician Stewart Legere performing during the wake at the house, a nice Nova Scotia touch.
The Grizzlies is based on the real-life story of a lacrosse team in Kugluktuk, a hamlet that is the westernmost community in Nunavut.
The story follows the path of typical sports films. Russ Sheppard (Ben Schnetzer) is using his time in the North to pay off student debts and parlay that experience into a desired teaching position. Sheppard is there to teach history but it's not the history of the people in the classroom. They have many reasons why they aren't in school. Sheppard tries to motivate them, struggles with that, but then comes up with lacrosse as a way to keep them off the streets.
The difference is this film shows the native actors dealing with real-life saga of teen suicides, choosing between school and hunting for needed food, teen pregnancy, and domestic abuse.
Miranda de Pencier directed and co-produced the film with Nunavut filmmaker Stacey Aglok MacDonald, who is from Kugluktuk. Moira Walley-Beckett, showrunner for Anne with an E, and Graham Yost co-wrote the script.
Will Sasso has a role as the best friend to Sheppard who shows him the ropes of the area.
The film balances the need for a motivational sports title with true-to-life stories about people who live in such hamlets. We learn small things about the culture such as not needing to knock on people's doors.
1991 is the latest installment from Ricardo Trogi in a series of films that reflect moments from his life. In 1991, Trogi is studying screenwriting at UQAM when he goes off to study in Italy mostly to chase after a young woman. If you had seen 1981 and 1987, you wouldn't be surprised about Italy since his family is Italian-Canadian. The humour is similar to the other 2 films where Ricardo Trogi (our protagonist) has a lot of flaws and mishaps.
When Trogi finally finds the Canadian embassy, he does make reference to how much nicer this was than a theoretical Quebec embassy had the 1980 referendum gone through. Trogi also name drops Rene Levesque. At several points, Trogi does speak of being a proud Quebecer.
Baby Blues (2008) is a locally shot film that I picked over a current locally shot film (The Control). Josie is starting over. She has to talk her way into a waitress job at the Whistling Kettle Country Dinner (an actual local restaurant). Her friend Mani helps get Josie the job. She tells Josie "if they order fries, suggest gravy."
Josie meets Max, a musician customer who only orders water and sits at a table for hours. Turns out Josie and Max are both hiding secrets. We see Josie's flashbacks so we know something tragic happened.
The film has a few flaws such as waiting way too long to reveal Josie's issues, wondering what kind of diner allows customers to order only water, and certain elements of her back story. Those who complain that Canadian film looks like well, Canadian film, this film doesn't have the best production values.
The characters are likable and the story is interesting enough. The major issue is that the story keeps the audience too much in the dark for far too long.
Canada is really good at horror films, whether the obvious scare or a more subtle fright. The 2018 Windsor International Film Festival featured 3 different kinds of fright.
Level 16 takes us in what might seem to be a finishing school for teenage girls but set in a prison. Reaching Level 16 is the last level before adoption. The young women have gone through years of obedience in a world where making friends can be dangerous.
Katie Douglas, who you might know from Mary Kills People, is Vivien, a tough girl who demands the best bed when she gets to Level 16. Sophia (Celina Martin) tries to convince Vivien that things are not what they seem in their world.
Sara Canning (Miss Brixil) and Peter Outerbridge (Dr. Miro) are very well cast as the adults in the institution. You might remember Outerbridge from Kissed and Better than Chocolate.
Danishka Esterhazy gives us a world of heightened femininity but also feminist in that no man is literally going to save them. The film works as science fiction and horror but is engrossing if you like neither genre.
What Keeps You Alive is part psychological thriller with plenty of horror to be found. A lesbian couple settle into a cabin in the middle of the woods. The cabin has been in Jackie's (Hannah Emily Anderson, Shoot the Messenger) family since just after Canadian confederation. Jackie's wife Jules meets Sarah, a childhood friend of Jackie's who calls Jackie "Megan." Sarah also reveals that their childhood friend Jenny drowned in the lake next to the cabin when they were teenagers.
Writer-director Colin Minihan takes us through an intense pace with well-drawn characters. You never quite know what is happening. This is a smartly presented horror film. The film was shot in Muskoka, ON.
Summer of ‘84 takes us back to a simpler time when people could genuinely be scared. A group of teenage boys in a suburban area in Oregon get caught up in an adventure searching for a serial killer loose who targets teenage boys.
The time period means the boys have to do old-fashioned detective work such as using walkie-talkies. The references are oddly placed at best and at worst feel false to people who lived through those times, especially in suburban Oregon.
The film takes a long time to develop and with little character development to motivate you to stick with the film. There is a serial killer loose yet the only ones who care are the teenage boys. The twists that come at the end feel cheap. The filmmakers did a good job at giving you a bland horror film from this era. That might be genius in a meta direction but might not be too entertaining.
Documentaries
Anthropocene: The Human Epoch follows the pattern of the previous 2 documentaries (Watermark, Manufactured Landscapes) from Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, and Edward Burtynsky. The films are filled with beautiful photography and minimalist dialogue. The latest installment deals with the environmental messes caused by human beings.
The film takes us around the world; the only Canada mention was the logging of British Columbia rainforests. There is a segment about the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland and another segment from London where a former bomb shelter has been turned into a hydroponics farm. Does the film tell us whether these things are bad or just there? The film just shows us things, such as an accumulation of elephant tusks. We do know that is bad.
Sharkwater Extinction is the project Canadian filmmaker and environmental activist Rob Stewart was working on when he died from a dive that went very wrong. The film started as a follow-up to Sharkwater (2006) that first brought attention to harvesting sharks for shark fin soup.
The film takes us to Costa Rica, a country where things were bad for sharks. Laws made things better but a change in government meant more trouble for sharks. We also go to Los Angeles and Miami. In the latter city, Stewart and his crew investigate restaurants and grocery stores looking for shark DNA in products such as pet food and beauty products. Stewart notes that 150 million sharks killed each year but 80 million are unaccounted for in terms of how they died.
The film also covers Key Largo, the site of the final dive. The epilogue covers the accident, coverage, and legacy. (There is a documentary called The Third Dive for more on the accident.)
Stewart turns out to be very personable. Even if you are scared of sharks, you will be on the side of sharks after seeing this film. That makes all the more tragic what happened to Stewart.
Unnamed Verses explores the threatened demolition of 121 housing units in North York in Toronto to build condos. But we learn soon into the film that the story is about the residents of Villaways, specifically Francine Valentine, a young teenage girl who likes to write but is shy to share when she has a chance to record her poetry via rap.
The arts studio in the housing project helps the kids learn and appreciate the world outside the project, including a trip to see the art of Jean-Michel Basquiat at the Art Gallery of Ontario.
We learn that the process for trying to get back into the new housing is complicated. But the film is mostly focused on Francine's world. The gentrification angle gets lost as the personification of people who live in a housing project dominates the film.
NBCSN has the Edmonton Oilers in the spotlight Tuesday night in San Jose. There won't be an overrun since the Oilers game is the only game on the schedule.
CBC won't carry the Toronto Maple Leafs for Hockey Night in Canada as the Habs travel to Vancouver for a late afternoon start local time. The Battle of Alberta in Calgary will be the late game.
City TV welcomes Sidney Crosby and his Penguins to the Canadian capital to take on the Senators.
Rogers Sportsnet has Hometown Hockey from Mount Pearl, Newfoundland as the new desert team will be in Edmonton. The regional channels have a pre-U.S. Thanksgiving doubleheader Wednesday with the Maple Leafs in Carolina and an all-Canadian matchup featuring the Winnipeg Jets in Calgary.
Rogers Sportsnet One has its own Wednesday doubleheader with les Canadiens in New Jersey and Vancouver traveling to Anaheim.
Rogers Sportsnet 360 doesn't feel left out on Wednesday with the Ottawa Senators in St. Paul.
ESPN+ has the game that NBCSN and the NHL Network refuse to cover: the Battle of Alberta with the CBC feed Saturday night.
Saturday Montréal @ Vancouver, 7p Edmonton at Calgary, 10p
City
Saturday Pittsburgh @ Ottawa, 7p
Rogers Sportsnet
Sunday Las Vegas @ Edmonton, 8p Wednesday Toronto @ Carolina, 7p Winnipeg @ Calgary, 10p
Rogers Sportsnet One
Wednesday Montréal @ New Jersey, 7p Vancouver @ Anaheim, 10p
Rogers Sportsnet 360
Wednesday Ottawa @ Minnesota, 8p
In the land of Montréal, centres have been hard to find. This didn't apply to Tomas Plekanec, who was more productive defensively than offensively. Plekanec went to Toronto in a deadline deal last spring but signed with Montréal.
The Canadiens and Plekanec reached a mutual decision to terminate his contract. Plekanec did hit the 1,000 NHL game plateau on October 15 against Detroit. Plekanec played 984 of his 1,001 career NHL games with les Habs. We say merci beaucoup et bon voyage.
John Bartlett and Jason York were reunited for Hockey Night in Canada for the Senators game. Bartlett and York worked Habs games for Rogers Sportsnet East. Rick Ball got to cover the Flames for the late CBC game in Los Angeles.
We were hoping for a Bob Cole sighting but he had the weekend off. The countdown to forced retirement only has a few games left.
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The NHL Network showed the whole Hockey Night in Canada feed this week so the U.S. audience got 6 CBC promos. This was all the more significant since the NHL Network is afraid to show the Habs and Canucks this week.
As we have noted, Mystery Mondays promotes the 2 Monday shows Murdoch Mysteries and Frankie Drake Mysteries. This is the final season for the long-running Canadian comedy Mr. D.
Early game: Anne with an E (1st); Mystery Mondays; Still Standing; Canada's Smartest Person Junior (2nd); Mr. D; Dragons' Den (3rd)
Toronto-Boston matinee rebroadcast: Mystery Mondays (2nd); Dragons' Den (3rd)
7 of the 9 CFL teams have won a Grey Cup since 2010. Hamilton and Winnipeg — the 2 teams that haven't won a Grey Cup in the 21st century — are half of the 4 teams remaining in the 2018 CFL playoffs.
Hamilton dominated the BC Lions from the start in the 48-8 win, dashing hopes for a crossover team in the Grey Cup. The Winnipeg defence combined with Andrew Harris on the ground held off Saskatchewan 23-18.
The Tiger-Cats advance to Ottawa, the team that dominated Hamilton in all 3 games this season.
Calgary has a +5 point differential in its split with Winnipeg this season. The Stampeders won by 13 in Calgary on August 25 though the Blue Bombers won by 8 in Winnipeg on October 26.
Winners advance to the 106th Grey Cup in Edmonton next Sunday.
ESPNews
Sunday Hamilton @ Ottawa, 1p Winnipeg @ Calgary, 4:30p
TSN
Sunday Hamilton @ Ottawa, 1p Winnipeg @ Calgary, 4:30p
There hasn't been a CFL playoff game on Remembrance Day since 2012. The moment of silence during the game was expected. There was a bit of creativity to incorporate the BC Lions with the Pacific Time Zone into the ceremony.
The moment of silence in the East semifinal came just after Hamilton's first punt. The timing was set up for 11 am Pacific time/2 pm Eastern to time with the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
That proved a more ideal scenario than a team with 3rd and goal from the 1-yard line trying to score a major.
All the CFL players wore poppy replicas on the back of their helmets.
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Saskatchewan fans have to wonder after both Zach Collaros and Brandon Bridge get hit in the head by an opposing helmet and no penalties were called. Odell Willis did receive the maximum fine for the Collaros hit.
CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said in a statement that "we need to look this off-season at allowing the Command Centre to make the call on plays such as this one, clear matters of player health and safety."
If the Command Centre can check on procedure or offsides calls, then hits to the head should definitely be on the list.
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The Dane Evans fumble that resulted in a Hamilton TD might have reminded long-time NFL fans of the Holy Roller or (Kenny) Stabler Rule. Evans was near the BC goal line and before he was down, Evans fumbled the ball into the end zone where it was recovered by offensive lineman Kelvin Palmer for a touchdown.
Rod Black did his best to make Bralon Addison the new Speedy B. Matt Dunigan was smart enough to call him Speedy A, then changed the spelling to Speedy Eh as egged on by Milt Stegall.
Brandon Banks, who is out for the season, is the Speedy B. If Addison can play anywhere near that level, Ottawa will work to stop that option.
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The wind was surprisingly not a factor in Hamilton. With Tim Hortons Field turned sideways versus Ivor Wynne Stadium, the wind has been more of a concern in Hamilton. I can still recall the Sean Whyte 20-yard field goal try in the 2013 playoffs in Guelph that was blown down short of the goal posts.
The weather in Regina was -10°C but felt like -19°C (14°F/2°F) at kickoff. The 3:30 pm local time kickoff had a bit more sun than normal only because Saskatchewan is geographically located in the Mountain Time Zone but is on Central Standard Time.
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Wally Buono will not be remembered for how he went out. Still, you do have to be impressed with a team that started 3-6 and went to the playoffs. Buono made the playoffs in 23 of his 25 years as a coach with 5 Grey Cup victories. He coached in 450 regular season games and played in 216 games as a player.
Crossover teams have had recent luck. The 2018 BC Lions became the first crossover team to lose their game since the 2014 BC Lions lost to Montréal. The Lions were the first crossover team to lose to an opponent with a worse record since the 2003 BC Lions.
CFL crossover games
Year
Team
Result
2018
BC (9-9)
lost to Hamilton (8-10)
2017
Saskatchewan (10-8)
beat Ottawa (8-9-1), then lost to Toronto (9-9)
2016
Edmonton (10-8)
beat Hamilton (7-11), then lost to Ottawa (8-9-1)
2014
BC (9-9)
lost to Montréal (9-9)
2012
Edmonton (7-11)
lost to Toronto (9-9)
2009
BC (8-10)
beat Hamilton (9-9), then lost to Montréal (15-3)
2008
Edmonton (10-8)
beat Winnipeg (8-10), then lost to Montréal (11-7)
2005
Saskatchewan (9-9)
lost to Montréal (10-8)
2003
BC (11-7)
lost to Toronto (9-9)
2002
Saskatchewan (8-10)
lost to Toronto (8-10)
1997
BC (8-10)
lost to Montréal (13-5)
From all of the time Brandon Bridge has spent playing in the CFL playoffs, Bridge's start Sunday in Regina was the first start by a Canadian quarterback since Gerry Dattilio with the Montréal Concordes in 1984. Dattilio is the last Canadian QB to win a playoff game in 1980 with the Alouettes. TSN posted a graphic that showed the playoff success of other Canadian QBs: Don Getty 3-3 and Russ Jackson 15-10.
While Bridge was effective on the ground, he wasn't able (allowed?) to throw long passes and that hurt the Roughriders offence.
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Despite being bitter rivals, Winnipeg and Saskatchewan hadn't met in Regina in the playoffs since 1975.
Winnipeg has had an intriguing stew of playoff futility and division confusion. The Blue Bombers spent a lot of time in the East but hasn't advanced to the Grey Cup from the West since 1984.
Winnipeg was in the East from 1987–1994; 1997–2001; and 2006–2013.
Dave Randorf mentioned the Blue Bombers win on Hometown Hockey in Winnipeg. Randorf noted to Greg Millen that Winnipeg has a long drought in the CFL and offered to teach Millen more about the CFL. Randorf was the studio host for the CFL on TSN before Rogers hired him to call hockey before the 2014 season.
Outside of Grey Cup weekend, the Rogers telecasts almost never mention the CFL.
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Winnipeg wide receiver Darvin Adams was featured on the ESPN segment during commercial breaks in both games.
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TSN3 is the base channel for both the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders. If Canadian cable subscribers only have one TSN primary channel, that base channel is all they have.
TSN3 showed a NASCAR race and joined the CFL game with 10½ minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter.
At my Airbnb in Windsor, I had all the TSN and Sportsnet channels. I do read about people whose cable company doesn't readily offer all those channels.
TSN5 didn't carry the late game but that was because of the Ottawa Senators
Streaming would have been an option for cable and satellite subscribers in Canada.
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The regular announcer teams were in place with sideline help from Matthew Scianitti (Hamilton) and Sara Orlesky (Regina). The studio panel had Henry Burris to supplement the team. James Duthie worked with Jock Climie, who also provided analysis at field level.
