We mentioned Tim Long when The Simpsons took on Canada in D'oh Canada in 2019. Long is the resident Canadian on the writing staff.
Long has a new movie out called The Exchange. The fictional town is Hobart but Long writes about growing up in Exeter, Ontario, home of the white squirrel. Coincidentally, Hobart also celebrates the white squirrel.
The main character wants an exchange student to be his new best friend but that doesn't work out quite the way he intended.
The film, shot in Ottawa and Almonte, Ontario, features Canadians Avan Jogia, Jennifer Irwin, and Paul Braunstein, along with Australian actor Ed Oxenbould and American actor Justin Hartley.
The film is out now in theatres in the United States and Canada. You can listen to the Tim Long interview with Q from CBC Radio One.
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Free Guy is not a Canadian film, not even close. Still, a Canadian leading actor (Ryan Reynolds) and a Canadian director (Shawn Levy) on a major American film is rather unusual.
"In my first meeting with Ryan, we talked about wanting to (create) a metaphor for innocence and how does optimism and civility survive in an often cynical world?" Levy said in an interview.
"‘I need you to play your most Canadian, Ryan,’" Levy recalls telling Reynolds. "And that was literally the first piece of direction I gave him before we even agreed to sign up and do this movie."
"While I didn’t frame it as Canadian-within-the-U.S. context, that character is absolutely intended to be Ryan‘s kindest, most idealistic, civil Canadian self."
The Canadian piece de resistance is the final cameo from the late Alex Trebek. You can also listen to the interview with Reynolds and Levy on Q from CBC Radio One.
Domee Shi wins for best animated short at 2019 Oscars
Domee Shi won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film for Bao in 2019. Now Shi will direct a full-length feature film Turning Red, a Disney movie set in Canada, specifically Toronto.
The animated Disney movie is scheduled for release in Spring 2022.
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Canadian actress and producer Sarah Gadon is on the 2021 Venice Film Festival jury. Joining Gadon on the jury are the last 2 Best Director winners at the Academy Awards. The Oscar winners are Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) and Bong Joon Ho (Parasite).
Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song, will have its world premiere at the festival. The documentary comes from directors Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine. The festival runs September 1-11.
You can also find Gadon on screen in All My Puny Sorrows, the latest Michael McGowan film, at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. That festival runs September 9-18.
photo credit: The Exchange film
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