Canadian Crossing

Jully Black opens the door for O Canada lyrics change

My initial reaction to the news about Jully Black changing the O Canada lyrics was "They show O Canada during the NBA All-Star Game?" As readers of our MLB section would know, MLB and Fox Sports have been incessantly obnoxious in refusing to show O Canada to U.S. viewers.

The Tenors changed O Canada before the 2016 All-Star Game. The group kicked out Remigio Pereira for changing the lyrics on his own to a slam against Black Lives Matter. Even in that case, the American audience, should they have seen the anthem, would have been like "those aren't the words."

Jully Black changed the lyrics from "our home and native land" to "our home on native land" to reflect the original Indigenous settlers in what is now Canada.

A subtle and meaningful change. The vocal differences between "and" and "on" means you could slip it in without people noticing. Good on Jully Black to start out the conversation.

“if there was a white face singing the anthem and changed that word, white Canada… would act more quickly… policies would be changing right now.” @JullyBlack on whether the words of the Canadian national anthem should change permanently. she’s right!!! https://t.co/XScDKSkUf9

— Kathleen Newman-Bremang (@KathleenNB) February 22, 2023

Senate finally passes gender-neutral O Canada bill

The English language version changed in 2018 going from "True patriot love in all thy sons command" to "True patriot love in all of us command."

The change, approved in 2018, was brought up by Liberal MP Mauril Bélanger, who introduced a private member's bill (defined as not coming from the government in power). The House of Commons passed the bill in June 2016. Bélanger passed away from Lou Gehrig’s disease on August 15, 2016.

The extensive delay came from conservative senators who delayed the passage until 2018.

O Canada became the country's national anthem in 1980.

Unlike the English version, the French version hasn't changed in awhile: The French version starts out: "O Canada, Terre de nos aïeux." This essentially translates into "Land of our ancestors." The definition of nos | ours would be the concern. Is it "ours" in the sense of Jacques Cartier, the first European to "discover" what is now Quebec City and Montréal.

Quebecers of European descent likely think of Cartier, even if the wording changes. Nos is subjective and not objective so interpretations can vary.

Even though this line is a basic translation of the English language version, most of the French version is not a translation of the English version.

MLB, Rob Manfred, MLB on Fox need to stop disrespecting Canada

Preaching patriotism on anthems easier when you sing the words 

Empathy for Bélanger might have been more of a motivator to get the gender neutral language changed for O Canada. There are fewer conservative senators by any name in the Canadian Senate than there were back then.

The hostility against a needed change would certainly be a force in future adaptations. 

CanadianCrossing.com Indigenous coverage

We talk often about groups going for more and better representation in Canadian society needing allies in their battles. Black made a strong point that you don't have to be Indigenous to make this point about "native land."

CanadianCrossing.com NBA coverage

The NBA finally expanded into Canada in 1995 with the Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies. The Grizzlies left Vancouver after the 2000-2001 season.

The open hostility by the NBA against the Canadian teams was exclusive and legendary. Both Canadian teams were denied access to the top five picks in the first draft. The teams were not allowed a top draft pick in the following 3 seasons, even if they won the lottery. The teams were prohibited from using their full salary cap for the first 2 seasons.

The NBA has only had a single All-Star Game on Canadian soil in 2016 at what was then Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

Transplant, Sort Of win top TV honours at 2022 Canadian Screen Awards

Jully Black is more than just a top Canadian musician. Black got a 2022 Canadian Screen Award nomination for her portrayal of Nina Francis on Diggstown. Black lost out to Tamara Podemski on Coroner for Best Guest Performance, Drama Series.

video credit: YouTube/NBA
Twitter capture: @KathleenNB
photo credit: me

2023 Oscars through the lens of Canada

Canadians had a chance to make some Oscars history last night and mostly did not disappoint. Brendan Fraser, Sarah Polley, Daniel Roher were the major Canadian film winners of the night. The other articles might start with Fraser, understandably, but we are starting with Polley's win.

Sarah Polley, who has done countless TV and films as an actor, gave all of that up to write and direct. Polley's directorial debut Away from Her got 2 Oscar nominations. Bold innovation with Stories We Tell and Take This Waltz. A comeback story as impressive as Fraser's story. Seeing Polley stand up on the Oscars stage, talking about women talking, Women Talking, democracy. I knew a potential speech would be beautiful and we got that last night.

"First of all, just want to thank the Academy for not being mortally offended by the words women and talking with so close together like that."

"Miriam Toews wrote an essential novel about a radical democracy in which people who don't agree on every single issue managed to sit together in a room and carve out a way forward together free of violence. They do so not just by talking but also by listening,"

Women Talking is not a Canadian film. Don't care. Miriam Toews got mentioned. Sheila McCarthy stood up in a lovely red dress when Polley acknowledged the cast and crew.

We would greatly argue in the relatively enlightened Oscars time the last 2 years where this film would have been celebrated even more. Appreciate the good that came from this film.

Let's dance through the accolades: first Canadian female to win a screenplay Oscar; first Canadian to win an adapted screenplay Oscar as a Canadian; first Canadian to win an adapted screenplay Oscar based from Canadian material.

Polley has 2 Oscar nominations, both for adapted screenplay, and an Oscar.

English, Australian, even an Italian. You can scour the list of Best Actor winners and find many non-Americans. This morning, you can go through that same list and find 1 Canadian: Brendan Fraser.

Fraser won the statue for The Whale. He was rather excellent and gave a beautiful speech.

Walter Huston has a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and 2 Best Actor nominations. Walter Pidgeon was nominated for Best Actor 2 years in a row in 1942 and 1943. Ryan Gosling is the only other Canadian alive with 2 Best Actor nominations: Half Nelson (2006) and La La Land (2016). Raymond Massey (1940) and Alexander Knox (1944) are also members of the club.

A Canadian was in the Best Actor mix for 5 years in a row (1940-1944) and then nothing for 62 years.

Most first-time nominees don't get the call to go up on the stage. Congratulations to Brendan Fraser for his talent and resiliency.

Prosthetics designer Adrien Morot took an Oscar for his work on The Whale.

Looking back on Canadians nominated for screenplay Oscars

Brendan Fraser might be the first Canadian to ever win the Oscar for Best Actor

Sarah Polley gets Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay but not Best Director

Women Talking wins Robert Altman Award at the 2023 Independent Spirit Awards

Canadian film review: Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band

Daniel Roher, who previously directed Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band — the opening film of the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, won an Oscar on his first try for Navalny for Best Documentary Feature.

Roher's speech drew out the importance of journalism and journalists, which will always endear me.

The film chronicled the struggles of Alexei Navalny in drawing attention to Vladimir Putin in Russia.

Fire of Love, a Canada co-production, lost out to Navalny.

Turning Red shows the beauty of Toronto thanks to Domee Shi

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio likely deserved to win Best Animated Feature. Being available on Netflix helped.

Domee Shi, an Oscar winner for Bao, had a chance at another Academy Award with Turning Red from Disney-Pixar. Inclined to reward a new story instead of rehashing a well-known story. Turning Red came out about a year ago and that didn't help its chances. You had to have Disney+ to see the film, which halted momentum for the film.

Your humble narrator was skeptical about an animated film that could make much of a difference. I loved Turning Red and was happy I saw it. This was the first Oscars in a long time where I cared who won and crushed when the film I liked didn't win.

Can't wait to see Domee Shi's next film.

Canadian film review: Take This Waltz

The 95th Academy Awards felt like a Take This Waltz reunion. Writer/director Sarah Polley was a Best Adapted Screenplay nominee for Women Talking. Seth Rogen and Michelle Williams were in Fabelmans with Williams up for Best Actress. Rogen and Williams were husband/wife in Take This Waltz. Polley took the risk of casting a normally funny person (Rogen) in a non-funny role. Did the same for Sarah Silverman. All the performances were outstanding.

Williams in Take This Waltz was incredible. Difficult to say that this was her best performance, given that she has 5 Academy Award nominations: Best Supporting Actress for Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Manchester by the Sea (2016); and Best Actress for Blue Valentine (2010), My Week with Marilyn (2011), and The Fabelmans (2022). Williams deserves an Oscar at some point.

Hope Polley, Rogen, and Williams had a chance to catch up in Los Angeles.

Canadian film review: Eternal Spring

Eternal Spring misses the Oscars shortlist cut for Best International Feature Film

All Quiet on the Western Front won the Best International Feature Film. Your humble narrator tried watching the Germany entry as well as Argentina (Argentina, 1985) and couldn't go too far.

While we have not seen the Ireland entry (The Quiet Girl), Belgium (Close) and Poland (EO) were the obvious choices IMHO. They were quieter films, much more quiet than either movie with Quiet in the title. They also weren't on Netflix.

We normally discard mentioning the shortlist nominees after the cut to 5 films. This year, we feel the need to bring them back out given the Oscars winner.

These films made the shortlist but didn't advance to the Top 5 for Best International Feature Film: Austria (Corsage); Cambodia (Return to Seoul); Denmark (Holy Spider); France (Saint Omer); India (Last Film Show); Mexico (Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths); Morocco (The Blue Caftan); Pakistan (Joyland); South Korea (Decision to Leave); and Sweden (Cairo Conspiracy).

All Quiet on the Western Front won 4 Academy Awards with 9 nominations: Best International Feature Film, cinematography, original score, and production design. Polley's Oscars win meant the film didn't win Best Adapted Screenplay. No foreign language film has ever won an adapted screenplay Oscar.

6 foreign language films have won Best Original Screenplay Academy Awards: Marie-Louise (Richard Schweizer) 1944; The Red Balloon (Albert Lamorisse) 1956; Divorce Italian Style (Pietro Germi) 1961; A Man and a Woman (Claude Lelouch) 1967; Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar) 2002; and Parasite (Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won) 2019.

Maybe Xavier Dolan will be on this list someday.

#GordonPinsent deserves to be #InMemoriam tonight at @TheAcademy #Oscars. He was the male lead in a #cdnfilm with 2 #AcademyAwards nominations. https://t.co/TwzIv0NHeM @canadian_xing

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) March 12, 2023

Gordon Pinsent wasn't likely a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences, so making the In Memoriam segment was highly unlikely. Pinsent had an amazing acting career in Canada, Newfoundland, and the United States. He was the male lead in Away from Her, which was Sarah Polley's directing debut. Julie Christie was nominated for Best Actress and Polley for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Canadians Oscars nomination scoreboard

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The Rock aka Dwayne Johnson was a presenter for Best Animated Feature, the only Canadian presenter on the night.

The ceremony coverage showed Michael J. Fox winning an honourary Oscar statuette — the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award — for his philanthropic efforts for Parkinson’s research. Simu Liu was the host for the Scientific & Technical Awards.

Sandra Oh was shown in the Oscars crowd as Everything Everywhere All at Once won Best Picture. Oh voiced Ming Lee, Mei Lee's overprotective mother in Turning Red, up for Best Animated Feature.

If you grew up in a house of hockey fans...getting to do this narration for the opening of Hockey Night in Canada is more meaningful than going to the Oscars. (And my nephew Owen now thinks I am cool. Result!)#LeafsForever #leafsnation #hnic #hockey https://t.co/gQnF8PHP0s

— @realSarahPolley (she/her) (@realsarahpolley) March 12, 2023

Now Oscar winner Sarah Polley narrated the opening to Hockey Night in Canada on CBC and Rogers Sportsnet Saturday night. I promise you that you don't have to be a hockey fan to appreciate how good this is. It does help if you know the Canadian teams in the NHL.

photo and videos credit: The Academy/ABC
Twitter captures: @canadian_xing; @realsarahpolley

Looking back on Canadians nominated for screenplay Oscars

Some people think the Adapted Screenplay race is boring. Not with this vicious, competitive group it isn't. This is the most exciting, intense race there is. Stay tuned. #Oscars2023 pic.twitter.com/QIOm8xH7uC

— @realSarahPolley (she/her) (@realsarahpolley) March 8, 2023

Sarah Polley is in rarefied Oscars company among Canadians. Polley has 2 Oscar nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay: Away from Her (2007) and Women Talking (2022).

Paul Haggis is the only other Canadian with more than a single screenplay nomination. Haggis won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Crash (2005) and has 2 Academy Awards nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay for Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006).

Roger Avary won Best Original Screenplay for Pulp Fiction (1994). John Irving, who has been a Canadian citizen since 2019, won Best Adapted Screenplay for The Cider House Rules (1999).

We focused on acting roles on Thursday with Brendan Fraser's Best Actor nomination for The Whale. We want to focus on Canadians with screenplay nominations.

Before doing research, I figured the list of screenplay Oscars nominations for Canadian films would be a short list. I was pleasantly surprised to see 7 Canadians, including Polley, on that list.

Year	Name	Film	Type
1974	Lionel Chetwynd	The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz	Adapted
1974	Mordecai Richler	The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz	Adapted
1975	Ted Allan	Lies My Father Told Me	Original
1997	Atom Egoyan	The Sweet Hereafter	Adapted
2003	Denys Arcand	The Barbarian Invasions	Original
2007	Sarah Polley	Away from Her	Adapted
2015	Emma Donoghue	Room	Adapted

Canadian film review: Away From Her

The first 3 people came at a time when quite a few Quebec films were in English. Lies My Father Told Me is the only film on this list that I have not seen.

Polley has a connection to Atom Egoyan and The Sweet Hereafter in that she is a primary actor in the film. Egoyan was an executive producer on Away from Her. Julie Christie (Away from Her) and Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn) have Best Actress nominations from a Canadian film. Brie Larson is the only Best Actress winner from a Canadian film for Room.

Egoyan is the only one on this list who adapted content from outside Canada (depending on how you view the novel Room), taking an American novel. Polley adapted the screenplay for Away from Her from the Alice Munro short story The Bear Came over the Mountain. Polley adapted the Miriam Toews novel Women Talking for the film of the same name.

Denys Arcand has the only Oscar for what is now the Best International Feature Film for The Barbarian Invasions as well as the screenplay nomination. Arcand has 2 other Academy Award nominations for that category: The Decline of the American Empire and Jesus of Montréal.

Polley had her first Oscar nomination for her directorial debut at the age of 28 for Away from Her. Christie's co-star Gordon Pinsent recently passed away at the age of 92.

Donoghue, originally from Ireland and lives in Canada, is the only one on the list with a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination from her original work.

Brendan Fraser might be the first Canadian to ever win the Oscar for Best Actor

Sarah Polley gets Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay but not Best Director

Women Talking wins Robert Altman Award at the 2023 Independent Spirit Awards

There are other Canadians with screenplay nominees who we have not mentioned. Daniel Petrie Jr. was nominated for Best Original Screenplay for Beverly Hills Cop (1984).

In the adapted screenplay category, we have:

John Meehan The Divorcee 1930
Stanley Mann The Collector 1965
Bernard Slade Same Time, Next Year 1978
Jason Reitman Up in the Air 2009
Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell District 9 2009
Denis Villeneuve Dune 2021

Canadians Oscars nomination scoreboard

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Polley's fellow nominees in the Best Adapted Screenplay are All Quiet on the Western Front (screenplay — Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell); Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (written by Rian Johnson); Living (written by Kazuo Ishiguro); and Top Gun: Maverick screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks).

The Coen Brothers won Best Adapted Screenplay for No Country for Old Men (from the Cormac McCarthy novel) the year where Polley was up for Away from Her.

The 95th Academy Awards is Sunday at 8 pm Eastern on ABC in the United States and CTV in Canada.

Twitter capture: @realsarahpolley
photo credit: Away from Her

2023 Team Canada World Baseball Classic preview

Despite what Harold Reynolds said in 2015 about Canada's inability to catch a baseball, Canada is back for the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Canada is in Pool C with United States, Mexico, Colombia, and Great Britain at Chase Field, home of the MLB Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix. Top 2 teams advance. The United States will be one of those teams. Canada has never advanced out of the World Baseball Classic (WBC).

Canada did go 2-1 in 2006 but not strong enough to advance. A 10-3 win over Mexico in 2013 is the only WBC victory for Canada since then. 0-2 in 2009, 1-2 in 2013, and 0-3 in 2017. In 11 games, opponents have outscored Canada 82-48.

Date	Opponent	Time	Cdn TV	U.S. TV
March 12	Great Britain*	3p	Sportsnet	Fox Sports 1
March 13	United States	10p	Sportsnet One	Fox Sports 1
March 14	Colombia	3p	Sportsnet	Fox Sports 2
March 15	Mexico*	3p	Sportsnet One	Fox Sports 2
* home games. All times Eastern.

 

Games will also air in French on TVA Sports in Canada and in Spanish on FOX Deportes in the United States. Rich Waltz will call the WBC games with Buck Martinez providing analysis on the international feed carried by Rogers Sportsnet.

Game coverage is also streamed via the Sportsnet and Fox Sports outlets.

Team Canada's primary issue is that their depth has not been strong and players have bad timing with injuries or newly signed free agents to participate. Joey Votto, James Paxton, Jordan Romano, Mike Soroka, and Rowan Wick are not available for the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Freddie Freeman, Bo Naylor (brother of Josh), Abraham Toro, and Tyler O'Neill are the most famous players on the offensive side. Phillippe Aumont, John Axford, Matt Brash, Adam Loewen, and Cal Quantrill are notable pitchers. If coaches could play, Team Canada would be in better shape.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who could have played for Canada, chose to play for the Dominican Republic, but withdrew from the 2023 version.

The outlook for Canada would be much different with Josh Naylor, Nick Pivetta, Jameson Taillon, Zach Pop, 

Team Canada World Baseball Classic status in significant doubt

2017 Team Canada World Baseball Classic preview

"We were talking about foul balls in the stands up in Toronto, and because there's not a lot of people that grew up playing baseball in Canada, they're not used to catching a lot of balls in the stands … not many people catching that one, anyway." — Harold Reynolds (2015).

Canada could use some more minor league teams on Canadian soil. The COVID-19 pandemic made that even more problematic with teams, such as the Vancouver Canadians, having to play south of the border.

CanadianCrossing.com MLB coverage

Canada played a pair exhibition games in Arizona prior to the World Baseball Classic: the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday in Mesa and the Seattle Mariners in Peoria yesterday.

Jared Young had a strong 2 RBI double in the first inning against the Cubs. The team lost 11-7 to the Chicago National League franchise.

Seattle defeated Team Canada 5-3 yesterday in Peoria, AZ.

Here's hoping for a respectable Canada showing in 2023.

photos credit: Baseball Canada

Brendan Fraser might be the first Canadian to ever win the Oscar for Best Actor

Brendan Fraser might be the first Canadian to ever win a Best Actor Oscar for The Whale on Sunday. We haven't made that out to be too big of a deal. We are willing to admit that was a mistake, rare as it might be.

We did mention Fraser's nomination in our Academy Awards preview. We devoted more space to Sarah Polley's well deserved nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay and snub for Best Director. Polley earned her space in our preview but we could have devoted more to Fraser's nomination.

The Whale, like Women Talking, is not a Canadian film. No doubt, no dispute unlike Women Talking.

Brendan Fraser has been around for a long time. We joke about secretly Canadian. Brendan Fraser was definitely secretly Canadian.

Most Canadians who received Oscars nominations fit the classic definition: born in Canada, grew up in Canada. Meg Tilly and Jennifer Tilly, both of whom have received Best Supporting Actress nominations, have a Canadian mother and were born in the United States. The Tilly sisters did spend a significant amount of their childhood in Canada.

Anna Paquin, the only human alive with an acting Oscar who was born in Canada, identified more as someone from New Zealand when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Piano in 1994.

Fraser was born to Canadian parents in the United States and bounced around many places during his childhood. he did go to a boarding school in Toronto. His father worked for the Canadian government. George Genereux (maternal uncle) was the only Canadian to win a gold medal (men's trap) in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.

The members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as stereotypes go, love actors who go through a physical transformation in a dramatic role. Think Charlize Theron in Monster and Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club, the latter directed by Canadian filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée.

The Academy members also root for fallen actors who turned their lives around, as Fraser has done.

Fraser has some tough competition for Best Actor: Austin Butler (Elvis), Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin), Bill Nighy (Living), and Paul Mescal (Aftersun). I liked Mescal in Aftersun, a wonderful, quiet film. Butler might be the most significant barrier between Fraser and the Oscar.

Fraser has won the Best Actor category to win a Critics Choice Movie award and a Screen Actors Guild award. He was nominated for a Golden Globe award and BAFTA Film award but lost those awards. The Academy Award nomination is pending.

Darren Aronofsky, known for brilliant directing for Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan, did a wonderful job in directing The Whale.

Sarah Polley gets Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay but not Best Director

Women Talking wins Robert Altman Award at the 2023 Independent Spirit Awards

2023 Canadian Screen Awards nominations: Television

Male Canadians received 6 Academy Award Best Actor nominations from 1936-1944. Walter Huston and Walter Pidgeon had 2 nominations each with Raymond Massey and Alexander Knox each having a single nominations. Ryan Gosling is the only Canadian actor with nominations in this category since the end of World War II: Half Nelson (2006) and La La Land (2016). Well, until Brendan Fraser.

The late Christopher Plummer, who is up for a Canadian Screen Award in 2023 for Best Supporting Performer, Drama for Departure, was the last Canadian actor to receive an Oscar nomination in 2017 for All the Money in the World for Best Supporting Actor. Plummer won the Oscar in the same category in 2011 for Beginners.

Donald Sutherland, who has never had an Academy Award nomination, did receive an Academy Honorary Award in 2017.

Dan Levy joins the list of Canadians who have hosted Saturday Night Live

We also updated our look at the Canadians who hosted Saturday Night Live to include Brendan Fraser. Austin Butler would have been 6 and 7 years old when Fraser hosted the NBC show in the late 1990s (October 18, 1997 and February 13, 1999). Can imagine Lorne Michaels bringing Fraser back to host the show with an Academy Award.

While few Canadians have ever won individual acting Oscars, no one from Saturday Night Live has ever won an acting Oscar. Dan Aykroyd from the original cast was nominated for Driving Miss Daisy in 1989.

Ryan Gosling, Denis Villeneuve get Oscar nominations

Canadians Oscars nomination scoreboard

We are focused on the major Academy Award categories though plenty of Canadians get Oscar nominations.

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The 95th Academy Awards is Sunday at 8 pm Eastern on ABC in the United States and CTV in Canada.

video credit: YouTube/A24
photo credit: The Whale

Canadian film review: Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song

Hallelujah is one of many amazing songs from Leonard Cohen. Significant for his own version and the many covers, specifically Jeff Buckley. Fair to say a lot of the music world discovered the song from Buckley and not Cohen.

That is often the path of Leonard Cohen songs from Suzanne (Judy Collins) and Dance Me to the End of Love (Madeline Peyroux). If you were to make a documentary about a modern song, you might be inclined to pick Layla, The Loco-Motion, or Black Magic Woman instead of Hallelujah.

The first part of the film is about the long path to Cohen coming up with the song over several years, how Columbia refused to release the album Various Pictures that featured the song, and how Cohen reworked lyrics in a live version long after the song was released on the album (by a different record label).

The second part of the film is the path of the song in the voices of other artists including John Cale, Buckley, Myles Kennedy, Brandi Carlile, Shrek the film with Rufus Wainwright and Cale, and k.d. lang. Watching Steven Page sing the song at the funeral for Jack Layton felt very Canadian.

Religion and secularism get long stretches in the documentary. The song is about a spiritual chase.

The growth becomes so huge that at one point on the UK Charts in 2008, the Alexandra Burke version was #1, Buckley's version was at #2, and Cohen's version was "only" at #36.

Leonard Cohen, Canada's poet, passes away at the age of 82

Canadian film review: Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love

There are great interviews with various people involved with Cohen at that time. Some interviews from Cohen himself. Former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson is a prominent guest, given her history as a CBC host who talked to Cohen a lot.

The pacing of the film is the main drawback to the documentary. The early part is almost an hour into a almost 2-hour film. You might benefit from watching the second half of the film before the first part.

Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine wrote and directed the film. They pack a lot into the film that is worth watching. Just know the second half of the film is better.

CanadianCrossing.com music coverage

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song played at the 2022 Windsor International Film Festival. The film is available in the United States on Netflix.

video credit: YouTube/Mongrel Media
photo credit: Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song

Riceboy Sleeps is the 2022 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award winner

Tantoo Cardinal presents the @Rogers Best Canadian Film Award to...RICEBOY SLEEPS, directed by Anthony Shim! The award carries a prize of $100,000 courtesy of Rogers. @gametheoryfilms #tfcaawards pic.twitter.com/UNFiHQCKXu

— Toronto Film Critics (@TFCA) March 7, 2023

Brother and Riceboy Sleeps were the 2 Canadian films of 2022 that would likely excel in awards from people who really know films. We don't know if Brother came in second to Riceboy Sleeps at the 2022 Windsor International Film Festival or the 2023 Toronto Film Critics Association gala, but we think that is a good educated guess.

Riceboy Sleeps directed by Anthony Shim won the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award last night and the $100,000 prize that goes with the award. The film also won the 2022 WIFF Prize in Canadian Film with a $25,000 prize in November.

Brother from Clement Virgo and Crimes of the Future from David Cronenberg were the other finalists for the TFCA award.

Riceboy Sleeps won the Platform Prize at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival; Best Canadian Film at the 2022 Vancouver International Film Festival; and the Jean-Marc Vallée DGC Discovery Award from the Directors Guild of Canada.

2023 Canadian Screen Awards nominations: Film

Riceboy Sleeps is up for 6 Canadian Screen Awards in April: Best Motion Picture; Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing (Anthony Shim); Choi Seung-yoon for Best Lead Performance in a Film; and Christopher Lew for Best Cinematography.

Brother led the way with 14 Canadian Screen Award nominations while Crimes of the Future had 11 nominations.

2022 WIFF Canadian films in review

2022 Windsor International Film Festival preview

Riceboy Sleeps and Brother do not have U.S. deals. Crimes of the Future is streaming on Hulu.

Your humble narrator has seen all of the finalists with Riceboy Sleeps and Brother playing at the 2022 Windsor International Film Festival.

Riceboy Sleeps wins the 2022 WIFF Prize in Canadian Film

Congratulations to all! We’re excited to be bringing back RICEBOY SLEEPS, screening March 21-23.

Get tickets: https://t.co/XP3JGr2cZs https://t.co/ir3RalIcR8

— WIFF (@WindsorFilmFest) February 22, 2023

If you are in the Detroit/Windsor area, you can view the film at the Windsor International Film Festival at the Capitol Theatre later this month.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

We have seen every finalist and winner from the last 5 ceremonies. The last finalist that we have not seen is Maison du Bonheur (2018)

Canadian film review: Emporte-moi | Set Me Free

Beans won the 2021 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award

Anne at 13,000 Ft. wins 2020 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award

We have consciously and unconsciously tried to catch up some of the films on this list in the past year. Those films we've seen in that time are The Stairs Hugh Gibson (2016), The Triplets of Belleville Sylvain Chomet (2004), and Set Me Free Léa Pool (1999).

A pair of David Cronenberg films — Spider (2003) and A History of Violence (2005) — are the only winners we haven't seen yet.

Here are the previous winners:

2022 Riceboy Sleeps Anthony Shim
2021 Beans Tracey Deer
2020 Anne at 13,000 Ft. Kazik Radwanski
2019 The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open Kathleen Hepburn and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
2018 Anthropocene Ed Burtynsky, Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier
2017 Werewolf Ashley McKenzie
2016 The Stairs Hugh Gibson
2015 The Forbidden Room Guy Maddin
2014 Enemy Denis Villeneuve
2013 Watermark Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky
2012 Stories We Tell Sarah Polley
2011 Monsieur Lazhar Philippe Falardeau
2010 Incendies Denis Villeneuve
2009 Polytechnique Denis Villeneuve
2008 My Winnipeg Guy Maddin
2007 Away From Her Sarah Polley
2006 Manufactured Landscapes Jennifer Baichwal
2005 A History of Violence David Cronenberg
2004 The Triplets of Belleville Sylvain Chomet
2003 Spider David Cronenberg
2002 Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner Zacharias Kunuk
2001 The Last Wedding Bruce Sweeney
2000 waydowntown Gary Burns
1999 Set Me Free Léa Pool
1998 Last Night Don McKellar
1997 The Sweet Hereafter Atom Egoyan

I have seen the winners except for 2003 and 2005.

Twitter capture and photo credit: @TFCA

Women Talking wins Robert Altman Award at the 2023 Independent Spirit Awards

We already knew the cast of Women Talking would win the Robert Altman Award for the ensemble at the 2023 Independent Spirit Awards. Given the Everything Everywhere All at Once dominance, this film (technically not a Canadian film) got to have a 8-minute moment in the sun under a tent on a beach.

The ensemble in Women Talking, in terms of the Robert Altman Award, are Shayla Brown, Jessie Buckley, Claire Foy, Kira Guloien, Kate Hallett, Judith Ivey, Rooney Mara, Sheila McCarthy, Frances McDormand, Michelle McLeod, Liv McNeil, Ben Whishaw, and August Winter. The Canadian actors are Shayla Brown, Kira Guloien, Kate Hallett, Sheila McCarthy, Michelle McLeod, Liv McNeil, and August Winter.

The film is truly an ensemble in the bond they had over the making of this film during a pandemic. The cast had plenty of veterans in people such as Sheila McCarthy, Judith Ivey, and Frances McDormand. The bigger names who gave their all in Claire Foy, Rooney Mara, and Jessie Buckley. Kate Hallett, who played Autje, whose voice is the narrator, was all of 16 during filming and this is her first film.

John Buchan and his business partner Jason Knight received recognition from the award as casting directors on the film. You might remember Buchan from Stories We Tell, also from Polley. John and his sister Susy Buchan were from the first marriage of Diane Elizabeth MacMillan aka Diane Polley. Sarah's siblings Mark Polley and Joanna Polley were from Michael Polley's first marriage.

Sarah talked eloquently about their mother Diane, who was a casting director.

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Women Talking, technically not a Canadian film, opens in the U.S.

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Everything Everywhere All at Once dominated the awards at the 2023 ceremony. This made winning another award a lot more difficult. Women Talking was nominated for Best Feature. Polley had 2 individual nominations for director and screenplay. All of them lost to Everything Everywhere All at Once.

2023 Canadian Screen Award nominations

2023 Canadian Screen Awards nominations: Television

The Porter from CBC had 2 Independent Spirit Awards nominations. The show was nominated for Best New Scripted Series but lost to The Bear. British actor Aml Ameen, who played Junior Massey, was nominated for Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series but lost to Quinta Brunson on Abbott Elementary.

The Porter did well at the Canadian Screen Awards in terms of nominations. Hopes for Season 2 were dashed when co-producer BET+ decided to not back any future episodes.

British actor Ben Whishaw was also nominated for Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series for This Is Going to Hurt. Whishaw played August Epp, the only male adult character in Women Talking.

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Joyland (Pakistan) won Best International Film, beating out Corsage, Leonor Will Never Die, Return to Seoul, and Saint Omer.

The ceremony used to be the only thing you wanted to watch on IFC but this year the ceremony aired on on YouTube and not on IFC.

Women Talking is now available in the United States on Amazon Prime Video for only a few days.

Sarah Polley is up for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film at the 95th Academy Awards next Sunday.

video credit: Film Independent
photo credit: Women Talking

NHL the month in preview March 2023

TNT reunites Rick Tocchet and the studio crew with a trip to Vancouver (8) as the Canucks host Anaheim. Tocchet left the panel to be the Vancouver coach. The U.S. channel has the reigning Stanley Cup champs in Toronto (15). One of Gary Bettman's favourite desert teams (the one with 5,000 home seats) travels to Edmonton where the crowd will be about 4x the size (22).

ESPN takes the month of March off from Canadian teams. Cowards.

NHL Network starts out March with rare (for them) coverage of Toronto in Vancouver on Hockey Night in Canada (4). The U.S. channel also throws in an all-Canadian matchup (that isn't Toronto-Montréal) with Connor McDavid in Toronto on Hockey Night in Canada (11).

The other 3 telecasts for the month involve the Habs hosting Colorado (13) and a pair of Toronto Maple Leafs games, hosting Carolina (17) and in Nashville (26).

The NHL Network isn't carrying Hockey Night in Canada games on the last 2 weekends of the month since ABC is invading the Saturday night space. Given the "growth" that only exists in Gary Bettman's mind, the U.S. channel is not allowed to carry a second national game at the same time. The ABC telecasts in Canada (via cable or satellite) cut into the audience for Sportsnet and CBC for the Saturday night games.

While ESPN blows off Canada for March, ESPN+/Hulu loves Connor McDavid, just not in Edmonton. The channel features Oilers road games in Buffalo (6), which was a late addition, Boston (9), and Las Vegas (28). Rogers Arena is a nice place. They are invited to come north of the border.

The other game in March is the John Tavares bowl from Long Island (21).

Rogers Sportsnet has been better about this in the 2022-2023 season but is pulling an exclusive on the Toronto at Vancouver game (4) to promote SN Now subscriptions. This is also a loss for NHL fans in Buffalo and western Washington who can't watch the game via CBC on cable. CBC viewers will get Edmonton at Winnipeg that night.

The NHL trade deadline is March 3. We have more on the coverage later in this story.

TNT

March 8
Anaheim @ Vancouver, 10p
March 15
Colorado @ Toronto, 7p
March 22
Arizona @ Edmonton, 10:30p

NHL Network

March 4
Toronto @ Vancouver, 7p (HNIC)
March 11
Edmonton @ Toronto, 7p (HNIC)
March 13
Colorado @ Montréal, 7:30p
March 17
Carolina @ Toronto, 7p
March 26
Toronto @ Nashville, 6p

ESPN+/Hulu

March 6
Edmonton @ Buffalo, 7:30p
March 9
Edmonton @ Boston, 7:30p
March 21
Toronto @ NY Islanders, 7:30p
March 28
Edmonton @ Las Vegas, 10p

Hockey Night in Canada

March 4

Toronto @ Vancouver, 7p/Columbus @ Ottawa, 7p/Edmonton @ Winnipeg, 7p/
Minnesota @ Calgary, 10p

March 11

Edmonton @ Toronto, 7p/New Jersey @ Montréal, 7p/Winnipeg @ Florida, 7p/
Ottawa @ Vancouver, 10p

March 18

Toronto @ Ottawa, 7p/Montréal @ Tampa Bay, 7p/
Dallas @ Calgary, 10p/Vancouver @ Los Angeles, 10p

March 25

Toronto @ Carolina, 7p/Columbus @ Montréal, 7p/Ottawa @ New Jersey, 7p/Vancouver @ Dallas, 7p/
Las Vegas @ Edmonton, 10p

Rogers Sportsnet national telecasts

March 1 Toronto @ Edmonton, 8p

March 6 Edmonton @ Buffalo, 7:30p/San Jose @ Winnipeg, 7:30p

March 8 Minnesota @ Winnipeg, 7:30p/Anaheim @ Vancouver, 10p

March 9 Edmonton @ Boston, 7:30p

March 13 Colorado @ Montréal, 7:30p/Buffalo @ Toronto, 7:30p

March 14 Calgary @ Arizona, 10p

March 15 Colorado @ Toronto, 7p

March 16 Calgary @ Las Vegas, 10p

March 18 Edmonton @ Seattle, 4p

March 22 Arizona @ Edmonton, 10:30p

March 25 San Jose @ Calgary, 4p

March 27 Florida @ Ottawa, 7p/Montréal @ Buffalo, 7p

March 28 Edmonton @ Las Vegas, 10p

March 29 Florida @ Toronto, 7:30p

March 31 Calgary @ Vancouver, 10p

NHL the month in preview February 2023

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Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid hit the 50 goals mark for the first time in his career, only taking 61 games to accomplish the feat. Rooting on some level for an Edmonton-Toronto Stanley Cup final and have lots of scoring.

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We generally ignore the NHL All-Star Game due to the inconsistency of the event and the oddity of some of the events within the weekend. A chance to take a break from thinking about hockey.

We also generally ignore this time because of the lack of interest in Canada. For only the 4th time in the 2000s, the NHL All-Star Game will be on Canadian soil. The 2024 NHL All-Star Game will be at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on February 2-3, 2024.

Ottawa, well Kanata, is the last Canadian city to host the All-Star Game back in 2012. This has been the only appearance in the Ottawa region.

Montréal has hosted 12 All-Star games, only 3 since 1970: 1975, 1993, and 2009. The latter is the only time at the Bell Centre.

This will be the 9th All-Star game for Toronto, only the second since 1970. Toronto hosted the 2000 All-Star Game at the then Air Canada Centre.

Vancouver has hosted 2 All-Star games: 1977 at the old Pacific Coliseum and 1998 in what was then General Motors Place. The NHL All-Star Game has only been on Alberta soil twice: 1985 at the Olympic Saddledome in Calgary and 1989 at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

For those counting at home, Gary Bettman has been the NHL commissioner for 4 NHL All-Star games on Canadian soil with the fifth coming in 2024.

Winnipeg and Quebec City never hosted a NHL All-Star game.

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The 2023 trade deadline coverage starts on Friday. Let's start in Canada.

TSN

TradeCentre, the consensus best NHL trade coverage, starts at the earliest time at 8 am (All times Eastern Standard). Coverage starts at 8 am on TSN1, TSN4, and TSN5. TSN3 joins the coverage in progress around noon.

Rogers Sportsnet

Hockey Central Trade Deadline, while the second best in Canada, is still better than anything in the United States. Sportsnet's coverage starts at 10 am.

NHL Network

After years of aligning with TSN, the U.S. network jumped to the Sportsnet coverage. The U.S. channel carries the Sportsnet coverage until 2 pm. At 2 pm, an hour before the deadline, the NHL Network switches over to its own coverage with NHL Tonight: 2023 Trade Deadline Day.

ESPN family

TradeCentre from TSN runs on ESPN+ starting at 8 am. That is the good news for U.S. readers. The bad news is that The Point from ESPN runs its own trade coverage starting at 2 pm on ESPN2.

Analysis

The idea is that U.S. fans lose the best coverage at the most important time of the trade deadline. The Canadian outlets are faster at picking up trades with less filler. If you are stuck below the 49th parallel, we suggest TradeCentre on ESPN+ and switching to the NHL Network coverage at 2 pm.

TSN has an advantage over Sportsnet. The NHL Network coverage is decidedly better than ESPN's in-house results, based off last year.

Trades of note

Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari going from St. Louis to Toronto is significant, provided lightning can strike twice in O'Reilly's case. Veteran leadership from player who have crashed through the first-round blunders: let's hope that helps.

The Montréal Canadiens rolled a huge gamble in acquiring Shea Weber for a younger and less injury prone P.K. Subban. The Habs even got Evgenii Dadonov for Weber's contract for the unofficially retired Canadiens defenceman in 2022.

Weber's contract went from Las Vegas to Arizona about a week ago with a 5th round pick for Dysin Mayo. Weber will never wear the sweaters of these teams. As long as Montréal isn't paying the bills. Thanks, salary cap.

Canadian film review: Black Ice

We reviewed Black Ice, the really intriguing documentary on Black ice hockey players and racism. You can find the film on Crave in Canada. The film definitely deserves a U.S. release at some point. TSN showed the film and the NHL Network should fight hard to get the film on its channel.

Tracking the NHL 2022 media changes

February 7 Edmonton @ Detroit, 7:30p Bob Wischusen/Chris Chelios/Mark Messier ESPN+/Hulu
February 15 Chicago @ Toronto, 7p Brendan Burke/Darren Pang/Jackie Redmond TNT
February 19 Edmonton @ Colorado, 3p Bob Wischusen/Brian Boucher/Leah Hextall ESPN+/Hulu
February 19 Toronto @ Chicago, 6p Mike Monaco/Kevin Weekes/Emily Kaplan ESPN+/Hulu
February 21 Toronto @ Buffalo, 7:30p John Buccigross/Brian Boucher/Ryan Callahan ESPN+/Hulu
February 23 Calgary @ Las Vegas, 9p Mike Monaco/Cassie Campbell-Pascall/Emily Kaplan ESPN

A bit surprised Eddie Olczyk didn't cover a Chicago-Toronto game for TNT. He played for both franchises.

We sort of forgive the use of Brian Boucher for the Oilers game (19) since Ray Ferraro worked the outdoor game the night before. Doesn't explain the additional game in Buffalo (21). Kevin Weekes was solid in the Maple Leafs game in Chicago (19). This is how a former NHL goalie should provide analysis.

Fun to hear Cassie Campbell-Pascall on a game on ESPN involving a Canadian team. Campbell-Pascall used to provide analysis on Flames games until this season.

On the Canadian side, Victor Findlay may get some good opportunities to fill in for Bryan Mudryk on Montréal telecasts on TSN2. Mudryk also covers curling for TSN. Last season, Dan Robertson jumped up from Canadiens radio to fill in on the TV side. Robertson left to call the Winnipeg Jets games on TSN3.

Yet Robertson called the Habs game in New Jersey for TSN2. The Jets and Canadiens were in the greater NYC area so with an off day, he called a Montréal game.

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Our guide to the NHL Canadian teams coverage

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The NHL Network usually cuts back on Canadian teams in the second half of the season. The U.S. channel went 3 weeks without carrying a single Canadian team. There was only a single HNIC game in February on the NHL Network.

The 2023 Junos, once again with host Simu Liu, will be on March 13 on CBC. Plan B made its debut Monday night.

The ski and snowboarding promo ran before the start of the 2nd period, a technical violation.

February 25 early game: 2023 Junos; Son of a Critch (1st); FIS freestyle ski and snowboarding; 2023 Junos (2nd); Canada's Ultimate Challenge; Plan B (3rd)

photo credits: NHL; TSN; Black Ice

Canadian film review: Black Ice

Your humble narrator saw Black Cop at the Chicago International Film Festival in October 2017. Writer/director Cory Bowles (Trailer Park Boys) was there and held a post-film Q&A. The after Q&A in the hallway was legendary in my mind. Bowles shared a lot about the history of Africville technically inside Halifax in Nova Scotia.

I thought that night that someone should do a documentary on the history of Africville based on what Bowles told us that night.

Black Ice is several documentaries under a single umbrella united by director Hubert Davis. Akim Aliu starts out the documentary, which feels appropriate. The film goes over the situation from current and recent former Black ice hockey players, including Sarah Nurse, P.K. Subban, Saroya Tinker, Mark Connors, and Wayne Simmonds.

You hear the stories of racism from their perspective. The stuff they ignore and the stuff they can't ignore. I vaguely remember the "banana" incident involving Simmonds. Having him talk about it helped give perspective. Simmonds has played more than 1,000 NHL games. Hard to imagine what he has been through.

Tinker talks about the thrill of playing for Angela James for the Toronto Six to play for a Black coach who can understand her situation.

We learn about the horrible quote by then Toronto Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe, "I'll give any man $10,000 who can turn Herb Carnegie white.” Carnegie never played in the NHL.

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Simmonds also mentions a subtle form of racism in organised hockey. He talks about the conundrum of why you don't see Black centres. This falls into horrible stereotypes for Black athletes that they "can't" be catchers or quarterbacks or centres because they aren't "smart" enough.

As much as I have covered and followed hockey, I confess I hadn't thought about that aspect. I looked up Jarome Iginla and Dustin Byfuglien, two of the smartest NHL players I've seen, regardless of colour (neither of which is in the documentary). Both were on the wing. Hell, Byfuglien was so talented to play defence and as a forward. Simmonds had a point to really ponder that seemingly would also translate to a lack of Black coaches in organised hockey.

The documentary also focuses on the history of Black hockey players in Canada based on the Coloured Hockey League of the Maritimes. The film incorporates research from Darril Fosty and George Fosty's 2004 non-fiction book Black Ice: The Lost History of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes, 1895-1925.

The film covers the rise and fall of Africville, complete with the literal destruction of the community. This film is one of the few to show old footage of Africville to get a sense of what was lost. The topic deserves a full documentary but this was a good start.

The encouraging part of the documentary is Black coaches teaching young Black boys and girls how to play hockey. One team is called the Seasides after the Africville Seasides, one of the Coloured Hockey League teams.

A key theme in this part of the documentary is the idea of having Black people play together so they might have a friend on and off the ice. The saga of being the only Black player on a team, boys or girls, men or women, was common among many of the adult players.

Too often we hear about the history of Willie O'Ree breaking the NHL colour barrier in 1958 and then Mike Marson was the next Black player 16 years later in 1974. Google Larry Doby to find out the first Black player in the American League, 3 months after Jackie Robinson broke the colour barrier.

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Canadian film review: Black Cop

Davis presents the information in an engaging fashion. Sometimes, information can be wonderful and presented poorly. Black Ice does a really good job of keeping the audience from being bored.

The dialogue is definitely triggering, especially the n-word mentions. This is a reality of what these players have been through in their careers.

Seeing young people of colour on the ice is inspirational and educational. Black Ice delves into the history that people of all colours should know.

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CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Black Ice won the People's Choice Award for documentaries at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. The film made the TIFF Top Ten list of Canadian films for 2022.

Black Ice has aired on TSN and is available on Crave in Canada.

video credits: YouTube/Crave; TSN
photo credit: Black Ice