Canadian Filmmakers

Started by prophet, August 11, 2003, 10:00:27 PM

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godardian

Quote from: SoNowThen
Quote from: mutinycoWhat's Canada?...

a barren wasteland of socialism, where good art comes to die

Oh, well, the grass is always greener, I guess... maybe you and I should switch places. I'd love to give Canadian citizenship a try, and if this Bush Great Depression lasts much longer...

Seriously, picture it: SoNowThen and godardian switch lives and citizenships, exploring the sociocultural differences and coming to realizations about their own countries! Like Freaky Friday by a North American Fassbinder.

Oh, Canadian directors: I do like Egoyan, Don McKellar, Cronenberg, Denys Arcand (The Decline of the American Empire being in the top 3 Canadian films I've ever seen), and Mary Harron, if you're willing to count her because she originally from Canada.

Also, Thom Fitzgerald, who did The Hanging Garden and this very interesting, very nicely done, incisive, and VERY deceptively packaged/marketed movie called Beefcake in 1999.
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

SoNowThen

Quote from: godardianSeriously, picture it: SoNowThen and godardian switch lives and citizenships, exploring the sociocultural differences and coming to realizations about their own countries! Like Freaky Friday by a North American Fassbinder.

DUDE! Let's do it!
Hahahaha
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

Seraphim

So, really nobody knows Guy Maddin?
Not even in Canada…?

Girard's film, The Red Violin, was lovely also.
Seraphim's magic words:
Dutch
Dead Can Dance/ Cocteau Twins
Literature
European/ Art Cinema:
Tarkovsky, Bresson, Fellini, Angelopoulos

Newtron

Quote from: SeraphimSo, really nobody knows Guy Maddin?
I've seen that Dracula film that even Ebert gave a good review for, but I'll tell you right now I've never had to fight off sleep so hard in my life. Man was that boring. Luckily it was short, maybe I just don't get dance.

I'd reccomend it to those who like all that ballet shit. There's only so many times I can see a chick twirling before my eyelids close as if controlled by an unseen powerful force.

Cecil

i saw the dracule movie too. wish i could see tales from the gimli hospital

Seraphim

I wish for the same thing!

Also his newest film, The Saddest Music in the World, and Archangel are supposed to be special.
Anybody seen them?
Seraphim's magic words:
Dutch
Dead Can Dance/ Cocteau Twins
Literature
European/ Art Cinema:
Tarkovsky, Bresson, Fellini, Angelopoulos

MacGuffin

Toronto International Film Festival Group Names Canada's Top Ten

The Toronto International Film Festival Group announced the list of Canada's top ten for 2003 at an industry event Tuesday. "Canada's Top Ten," established by the organization which hosts the annual Toronto International Film Festival every September, began in 2001 to raise awareness of Canadian cinema. All of the films named screened at the Toronto fest, with many taking home honors as well. An independent 10-member jury of Canadian filmmakers, journalists and industry professionals, selected the ten.

The list includes: "20H 17, Rue Darling" by Bernard Emond about a recovering alcoholic who arrives home to find his apartment building has burned down as well as Mark Achbar & Jennifer Abbot's doc "The Corporation," which probes the extent of corporate power today. The film was a runner up for the AGF audience award during the Toronto festival. Allan King's "Dying at Grace," which chronicles the experiences of five terminal patients at a Toronto hospital and Scott Smith's coming of age film "Falling Angels" were also named. Other films making the list include Sudz Sutherland's twisted love story, "Love, Sex and Eating the Bones"; Quebecois director Robert Lepage's sibling rivalry film, "La Face Chachee de la Lune" (The Hidden Face of the Moon); and fellow Quebecois Denys Arcand's "The Barbarian Invasions." The latter has been released in the U.S. by Miramax and opened the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this year.

Three remaining titles include Isabel Coixet's "My Life Without Me" about a terminally ill mother coming to terms with her illness. Sony Classics released the film in the States in September. Also on the tribute list is Nathaniel Geary's street drama "On the Corner" and Guy Maddin's "The Saddest Music in the World" about a beer magnet who hosts a contest to find the 'saddest' music in the world against the backdrop of the Great Depression.

"Canada's Top Ten 2003 reflects both established masters and new voices, showing the range of Canada's filmmaking talent," commented Piers Handling, CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival Group in a release. "This year, we're also offering dynamic panel discussions that focus on the collaborative process of filmmaking, and includes screenings of all ten selections, giving the public to see the best Canadian films of the year." South of the border, next month's Sundance Film Festival attendees will have a chance to see "The Corporation" and "The Saddest Music in the World" next month in Park City, UT.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

soixante

Alison McLean did Jesus' Son with Billy Crudup and Samantha Morton.  A great underrated film.  On first viewing it seemed like a Drugstore Cowboy knock-off, but repeated viewings revealed McLean's rather unique visual sense, and her excellent handling of actors.  Crudup gives one of the best performances I've seen in the past five years.  Morton was excellent.  Even Dennis Leary gave a great performance (not to knock him, because I like him, but I never thought he could play anything outside of his standup comedy persona).
Music is your best entertainment value.

godardian

Quote from: soixanteAlison McLean did Jesus' Son with Billy Crudup and Samantha Morton.  A great underrated film.  On first viewing it seemed like a Drugstore Cowboy knock-off, but repeated viewings revealed McLean's rather unique visual sense, and her excellent handling of actors.  Crudup gives one of the best performances I've seen in the past five years.  Morton was excellent.  Even Dennis Leary gave a great performance (not to knock him, because I like him, but I never thought he could play anything outside of his standup comedy persona).

I liked this one lots, too.

McLean directed lots of Sex and the City episodes...

She had one called Crush earlier on (which I never saw).

I thought she was from New Zealand, for some reason...

EDIT: Checked IMDB. Crush was considered a "New Zealand" film, but Maclean was actually born in Ottawa.
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

Ghostboy

I'm glad you mentioned The Hanging Garden, godardian. I've never met anyone else who's seen that. It's such a great piece of magical realism -- something that really hasn't been conveyed well on screen until the Polish Brother's Northfork earlier this year. Fitzgerald had another movie out back in October called The Event, but I missed it.

I'm also an Atom Egoyan and Guy Maddin fan, I like Jesus' Son and Last Night a lot, and David Cronenberg rules, of course. I guess, though, that I've never differentiated much between Canadian films and US films.

samsong

Everyone that people mentioned up till now are excellent (though I know of only..four?  Canadian cinema is very intriguing.  For those of you who haven't seen The Barbarian Invasions yet, stop reading and go see it.  Now.  Yes, now.

Anyway, check this movie out:


Slick Shoes

There's this guy named Marcel Dzama whose artwork I like very much. He has made a couple of shorts. I have seen one of them and found it to be interesting. I hope he decides to make a feature someday.

socketlevel

bruce macdonald is some good shit.  you can get his film "hard core logo" through the Tarantino Rolling Thunders production company in the states.  you should check it out if you get the chance.  it's kind of like spinal tap but much better.

-sl-
the one last hit that spent you...

godardian

Barbarian Invasions, absolutely. Also The Decline of the American Empire (Arcand's English-language films, at least the ones I've seen, are very skip-able).

Lea Pool's Set Me Free is wonderful, too.
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

Jeremy Blackman

I just saw 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould.

:yabbse-thumbdown:

There were some interesting moments, some really great visual moments, actually, but there was one big problem:



Probably the most pretentious performance I've ever seen. And completely unlikable. Because of Colm Feore, I have even less interest in Glenn Gould than I did before I saw the movie. He conveyed none of the "humility" his friends kept talking about. I seriously can't think of any worse tortured genius performance.