Friday, July 02, 2010

O Canada

Confession. I really did mean to post a celebration of Canada yesterday on its special day.

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee
I was even going to rework the lyrics of their national anthem or somesuch to celebrate my favorite movie Canadians: David Cronenberg, Norma Shearer, The Ryans (Gosling & Reynolds), Marie Dressler (Min & Bill!), Rachel McAdams, Fay Wray, Geneviève Bujold, Yvonne de Carlo, Molly Parker, Sarah Polley... the list would go on and on. Not to mention great Canadian movies like Away From Her, Lilies or Jesus of Montreal. What's your favorite person, movie or thing from Canada?

Norma, The First Lady of MGM (Her rank in Canada is unknown)

So to all our Canadian readers -- Hope you enjoyed / are still enjoying your national event while we start our own for the 4th of July. I'm off for a short day trip myself but more posting and halfway mark celebrations and such when I return.
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21 comments:

par3182 said...

catherine o'hara!!!

Ashley said...

You forgot Ellen Page, Seth Rogen, and Michael Cera!!!

cal roth said...

Dead Ringers, one of the most devastating movies ever made.

I mean, how how how Jeremy Irons didn't win best actor that year? Not even a nomination. It is the kind of performance that starts a clean sweep of awards, like Whitaker in The Last Kind of Scotland or Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood. For the ages.

/3rtfu11 said...

James Cameron

Pat Mullen said...

Thanks! Don't forget Atom Egoyan or 'Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter'!

hepwa said...

C.R.A.Z.Y. is one of my all time favourites (you can tell I'm Canadian 'cause I put a "u" in "favourites"). That movie (especially the first hour) reflects Catholic family life in the early 70's better than anything I've ever seen, outside my own upbringing.

Craig Bloomfield said...

Ah, this coincides nicely with the Cronenberg re-watch movie marathon I'm currently having.

Anonymous said...

Bruce Greenwood.

Dieter said...

Donald Sutherland!

Volvagia said...

Donald should have been nominated at least twice and won 1. (Nominated for Don't Look Now and Animal House, winning for the latter. Plus there's still more to see.)

Victor S said...

Sandra Oh!!!!

Cory Rivard said...

Thanks!
One of the best and most heart-wrenching movies I have ever seen is a movie called 'Aurore' from Quebec. This is absolutely required viewing for all of human kind.

A.R. said...

Guy Maddin and David Cronenberg. And then a particularly weird French Canadian film called Leolo.

marcelo said...

Not my favorite, but I used to like Neve Campbell.

Anonymous said...

Christopher Plummer, Jim Carrey (pre-crazy), James Cameron, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page!

Glenn Dunks said...

Robin Sparkles is gonna rock your body like it's Canada Day!

Anonymous said...

Genevive Bujold

Glendon said...

Beyond out banking system, my favourite thing about Canada is The Mayfair Theatre, which is Ottawa's theatre specializing in genre fims and old classics.

Also, I got to Parliament Hill 4 hours early on C-Day so I could see The Queen and the Prime Minister, but really, my mind was truly blown only when Christopher Plummer gave an amazing speech about Canada, thespian-style.

Andrew R. said...

BLAME CANADA! BLAME CANADA!

Couldn't resist. Great Moments in Screen Bitchery #11727: Shiela Broflovski declaring war on Canada in the South Park movie.

Blinking Cursor said...

William Shatner. Yeah, I know, the Shat, but only because:

1) He's Captain Kirk
2) He's from my home town of Montreal

On the serious side, there's Chris Plummer as noted above. But also other canucks for yuks (laughs) - Eugene Levy, Saul Rubinek, Catherine O'Hara, Mike Meyers. There's also the Reitmans (Ivan and Jason) and of course, Norman Jewison.

Favorite Canadian movie? It's a tie between Away From Her and Juno (which ironically was ineligible for inclusion in the Genie Awards - Canada's version of the Oscars - even though its director and two main stars are canadian and it was filmed in Canada due to having major funding from an American distributor).

Volvagia said...

I would think that moment would be in the top 1,000 somewhere. I know it's not a live moment but she's still slandering a country just because being a truly competent mother and keeping an eye on her kids isn't her natural instinct.