3/12/2012

Canada's Top Ten Comes to Ottawa

Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen in Take This Waltz.
Photo by Photo by Michael Gibson. Courtesy Mongrel Media

As I reported in December, TIFF unveiled its annual list of the 10 best films that Canada had to offer, called “Canada’s Top Ten.” Although such lists are always subjective, they nevertheless bring attention to worthy Canadian films and they help raise their public profiles. I’ve now seen more of the films than I had back in December and agree with some choices, yet I’m still a bit peeved that Hobo with a Shotgun made the list when better Canadian films did not. (Cough, cough, The Whistleblower.) I made my own list of the Ten Best Canadian Films back in December, too, so feel free to debate.

Scott Speedman in Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster
Courtesy of eOne Films.

The TIFF Film Circuit has brought the series to Ottawa, so residents of Canada’s capital have a chance to see some of the films they missed, plus several others that have not yet made the trip here. The big one to see, in my opinion, is Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz, which I saw during TIFF and loved. Waltz has a theatrical release slated for this summer, though, so you might want to take the opportunity to catch one of the films whose only chance to see them is during this series: films like Guy Maddin’s Keyhole (which, tragically, is the one screening I can’t make!), Marécages, and Le vendeur might not be in town again. The one that I’m most excited for, however, is Edwin Boyd, which has had great buzz since debuting at the festival last fall.

The schedule reads as follows:

A Dangerous Method: March 13 (review)
Starbuck: March 20 (review)
Marécages: March 21
Keyhole: March 27
Hobo with a Shotgun: April 3 (one of my 10 Worst films of 2011!... so bad it's good?)
Café de Flore: April 10 (review) (one of my Top 10 films of 2011)
Edwin Boyd: April 11
Le vendeur: April 17
Monsieur Lazhar: April 24 ((TIFF review) (currently playing at Mayfair Orleans)
Take This Waltz: April 25 (TIFF review)

All screenings take place at the ByTowne. Hope to see you there! Will you 'take this waltz' with me???