Five Favourite Canadian Mockumentaries (So Far)

Second year running and our September is once again dedicated to documentaries. It’s our way of going back to school, you might say, except without all the playground politics crap.

So we’re planning, learning, doing our write-ups, and waiting for judgement to come.

Before we get all serious, though, let’s look back at happy times past, when documentaries chose to amuse us by making us laugh as much as they made us think.

In honour of this provocative mash-up, I hereby coin a new word to encapsulate the concept. I’ll call it . . .

The documedy!

Brilliant!

(No, you can’t have it, it’s mine.)

The Delicate Art of Parking (2003)
by Hacker Renders on 2013/04/28
by Grushenka Geusebach on 2010/08/07

* * * *

“The Delicate Art of Parking illustrates my frustration with writing about some features which I simply can’t do justice. In five hundred words I can’t possibly honour its breadth, its depth, or its fun.”

Jimmy MacDonald’s Canada (2005)
by Hacker Renders on 2011/07/21

* * * *

“Jimmy MacDonald’s Canada is a very unusual, very complex, and very hilarious programme. (Yes, I spelled it with two m’s and an e, for that is how a good Canadian rolls.)”
.

Let’s All Hate Toronto (2007)
by Hacker Renders on 2012/09/17

* * *

“Chronicling the journeys of Torontonian Robert Spence, director Albert Nerenberg follows the self-appointed ‘Mister Toronto’ as he travels across our home and native land, ineptly “promoting” his home turf by hawking sewage, flashing his boxers, and being generally passive aggressive.”

The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico (2005)
by Hacker Renders on 2013/02/18

* * * *

“A boon for fans of Canadian content, comedy, or good music. Count me as surprised as anyone, for this video falls in the category of watched-it-years-ago-and-just-didn’t-get-it-at-the-time. Fortunately, a second chance has redeemed it in my eyes (and ears). The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico is appropriately terrific.”

Trailer Park Boys the Movie (2006)
by Hacker Renders on 2012/05/04

* * *

“I was as flummoxed as anyone when I watched The Trailer Park Boys. I reluctantly queued it up, thinking I’d get it out of the way, preparing for a month of other, superior television adaptations. But its sense of caring made me care in turn, and dispelled many reservations. No, [it] won’t be for everyone. Still, if I can enjoy it, there must be hope.”