A Six Pack of CanCon Stubs

This year was over with quickly, but was also unusually full. We did — and saw — more than we could reasonably describe in just a brief introduction.

It was a year of unusual transitions, when our once-predictable lives were unbalanced, leaving us less free time than in recent memory, and more activities to compete for those dwindling moments. Our posts have dropped in frequency to roughly one a week, down from an average of every other day.

But we haven’t stopped, we’ve even diversified, with book launches, streamers, film festivals, crowd-funding, and meeting a personal hero.

We also saw more Canadian content than we got to write about. Some things we’d rather forget. Others deserve the recognition, so here are six stubs to acknowledge them . . . at least until we get to write some more.

Chronicle (2012)

* * * *

We were late to this party by a couple of years but, geez, are we glad we arrived. Sure, “found footage” and superheroes have both been done to death, but not together, and rarely this well, produced in Vancouver-as-Seattle.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

* * * *

Dawn was another Vancouver-based production. It took the already-surprisingly-great Rise of the Planet of the Apes and went even farther. For fans of the original series, this is like a remake of Conquest. Andy Serkis deserves an award for taking us past the uncanny valley.

Drying Up the Streets (1978) & Ron Mann’s The Strip (1974)

* * * * *

It’s some kind of cultural crime Drying Up the Streets isn’t out on video. This made-for-TV movie about crime in Toronto was better than most theatrical films. And the Ron Mann short which preceded the TIFF showing should be included as an on-disc extra.

Guidestones (2012 / 2014)

* * / * * *

We were first approached to review season two of the net-based Guidestones series, so we brushed up by binge-watching season one. It was not a session we remember with much fondness. We persisted, however, and found great improvement, enjoying season two even more.

October Gale (2014)

* * * *

My firm resolve at the Toronto film fest was to only see Canadian content, which is why I saw October Gale, at first glance a typical drama. Instead we were surprised by a focused thriller with poignant, affecting impact. We found music and an old western book it’s based on, but when will we see it on disc?

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

* * * *

A series with extensive roots in Ontario and British Columbia — its locations, production, and players — to say little of its stabby anti-hero, Wolverine: the meanest, messiest, rudest Albertan to ever unite multiple timelines.

Honourable Mention:
Corner Gas: The Movie

Note:
Corner Gas would have made the list “proper” but we plan to review it in full shortly.