We did have a thread on this once upon a time, right
HERE, but it only got a few responses.
Even though Don McKellar's second film as director,
Childstar, was a disappointment, I absolutely adore
Last Night. Just watched it again a couple weeks ago after I went through all of
"Twitch City" (which was finally released onto DVD - yippee!). McKellar is definitely a name I look for either as actor, writer or director. The films he's been involved with, from
Last Night to
The Red Violin, Highway 61, 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould, eXistenZ and
Exotica, they've been some of the best and most interesting films to come from Canada in the past fifteen-plus years.
Atom Egoyan is probably the Canadian filmmaker who has gotten the most consistent critical praise in recent years. Really starting with
The Adjuster (1991) and
Exotica (1994) but exploding to its highest level with
The Sweet Hereafter (1997), which garnered him Oscar nominations for his adapted screenplay (though he lost to
L.A. Confidential) and his direction (though he lost to Jimmy Cameron and the
Titanic juggernaut). Of his films since then
Ararat is great,
Felicia's Journey is OK and
Where the Truth Lies is pretty dreadful, but he's still a guy I look for.
If I had to pick one movie that pretty much sums up what Canadian cinema can be, I'd go with
Jesus of Montreal (1989 - Denys Arcand), and Arcand's
The Decline of the American Empire (1986) and
The Barbarian Invasions (2003) are also top-notch.
And you can't have a Canadian cinema thread and not at least mention the name David Cronenberg, who's great career speaks for itself.
As far as a few masterpieces shot in Canada but not set there, Eastwood's
Unforgiven (1992) and Malick's
Days of Heaven (1978) were shot on the open plains of Alberta, while Altman's
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) was filmed in the mountains north of Vancouver, BC.