The Film Experience™ was created by Nathaniel R. All material herein is written by our team. (This site is not for profit but for an expression of love for cinema & adjacent artforms.)
The Canadian Screen Awards, formerly known as the Genies (Film) and Geminis (TV), have been around in their current form since 2013. The indigenous zombie film Blood Quantum, currently streaming on Shudder, led the nominations for film with 10 citations but missed both picture and director. In second place, in terms of nomination tally, was Deepa Mehta's gay drama Funny Boy (which you'll remember was disqualified as Canada's submission at the Oscars since almost all of its dialogue was in English). If you watch Funny Boy on Netflix, take note that friend of TFE Arun Welandawe Prematillek, plays the teacher in the classroom scenes. The awards ceremony on May 20th will be a virtual event.
The full motion picture nominee list and where you can see some of the films after the jump [THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH THE WINNERS IN EACH CATEGORY] ...
"The Furniture," by Daniel Walber, is our weekly series on Production Design. You can click on the images to see them in magnified detail.
Yesterday would have been the 100th birthday of Richard Farnsworth. You might have seen some tributes on Twitter, most of them recalling Farnsworth’s Oscar-nominated performance in David Lynch’s The Straight Story - the actor’s last film. Today I’d like to turn to something earlier, a gorgeous Canadian Western called The Grey Fox.
It’s the kind of movie that feels undiscovered even as you’re watching it - even now that it’s been beautifully restored and rereleased by Kino Lorber. It’s not that it was ignored upon release, really; Farnsworth got a Best Actor - Drama nomination at the Golden Globes and it swept the Genie Awards. But its quiet, slow, rainy charm lends it an air of the forgotten, as if it had been left on a shelf for a century.
The subject helps: the last years of the last notorious stagecoach robber in the West, released into the 20th century like a ghost...
/Film Chris Hemsworth on the set of Ron Howard's Rush about race car drivers Flavorwire Fun stories from Joss Whedon's SXSW Talk: The Avengers, Buffy, TV versus film, and more. Ultra Culture puts 2012 releases thus far through the wonderful "Bechdel Test" in which a movie must have more than 1 female character and they must talk to each other... about something other than a man). Naturally most of them fail.
My Modern Met just incredible "Star Wars Identity" posters. I wish other films would inspire the kind of enduring creativity this franchise does from people... because given the developments of the past 30 years our global worship of this franchise is just, well, embarrassing. THRHello I Must Be Going, a hit at Sundance starring Melanie Lynskey (yay!), is getting a theatrical release later this year. Wow Report ouch! (NSFW) A nasty accident for a son of a movie superstar. Guess who? Movie|Line Tom Cruise is the latest star being talked up to play opposite Beyoncé in the A Star is Born. If it weren't a Clint Eastwood picture I'd assume this movie was never happening but since it's a Clint Eastwood picture some male star is eventually going to bite before Blue Ivy is old enough to take the role from Mama.
And I kept forgetting to post the Genie Award winners but Awards Daily did that duty. Here's Viggo Mortensen accepting Best Supporting Actor for A Dangerous Method. Good pick, Genie. He was great in that movie. Not that greatness is surprising these days from Viggo.
Canada's Genie Awards were held this week and Incendies, which you'll remember was up for the Foreign Film Oscar, was the big winner. The "runner up" as it were, the movie that did very well for itself that didn't win the big one, was Barney's Version which was just Rosamund Pike short of sweeping all the acting trophies. Curiously, if you trust photos from the big event the Barney's Version team was curiously absent. That's so uncool when you win that many awards!
Melissa Etheridge performed (anyone know what song?) and here's a photo of presenters Mia Kirshner(more on her in a bit) and Rossif Sutherland. Yes, he's another spawn of Donald Sutherland -- I didn't know there was a post Kiefer! -- he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for a film called High Life. Perhaps he can co-star with Armie Hammer at some point since he appears to be the only other 6'5" actor in their age bracket.
Xavier Dolan's Heartbeats went home empty-handed but at least it won nominations for Pic/Director, Cinematography and Supporting Actress.
Best Picture INCENDIES Best Director Denis Villeneuve for INCENDIES Best Actor Paul Giamatti in BARNEY'S VERSION Best Actress Lubna Azabal for INCENDIES Best Supporting Actor Dustin Hoffman in BARNEY'S VERSION Best Supporting Actress Minnie Driver in BARNEY'S VERSION Original Screenplay Jacob Tierney for THE TROTSKY Adapated Screenplay Denis Villeneuve for INCENDIES Editing INCENDIES Cinematography INCENDIES Art Direction: BARNEY'S VERSION Costume Design: BARNEY'S VERSION Make Up: BARNEY'S VERSION Original Score: BARNEY'S VERSION Original Song: "Already Gone" from THE TROTSKY (below. I liked this movie. Did any of you see it?)
Sound: INCENDIES Sound Editing: INCENDIES Documentary: LAST TRAIN HOME Live Action Short: SAVAGE Animated Short: LIPSETT DIARIES
Special Prizes The Claude Jutra (this is a debut film prize) Jephte Bastien for SORTIE 67 (Honorable Mention: Peter Stebbings for DEFENDOR) Golden Reel: (this is a prize for the highest grossing Canadian film) RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE
RED CARPET LINEUP
Mia Kirschner is a dark beauty but I can never ever decide what I think of her acting. I loved the Atom Egoyan film Exotica (the first thing I saw of hers) but I didn't feel fannish until I caught her as a dominatrix in Love and Human Remains. So I thought I was "yes!" on Mia until The "L" Word (hated her on that) so I was blown away by her inchoate despair and haunting of The Black Dahlia (film bitch supporting actress nomination). It seems that my reaction to her is completely dependent on the role/movie which is not something that usually affects me to that degree... i.e. I usually know whether or not I like an actor's work independent of which projects house them. Anyone have any strong feelings one way or the other on Mia?
I can't be the only one who gets freaked out when creepy child stars grew up. Look at Cameron Bright (Birth), now 18, and Jodelle Ferland (Tideland), 16. Yikers. (No, they're not together. I just enjoy my photoshop.) Yes, I know Cameron Bright is in the Twilight movies but I haven't seen them since the first one bored me to tears so to me he's still that creepy boy who tried to seduce Nicole Kidman.
"You're a little liar aren't you?"
I would die to see Sassy Gay Friend take on Birth (2004) but it's too obscure to get that treatment.
Finally there's Best Actress winner Lubna Azabal(who I keep hearing great things about but who is evaded my eyeballs up till now) from Incendies wielding her Genie. The Genie looks like the most dangerous prize this side of Emmy's 'careful or you'll lose an eye' winged she-demon. Oh and Rachel LeFevre she of the booted from Twilight fame.
Tuesday, March 30, 2021 at 4:00PM 
