22 Blockbusters You Never Knew Were Filmed in Canada

March 22, 2018 CanCulture Magazine

By Brent Smyth

While Canada may not have its own version of Hollywood, many blockbusters choose their northern neighbours to film key scenes and even entire movies! Whether to save money or the incredible scenery, here are the top 22 films to have been shot in Canada, and just wait for 16 and 21.

#1- Titanic (1997)

During the true sinking of the Titanic in 1912, Halifax was the closest port to the catastrophe, and the first to receive the distress signal. The ocean scenes in the film, which was in 1997 the most successful of all time- were shot near where the 1912 event occurred. In Halifax today over 100 victims of the sinking are buried near the port.

#2- Twilight (2008)

Forks High School in the Twilight films in real life is the David Fraser Secondary School in Vancouver. Throughout the Lower Mainland and Vancouver play host to the setting in three of the four movies in the series.

#3- Good Will Hunting (1997)

Shot in only five months, this movie was created in Boston and Toronto, and all the movie’s famous classroom scenes were filmed at the University of Toronto and Central Technical School, not Harvard and MIT.

#4- Interstellar (2014)

While a solid ¾ of the film is in space, the initial farm scenes and opening locations are all found in Alberta. Including Calgary, Canmore, Okotoks, Fort Macleod and outlying areas.

#5- Mean Girls (2004)

Set in Illinois, a majority of the movie was shot in Toronto at Malvern Collegiate Institute and Etobicoke Collegiate Institute, and the famous Jungle mall scene was shot in Etobicoke, in Sherway Gardens.

#6- Inception (2010)

Truly a movie of international locations, inception takes place in England, Morocco and France. However the Fortress Mountain Ski Resort in the Canadian Rockies at Kananaskis, just outside of Calgary served as the snowy mountain fortress sequence, the deepest dream level.

#7- Billy Madison (1995)

Sandler’s character in the film progresses through all the grades of school, and the movie itself progresses through quite a few locations in Toronto, including Northern Secondary School, John Ross Robertson Junior Public School, the Parkwood Estate in Oshawa and several other locations around Toronto, Oshawa and Stouffville.

#8- Blades of Glory (2007)

Putting the city’s Olympic history to use, the film used the Montreal Olympic Stadium for the outdoor skating scenes, and the movie’s signature chase scene was shot in Montreal’s Olympic Village.

#9- IT (2017)

The remake of Stephen King’s clown horror finds its home in Port Hope, Ont. The local Queen Street Tattoo parlour was transformed to Derry Ice Cream for the film.

#10- The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Seemingly filmed in New York City, for four nights in downtown Toronto Yonge Street was closed for filming. And because of how accommodating Toronto’s mayor at the time had been, the Eaton Centre and the University of Toronto also play a role in the film.

#11- Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Instead of flying to France for the European scenes, film crews travelled to Montreal and Quebec City to avoid breaking the bank while still getting the european feel.

#12- The Neverending Story (1984)

Although most of the movie was shot in Germany, the alleyway Bastian finds himself chased into is Vancouver’s Blood Alley in Gastown. And at the very end of the movie, Flying Luck Dragon Falcor does a Vancouver fly-by.

#13- Capote (2005)

It may have been set in the flatlands of Kansas, but Capote was instead shot in Winnipeg and Selkirk, Manitoba. Some notable sites to see are the Manitoba Legislative Building, Gilbart’s Funeral Home and Stony Mountain Institution, which plays a prominent role in the film.

#14- My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

Starring Canadian actress Nia Vardalos, the film may have been set in Chicago, but the filming didn't draw Vardalos far from home. A number of downtown spots including Toronto’s Greek Town played home to the film.

#15- Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Although set in Wyoming, it is clear the Canadian Rockies are the breathtaking backdrop seen in the film. Sites where the filming actually took place include Calgary, Elbow Falls, Cowley and Fort Macleod.

#16- Chicago (2002)

Iconic Toronto locales such as Osgoode Hall, Queen’s Park, Elgin Theatre and Union Station all had roles in the film, and Toronto has frequently played the part of Chicago in blockbuster films, and this musical was no exception.

#17- Cool Runnings (1993)

Loosely based on the 1988 Jamaican national bobsled team that competed in the Olympics in Calgary, this movie stays true to its real-life counterparts and had a majority of its filmign done in Calgary.

#18- Juno (2007)

Although set in Minnesota, Juno was actually shot in various locations throughout Vancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam and White Rock, and this American-Canadian comedy has gone down as a Canadian classic.

#19- The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

The highest-grossing Hollywood movie ever to be filmed in Canada, this American action film finds its locations in Toronto and Montreal, as well as globally in places such as Tokyo, Hawaii and Scotland.

#20- Total Recall (2012)

Using the aid of CGI, Guelph, Ont. was converted into a post-apocalyptic London, and Toronto location such as the University of Toronto’s Scarborough Campus and Roy Thomson Hall stood in for stations within the planet’s internal transit system, The Fall. Total Recall remains one of the largest budget films shot in Toronto.

#21- American Psycho (2000)

Considering the word ‘American’ is in the title, don't be alarmed when it is revealed Bateman’s office is in the TD Centre, serving as a substitute for the Seagram Building in New York City, which were both designed by architect Mies Van der Rohe. Additionally, The Phoenix Concert Theatre, The King Edward Hotel’s Consort Bar, The Senator diner and several more of the city’s now-defunct restaurants and clubs played host to Patrick Bateman and his friends on film.

#22- The Revenant (2015)

Shot in Alberta, the winter it was being filmed proved difficult for the crew, as the snow started to melt before production was complete. This forced the final fight scene in the film to be shot in Argentina. Also due to the odd winter, Burnaby, B.C. was used for a few scenes.

Top Canadian Oscar Winners

March 8, 2018 CanCulture Magazine

Oscar-season is officially over and this year brought Canada's fair share of homegrown nominees. Let's take a look back through the history of the Academy Awards to look at Canada's most notable winners.

1. Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford of Toronto won the second Best Actress award in Oscar history (however the first award for an actress in a talkie) for the 1929 film, Coquette. Although Pickford retired shortly after from acting in 1933, she would receive an honorary Oscar at the 1976 Academy Awards for her contributions to the world of film.

2. James Cameron

For producing the (then) highest-grossing film of all-time, James Cameron won Best Picture, Best Director and Film Editing in 1997 for Titanic, which earned a record-breaking total of 11 Oscars.

3. Norma Shearer and Marie Dressler

Continuing the trend of Canadian actresses dominating the early Oscars ceremonies, French-Canadian actress Norma Shearer won the Best Actress award at the third Academy Awards for the 1930 film, The Divorcee. Canada’s Marie Dressler then won the Best Actress award for her performance in the 1930 film, Min and Bill at the fourth Academy Awards.

4. Harold Russell

Despite being a disabled World War II veteran, Nova Scotia-born Harold Russell featured in the 1946 film The Best Years of Our Lives, for which he claimed the Best Supporting Actor award. Russell lost both of his hands in combat, and received a second Oscar that night for ''bringing aid and comfort to disabled veterans through the medium of motion pictures.''

5. Norman Jewison

Through the years, Jewsion’s films have won 12 Oscars- including Best Picture in 1967 for In the Heat of the Night, and have been nominated for a total of 45. He himself has been honoured as a seven-time Oscar nominee, and in 1999 received the prestigious Irving Thalberg Award at the Oscars.

6. Christopher Plummer

Known for his iconic role as Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music, Plummer won his first Oscar in 2012. He received a standing ovation when he won Best Supporting Actor award in the independent film, Beginners. The then 82-year-old was the oldest person to have ever won an Oscar.

7. Walter Huston

Playing a wounded ship’s captain in Humphrey Bogart’s 1948 film, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Toronto-born Walter Huston won the Best Supporting Actor award. His son John won Best Director that year for the same film.

8. Anna Paquin

Making her debut performance at just age 11, Winnipeg-born actress Anna Paquin picked up her Best Supporting Actress award for the 1993 film The Piano. That night Paquin became the second-youngest Oscar winner of all time.

9. Denys Arcand

Arcand is the only French-Canadian director in history to take home an Oscar, along with being nominated three times, all in the Best Foreign Film category. He was nominated for The Decline Of The American Empire in 1986, Jesus Of Montreal in 1989 and won in 2004 for The Barbarian Invasions

10. Paul Haggis

Haggis became the first screenwriter to write two Best Film Oscars back-to-back- Million Dollar Baby and Crash in 2004 and 2005- the latter of which he directed. For Crash, he won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.

Here are your 2018 Canadian Oscar Nominees

February 23, 2018 CanCulture Magazine

By: Sara Jabakhanji

The 2018 Oscars are right around the corner and this year has quite the list of Canadian contenders.

Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water is leading with 13 nominations in numerous categories. The Ontario-shot film is nominated for best picture and has a cast and crew that is overwhelmingly Canadian, according to Toronto producer J. Miles Dale. Set in the Cold-war era, the fantasy thriller centres on Elisa, a mute cleaning lady played by Sally Hawkins who falls in love with an amphibian creature held captive at a top-secret research facility.

Still from Canadian-shot from Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water (RTE) — Still from Canadian-shot from Guillermo del Toro's *The Shape of Water* (RTE)

Though the odd premise of the film sets it aside, it is a story permeated with political subtext, romance and realness that appealed to just about anybody that loves cinema. Most Canadian on the nominee list this year are nominated for their work in The Shape of Water, and deservingly so. Paul D. Austerberry, Shane Vieau and Jeff Melvin are among this year’s nominees for production design.

Other Canadians nominated for The Shape of Water include Christian T. Cooke, Brad Zoern, Glen Gauthier for sound mixing, Nathan Robitaille and Nelson Ferreira for sound editing, Luis M. Sequeira for costume design and Sidney Wolinsky for film editing.

Quebec film director Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 landed a total of five nominations. The sequel, inspired by the 1982 film directed by Ridley Scott, did not acquire the box-office success that many expected. Ryan Gosling of London, Ont., plays LAPD Officer K whose duty is to track down old replicants living long past their lifespan and have gone into hiding.

Despite its underachieving performance at the box-office, critics agree on its phenomenal cinematography and visual achievements. Canadian production designer, Dennis Gassner is nominated for production design in the film.

Gassner, who was in charge of creating this entire new dystopian world for the film, shared how he gained inspiration from multiple places including Montreal. Prior to production, Gassner came upon gigantic snow collectors roaming around the city at night that inspired him to replicate for the film.

Toronto-born actor Christopher Plummer received a nomination for his supporting role in crime thriller All The Money In The World, which is based on a true story. Set in the 1970s, Plummer plays J. Paul Getty, late oil tycoon and richest man in the world at the time, who refuses to pay $17 million in ransom money when his 16-year-old grandson is kidnapped.

The film had to undergo reshooting following allegations of sexual misconduct against Kevin Spacey, one of the lead roles in the film. Plummer was then asked to replace Spacey quite late in filming and step into the role of billionaire grandfather J. Paul Getty.

Although the film faced many obstacles, Director Ridley Scott managed to not only pull it off in time for the movie’s release date, but it is an undeniable masterpiece. Plummer’s performance got him in the running for his third Oscar nomination making him the oldest acting Oscar nominee ever at 88 years old.

A still from The Breadwinner (Variety) — A still from The Breadwinner (Variety)

The Breadwinner, based on a children’s novel by Canadian author Deborah Ellis, is nominated for best-animated film.

The international co-production between Canada, Ireland and Luxembourg follows the story of Parvana, a girl that disguises herself as a boy to navigate her way through Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in order to work and support her family. Thirteen-year-old Toronto actress Saara Chaudry is the voice of the lead character in the celebrated film among other Torontonians who worked on the film.

The animated film earned endless raves from critics by bringing to light how animation can be every bit as much of a medium for adults as it is for children. It is a story of female empowerment and courage that undoubtedly made it a triumph of storytelling.

The 90th Academy Awards ceremony will take place Sunday, March 4, 2018 at 8 p.m. ET.

This piece was edited by Brent Smyth

Long Life, Happiness & Prosperity: A Peek into the Chinese-Canadian Milieu

February 8, 2018 CanCulture Magazine

By Julianna Perkins

Grade: B-

In this 2002 feature-length drama, director Mina Shum succeeds in crafting an intimate portrait of the Chinese community in Vancouver.

More than that, though, Shum captures the everyday realities of Chinese-Canadian immigrant life and uses them to weave a story of precocious youthfulness, stubborn old age and strained family dynamics.

Long Life, Happiness & Prosperity is a winding tale that follows three storylines as they tangle.

The individual stories and characters are brought together by protagonist Mindy Lum (Valerie Tian) and her penchant for Taoist charms. Dedicated to magically solving her mother’s problems, Mindy becomes discouraged when nothing seems to work. Little does she realize that all of her spells have been just slightly off, accidentally affecting the rest of the community instead of her own family.

Long Life represents near-retired Shuck Wong (Tseng Chang) and his wife Hun Ping Wong (Tsai Chin) as they struggle to adapt to change late in life.

Happiness is the story of the film’s young and superstitious lead Mindy as she attempts countless spells and charms in a desperate quest to help her mother, Kin Ho Lum (Sandra Oh) find love and wealth.

Prosperity, the final thread, follows butcher Bing Lai’s (Ric Young) attempt to reconcile both his relationship with his estranged father and his expectations of his own son Peter (Kameron Xiao).

The film’s plot is cute, well-written and entertaining. Shum and co-writer Dennis Foon do an excellent job of creating a balanced story; there’s a little bit of laughter, a couple tears here and there, and you finish the movie feeling as though all the separate storylines have come to a conclusion.

The film’s greatest strength, however, is its cast.

There is no whitewashing here; this isn’t Ghost in the Shell or that weird Netflix version of Death Note. This cast is almost entirely Asian and the film has long stretches of dialogue in Cantonese (thankfully, my version had subtitles. Some versions do not).

It’s refreshing, to say the least, to move away from the white-dominated cinema screen and it is the single-most factor that makes the film feel so authentic and intimate.

But while the film is engaging, it can also be a bit slow. Director Shum makes up for that fact, however, by creating a detailed and attractive visual framework; at times, it feels as though the plot is secondary to the art.

Each scene is vivid, and some experimental camera angles add even more life to the film. At one point near the movie’s beginning, we are driven through a dim sum restaurant from a first-hand perspective on top of a waiter’s cart. We burst through the kitchen doors into a chaotic back room, and for a second you feel as though you yourself are interrupting.

The lighting, too, works to paint another layer of realism. Most of the scenes are lit softly and dimly as if to reflect the gray overcast skies that so often shroud Vancouver.

All of Shum’s meticulously curated details work together to create an incredible film about a community. An Asian community. And it is depicted with all of the intricacies of its culture in a way that Shum, an independent Chinese-Canadian filmmaker raised in Vancouver, understands and emboldens.

Long Life, Happiness & Prosperity succeeds as both a rom-com and a focused and animated observation of a city. The film may be 16 years old, but it’s lost none of its charm to time.

This piece was edited by Brent Smyth.