What to watch instead of vote news
The U. S. election is usually a little fraught for Canadian observers. And this year, Canadian and U. S. news media will give you wallto- wall, minute- by- minute coverage of every swing, tentative result and upset.
But if that all sounds like a little too much anxiety, we helpfully present a brief list of viewing options to take you through to Wednesday morning, when by all estimates we’ll be no closer to learning who the next president will be. These movie choices are all political, but they’re Northern political, with generally lower stakes.
Canadian Bacon ( 1995; early Clinton): What do you get when you combine the late, great comedian John Candy and Michael Moore, the guy who famously predicted the 2016 Trump win? Canadian Bacon tells the story of a liberal U. S. President ( Alan Alda) who decides to boost his popularity by making Canada a new Cold War enemy. Candy stars as a U. S. sheriff whose fightin’ words about Canadian beer during a hockey game accidentally set the whole thing off. (Hoopla)
My Internship in Canada ( 2015; late Obama): Quebec director Philippe Falardeau wrote and directed this winning farce about a wily rural Quebec MP ( Patrick Huard) and his idealistic Haitian intern, both of them caught up in an international crisis after Parliament becomes deadlocked on a crucial vote. If our country’s cinema can be defined as funny when necessary but not necessarily funny, then Falardeau clearly found it to be necessary. (itunes)
Hochelaga, Land of Souls ( 2017; mid-trump): François Girard ( The Red Violin, Boychoir) delivers a sprawling historical epic that crams three- quarters of a millennium of Montreal history into just 100 minutes, touching down on a time before European contact, a deadly epidemic in 1687, the rebellion of 1837 and more. (CBC Gem)
Still Mine ( 2012; early Obama): Toronto writer/ director Michael Mcgowan has made some great Canadian movies, including Saint Ralph, about a kid from Hamilton who wants to run in the 1954 Boston Marathon, and One Week, in which a magic Tim Hortons roll- up- the- rim cup sends a dying man on a cross- country quest. Still Mine is based on the true story of Craig Morrison of St. Martins, N. B., who ran afoul of the local Planning Commission over his plans to build a modest new home on his rural property. James Cromwell stars in this low- key charmer. (CBC Gem)
The Grand Seduction ( 2013; mid- Obama): Don Mckellar directed this comedy about a failing Newfoundland fishing village that has to convince a young doctor ( Taylor Kitsch) to take up residence there. Cancon includes Gordon Pinsent and Liane Balaban, as well as Brendan Gleeson from Ireland, which if you think of it, is Newfoundland’s next-door neighbour to the east. This is a remake of the Quebec-set La grande séduction from 2003. (itunes).