Streaming services offer homegrown movies
STEVE TILLEY
Now that the post-Canada Day weekend hangover has kicked in, you might want to just curl up on the couch and feed your eyeballs and earholes some classic Canuck fare.
It’s a bit of a tricky proposition, though. Plenty of films and TV shows are shot but not set in Canada, including everything from Suicide Squad to Brokeback Mountain to about a billion sci-fi shows that try to make Vancouver look like somewhere else.
And some of the best-loved Canada-as-Canada movies and series aren’t available on any of the subscription streaming services.
All is not lost, though. Adopting that famous Canadian can-do attitude, we dug deep into the catalogues of the major streaming services available in the Great White North to come up with some of the best Canadian-made, Canadianset movies and TV shows that you can watch right now.
Letterkenny (CraveTV)
Wayne, as played to perfection by Letterkenny series’ creator Jared Keeso, is one of the most quotable Canadian characters in recent memory. CraveTV’s massive homegrown hit perfectly captures a particular kind of small-town culture that we’ve all encountered (or simply grew up in, eh.) It’s funny, like kids falling off bikes.
Murdoch Mysteries (Netflix, CBC.tv)
You might not personally be a fan of this long-running and slightly corny whodunit series about a Toronto Constabulary detective in the late 19th century, but it has absolute LEGIONS of devotees all across the world, so it must be doing something right. Plus, star Yannick Bisson has the dreamiest eyes this side of the Rockies.
Bon Cop, Bad Cop (Netflix)
When this movie came out, it seemed to be trying way too hard to prove that Canadians can make (sort of), funny, (kind of), bigbudget movies about Canadians. The result is not bad, if you can overlook the “HEY EVERYONE, THIS IS A BIG FUNNY CANADIAN MOVIE AND ALSO A BUNCH OF IT IS IN FRENCH, MON DIEU!” self-consciousness. Plus, Colm Feore is awesome in just about anything.
Dead Ringers (Shudder)
Videodrome is nowhere to be found on the streaming services, but this other creepy David Cronenberg classic is part of Shudder’s massive catalogue of horror flicks. Jeremy Irons plays twin Toronto gynecologists Elliot and Beverly Mantle with such cold perfection that it made us afraid of the doctor’s office for a good long while.
Being Erica (Netflix)
A charming comedy-drama with a time-travelling twist, Being Erica is one of those shows you might not think you’d like, until you actually sit down to give it a try. Turns out that being able to go back and change events in your life might be equal parts blessing and curse. The series is unabashedly set in Toronto, despite having worldwide distribution.
Corner Gas (CraveTV)
Brent Butt’s sitcom about the inhabitants of Dog River, Sask., isn’t exactly cutting-edge comedy, but it’s undeniably a slice of pure Canadiana, and has been eagerly gobbled up by audiences worldwide. Some of whom still make pilgrimages to Rouleau, Sask., to see the grain elevator repainted with the name of the show’s fictional town.
Goon (Netflix)
Goon isn’t just a great Canadian hockey movie, it’s a great — and hilarious — sports movie, full stop. A post-Stifler Seann William Scott is awesome as Doug “The Thug” Glatt, a bighearted enforcer with the Halifax Highlanders hockey team. The standout Canadian-heavy cast includes the likes of Alison Pill, Marc-Andre Grondin and cowriter Jay Baruchel as Doug’s foul-mouthed friend.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Netflix)
OK, totally cheating on this one. It’s not a Canadian production, but it’s full of Canadian actors (including Michael Cera and Alison Pill, again), is based on the graphic novels by Canada’s Bryan Lee O’Malley, and director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead), felt it could only be shot in Canada. It features tons of Toronto landmarks, from Casa Loma to the dearly departed Honest Ed’s. And it’s also really fun. Like a Canadian.