TOGETHER AGAIN: Savvy screen-stealers Colm Feore and Anthony Hopkins, who last worked together on screen in Julie Taymor’s flawed but

HUARD & FEORE: Bon Cop, Bad Cop

fascinating take on Titus Andronicus, have teamed up again for director Kenneth Branagh’s production of Thor, which will bring the Marvel comic book hero to life and, no doubt, box office glory. Before winging to the movie set, Feore received a rollicking reception last week at the Ursula Franklin Academy when hundreds of high school students gathered to watch him cavort with Patrick Huard in Bon Cop,

HOPKINS: reunion for Thor

Bad Cop. And he wasn’t the only one winning cheers. Director Bruce MacDonald and leading lady Lisa Houle were in another gathering, taking questions after the screening of MacDonald’s latest opus Pontypool. And filmmaker Michael McGowan (St. Ralph) was in another assembly room, taking questions after the screening of his Joshua Jackson odyssey One Week. Making all three events happen, and simultaneously at that, was Reel Canada, a remarkable organization now in its fifth year of introducing young people to Canadian film achievements by bringing the films and the filmmakers to the classroom. Now that’s show business.

QUOTABLE QUOTES: “I loved genius in my lifetime. God was so good to me. I will love Michael forever and so will you, if you don’t already. God kissed

JACKSON: genius?

him. There will never, ever be the likes of him again.” The speaker? Dame Elizabeth Taylor, tweeting about the Michael Jackson concert film This Is It. Sez Liz: “You owe it to yourselves and your loved ones to see this again and again. Memorize it and say to yourselves, ‘I saw genius in my lifetime.’ I truly believe this film should be nominated in every category conceivable.” Yup, she likes it. She really likes it.

HOPE LIVE: Newfoundland news junkies Rick Mercer and Seamus O’Regan are headlining tonight’s Hope Live black-tie charity gala in Ottawa in

O'REGAN: in Ottawa tonight

support of Fertile Future, which helps young women and men who have had   cancer can find ways to have their own children. Among the perennial Mercer targets and political playmates expected to attend: Peter MacKay, Jason Kenney, Helena Guergis, Maxime Bernier and Scott Brison. Incidentally, Mercer was one of four sparklies honoured by the University of Ottawa last week at an AGO dinner in Toronto, picking up a Distinguished Canadian Leadership Award with high-note master Michael Burgess and high-flying astronaut Julie Payette. (CTV National Affairs

MERCER: with his Montreal posse

correspondent Lisa LaFlamme picked up U of O’s special Alumni Achievement award at the same bash.) Now on his Christmas break, Mercer resumes SRO tapings of his top-rated Rick Mercer Report in January, but wait ‘til you see him crash (you should pardon the expression) a women’s roller derby competition (ouch!) in Montreal (!!) tomorrow night at 8 pm on CBC Television.

FOOTLIGHTS: How much does New York Times theatre critic Ben Brantley love Fela!, the new musical that opened last Monday night on Broadway? “There should be dancing in the streets,” sez Brantley — and that was merely the first

THE MADONNA PAINTER: rave reviews

line of his ecstatic rave review. According to Brantley — no easy sell — there’s never been anything like it on Broadway. Which should bode well for producers Will & Jade Pinkett Smith and their comrade in showbiz arms Jay-Z … Risking The Void, the touring art exhibit showcasing the work of Canadian stage designer Cameron Porteous, is set for a 10-week run Jan 20-April 4 in Guelph, Ontario at the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre … and Factory Theatre has done it again. Good news is, Linda Gaboriau’s new translation of Michel Marc Bouchard’s The Madonna Painter opened to rave reviews from the Toronto Star, the Globe & Mail and Now magazine – how’s that for a range of opinions? Bad news is, the show must close in two weeks.  To secure your tickets now, click here!

TOMORROW:

Mamma Mia! Here we go again!

My, my, how can we resist you?

I was watching The National on Friday, when it ran a story on a program called “Reel Canada,” which brings Canadian films to high schools across the country. Not only does it do that, but it brings some of the filmmakers and the actors along for the show! (see the segment here)

Now, forgive me if I’m wrong but I always thought that the ultimate destination for Canadian films was my less-than-riveting Canadian cinema class, and that’s a sad reality for a lot of films. I was really impressed by this program though, and I think it’s a great way to make young Canadians into Canadian film fans.

Although I am not interested in making fiction films, I am lucky enough to go to school with what may or may not be the future of Canadian cinema, yet unfortunately Hollywood is the ultimate goal for most of them. Of course it’s the biggest market and that’s where you go to get rich and famous, but I sincerely hope that some of them stick around. There is a lot of talent and passion in my class and what better way to expend that talent then to serve to strengthen Canada’s own culture and identity through film? Of course not everything that’s made in Canada is great, but there are some real gems in the world of Canadian film. It’s too bad that I doubt if most titles would be recognizable beyond the confines of Canadian university film lecture halls.

It’s really sad that a country as interesting and diverse as our own often has to settle for second rate Hollywood garbage (Yup, I’m thinking of you Paul Blart: Mall Cop(2009)), when we have our own masterpieces to choose from. Away from Her (2006) with Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent is a great example of Canadian cinematic brilliance – in fact Pinsent actually participates in the Reel Canada program visiting high schools alongside his films.

As the saying goes, “the world needs more Canada” and it’s true for film as well. I mean, honestly, why settle for America’s B-list movies when you could be watching Young People Fucking (2007)?

A few Canadian keepers….

Sharkwater (2006)
Le Grand Seduction (2003)
How She Move (2007)
Bon Cop, Bad Cop (2006)
I Met the Walrus (2007)
C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005)

Para quem pensa que bairrismo só acontece no Brasil, terão aqui uma divertida amostra de que também ocorre num país do primeiro mundo: Canadá. Para mim, foi o mote principal desse filme. Tudo mais veio como pano de fundo. E por lá, vai além dos sotaques carregados, ou até das expressões regionalíssimas. É, o lance maior é por falarem línguas diferentes: francês e inglês. Partes diferentes do país, falando línguas diferentes. Ou nem tanto, por já estarem incorporadas. O filme já vale como uma aula divertida de Línguas Estrangeiras.

Entrando no filme… Tudo começa com um corpo em cima de um outdoor numa rodovia. Placa essa que está no limite entre duas cidades. Logo, cada metade do corpo está numa jurisdição. Então dois policiais são chamados: Martin Ward (Colm Feore) e David Bouchard (Patrick Huard). E tem início a contenda hilária. Já que terão que ser parceiros nessa investigação.

Martin, é de Toronto, fala inglês, mas estudou o francês. David, é de Quebec, fala francês e entende um pouco do inglês. Mas ambos só dirão isso depois. Deixando que os Chefes de ambos façam uma divertida, para eles é claro, tradução simultânea nessa convocação.

Bem, as diferenças não ficam somente nisso. Martin faz o tira zeloso no cumprimento do seu dever. Seguindo a lei nas investigações. O oposto de David. O que dá pano pra manga. Pois ao investigarem esse crime, outros corpos vão aparecendo. E ambos são forçados a continuarem a parceria. Por conta disso, as diferenças no modo de agir, acentuam-se mais ainda.

Mas do que tentar também descobrir quem está por trás daquelas mortes, de saber quem é o serial killer, fica o prazer em ver essa dupla trabalhando. Eu sou fã desse gênero. Mas de um policial meio cômico. Não sei se o Cinema Canadense tem outros mais. Mais deixo aqui o meu “Great!”, como também o meu “Grand!”! Adorei a dupla Martin & David!

Ah! Creio os fãs da Angelina Joulie não gostarão de uma piada!

Por: Valéria Miguez (LELLA).

Bon Cop, Bad Cop. 2006. Canadá. Direção: Eric Canuel. Elenco: Colm Feore, Patrick Huard, Pierre Lebeau, Lucie Laurier. Gênero: Ação, Comédia, Policial, Suspense. Duração: 116 minutos.

Salut de Québec!

This writer is presently on a five-week program attempting to learn French in La Belle Province. Part of this program is the cultural experience, which for me amounts to the consumption of poutine – french fries with cheese curds and gravy – and Unibroue and Boréale beer. (How jealous are you, TC?  Editor’s Note: Very jealous, Andy.  Do you know how much Unibroue costs down here?) However, the animateurs – those in charge of giving us things to do and making sure we speak only French – program Québecois films for our viewing pleasure and cultural benefit. Last night, they screened us a brilliant Canadian picture called Bon Cop Bad Cop. I pray the reader will forgive any factual inaccuracies as a result of my inability to understand all of the film, being that it was screened in French with French subtitles. The film is generically predictable: an action comedy cop-buddy movie in the Lethal Weapon/Beverly Hills Cop vein. As a result, the film is a fun ride with plenty of action and great dialogue and a pretty sweet sex scene.

But beyond that, this film is about the fragile Canadian identity and the tension between French and English Canada. It begins with a killing and a body found perched on a sign. The sign reads “Welcome to Ontario” on the east side and “Bienvenue au Québec” on the side facing west. Instead of calling in the federal police, two provincial cops, one from Toronto and the other from Montréal, partner up to solve the case. What follows is a commentary on creeping Americanization, hockey, and what it means to be Canadian.

The picture is a production of the National Film Board of Canada and, from cursory observational statistics, is 50% English and 50% French. Both detectives are bi-lingual but the two set rules very early on that in Quebec, they speak French and in Ontario, they speak English. At the start of the picture, Martin Ward, the Ontarian, and David Bouchard, the Quebecois, appear to be irreconcilably different. Ward is “typical” English-Canadian: by-the-book, straight-laced, well-mannered, bound to the job and stifling. Bouchard is your “typical” French-Canadian: loose-lipped, passionate, fiery, bound to his family and irresponsible. The nature of the killer they are pursuing, expounded below, brings the two together and allows them to recognize that they have more in common than they thought.

The killer sought by Bouchard and Ward is on a mission. He kills in grisly fashion all those Canadians who affront the unofficial national sport, hockey, by selling it to the Americans. (Interesting side note, the official national sport of Canada is box lacrosse, a token gesture in the direction of our Native compatriots) The film is not able to use any names but the man who traded “the Great One” to “LA” is one of these targets. The man who sold “the team from Quebec to Colorado” is another. Regarding this last victim, Bouchard has little sympathy. Ward is quick to point out, however, that the team won “the Cup” in their first season in Colorado. The detectives learn that a man by the name of Buttman is to be the magnum opus in the killer’s repetoire and set about stopping him.

As Ward and Bouchard attempt to stop the final killing, we discover that hockey is merely a symbol for a fragile Canadian identity. The film seems to say that we in Canada have this culture that is constantly under threat – like the rest of the world – from the American homogenizing influence. Current NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, whose mandate was to make ice hockey more palatable for Americans used to the NBA or Major League Baseball, is clearly the model for Buttman. While the film does not advocate killing Buttman/Bettman, they certainly have little sympathy for what he aims at doing. As the audience and characters in the film discover that their identity is at risk and French and English Canada merge to keep it intact. There is even the act of unity exhibited throughout the film in various physical manifestations. Ward attends Bouchard’s daughter’s ballet recital and flirts with his ex-wife. Bouchard sleeps with Ward’s sister and bonds with his son over exaggerated stories about getting shot.

What we have when it’s all said and done is a fairy tale about how Canada should be acting in the face of creeping Americanization. Obviously, going crazy and killing those Canadians who “defect” is not acceptable. But, the film makes it clear that these people who do go crazy may have a point. And it’s up to all of us, English and French Canadians, to work together to keep Canada the bi-lingual, multi-cultural and distinctly Canadian place that it is. Such a moral message is hardly surprising given the NFB as a body reports to Parliament in Ottawa and receives public funds with the mandate that it represent Canadian culture.

Of course there is the lack of representation of the West or the Maritimes and, as ever, the neglect of aboriginal Canadians. But this is par for the course and including these populations would have muddled the film. As it is, the film is an entertaining buddy movie with plenty of good explosions and gunfights, etc. But at its core, this film is by Canadians and for Canadians with plenty of references to Canadian culture. It’s a warning, a suggestion, and an affirmation of this important but insecure identity.

Patrick Huard, Bon cop, Bad cop et le sous-titrage

Raymond Viger  Dossier Cinéma.

Après avoir regardé plusieurs films québécois qui m’ont déçu, le hasard nous présente Bon cop, Bad cop à la télévision. Puisque j’avais bien aimé le film, nous décidons, ma conjointe Danielle et moi de le regarder à nouveau.

La première fois, nous l’avions vu au cinéma. Petit problème technique pour la télévision. Le sous-titrage est trop petit et le fond parfois pas assez nuancé pour pouvoir le lire facilement. Étant bilingue, je n’aurais pas porté attention à cette difficulté. Danielle, ne parlant pas anglais et ne réussisant pas à lire les sous-titres me demandent de lui lire les sous-titres.

Cela m’a fait réalisé qu’il y a peut-être abus du sous-titrage. J’ai été pendant de longue période à être obligé de traduire. Pour quelqu’un qui doit lire les titres, cela lui fait manquer le charme du visuel, son attention étant limité aux sous-titrages.

Désolé M. Huard. Malgré le titre de meilleur film québécois que je vous ai déjà attribué dans une chronique antérieure, je dois mettre une bémol.

http://raymondviger.wordpress.com/2006/08/13/patrick-huard-bon-cop-bad-cop-et-le-cinema-quebecois/

http://raymondviger.wordpress.com/2007/07/03/gaz-bar-blues/

http://raymondviger.wordpress.com/2007/07/04/bingo-le-film-de-jean-claude-lord/

http://raymondviger.wordpress.com/2007/06/08/camping-sauvage-crazy-et-cruising-bar/

Jean-Claude Lord et le film Bingo

Raymond Viger  Dossier Cinéma.

Je viens de visionner le film Bingo de Jean-Claude Lord. Évidemment, un film québécois des années 70, il ne faut pas s’attendre à des cascades et des effets spéciaux à tout cassé. Ce film qui avait été bien coté dans mes souvenirs a répondu à mes attentes. Il est encore agréable et intéressant à regarder

Malgré que je sois très critique et difficile envers le cinéma, surtout québécois, j’ai maintenant atteint 3 films que je peux recommandé. Bon Cop, Bad Cop de Patrick Huard, Camping Sauvage de Guy A. Lepage et finalement Bingo de Jean-Claude Lord.

Même si j’ai été très déçu du film février 1839 de Falardeau, je vais tenter avec un de ses premiers films : Octobre. Peut-être réussira-t-il à m’épater.

http://raymondviger.wordpress.com/2006/08/13/patrick-huard-bon-cop-bad-cop-et-le-cinema-quebecois/

http://raymondviger.wordpress.com/2007/06/08/camping-sauvage-crazy-et-cruising-bar/

http://raymondviger.wordpress.com/2007/07/03/gaz-bar-blues/

Camping sauvage, Crazy et Cruising bar

Raymond Viger  Dossier Cinéma.

Après avoir fait une excellente critique du film ”Bon cop, Bad cop”, les lecteurs de ce blogue m’ont mentionné que ce film de Patrick Huard n’était pas le seul film québécois qui méritait mes éloges. Ils m’ont suggéré de visionner Camping sauvage, Crazy et Cruising bar.

Je me suis engagé à le faire. Je viens de louer ces trois films. Je n’ai pas été déçu de Camping Sauvage de Guy A. Lepage. Il a atteint son objectif d’être drôle et plaisant àa regarder. Pas autant que Bon Cop Bad cop, mais suffisamment pour que je ne regrette pas le temps que j’ai investi dans le visionnement du film.

Je n’ai pas réussi à terminer Crazy. J’ai décroché au milieu. Il y avait une histoire qui se dessinait mais on dirait que les scénaristes ne l’ont pas exploité. Quand j’ai l’impression que j’en suis encore à l’introduction et que j’ai la moitié du film de regarder, il y a un problème.

En ce qui concerne Cruising bar, de peine et de misère je me suis rendu à la fin. J’ai l’impression que le film ne servait qu’à me présenter les personnages mais qu’on a oublié de bâtir une histoire autour de ceux-ci. L’idée était originale et aurait pu faire un tabac. Malheureusement, on m’a laissé sur mon appétit. J’ai voulu arrêter le film à plusieurs reprises. J’ai persévéré en espérant qu’il y aurait un crescendo quelque part. Malheureusement, ce fût un pétard mouillé.

J’espère encore que le cinéma québécois va se réveiller et nous montrer ses vraies couleurs.

http://raymondviger.wordpress.com/2006/08/13/patrick-huard-bon-cop-bad-cop-et-le-cinema-quebecois/

http://raymondviger.wordpress.com/2007/07/03/gaz-bar-blues/

http://raymondviger.wordpress.com/2007/07/04/bingo-le-film-de-jean-claude-lord/

Patrick Huard, Bon Cop Bad Cop et le cinéma Québécois

Raymond Viger Dossier Cinéma.

Je viens de voir le film Bon Cop Bad Cop avec Patrick Huard. J’ai regardé ce film avec ma fille Annie et ma blonde Danielle, tous trois de grands fervents des films américains. Nous préféfons même les réalisations de Toronto avant celles du Québec.

Avec un public si critique envers le cinéma Québécois, il est surprenant de dire que nous sommes malgré tout unanimes. C’est le premier film québécois qui nous a enchantés. Je dirais même le seul. Félicitations à Patrick Huard d’avoir réussi ce tour du chapeau. Un film qui nous tient en haleine du début à la fin et qui est plaisant à regarder. J’ai même parti le bal et soutenu le rire dans la salle de cinéma. Je suis même obligé de me demander si les gens riraient de mon rire ou du film?

Je dois cependant émettre deux critiques. D’une part, il y a eu une scène de sexe avec Patrick Huard et la soeur de son colllègue. Très bien amené, parce qu’on voyait en parrallèle son collègue qui se battait pour sauver sa peau faire les mêmes mouvements avec son agresseur que Patrick Huard dans ses débats amoureux. Des scènes de sexe dans les films et les téléséries, c’est rendu cliché et un automatisme pour beaucoup de producteurs au Québec. Ce que je suis obligé de questionner, Patrick Huard, ayant réussi à bien amener cette scène en comédie, aurait peut-être dû éviter de nous montrer les seins et les fesses de la fille à deux reprises. Pas que je suis plus pudique qu’il ne le faut, mais s’il avait évité de nous montrer la fille sous tous ses charmes, l’emphase sur la satire aurait été encore plus grand.

D’autre part, la fameuse cigarette que Patrick Huard nous présente tout le long du film. Compte tenu que nous avons coupé toute publicité concernant la cigarette, était-ce opportun de faire une fixation sur la cigarette? Est-ce que les compagnies de cigarettes ont commandités cette présence majeure? Les deux paliers de gouvernement étant impliqués dans cette production, le fédéral et le provincial, n’aurait-il pas été opportun de mentionner que le gouvernement, avec tous les efforts investis pour diminuer la consommation de cigarette, ne veut pas s’associer à la cigarette?

Pour ceux qui se souviennent que j’avais commencé en 1974 comme chroniqueur arts et spectacles ainsi que pour les sports, ne vous inquiétez pas. Je n’ai pas l’intention de refaire carrière sous cette rubrique. Mais la qualité du film de Patrick Huard, Bon Cop Bad Cop, méritait amplement que je fasse une petite incursion de ce côté.

Camping sauvage, CRAZY et Cruising Bar

Gaz Bar Blues

Bingo, le film de Jean-Claude Lord