Tuesday 18 December 2012

Rebelle, Goon, Cosmopolis among Canada’s Top 10 movies of 2012

Published on Tuesday December 04, 2012
Bruce DeMara
Entertainment Reporter, Toronto Star

Goon

Alliance Films Liev Schreiber as the elder hockey enforcer in Goon.

Rachel Mwanza

Mongrel Media Newcomer Rachel Mwanza won an award at the Berlin Film Festival for her role as a child soldier in Rebelle (War Witch).

Sarah Polley with Super8cam

National Film Board Sarah Polley turned the documentary lens on her own family in Stories We Tell.

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Sarah Polley’s searing family portrait, a profanity-laced ode to hockey violence and Robert Pattinson in an artsy leading role are three of the diverse films announced Tuesday as Canada’s Top Ten of 2012 by the Toronto International Film Festival.
Stories We Tell, Goon and Cosmopolis, respectively, take the honours among such notables as Rebelle (War Witch) by Kim Nguyen, Midnight’s Children by Deepa Mehta and Laurence Anyways by Xavier Dolan in a memorable year for Canadian film. The 10 were chosen by seven panelists including filmmaker Jacob Tierney and CBC’s Metro Morning host Matt Galloway.
The event has been a showcase for Canadian film since 2001 and audiences will have an opportunity to see the selected movies on screen from Jan. 4 to 13 at Toronto’s TIFF Bell Lightbox.
Polley, whose Stories We Tell — a highly personal documentary-style film exploring family history — has earned rave reviews since its Venice debut, will take part in a special Mavericks question and answer session on Jan. 5.
Several of the films will also be presented at major theatres in Montreal, Vancouver and Edmonton.
Besides Stories We Tell, the other honourees are:
Cosmopolis by veteran filmmaker David Cronenberg, based on the novel by Don DeLillo, follows a young, amoral financial whiz kid (Pattinson) during one particularly eventful day.
The End of Time by Peter Mettler (Gambling, Gods and LSD) is a documentary with an international scope that explores the very concept of time.
Goon by Michael Dowse is a gritty comedy with graphically hilarious violence about a club bouncer who becomes an “enforcer” (Seann William Scott) for a minor league men’s hockey team.
With Laurence Anyways, Quebec’s Cannes darling Xavier Dolan explores the tumultuous relationship between a man who becomes a woman and a woman and their struggle to overcome their differences.
Midnight’s Children by Deepa Mehta is a historical drama adapted by Salman Rushdie, based on his Booker Prize-winning novel, set at the moment of India’s independence in 1947.
My Awkward Sexual Adventure by Sean Garrity follows a staid accountant in need of sexual experience who turns to an exotic dancer for help to win back his girlfriend.
Kim Nguyen’s Rebelle (War Witch), chronicling the experiences of a child soldier in sub-Saharan Africa, has earned rave reviews and is Canada’s nomination for the Best Foreign-Language Film at the Oscars.
Still by Michael McGowan is a story, based on true events, about an elderly man who risks the wrath of the authorities when he tries to build a better home for his ailing spouse.
Nisha Pahuja’s The World Before Her, which earned Best Canadian Feature at Hot Docs, is a tale of two worlds for young Indian women, one a beauty pageant, the other a fundamentalist Hindu boot camp.
Also named Tuesday were the Top 10 short films: Bydlo by Patrick Bouchard; Chef de meute (Herd Leader) by Chloé Robichaud; Crackin’ Down Hard by Mike Clattenburg; Kaspar by Diane Obomsawin; Ne crâne pas sois modeste (Keep a Modest Head) by Deco Dawson; Lingo by Bahar Noorizadeh; Malody by Phillip Barker; Old Growth by Tess Girard; Reflexions by Martin Thibaudeau; and Paparmane (Wintergreen) by Joëlle Desjardins Paquette.

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