It may be 2013, but TIFF isn’t ready to let go of the amazing Canadian cinema that premiered in 2012. Starting this Friday, TIFF kicks off its 12th annual Canada’s Top Ten at TIFF Bell Lightbox with 10 days of screenings featuring the year’s 10 best Canadian features and short films, along with Q&A sessions with filmmakers like David Cronenberg and Sarah Polley. Below, our top five Canuck flicks from the fest.
Goon
We know it’s cliché that a top Canadian movie is about hockey, but with a script co-written by Evan Goldberg (the scribe behind Pineapple Express and Superbad) and Jay Baruchel (the skinny guy from Knocked Up and Tropic Thunder), and a cast starring Seann William Scott alongside Baruchel, you know this take on violence in hockey will be nothing but raucously funny.
Cosmopolis
Sure, you can expect the movie to be a bit odd (it is directed by David Cronenberg after all), but critics have raved about Robert Pattinson’s performance in the adaptation of Don DeLillo’s apocalyptic satire, and we’re curious to see him in a role that’s not Edward.
My Awkward Sexual Adventure
Jonas Chernick wrote the script and stars as a sexually repressed accountant who makes a pact with an exotic dancer (Emily Hampshire) who, in exchange for his financial advice, agrees to help him in the boudoir so he can win back the love of his life. Apparently it’s as funny as it is educational, so, you might want to bring a notepad, fellas.
Midnight’s Children
Midnight’s Children was one of the most anticipated movies at last year’s TIFF, so it’s no surprise that Deepa Mehta’s collaboration with Salman Rushdie on the screen adaptation of his novel would find its way onto the top 10 list. The movie — which follows the destinies of a pair of children born at the very moment India claimed independence from Great Britain — is one of Shakespearean proportions, filled with romance, wit and magic.
Stories We Tell
Stories We Tell, the first documentary from director Sarah Polley, weaves a multi-layered personal essay that excavates layers of myth and memory to reveal the truth on decades-old events involving her own family, using a combination of archival footage, photos and testimonials.
Canada’s Top Ten, TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 King St. W., 416-599-8433. Jan. 4-13