51 Best Canadian Films of All Time
51 Best Canadian Films of All Time
The 51 best Canadian films of all time, including Denis Villeneuve, Guy Maddin, David Cronenberg, Indigenous drama and hockey comedy movies.
I half expected "best" to be an extraneous word, as in there only are 51 Canadian films. Lucky for me, I like to to fact check before letting my mouth leak. As it turns out, we recently produced three times that within the span of one year, and the National Film Board of Canada takes credit for over 13,000 films since 1939.
That does come with a caveat, however, in that the NFB runs on subsidy to the tune of ~$70m per year and isn't really focused on mainstream, commercially successful entertainment. The numbers likely include "films" as short as 5 minutes, along with everything between that and feature length movies.
What's my point? I, uh, didn't get that far. Hopefully I've at least managed to pivot from parading my ignorance to acknowledging it.
Anyway, a few of the featured pique my curiosity (which I'm listing here for my own future reference):
- BlackBerry (2023, was already planning on watching at some point)
- Goon (2004)
- Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992)
- Seeds (2024)
- Strange Brew (1983, hoping it's more "Dumb and Dumber" and less "Dude, Where's My Car?")
- Movies that aren't really Canadian:
- Navalny (2022)
- Turning Red (2022)
Well now it feels like I'm parading my lack of culture. 🤷♂️
Turning Red was written-directed by a Canadian and set in Canada, so it's at least Canadian adjacent.
"Cube" is a really fun sci-fi horror, and I was happy to see it on the list. Very low-budget, but one should never hold that against Canadian cinema.
I took a pass on that when it released. Horror, and especially psychological horror, are really not my jam. The closest I ever got to enjoying something like that is Resident Evil. That's why The Fly isn't on my list either. But that reminds me of another Canadian movie that caught my interest after watching a video essay about it: Blood Quantum (2019).
Cube is fantastic. I like to rewatch it every now and then. The sequels, not as good, imo.
Blackberry is a great movie. Love Baruchel and Howerton in their roles.
Also enjoyed many Cronenberg and Villeneuve movies too.
Men With Brooms
Porky's
FUBAR and The Delicate Art Of Parking! Though I haven't been able to find a copy of the latter.
Fubar is peak Canadian filmmaking
1981, 1987, 1991 and 1995 by Ricardo Trogi are fucking amazing and deserve to be in that list.
Check out Way Down Town filmed in and about Calgary's +15 urban walkway system. Hilarious film.
Happy to see Last Night on this list
I had no idea A Christmas Story was Canadian, but makes sense it would be.
I've only seen 5/51. Guess I'm going to have to start watching some movies!
I know I've seen at least a couple of these available on CBC Gem, if anyone else needs to catch up on these!
They definitely took some liberties with the list, but it seems like a good jumping-off point.
Good list!
Time to save this list!