Indie film

I did my part for Canadian cinema last night with an opening day viewing of 19 Months. It's a good movie--quite funny in places--though I kept wanting to reach out and smack the male lead. The producer was a friend of a friend, so we hung out with him a bit afterwards. He said they were aiming for 300 people over the opening weekend, and the opening day numbers (about 130, which is apparently quite good for a Canadian film) led him to believe they would meet that goal. That's big contrast from the multi-screen blockbusters (which I think I might support today by going to see Shrek 2), and probably evidence for some people that Canadians don't want Canadian films, and that the government should therefore and ever after stay out of the whole business and let the market decide. I tend to think that there's value in providing space and opportunity for a country to tell its own stories even if most people don't go out to watch them, but I understand some of the frustration with the CanCon rules on radio and television. And, of course, there's the question of whether Canadian films are inherently distinguishable from American films. Last night's movie was about relationships--there was nothing overtly Canadian about it apart from the filming locations, which places it in good company with a lot of American films. Does it deserve automatic protection and support because the people involved were Canadian? Or is it a question of making sure that Canadian film makers survive long enough to start telling Canadian stories?

I was rather amused on our little movie excursion listening to my Saskatchewan and Newfoundland friends discuss how suburban the Eglinton area felt; I think that was as far north in Ontario as some of them had ever gone. I can't entirely disagree--when I was living in Richmond Hill and working down by Harbourfront, Eglinton always marked the point on the subway when I felt that I was crossing into home territory--but I still found it entertaining.

(I'm still trying to decide on a notebook computer. I'm kinda obsessed right now--loving the Toshiba, but thinking I should save money and buy the Dell. MacGuy, naturally, is still trying to convince me that Apple is the way to go. And I might have agreed with him...if he hadn't already given away his primary discount for the year.)