I like (Canadian) movies

Chandler Levack + my Gen X youth in Canadian film

One of my favourite visual jokes in the 2023 film I Like Movies, written and directed by Chandler Levack, is that the racks in the Burlington video store where it’s set are filled with Canadian titles that would only appeal to that ultra-niche of viewer: the Canadian film fan. What’s funny is the idea that a Blockbuster-esque video megastore in the suburbs would stock so many copies of a Canadian film without somehow being mandated by the government to do so.

Because… who actually really loves Canadian film? (I’ll explain below.)

I’m interviewing Levack and some of her crew this Saturday, June 10 at 1 p.m., at the West End Phoenix office: 3 Bartlett Ave., just N of Bloor betwen Dufferin and Dovercourt (due north of Dufferin Grove).

Whether you can make it out to this event or not, you should check out the art show there by Julie Fader, best known as a musician (Etiquette, Sarah Harmer, Chad Van Gaalen, Blue Rodeo, etc.) It closes on Sunday.

I Like Movies is hilarious, touching, and a note-perfect coming-of-age story about a high school film buff, convinced of his own genius, who alienates his friends and his struggling mother—before his boss at a video store teaches him valuable life lessons. The cast is amazing, the dialogue is sharp, the pace is quick, the millenial nostalgia detail is note-perfect, and there are constant Canadian signifiers—like an opening sequence set to Swollen Members’ “Fuel Injected.” Bonus points for Guelph jokes.

The movie is available on demand as of… today! Find it on all your usual providers, the ones that put video stores out of business!

If you subscribe to this newsletter and/or have read my books, you will know that I have an odd fetish for Canadian arts and its history. Mostly music. But also film. (And one or two things about theatre and art and books. No sports!) It’s easy for me to find other fans of Canadian music. Canadian film? Not so much.

Canadian film’s dull reputation is well earned, despite dozens of exceptions dating back decades. (Even many of our greatest films are… v e r r r y s l l l l o w.) The reasons why are myriad: brain drain, lack of finances, cultural committees stifling auteur visions, and classic Canadian timidity. Many of the best movies made here exist in spite of the system.

Thankfully, that’s changing. Chandler Levack’s I Like Movies is just one example of that: she was nurtured by the Canadian Film Centre (CFC), and her film was funded in part by Telefilm’s Talent to Watch program — a recent micro-funding initiative developed by Matt Johnson of BlackBerry and Nirvanna the Band the Show, meant to spread a large pile of money among many young filmmakers instead of just a handful of large projects.

After award-winning music videos (Pup, Jeremy Dutcher) and an acclaimed short, Levack made her debut feature with a mere $125,000 from Talent to Watch, $100,000 from a Canada Council arts grant, $6,000 from Toronto Arts Council, and $10,000 of her own money. She hired the Dears’ Murray Lightburn to write the score; his fee was covered by the CFC. Telefilm kicked in another $50K in “completion funding” once filming was done, for post-production expenses. In sum: peanuts.

Point of comparison: Greta Gerwig’s Ladybird, an Oscar-nominated film to which I Like Movies is often favourably compared, was made for $10 million. Levack made her film for $291,000—during pandemic lockdowns, no less. Another point of comparison: Canadian low-budget classic I Heard the Mermaids Singing, made in 1987, was made for $350,000—that was more than 35 years ago. I’m not going to do the inflation math; the point is obvious without it.

I Like Movies was a success—both in acclaim and by exceeding traditionally modest box office expectations for any Canadian film (it played in real theatres for more than two weeks! And continues to play in rep!). Now she’s landed a management deal with Hollywood powerhouse William Morris. As she should.

She just announced her second feature: set in mid-2000s Montreal’s indie rock scene. Which is HIGHLY RELEVANT TO MY INTERESTS #HeartsOnFire

Come see what Levack & co. have to say this Saturday. Reserve a spot here or at hello@westendphoenix.com; limited seating! Especially considering how much of her crew is showing up!

Meanwhile, here’s a personal walk through some of my favourite Canadian films of all time: specifically, 10 English-Canadian non-doc films that shaped my Gen X teen years.