Canadian Movies for Canada Day Weekend

Happy Birthday Canada - let's watch a movie!

If you’re looking for a Canadian movie to celebrate Canada’s birthday, Rock 95 has a few suggestions for you!

Strange Brew (1983)

When SCTV moved from Global Television to the CBC, commercial breaks were cut from the show and an additional two minutes of material were needed for every episode. With the desire to add Canadian content, Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis came up with Bob & Doug McKenzie – the most “stereotypical” Canadians ever conceived.

After forty-one sketches and a comedy album, the duo released Strange Brew. It was a film about a mouse in a beer bottle, an evil Brewmeister and an evil plan for world domination. And it was glorious.

Goon (2011)

A minor league hockey fight strays into the stands and Doug Glatt gets pulled in. After winning the fight handily, he gets recruited to the sport to become an enforcer. The movie was largely based around a made-up hockey farm team, the Halifax Highlanders but was filmed around Manitoba. Six years later, a sequel was conceived, with a local connection…

Goon 2 (2017)

Trailer NSFW – Strong Language

Goon 2 was filmed partially in Barrie. In the sequel, Doug, now “The Thug”, Glatt (played again by Seann William Scott) has to start playing, or rather, fighting southpaw after an injury leaves him unable to fight with his right hand. The movie gained an even more star-studded cast including Elisha Cuthbert, T.J. Miller, James Duthie, Jason Jones and Tyler Seguin.

Bon Cop, Bad Cop (2006)

The body of a big-league hockey executive is found on the Ontario/Quebec border and a buddy cop film emerges starring Colm Feore and Patrick Huard. Huard plays a francophone cop from the Sûreté du Québec, while Colm Feore plays an anglophone Ontario Provincial Police officer. This thriller comedy will test your knowledge of Canada’s two official languages as the film’s dialogue cuts back and forth between English and French.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

Set in Toronto, Michael Cera plays Scott Pilgrim. Scott is a pretty low-key guy; he plays bass in a band. He’s pretty normal until he falls in love with Ramona Flowers, an Amazon.ca delivery girl. To be with her, he must defeat her seven evil exes. Based on the graphic novel of the same name, the movie looks and sounds like a video game and may be one of the wildest Canadian rides you could take this Canada Day. The film is set in Toronto and features scenes shot at Casa Loma, Bloor Street West and in front of Honest Ed’s. It also features Anna Kendrick, Brie Larson, Alison Pill, Chris Evans and Brandon Routh – most at the beginning of their mainstream movie careers.

Canadian Bacon (1995)

Canadian Bacon created a world where the United States begins a cold war with Canada… all over Canadian beer. The film stars John Candy and Alan Alda, was written by Michael Moore and was shot in both the U.S. (Buffalo and Niagara Falls) and Canada (Toronto, Hamilton, and Niagara Falls).

Score: A Hockey Musical (2010)

Trailer NSFW – Contains Language

Think 1993’s “Rookie of the Year” meets “High School Musical” with a dash of hockey. The film is based in Toronto and stars Canadian actors Allie MacDonald and Noah Reid. It also features cameos from George Stroumboulopoulos, Walter Gretzky, Theo Fleury and Nelly Furtado. The film was featured in both the Toronto International Film Festival and the Barrie Film Festival.

The F Word (2013)

Trailer NSFW – Contains Adult Themes

If you have ever been friend-zoned, you can probably sympathize with Daniel Radcliffe’s character in this movie. Radcliffe plays a med school drop-out, Wallace, just trying to get by until he meets Chantry, played by Zoe Kasan. The relationship gets complicated when Wallace learns Chantry has a boyfriend. The F Word’s connection to Canada? The movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2013 and is set in Toronto.

Do any of these movies tickle your fancy? Let us know!

CC Image Courtesy of t47360 via Flickr