TORONTO - Canadian actors and directors were among the hippest and hottest in cinema during 2007, with movies like "Away From Her," "Eastern Promises" and "Juno" some of the most lauded of the year and actors Ellen Page, Michael Cera and Seth Rogen becoming household names around the globe.
"Away From Her," the directorial debut of one-time child actress Sarah Polley, was the No. 2 best-reviewed movie of the year, according to the film junkie's website Rotten Tomatoes, which compiles film reviews from across North America. Only the animated kids' movie "Ratatouille" snagged more rave reviews than Polley's poignant Alzheimer's disease drama.
The Golden Globes, considered a harbinger of the Oscars, have also smiled upon Canadians: "Juno," from Montreal-born director Jason Reitman, was nominated for best film in the comedy or musical category, while David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises" got the nod for best dramatic film. Viggo Mortensen, who starred in the Cronenberg film, received an acting nomination.
Page, who lives in Halifax, has been nominated for best actress in a comedy or musical for her portrayal of a feisty pregnant teen in "Juno," while Julie Christie is up for best actress in a dramatic film for her role in "Away From Her." Both are widely considered to be shoo-ins for Oscar nominations.
Can the momentum hold in 2008 for Canadians here and abroad? It would be a daunting task, but those in the know say there are some promising Canadian films in the works, and that the actors currently in the glare of the Hollywood spotlight are most certainly going to remain there.
Paul Gross's $20-million pet project "Passchendaele," a First World War drama, arrives in theatres in 2008, as does an eagerly anticipated Atom Egoyan film, "Adoration."
Deepa Mehta's "The Exclusion," about the plight of 375 asylum-seekers from India who fled Britain and arrived in Vancouver in 1914, will also likely be released in the coming year, as will the latest from Jean-Marc Vallee of "C.R.A.Z.Y." fame. Vallee's film tackles an unexpected topic: "The Young Victoria" is a dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.
"The big news is going to be the Paul Gross film," says Richard Crouse, the film critic for CTV's "Canada AM."
"He's tried for so long to get this made, it is a real passion project for him and it cost a lot of money -- and in Canada films don't cost a lot of money, typically. So I'm really curious to see what comes out of that ... It's a movie made by Canadians on a scale that we don't see very often in this country."
The Egoyan film, starring Canadian actor Scott Speedman, formerly of "Felicity" fame, also sounds intriguing, Crouse says.
"Scott Speedman is an unlikely choice to be in an Atom Egoyan film but he's actually a really good actor, and something interesting is going to come out of all that," Crouse says. "Everyone's interested to see what happens with 'Adoration' because Egoyan has kind of pulled back a little bit and is doing what he does best, which is make smaller budget, interesting films."
Steve Gravestock, director of Canadian programming for the Toronto International Film Festival, says there was a wealth of great homegrown films that screened at the 2007 festival -- and adds that next year is shaping up to be just as bountiful.
"The talent pool here in Canada is really quite large," Gravestock says. "There's a lot of really interesting stuff out there and hopefully it will jibe with our dates and whatever their commercial plans are. People thought this year was great -- we had a lot of Canadian films in very prominent positions, a big Canadian slate - and next year doesn't look any smaller."
As far as the Canadians who made a splash internationally in 2007, Crouse says, the future looks bright.
"Sarah Polley is being recognized all over the place, deservedly so, and Michael Cera, Seth Rogen and Ellen Page are emerging as three of the hot 'it' people in Hollywood right now," Crouse says.
"Michael Cera has cornered the market on playing the sensitive but funny teen in movies, the guy who's not afraid to talk about his feelings, and it's such a refreshing change from the 'American Pie' style of movies, so he's about as hot as it gets right now," he says.
Page has also emerged as one of the most sought-after young actresses in Hollywood.
"She and Amy Adams are sort of wrestling for the title of 'it girl' right now, now that Lindsay Lohan has snorted herself into irrelevancy," Crouse says. "She's really someone to watch because everyone had her pegged as a young, serious actress and now we all know she can do comedy as well. 'Juno' would not have worked as well as it did if it weren't for Ellen Page."
And the Vancouver-born Rogen also seems destined to become a silver screen stalwart in the aftermath of the immense successes of "Superbad," which he wrote and starred in, and "Knocked Up."
"Again, an unlikely leading man, but he's kind of the shlubby leading guy, he's the everyman who a lot of people can relate to, and also hysterically funny," Crouse says.
"His next movie, he started writing it when he was 16, and 'Superbad' was written when he was still a teenager, so he's finally now in a position where all these things that have been percolating in his head for a long time are finally coming to fruition. He's going to be around for a long time to come."
