135 Films of Ale: Oh Canada
by OldAle1 | created - 25 Aug 2017 | updated - 01 Oct 2022 | PublicThe first 40 films are ranked in order of preference; the rest are in chronological order.
Canada still doesn't get much respect - even sometimes from it's own citizens - when it comes to film. Utterly dominated in the market by the USA, Canadian films struggle to get distributed even within their own borders, let alone outside of the country. Many Canadian filmmakers - including some very fine ones like David Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan - have, not surprisingly, sought funding and work in the USA or elsewhere (usually the UK or France), but one of the things that makes Canadian cinema so appealing to me is that there are still a great many Canuck filmmakers who steadfastly continue to make "Canadian" films, at whatever budgets they can afford, for what small audiences show up.
And what is a "Canadian" film? Canada has a long and rich enough film history, and it's no more useful to stereotype the whole industry than it is to stereotype Hollywood; maybe less so as there are two distinct industries or film cultures, those of Québec and of the English-speaking majority of the country. And often these industries have followed the lead of those of France or the USA and UK; lots of low-budget "kitchen sink" dramas in the 60s, lots of French New Wave inspired work in Québec and lots of cheap horror and exploitation in both French and English-speaking areas, etc. To my mind this is too often a losing game; Canada has been at it's best when going it's own route - the experimental work of McLaren, Snow and Chambers, the weirdness and personal obsessions of Cronenberg, Maddin and Egoyan, the focus on Québec culture of Jutra, Carle and Brault, the difficulties of being gay or different in bland Montréal suburbia in Xavier Dolan's work, Sarah Polley's focusing on aging and female sexuality, etc. The National Film Board of Canada must be mentioned also, one of the world's greatest national film producing organizations and one of the reasons why in the realm of experimental animation and short films, Canada can stand with any country. And much more that I'm forgetting, or that I haven't explored yet myself.
All that said, it would be hyperbole to rank Canadian cinema among the greatest or most influential in the world, but for a country of 30 million that often seems to get treated, and sometimes treats itself, as a poor brother to it's powerhouse neighbor to the south, I think it's done OK for itself, and I would in fact argue that in the last 30 years it has become one of the world's stronger cinema cultures with great work being produced in Toronto, Montréal and of course Winnipeg.
It's not just maple syrup and hockey!
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. The Hart of London (1970)
80 min | Documentary
A surreal sequence of images of nature and London, Ontario, life and death.
Director: Jack Chambers
Votes: 452
2. The Forbidden Room (2015)
Not Rated | 130 min | Comedy, Mystery
In this non-linear amalgamation, submarine crewmen and a woodsman wend their way through a voyage of odd experiences.
Directors: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson | Stars: Roy Dupuis, Clara Furey, Louis Negin, Udo Kier
Votes: 3,420 | Gross: $0.03M
3. Stories We Tell (2012)
PG-13 | 108 min | Documentary
A film that excavates layers of myth and memory to find the elusive truth at the core of a family of storytellers.
Director: Sarah Polley | Stars: Michael Polley, John Buchan, Mark Polley, Joanna Polley
Votes: 14,120 | Gross: $1.60M
4. My Winnipeg (2007)
Not Rated | 80 min | Documentary, Comedy, Drama
Fact, fantasy and memory are woven seamlessly together in this portrait of film-maker Guy Maddin's home town of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Director: Guy Maddin | Stars: Darcy Fehr, Ann Savage, Louis Negin, Amy Stewart
Votes: 5,635 | Gross: $0.16M
5. Orders (1974)
109 min | Drama, History
A fact-based account of ordinary citizens who found themselves arrested and imprisoned without charge for weeks during the October Crisis in 1970 Quebec.
Director: Michel Brault | Stars: Hélène Loiselle, Jean Lapointe, Guy Provost, Claude Gauthier
Votes: 1,150
6. Naked Lunch (1991)
R | 115 min | Drama, Mystery
After developing an addiction to the substance he uses to kill bugs, an exterminator accidentally kills his wife and becomes involved in a secret government plot being orchestrated by giant bugs in a port town in North Africa.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, Julian Sands
Votes: 56,699 | Gross: $2.54M
7. Calendar (1993)
74 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A woman stays in Armenia after her photographer husband completes his assignment and returns home to Canada.
Director: Atom Egoyan | Stars: Arsinée Khanjian, Ashot Adamyan, Atom Egoyan, Michelle Bellerose
Votes: 2,361
8. The Heart of the World (2000)
Not Rated | 6 min | Short, Action, Fantasy
A scientist chooses a wealthy man over her two lovers but must heal the earth's core to save humanity.
Director: Guy Maddin | Stars: Leslie Bais, Caelum Vatnsdal, Shaun Balbar, Greg Klymkiw
Votes: 3,605
9. Neighbours (1952)
Not Rated | 8 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
A surreal story of two neighbours' destructive feud over a flower.
Director: Norman McLaren | Stars: Grant Munro, Jean Paul Ladouceur
Votes: 3,886
10. Kamouraska (1973)
R | 124 min | Drama, History
Quebec, the 1830s and 1840s. As she attends the bedside of Jérôme, her second husband, Élisabeth recalls her youth, her marriage to her first husband, Antoine, life in remote Kamouraska ... See full summary »
Director: Claude Jutra | Stars: Geneviève Bujold, Richard Jordan, Marcel Cuvelier, Philippe Léotard
Votes: 420
11. *Corpus Callosum (2002)
92 min | Comedy, Drama
A surreal and comic exploration of an office space and the decorations of a living room.
Director: Michael Snow | Stars: André Alcasid, Jacqueline Anderson, Berj Bannayan, Greg Hermanovic
Votes: 249
12. Away from Her (2006)
PG-13 | 110 min | Drama
A man coping with the institutionalization of his wife because of Alzheimer's disease faces an epiphany when she transfers her affections to another man, Aubrey, a wheelchair-bound mute who also is a patient at the nursing home.
Director: Sarah Polley | Stars: Julie Christie, Michael Murphy, Gordon Pinsent, Stacey LaBerge
Votes: 23,089 | Gross: $4.57M
13. Anne of Green Gables (1985)
TV-G | 100 min | Drama, Family
An orphan girl, sent to an elderly brother and sister by mistake, charms her new home and community with her fiery spirit and imagination.
Stars: Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst, Richard Farnsworth, Patricia Hamilton
Votes: 22,669
14. Laurence Anyways (2012)
Not Rated | 168 min | Drama, Romance
A drama that charts ten years in a transgender woman's relationship with her lover.
Director: Xavier Dolan | Stars: Melvil Poupaud, Emmanuel Schwartz, Suzanne Clément, Nathalie Baye
Votes: 22,215
15. The Saddest Music in the World (2003)
R | 100 min | Comedy, Musical
A musical of sorts set in Winnipeg during the Great Depression, where a beer baroness organizes a contest to find the saddest music in the world. Musicians from around the world descend on the city to try and win the $25,000 prize.
Director: Guy Maddin | Stars: Isabella Rossellini, Mark McKinney, Maria de Medeiros, David Fox
Votes: 6,322 | Gross: $0.67M
16. The Man Who Planted Trees (1987)
30 min | Animation, Short, Drama
The story of a shepherd's single handed quest to re-forest a barren valley.
Director: Frédéric Back | Stars: Philippe Noiret, Christopher Plummer
Votes: 6,112
17. Videodrome (1983)
R | 87 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A programmer at a Toronto TV station that specializes in adult entertainment searches for the producers of a dangerous and bizarre broadcast.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: James Woods, Debbie Harry, Sonja Smits, Peter Dvorsky
Votes: 103,063 | Gross: $2.12M
18. Wavelength (1967)
Not Rated | 43 min | Short, Drama
Claimed by some to be one of the most unconventional and experimental films ever made, Wavelength is a structural film of a 45-minute long zoom in on a window over a period of a week. Very unconventional and experimental, indeed.
Director: Michael Snow | Stars: Hollis Frampton, Lyne Grossman, Naoto Nakazawa, Roswell Rudd
Votes: 3,018
19. Sonatine (1984)
91 min | Drama
Two teenaged friends have separate difficult experiences that make the girls seriously consider suicide.
Director: Micheline Lanctôt | Stars: Pascale Bussières, Marcia Pilote, Pierre F. Fauteux, Kliment Denchev
Votes: 277
20. The Owl Who Married a Goose: An Eskimo Legend (1974)
8 min | Animation, Short, Romance
An owl marries a goose. They have off-spring, but somehow their habits of life are not compatible.
Director: Caroline Leaf
Votes: 204
21. Crac (1980)
15 min | Animation, Short, Drama
The industrialization of Montreal (Canada), as seen from the point of view of a rocking-chair.
Director: Frédéric Back
Votes: 1,638
22. I Killed My Mother (2009)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Romance
A semi-autobiographical story about Hubert as a young homosexual at odds with his mother.
Director: Xavier Dolan | Stars: Anne Dorval, Xavier Dolan, François Arnaud, Suzanne Clément
Votes: 31,424
23. Pas de deux (1968)
G | 13 min | Animation, Short, Musical
Two ballet dancers perform a dance enhanced with surreal multi and after-image effect visuals.
Director: Norman McLaren | Stars: Margaret Mercier, Vincent Warren
Votes: 1,766
24. Archangel (1990)
Not Rated | 78 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
An amnesiac soldier, seeking his lost love, arrives in Archangel in northern Russia to help the townsfolk in their fight against the Bolsheviks, all quite unaware that the Great War ended three months ago.
Director: Guy Maddin | Stars: Michael Gottli, David Falkenberg, Michael O'Sullivan, Margaret Anne MacLeod
Votes: 1,630 | Gross: $0.03M
25. The Cat Came Back (1988)
7 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
A pesky yellow cat becomes the bane of Mr. Johnson's life as it constantly outsmarts his increasingly desperate attempts to get rid of it.
Director: Cordell Barker | Star: Richard Condie
Votes: 2,466
26. Cosmopolis (2012)
R | 109 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
Riding across Manhattan in a stretch limo in order to get a haircut, a 28-year-old billionaire asset manager's day devolves into an odyssey with a cast of characters that start to tear his world apart.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Sarah Gadon, Mathieu Amalric
Votes: 50,094 | Gross: $0.74M
27. Odilon Redon or The Eye Like a Strange Balloon Mounts Toward Infinity (1995)
5 min | Short
A father and son ride the rails in their powerful locomotive. Witnessing a crash between two other engines, they rescue the lone survivor, Berenice, and make her a part of their family. All... See full summary »
Director: Guy Maddin | Stars: Jim Keller, Brandy Bayes, Caelum Vatnsdal, Evan Tyler Richards
Votes: 508
28. So Is This (1982)
48 min | Documentary
Experimental short in which sentences are formed by displaying one word at a time and at alternating speeds.
Director: Michael Snow
Votes: 226
29. Rispondetemi (1992)
19 min | Short
A car accident victim recalls memories from her life while riding in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.
Director: Léa Pool | Stars: Anne Dorval, Élise Guilbault, Sylvie Legault, Marcel Gauthier
Votes: 43
30. Crime Wave (1985)
80 min | Adventure, Comedy
A young director intent on making "the greatest color crime movie ever" can't seem to finish his script--he has a beginning and an end, but he can't quite figure out the middle. The ... See full summary »
Director: John Paizs | Stars: Eva Kovacs, John Paizs, Darrell Baran, Jeffrey Owen Madden
Votes: 726
31. Jesus of Montreal (1989)
R | 120 min | Drama, Romance
A group of actors put on an unorthodox, but acclaimed Passion Play which incites the opposition of the Catholic Church while the actors' lives themselves begin to mirror the Passion itself.
Director: Denys Arcand | Stars: Lothaire Bluteau, Catherine Wilkening, Johanne-Marie Tremblay, Rémy Girard
Votes: 7,553 | Gross: $1.60M
32. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
PG-13 | 112 min | Action, Comedy, Fantasy
In a magically realistic version of Toronto, a young man must defeat his new girlfriend's seven evil exes one by one in order to win her heart.
Director: Edgar Wright | Stars: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Anna Kendrick
Votes: 465,567 | Gross: $31.49M
33. The Adjuster (1991)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Drama
A family with the lack of sincerity faces a crisis.
Director: Atom Egoyan | Stars: Elias Koteas, Arsinée Khanjian, Maury Chaykin, Gabrielle Rose
Votes: 3,763 | Gross: $0.40M
34. A Married Couple (1969)
97 min | Documentary
An "actuality drama" about a real-life marriage in crisis, in which the couple attempts to identify and resolve the conflicts and resentments that have driven them to the brink of separation.
Director: Allan King | Stars: Billy Edwards, Antoinette Edwards, Bogart Edwards, Merton
Votes: 643
35. Careful (1992)
Not Rated | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Horror
The wary residents of a 19th century mountain village must tread carefully and speak softly lest they cause an avalanche. Sexual frenzies teem in this world of repression, setting off incestuous love triangles with deadly consequences.
Director: Guy Maddin | Stars: Kyle McCulloch, Gosia Dobrowolska, Sarah Neville, Brent Neale
Votes: 1,944
36. The Corporation (2003)
Not Rated | 145 min | Documentary, History
Documentary that looks at the concept of the corporation throughout recent history up to its present-day dominance.
Directors: Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott | Stars: Mikela Jay, Rob Beckwermert, Christopher Gora, Nina Jones
Votes: 21,787 | Gross: $1.88M
37. Mosaic (II) (1966)
9 min | Short
"It was in the summer of 1964 that I made my first movie, Mosaic. I shot literally miles of film since I was also learning to use the camera. The film finally ended up nine minutes long..."- Jack Chambers
Director: Jack Chambers
Votes: 36
38. Possible Worlds (2000)
93 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Crime
A man lives in parallel worlds, falling in love with the same woman, while the police hunt down a serial killer who steals brains.
Director: Robert Lepage | Stars: Tilda Swinton, Tom McCamus, Sean McCann, Gabriel Gascon
Votes: 2,154
39. Montreal Main (1974)
88 min | Drama
A photographer finds himself falling for a 14 year-old boy.
Director: Frank Vitale | Stars: John Sutherland, Peter Brawley, Dave Sutherland, Pam Marchant
Votes: 165
40. Of Whales, the Moon, and Men (1963)
105 min | Documentary
At the instigation of the filmmakers, the young men of the Ile-aux-Coudres in the middle of the St-Lawrence River try as a memorial to their ancestors to revive the fishing of the belugas interrupted in 1924.
Directors: Michel Brault, Pierre Perrault | Stars: Léopold Tremblay, Alexis Tremblay, Abel Harvey, Louis Harvey
Votes: 710
41. Back to God's Country (1919)
Unrated | 73 min | Adventure, Romance, Western
A woman finds herself all alone in a remote harbor with the man responsible for the murder of her father. With seemingly nobody around to protect her, she has to be resourceful.
Director: David Hartford | Stars: Nell Shipman, Charles Arling, Wheeler Oakman, Wellington A. Playter
Votes: 974
42. Hen Hop (1942)
4 min | Animation, Short
In a drawn-on-film animation, a hen gradually breaks apart into an abstract movement of lines as it dances to a barn dance.
Director: Norman McLaren
Votes: 289
43. C'est l'aviron (1944)
4 min | Short, Animation
An illustration of a traditional French Canadian song in the form of progressing cutouts and still pictures.
Director: Norman McLaren
Votes: 488
44. La poulette grise (1947)
6 min | Animation, Short, Musical
An experimental short film of images and music made by Norman McLaren.
Director: Norman McLaren
Votes: 353
45. Begone Dull Care (1950)
Not Rated | 8 min | Animation, Short, Music
Abstract images drawn directly onto the film are accompanied by three pieces of jazz performed by the Oscar Peterson trio.
Directors: Evelyn Lambart, Norman McLaren
Votes: 1,731
46. A Phantasy (1952)
Not Rated | 8 min | Animation, Short
Drawn in pastels, and scored with jazzy music, fantastical plant-like things "grow" from the ground, launching five spheres in to space to create even more fantastical scenes.
Director: Norman McLaren
Votes: 366
47. Blinkity Blank (1955)
5 min | Animation, Short
The surreal story of a bird and its cage with both their conflict and union.
Director: Norman McLaren
Votes: 1,104
48. A Chairy Tale (1957)
Not Rated | 12 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
An ordinary-looking chair refuses to be sat upon.
Directors: Claude Jutra, Norman McLaren | Star: Claude Jutra
Votes: 1,190
49. The Mask (1961)
Approved | 83 min | Horror, Thriller
A young archaeologist thinks he is cursed by an Aztec mask that makes him have strange nightmares. Before committing suicide, he sends the mask to his psychiatrist, who soon plunges into the mask's nightmarish world.
Director: Julian Roffman | Stars: Paul Stevens, Claudette Nevins, Bill Walker, Anne Collings
Votes: 1,046
50. Drylanders (1962)
69 min | Drama, Family, Western
The epic story of the opening of the Canadian West and the drought that brought the Depression in the thirties. This is the saga of a family who left eastern Canada to stake their future in the Prairies.
Director: Don Haldane | Stars: Frances Hyland, James B. Douglas, Lester Nixon, Mary Savidge
Votes: 79
51. The Bitter Ash (1963)
80 min | Drama
Des works at a boring job, and his girlfriend Julie is pressuring him to get married by claiming to be pregnant, so that she will not have to work. Laurie is living a life of quiet ... See full summary »
Director: Larry Kent | Stars: Alan Scarfe, Lynn Stewart, Philip Brown, Diane Griffith
Votes: 57
52. The Cat in the Bag (1964)
74 min | Drama
A young journalist is unhappy with society and contemplates what he can do about it.
Director: Gilles Groulx | Stars: Barbara Ulrich, Claude Godbout, Manon Blain, Véronique Vilbert
Votes: 499
53. Geneviève (1964)
28 min | Short, Drama
Two teenage girls go to winter carnival in Quebec City for the first time. Their ambiguous, tentative relationship with a young boy brings both of them the sweet intensity and disillusionment of first love.
Director: Michel Brault | Stars: Bernard Arcand, Geneviève Bujold, Louise Marleau
Votes: 123
54. Nobody Waved Good-bye (1964)
80 min | Drama
A teenage boy rebels against parental authority and must face a harsh reality when he tries to live on his own.
Director: Don Owen | Stars: Peter Kastner, Julie Biggs, Claude Rae, Toby Tarnow
Votes: 340
55. Warrendale (1967)
100 min | Documentary
Chronicles 7-weeks in the lives of 12 emotionally disturbed children and their therapist's experimental method of treatment at the Toronto-area Warrendale facility.
Director: Allan King | Star: Martin Fischer
Votes: 598
56. Walking (1968)
M | 5 min | Animation, Short
A cinematic portrait of people walking in their individual ways.
Director: Ryan Larkin
Votes: 935
57. Back and Forth (1969)
52 min | Documentary
A camera in a classroom continuously sways back and forth at various speeds as people occasionally move around the setting.
Director: Michael Snow | Stars: Allan Kaprow, Emmett Williams, Max Neuhaus, Joyce Wieland
Votes: 265
58. Stereo (1969)
Not Rated | 65 min | Sci-Fi
A group of Canadian university students agree to partake in a grisly psychological experiment, which renders them incapable of speech but able to communicate telepathically.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Ronald Mlodzik, Jack Messinger, Paul Mulholland, Iain Ewing
Votes: 2,615
59. Crimes of the Future (1970)
Not Rated | 63 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
In a dystopic world where a plague is killing off pubescent human females, an esoteric researcher seeks his missing mentor while trying to retain morality in the sex-obsessed society he lives in.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Ronald Mlodzik, Jon Lidolt, Tania Zolty, Paul Mulholland
Votes: 3,053
60. Goin' Down the Road (1970)
R | 90 min | Drama
Two friends leave the picturesque yet rural province of Nova Scotia for the nightlife and culture of Toronto. They soon end up wistful and nostalgic about Nova Scotia though after finding out that Toronto isn't as fun as they'd hoped.
Director: Donald Shebib | Stars: Doug McGrath, Paul Bradley, Jayne Eastwood, Cayle Chernin
Votes: 979
61. My Uncle Antoine (1971)
Not Rated | 104 min | Drama
Set in cold rural Quebec at Christmas time, we follow the coming of age of a young boy and the life of his family which owns the town's general store and undertaking business.
Director: Claude Jutra | Stars: Jacques Gagnon, Lyne Champagne, Jean Duceppe, Olivette Thibault
Votes: 3,185
62. The Pyx (1973)
R | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A police detective uncovers a sinister occult explanation behind the mysterious death of a heroin-addicted prostitute.
Director: Harvey Hart | Stars: Karen Black, Christopher Plummer, Donald Pilon, Jean-Louis Roux
Votes: 975
63. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974)
PG | 120 min | Comedy, Drama
In a bid to gain respect, the neglected younger son of a working class Jewish family in Montréal embarks on a series of get-rich-quick schemes to buy land surrounding a lake.
Director: Ted Kotcheff | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Micheline Lanctôt, Jack Warden, Randy Quaid
Votes: 2,700 | Gross: $0.85M
64. Au bout du fil (1974)
10 min | Animation, Short
An experimental short devoid of dialogue in which gothic animated characters are featured.
Director: Paul Driessen
Votes: 259
65. Gina (1975)
95 min | Crime, Drama
A beautiful stripper hires renowned criminals to exact revenge on those who raped her in her motel room.
Director: Denys Arcand | Stars: Céline Lomez, Claude Blanchard, Frédérique Collin, Serge Thériault
Votes: 607
66. Illusion (1975)
12 min | Short, Animation
A magician tries to lure the children away from nature with his tricks.
Director: Frédéric Back
Votes: 300
67. Mindscape (1976)
8 min | Animation, Short, Fantasy
An artist creates a painting of the landscape he sees, then finds he can literally climb into the picture to see the fantastic world inside.
Director: Jacques Drouin
Votes: 826
68. The Street (1976)
10 min | Animation, Comedy, Drama
This film deals with a Jewish family in Montreal, Canada as they care for a dying grandmother and the young boy who is impatient to get the room he was promised as soon as she kicks the bucket.
Director: Caroline Leaf | Stars: Mort Ransen, Sarah Dwight, John Hood, Vera Leitman
Votes: 830
69. The Bead Game (1977)
6 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
To a percussive soundtrack, a succession of more complex animals forms and is consumed by their successors (all formed from beads). Finally, We reach man, who develops ever more sophisticated forms of war.
Director: Ishu Patel
Votes: 703
70. The Silent Partner (1978)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A timid bank teller anticipates a bank robbery and steals the money himself before the crook arrives. When the sadistic crook realizes he's been fooled, he tracks down the teller and engages him in a cat-and-mouse chase for the cash.
Directors: Daryl Duke, Curtis Hanson | Stars: Elliott Gould, Christopher Plummer, Susannah York, Céline Lomez
Votes: 7,752
71. Tout rien (1978)
11 min | Animation, Short
An illustration of beings in a world where countless plant and animal species rapidly become extinct, and resources run dry due to greed. However, it is possible to avoid disaster by conserving and sharing what we have.
Director: Frédéric Back
Votes: 419
72. Canada Vignettes: Log Driver's Waltz (1979)
3 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
A short illustrating a traditional Canadian folk song about a woman's admiration for the agility for her boyfriend, the log driver.
Director: John Weldon | Stars: Anna McGarrigle, Kate McGarrigle
Votes: 481
73. The Sweater (1980)
10 min | Animation, Short, Biography
A French Canadian boy endures the terrible shame when he receives the hockey sweater of the wrong team.
Director: Sheldon Cohen | Stars: Roch Carrier, Jean-Guy Moreau
Votes: 826
74. Heavy Metal (1981)
R | 86 min | Animation, Adventure, Fantasy
A glowing green orb that embodies ultimate evil terrorizes a young girl with an anthology of bizarre and fantastic stories.
Directors: Gerald Potterton, John Bruno, John Halas, Julian Harris, Jimmy T. Murakami, Barrie Nelson, Paul Sabella, Jack Stokes, Pino Van Lamsweerde, Harold Whitaker | Stars: Richard Romanus, John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Don Francks
Votes: 38,185
75. Scanners (1981)
R | 103 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A scientist trains a man with an advanced telepathic ability called "scanning" to stop a dangerous Scanner with extraordinary psychic powers from waging war against non scanners.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Patrick McGoohan, Lawrence Dane
Votes: 61,798 | Gross: $14.23M
76. The Shimmering Beast (1982)
128 min | Documentary
A documentary film about a group of hunters who gather annually to hunt moose near Maniwaki, Quebec.
Director: Pierre Perrault | Stars: Louis-Philippe Lécuyer, Philippe Cross, Stéphane-Albert Boulais, Maurice Chaillot
Votes: 279
77. Next of Kin (1984)
Not Rated | 70 min | Comedy, Drama
Unhappy living with his loveless parents, a young man convinces a family of Armenian immigrants that he's their long-lost son and moves in with them, improving all of their lives in the process.
Director: Atom Egoyan | Stars: Patrick Tierney, Berj Fazlian, Sirvart Fazlian, Arsinée Khanjian
Votes: 1,047
78. The Big Snit (1985)
10 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
A couple have a fight over a scrabble game unaware that a full scale nuclear war has started.
Director: Richard Condie | Stars: Jay Brazeau, Ida Osler, Randy Woods, Bill Guest
Votes: 1,942
79. The Dead Father (1985)
26 min | Short, Comedy, Drama
The patriarch of a troubled clan dies, but the resentment and yearning of the eldest son conspire to bring the errant father back for periodic visits in an only partially living state. ... See full summary »
Director: Guy Maddin | Stars: D.P. Snidal, Margaret Anne MacLeod, John Harvie, Angela Heck
Votes: 321
80. The Last Polka (1985 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 60 min | Comedy, Music
A mockumentary that depicts the final concert of Yosh and Stan Shmenge aka the Happy Wanderers.
Director: John Blanchard | Stars: John Candy, Eugene Levy, Rick Moranis, Catherine O'Hara
Votes: 542
81. The Gate (1987)
PG-13 | 85 min | Fantasy, Horror
Kids left home alone accidentally unleash a horde of malevolent demons from a mysterious hole in their suburban backyard.
Director: Tibor Takács | Stars: Stephen Dorff, Christa Denton, Louis Tripp, Kelly Rowan
Votes: 19,609 | Gross: $13.54M
82. I've Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987)
R | 81 min | Comedy, Drama
Scatterbrained Polly gets a job as a secretary in Gabrielle's art gallery. Polly aspires to be a professional photographer, and idolizes Gabrielle for her artistic ability. When Gabrielle ... See full summary »
Director: Patricia Rozema | Stars: Sheila McCarthy, Paule Baillargeon, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Richard Monette
Votes: 1,913 | Gross: $1.41M
83. Rainbow War (1987)
20 min | Short, Adventure, Comedy
Three nearby kingdoms, floating separately in space, can each see the other, but have no means to communicate or visit. Each has developed a fanatical obsession for a specific color for ... See full summary »
Director: Bob Rogers | Stars: Gary Carre, Saffron Henderson, Gillian Barber, Jonathon Pallone
Votes: 246
84. The Wanderer (1988)
11 min | Animation, Short, Drama
A stranger comes to a peaceful village bearing gifts that bear a terrible price.
Director: George Ungar
Votes: 63
85. Les noces de papier (1990 TV Movie)
95 min | Drama
A woman agrees to a marriage of convenience with a refugee.
Director: Michel Brault | Stars: Geneviève Bujold, Manuel Aranguiz, Dorothée Berryman, Monique Lepage
Votes: 168 | Gross: $0.23M
86. Two Sisters (1991)
10 min | Animation, Short, Drama
Two sisters live alone on an island. Viola, whose face is terribly disfigured, writes beautiful novels in her room. Marie is protective and won't let anyone see her sister. Then, a fan of Viola's books swims up on shore.
Director: Caroline Leaf | Stars: Kathleen Fee, Michael Rudder, Jane Woods
Votes: 345
87. Leolo (1992)
Not Rated | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
The story of a young Canadian boy who tries to escape mentally from his disturbed family thanks to his fantasy and imagination.
Director: Jean-Claude Lauzon | Stars: Maxime Collin, Ginette Reno, Gilbert Sicotte, Julien Guiomar
Votes: 7,336 | Gross: $0.61M
88. The Mighty River (1993)
24 min | Documentary, Animation, Short
The environmental history of the St. Lawrence River and the impact of human exploitation of it.
Director: Frédéric Back | Stars: Paul Hébert, Donald Sutherland
Votes: 528
89. Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993)
Not Rated | 98 min | Biography, Drama, Music
A collection of vignettes highlighting different aspects of the life, work, and character of the acclaimed Canadian classical pianist.
Director: François Girard | Stars: Colm Feore, Derek Keurvorst, Katya Ladan, Devon Anderson
Votes: 3,918 | Gross: $1.57M
90. Dance Me Outside (1994)
R | 84 min | Comedy, Drama
A story of life on a First Nations reserve in Ontario: Silas and Frank are trying to get into college to train to be mechanics but they find themselves having to deal with girls, family - and murder.
Director: Bruce McDonald | Stars: Ryan Rajendra Black, Adam Beach, Jennifer Podemski, Michael Greyeyes
Votes: 1,334 | Gross: $0.30M
91. Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993)
119 min | Documentary
A film account about the military 1990 siege of a Native American reserve near Oka, Quebec, Canada and its causes.
Director: Alanis Obomsawin | Stars: Jack Burning, Herbie Barnes, Alanis Obomsawin, Ethel Blondin
Votes: 482
92. Exotica (1994)
R | 103 min | Drama
A man plagued by neuroses frequents the club Exotica in an attempt to find solace, but even there his past is never far away.
Director: Atom Egoyan | Stars: Bruce Greenwood, Elias Koteas, Don McKellar, David Hemblen
Votes: 21,106 | Gross: $4.18M
93. The Confessional (1995)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
The year is 1952, in Québec City, Québec. Rachel (Suzanne Clément), sixteen, unmarried, and pregnant, works in the church. Filled with shame, she unburdens her guilt to a young Priest under... See full summary »
Director: Robert Lepage | Stars: Lothaire Bluteau, Patrick Goyette, Jean-Louis Millette, Kristin Scott Thomas
Votes: 1,634 | Gross: $0.58M
94. Hard Core Logo (1996)
R | 92 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A group of washed-up Canadian punk rockers get back together for a road trip in memory of a dear friend who was supposedly shot, or so rumors imply. As they travel, they ignore the underlying psychological darkness within each other.
Director: Bruce McDonald | Stars: Hugh Dillon, Callum Keith Rennie, John Pyper-Ferguson, Bernie Coulson
Votes: 2,822 | Gross: $0.02M
95. The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
R | 112 min | Drama
A bus crash in a small town brings a lawyer to defend the families, but he discovers everything isn't what it seems.
Director: Atom Egoyan | Stars: Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Caerthan Banks, Tom McCamus
Votes: 36,746 | Gross: $3.25M
96. Last Night (I) (1998)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A group of very different individuals with different ideas of how to face the end come together as the world is expected to end in six hours at the turn of the century.
Director: Don McKellar | Stars: Don McKellar, Sandra Oh, Roberta Maxwell, Robin Gammell
Votes: 10,146
97. The Hat (1999)
6 min | Animation, Short, Horror
An exotic dancer recalls an incident from her childhood where she was physically abused by a male visitor.
Director: Michèle Cournoyer
Votes: 415
98. Set Me Free (1999)
94 min | Drama, Romance
In the year 1963, an awkward thirteen-year-old girl comes of age during her escapism into the world of cinema, with potentially dangerous results.
Director: Léa Pool | Stars: Karine Vanasse, Pascale Bussières, Predrag 'Miki' Manojlovic, Alexandre Mérineau
Votes: 1,074 | Gross: $0.07M
99. eXistenZ (1999)
R | 97 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A game designer on the run from assassins must play her latest virtual reality creation with a marketing trainee to determine if the game has been damaged.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ian Holm, Willem Dafoe
Votes: 107,255 | Gross: $2.84M
100. Like a Dream That Vanishes (1999)
40 min | Short
An experimental surreal short that entwines various footage with discussions of religion, philosophy, and mathematics.
Director: Barbara Sternberg
Votes: 40
Tell Your Friends