Genie Awards 2006

The Genies went C.R.A.Z.Y. at the annual presentation held on March 13th in Toronto.

This celebration of Canadian films is put on every year by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television and seeks to recognize and reward the best in Canadian film.

This year the French Canadian film C.R.A.Z.Y. swept the awards, winning ten Genies out of twelve nominations, and also receiving the Golden Reel Award for the largest domestic box office receipts by a Canadian film. C.R.A.Z.Y. took in some $6.3 million this year, most of it in Quebec. Which is unfortunate. C.R.A.Z.Y. was undoubtedly the best Canadian film of 2005 and should have earned a much larger audience in English Canada than it did.

The film is a story of love between a father and son. The son, Zachary, was the third born in a family of four boys. He was a special child, surviving a difficult birth on Christmas Day.

Zachary does everything he can to attract his fathers attention and to win the fathers approval, even to the extent of trying to deny his inner self.

The film follows Zachary from birth until his early 20s, as an ordinary family searches for happiness.

C.R.A.Z.Y. is an extraordinary film that won most of the major awards at the Genies. Included in its haul were the awards for Best Actor, which went to Michel Cote, who played the father; Best Supporting Actress, which went to Danielle Proulx, who played the mother; Art Direction and Production Design; Editing; Overall Sound; Sound Editing; Original Screenplay; Costume Design: Best Director; and Best Film.

Water, another remarkable Canadian film came away with three Genies, including for Cinematography; Best Original Score and Best Actress to Seema Biswas, who played the child/widow around whom most of the story in Water revolves.

The remainder of the Genies were sprinkled around the film industry with Seven Times Lucky winning for Best Original Song: Denis Bernard winning for Best Supporting Actor for LAudition; Atom Egoyan winning for Best Adapted Screenplay for Where The Truth Lies; ScaredSacred winning for Best Documentary; Best Live Action Short going to Milo 55160; and Best Animated Short going to CNote.

The Claude Jutra Award for outstanding achievement by a first time feature film director went to Louise Archambault of Familia.

Just a heads up to all the readers who havent seen C.R.A.Z.Y. The DVD will be released in early April. I hate to admit it, but I hadnt seen the film but was fortunate enough to receive an advance copy of the DVD and was just blown away by the film. Be sure not to miss the gem of a picture.

Recent DVDs

A History of Violence

David Cronenbergs latest look on violence in the world around us takes us to the small town of Millbrook, Indiana, where Tom Stall and his lawyer wife live a quiet, unobtrusive life.

Tom owns a diner and becomes a hero when he foils a vicious attempted robbery. The spotlight brings him to the attention of a mobster who believes Tom is the man who wronged him in the past.

Great film that was overlooked at award time.

Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris, William Hurt.

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio

Another overlooked gem. Julianne Moore gives a terrific performance as a 1950s and 1960s housewife, who struggles to keep her family together and to keep hunger away from her door.

She uses her talent for words to enter jingle competitions. She supported her 10 kids and alcoholic husband by winning thousands of dollars worth of prizes, usually just before her money ran out.

Starring: Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson, Laura Dern.

The Year of the Yao

Documentary charts the journey of Yao Ming, Chinas 76" basketball hero. The film follows Mings experiences adapting to a new culture and a new way of life during his rookie year in the NBA.

The DVD features interviews with such NBA greats as Shaquille ONeal and Charles Barkley and will inspire fans both young and old.

Three of Hearts: A Postmodern Family

True story of the relationship between three people living together as a family. Sam and Steven were a couple for a number of years and suddenly decided something was missing--a woman. They found Samantha to share their lives and then decided to have a baby. It certainly made for an interesting story and an entertaining film.

Irish Jam

Jimmy is a Los Angeles con man, who seeks to escape all the people hes pissed off. A poetry contest gives Jimmy the opportunity to escape to a small town in Ireland.

The towns people use the contest to raise enough money to keep the local pub open and the con man plagiarizes a rap song to win the contest and become the pub owner. Heart warming comedy with lots of great laughs.

Starring: Eddie Griffin, MoNique.