$5 Million Canadian Tax Payer Dollars ... $23,625 Box Office

http://www.playbackmag.com/articles/magazine/20050228/bo.html

I'm mad as hell when I see this kind of thing. This is one of the biggest disasters in Canadian movie history. $5 million dollars to make this smug, pompous, manipulative egomaniac cross-eyed Canadian pseudo-celebrity's latest road movie, written, directed, and staring himself.

No, it's more than $5 million dollars. There's the ad campaign. And the prints. And the tax write-offs. But let's keep it at round numbers.

$5 MILLION DOLLARS put in by the uniformed and uneducated Canadian public.

$23,625 returned.

Well, even $23,625 is too much. That's gross. ahahhahhahahahha -- cut that in half for net. Around $12,000 return on a $5,000,000 plus investment right out of Canada's already seriously overtaxed wallet. For an investment, no sane outsider looking in would ever have made.

This is Canada and Canadians talking. Talking with their wallets at the Box Office. They are sending a message loud and clear. It's being screamed at Telefilm and the other funding agencies who are spending their money with their ears and eyes closed. VIRTUALLY NOBODY WANTS DON MCKELLAR IN CANADA. CANADIANS HATE DON MCKELLAR AND THE FILMS HE MAKES. HE IS NOT A STAR OR A CELEBRITY OR ANYTHING ELSE. HE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AS FAR AS CANADIANS ARE CONCERNED EXCEPT AN EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE ANNOYANCE. HE IS A CROSS-EYED DORK FAILURE AND HIS VERY EXPENSIVE AND UNWANTED CAREER NEEDS TO END.

I've made the comparison to the character of Susan Alexander in CITIZEN KANE before. It is a perfect parallel to McKellar and the others in his circle of Made Men cronies. Telefilm is like Kane, pushing their McKellar/Susan Alexander into the spot light, her extremely meagre ability stretched far beyond the breaking point. Dropping millions on her, to complete public indifference and ridicule. Susan says something like: "You don't know what it's like out there, trying your best and nobody wants you." And Kane says: "That's when you've gotta fight 'em!" Of course, that was Kane's money. Here, it's OUR money. The Canadian Tax Payer.

So here, on Canada Day, I write this. Imagine if you will if the millions and millions of dollars spent in the past 5 years was not dropped on Don McKellar and Atom Egoyan and family/mafia. Imagine if that $50 million plus or whatever was spent given other new Canadian filmmakers a chance. (for those thinking it was, I suggest you look at the producer lists of those Canada English language films and think again) Imagine an end to the mass exodus of talent to the south when it comes to writers, directors, and actors if they at least got a chance. Imagine there's no heaven...

I'm going to stay on this soap box, telling it like it is. There are millions and millions and millions of hard dollars at stake here. I care too much about Canada to let it slide. A country with a major world-class status and economy being pilfered in plain sight and with impunity by a tight-nit, highly organized group of self-designated "cultural treasures" that the culture rejects completely and detests. Not enough people are saying anything about it and the public trust is regularly emptied by these cinematic Welfare Moms.

Happy Canada Day.