Apparently this otherwise good movie was filmed in Canada, and I just think it's an automatic strike against it because Canadian city settings are so bland-generic-identityless!
I hate when movies are filmed there in lieu of the costlier but more identifiable American or European cities....Yuk.
I find it very impressive that you have been to every Canadian city and toured them enough to know that every inch is generic and 'identityless'! Kudos to you.
\sarcasm off.
'Cause we all end up in a tiny pine box, A mighty small drop in a mighty dark plot.
Apparently the OP has never seen Quebec City or Old Montreal.
Obviously the OP hasn't been to Vancouver which is consistently rated as one of the most desirable places to live considering the scenic beauty (mountains, ocean and mild climate). There is a reason why average property prices are in excess of one million there.
I've been to many many cities on this earth--New York, LA, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, London, Paris, Athens, Istanbul, Honolulu, Acapulco, Amsterdam (need I go on?), and in my opinion, VANCOUVER is the most beautiful city I've ever had the pleasure of visiting--including its American cousin, Seattle. I can only conclude that anyone who thinks Vancouver is "bland-generic-identityless" has never been there.
And in this movie, they loved Vancouver's character so much they celebrated it, rather than pretend it's somewhere else. If you listen to the commentary on the DVD, the director says they chose to film in Vancouver BECAUSE of the uniqueness of the city, and the way it's nestled between the water and the forest.
Yyyyeah, as someone from outside North America who's travelled in both the US and Canada, I have to say Canadian cities are far nicer and far less generic and similar - each Canadian city has a very different feel and architectural identity. Also, let's face it, the people are nicer. If I'm watching a movie, or a show filmed in Vancouver, it jumps out at me. Same with Toronto. They're very recognisable. One could criticise American film-makers for filming 80% of film and television in either New York or LA.
The stuff that isn't filmed in Vancouver, that is, because a LOT of American TV shows ARE filmed in Canada.
But rating a movie down because it was filmed in Canada and not the US is just the kind of bizarre, narcissistic small-mindedness the rest of the world has come to expect from Americans, alas.
First of all, there's no such word as "identityless".
Second, you are quite clueless.
And lastly, to your ignorant post; "Yuk"
Having been to most Canadian cities I mostly agree with the original post.
There are some interesting areas in most of the cities(I mean interesting both in the attractive tourist sense and also interesting by being a bit edgy and lively).
But there is a lot of blandness,Vancouver is about the dullest place I have ever been,the interesting more run down bits have been improved to the point of looking like a film set.
I am not saying they should keep slums and factories to keep tourists interested but the city is just dull.
Toronto is famously dull,the interesting buildings and districts built in the 1930s-1950s have been cleared and it is mostly glass and steel.
There is some potential for films set in the lively migrant areas of the city,but it looks dull.
Montreal is more interesting but when a man in a diner told me it was a "european city" I was too polite to disagree,it was dirty enough to be in Belgium or France and it had the worst hostel I have ever stayed.
I liked Halifax because it had some charatcter about it,old wooden buildings,sailors,hookers,a port.
Having said all this perhaps the point of the original post is that the Canadian settings are pretending to be American and usually fail because they look too Canadian.
Interestingly (to me anyway)is the way that Canadian locations can pretend to be British or european locations better than the USA,a 1930s Canadian college looks like a British university of the same period for example.
There's lots of "old" stuff left in Toronto, which actually happens to be not only my hometown but one of my favourite places. "Famously dull", well, that's a first!
If you don't like beautiful mountains, huge parks and an oceanic view, well I guess I can see why you'd find Vancouver "dull".
If you want a more "european city", try Quebec City. (if, a man remarked that Montréal was like some european city, but you disagreed yet found it dirty enough to be in France or Belgium---you know those countries are actually *in* Europe, yes?) I stay at le Château Frontenac when I go there...it might even be "clean" enough for you. Lol! (...and Montréal is nothing like any european city I've seen, btw.)
Try Niagara Falls if you're looking for excitement, they have casinos and a huge waterfall. (and even hookers too, since that, you know, was on your list of places you "liked").
People trying to act too cosmopolitan can come across as insulting, as we can see in this thread...you either had terrible tour guides or simply didn't know where to go. As we know, unless it's something uber famous/historical/etc., tourist areas can be...lacking, at times. As for myself, I've been to a few places in my lifetime and found something interesting in just about all of them.
Happy travelling.
I like Canada,I think it is a great place to visit.
I have been to Toronto 3 times in my life,each time visiting family who had more money than they had if they had stayed in Scotland but were somehow unhappy and drunk a lot.
Many people think Toronto is famously dull,including lots of Canadians,you could fill a library with articles written about how dull Toronto is.
I like Toronto,my family lived there in the 1950s,but I did not find to many interesting buildings or areas and I get the impression that a lot of the older areas were knocked down,indeed I saw a tv documentary about old (1950s/1960s)Toronto with locals saying the same thing,was it called spudtown?
As for Montreal,of course I know that Paris and Brussels are in europe (I am British therefore a european)my point was the dirt of Montreal was the only thing european about it,Quebec province is a unique North American society but it is not europe and not France.
I have been to Niagara falls,it is amazing but it is not a city,I loved Banff and the Rockies,I loved taking the train through Martimes and I liked Halifax and Bridgewater Nova Scotia and really liked Churchill Manitoba.
I was bored by Regina (loved the RCMP museum however)and equally disliked Edmonton
I travelled by train from Halifax to Vancouver,I did not have the wrong tour guide because I did not have one.
I am not a cosmopolitan sneering at Canada,I often tell people my trip there was one of the best of my life but people don;t go to the Netherlands for the hillwalking and if people go to Canada for the cities they are missing the best things about the country,the nature,the countryside,the small towns and the people.
I totally agree with you. why film in that socialist country that isn't even our friend anymore, when there are all the movie people one wants for a movie right here in the USA, AND better filming areas too.
I escaped from Canada as a young teenager by virtue of the fact that I was born in the USA to Canadian parents (the one and only time I've been glad of the 'born here citizen here' clause).
To be fair, there is pretty scenery in Canada, like the Qu'appelle Valley in Saskatchewan. I'm surprised no film maker has ever put that into a movie... the drive up to it and then looking down on it, could have been used in the movie Shangri-la. But it's a long drive over nothing land to get there. Maybe that's why they never used it in a film.
There was a time when Canada was a nice place to visit, now it is overrun with foreigners (and I don't mean AMERICANS). When Hong Kong was reverting back to China, the Chinese there fled to Canada and bought up acres of land everywhere. Then the Pakistanis and Indians came there. According to my family now there isn't any place that isn't dirty and stinkin' of curry. Apparently Canada has as much of a problem getting newbies to 'meld' into the society as the USA has.
Vancouver/Victoria? Why bother? Dirty, putungwah is the main lingo. Toronto, dirty, and all those subcontinental languages and stinks everywhere. Winnipeg? Okay that city at least has the perimeter highway, I wonder if they still close off sections of it for car racing? They used to do that in the late 60s when last I visited that area and the RCMP (or some cop group) would allow street racing. That would make for an interesting movie.
Now back to THIS movie. I LIKED IT. Sure it had some awkward moments, but overall it kept my interest right to the end. But it ENTERTAINED me and that's all a movie is supposed to do and it did it.
Canada? Who cares about Canada, only Canadians. (Then again my canadian family says I'm 'a traitor to Canada', but what do they know? They're CANADIAN. I'm AMERICAN.)
Life is a journey not a destination. Fear nothing.
Wow TanteWaileka, your glaring racism is showing. I guess it's a good thing you went back to the States. We sure as hell don't miss people like you here in Canada. You want all immigrants who come to North America to completely assimilate and lose every shred of their own cultural identity? That does align with the American "melting pot" philosophy. I guess you never picked up on the fact that in Canada we are extremely proud of the ethnic, religious, and racial diversity that constitutes our national fabric. In fact, it's one of the things that sets us most apart from Americans.
To anyone else reading this, I know that this guy doesn't represent all Americans. I've lived and travelled in the US and I have many loved ones who are American and I love them dearly. It's such a shame that people like the one who posted above me are the more prominent face of America in the eyes of the rest of the world.
As to the topic of this thread, the OP is ignorant and clearly has no idea what they are talking about. I couldn't stifle a laugh as I read their post. If our cities are so "bland" and "generic" then why do so many American directors choose to shoot their films here, huh? I can agree with most people in this thread who have said that Toronto is nothing to write home about (but then again, neither are most American cities, with the exception of NYC, Washington DC, and a couple of others) but Vancouver is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is consistently ranked one of the best cities in the world to live in and its downtown and waterfront are breathtaking. The Rocky Mountains of Alberta/B.C. attract tourists from all over the world in droves every year. The small towns and fishing villages of the maritime provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island) are as lovely and charming as any you'll find on the coastlines of Scotland, Ireland, or England (and I've been to those countries, so I know). One other thing as well - it's a hell of a lot cheaper to shoot movies in Canada. So that's just another plus.
In fact, it's one of the things that sets us most apart from Americans.
Come on, now... We DO have Timbits!
Canada is an extremely large country. I think Canada is made up of more regional cultural distinctions than a national identity per se. You would not confuse the culture of a Vancouverite with a Newfie.
@TanteWaileka who subscribes to the belief that
... Life is a journey not a destination. Fear nothing.... except other races and cultures, other than his own American one. 🐭 share