2033 - Orphan Black: season two

It's impossible to talk about Orphan Black without talking about Tatiana's performance.  Without exception she is not only the star of the show - she is the show.  She slips so effortlessly into the various characters that despite your efforts you often forget that it's all the same person.  Tat obviously has an amazing career ahead of her, but it's hard to think she'll ever have a playground to play in like she does on this series - exhausting as it must be.
This season continued the greatness of the first season and helped to build deeper into the mythos of this world and it's rules.  It was nice for me to see some actor friends show up in supporting roles, and even greater to see characters like Helena really get a chance to shine here.  I love the additional layers that the show started to uncover this season and it went a long way towards convincing me just how much more story there is to tell with this series.  If it's not the best series in Canada at the moment, it's easily the most interesting - and definitely putting ourselves on the map in terms of original content creation.

1996 - The Vow

Michael Sucsy, the director, has a great eye for Canadian talent - I didn't catch Toronto locations, but I did catch some amazing Toronto talent in supporting roles, including Joey Klein, Tatiana Maslany, Dillon Casey, and Wendy Crewson to name a few.
I was pleasantly surprised by this film.  It tells the story of a woman, madly in love with her husband, who loses her memory of him and the struggles they face with that fall-out.  It essentially asks the question, "If you met the love of your life at a different point in time, would you still chose them?"  I like that this film didn't go for easy answers and that it didn't wrap up everything in a pretty bow.  It feels honest and authentic.  I was worried that it went too far in one direction, but it managed to pull back at the end - which is really just a testament to good storytelling.  Tatum and McAdams are paired well here, and they're sweet together when they need to be, and their awkwardness work well rooted.  It's a charming little love story and should even appease the cynical amongst you.   And it's no netflix, so give it a shot!

1849 - Orphan Black: season one

I'm going to be completely honest and say that I started watching this film for two reasons:
1) Patriotic Pride: I always try to give Canadian shows the benefit of the doubt
2) A friend of mine is on the writing staff.
But both of the above only buys you really one episode for sure, and the rest have to be earned by the show itself.  I was waiting with baited breath for each new episode.  The show follows the story of a group of women who learn that they are clones of one another - but the big question remains - why?!
Each episode brings us deeper and deeper into the world and the lives of the characters themselves - and it moves at such a cocky pace that you wonder just what the hell they're saving for the swim back.  The writing is pretty fearless in this regard and has no problem putting it's characters into terrible situations.  All of this is already a recipe for a pretty decent show - but then you throw in a powerhouse performance by Tatiana Maslany as all of the clones, and well, then you've got something absolutely special.  From the british street punk, to the suburban mom, token lesbian lab rat, and bat-shit-insane one, Maslany must be exhausted doing all these character so perfectly well and unique.  I can only imagine she's got a team to help her keep it straight.
I want to go into so much detail about so many things - but it's so much better for you to discover it on it's own.  The first season is ten episodes and it's already been confirmed to be coming back (thank you, TV gods!), so if you're a fan of sci-fi at all, or even just enjoy a fun thriller, or better yet - a phenomenal performance, then please get yourself in gear and catch up.
And for you Canadians, this is absolutely something you can be proud of.  Watch it.  Make it happen!

1845 - Picture Day

For those of you who don't know who Tatiana Maslany, you really need to.  She's emerged as one of Canada's darlings and rightly so.  Outside of this and other other fantastic film work, she's also the star on the series Orphan Black and it's a tour-de-force performance.  She's easily one of the most talented Canadian actors who hasn't skipped over the border, and we're lucky to have her.
Full disclosure - the producer of this film is a buddy of mine.  I'd heard about this flick and wanted to see it before I really knew him though.
Picture Day tells the story of a loaner in high-school who reconnects through his old babysitter and the the subtle, but important, difference they make in each others lives.  It's a dual coming-of-age story and it's a pretty damn enjoyable one.  It's playing at TIFF's Bell Lightbox for the next week, and I believe there's a Q&A following Monday's screening - otherwise I believe it's coming to VOD sooner rather than later as well.  You should support Canadian film regardless, but even more so when it's such a lovely little thing.