FILM, ARTS ETC
BEST LOCAL ACTRESS #2: Anne Dorval
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Best Local Actor
1. Jay Baruchel
2. William Shatner
3. Marc-André Grondin
4. Roy Dupuis
5. Xavier Dolan
6. Claude Legault
7. Michel Côté
8. Patrick Huard
9. Brad Carmichael
10. Rémy Girard
Honourable mentions: Donald Sutherland, Luc
Picard, Elias Toufexis, Tristan D. Lalla, Jake Freekin
Smith, Adam LeBlanc, Paul Van Dyck
It’s a big week for Baruchel, the local kid made good in films like Knocked Up, who stars in fellow Montrealer Jacob Tierney’s The Trotsky, which hits theatres this Friday. Perennial fave Shatner maintains a strong position near the top of the list, double threat Dolan makes it onto both this one and the Best Director category, and good showings from Grondin
( C.R.A.Z.Y.), Legault ( Dans une galaxie près de chez nous), Côté (most recently in De père en flic), Huard ( Bon cop, bad cop), local theater mainstay Carmichael and local legend Girard ( Les Invasions barbares).
Best Local Actress
1. Elisha Cuthbert
2. Anne Dorval
3. Emmanuelle Chriqui
4. Isabelle Blais
5. Karine Vanasse
6. Michelle Boback
7. Pascale Bussières
8. Victoria Sanchez
9. Anne-Marie Cadieux
10. Rebecca Croll
Honourable mentions: Alison Louder, Kendall
Malchuk, Christine Ghawi, Holly Gauthier-Frankel,
Caroline Dhavernas, Jessica Paré
Montreal’s favourite fair-haired siren maintains a lock on the #1 position this year, but she’s got competition from Dorval, so memorable as the mèrein J’ai tué ma mere. And everyone’s crushing on Chriqui (see story), who leaps up from #10 to the winner’s circle. Montrealers also dug the thespian stylings of Caiman Fu singer/ Borderline actress Blais, Polytechnique co-creator Vanasse, musician/performer Boback, Quebec cinema mainstay Bussières ( Eldorado), local performer and producer Sanchez ( Student Bodies), Cadieux (another Trotsky star) and local theatre performer Croll.
Best Local Filmmaker
1. Xavier Dolan
2. Denys Arcand
3. Denis Villeneuve
4. Jacob Tierney
5. Patricia Chica
6. Podz (Daniel Grou)
7. Robert Lepage
8. Kidnapper Films
9. Jean-Marc Vallée
10. Stéphane Lafleur
Honourable mentions: Jason Reitman, Ziad
Touma, Ben Philippi, Pierre Tremblay, Mike Rollo
Dolan appeared from out of nowhere to top this list, much like he knocked the film world on its collective ass with 2009’s film sensation J’ai tué ma mere (see story). Arcand is finally dethroned after years in the top spot, and Villeneuve, whose Polytechnique snagged a bunch of Genies last month, gets recognized. Tierney, whose Trotskyopens this week, also makes a strong showing, as does Chica ( Rockabilly 514), Daniel “Podz” Grou (who made a bit of a splash with the violent Les Sept jours du talionlast year), local legend Lepage, the lovable Kidnapper Films ( Who Is KK Downey?) crew, Vallée (who picked up some Oscar noms for The Young Victoria) and Lafleur ( Continental).
BEST DANCE COMPANY
#2: Dead Doll Dancers
Best Theatre Company
1. Centaur Theatre
2. MainLine Theatre
3. Théâtre du Nouveau Monde
4. Sidemart Theatrical Grocery
5. Black Theatre Workshop
6. Fallen Angel Productions
7. Montreal Theatre Ensemble
8. Tableau d’Hôte Theatre
9. Théâtre Jean Duceppe
10. Uncalled For
Best Play
1. Mid-Life Crisis of Dionysus
2. A View From the Bridge
3. The Pillowman
4. Les Belles-soeurs
5. A Line in the Sand
6. Michel & Ti-Jean
7. Haunted Hillbilly
8. Penumbra
9. Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
10. Café Café
The MainLine’s ode to the god of debauchery, complete with naked ladies and songs, takes top spot, followed by Arthur Miller’s classic and Fallen Angel’s frightening The Pillowman. Closing out the category is Alain Mercieca’s bilingual cabaret sitcom series, Café Café, which recently ended.
Best Dance Company/
Choreographer
1. La La Human Steps
2. Dead Doll Dancers
3. Dance Animal
4. 8 Count
5. Marie Chouinard
6. Blueprint Cru
7. Grand Ballets Canadiens
8. Amy Blackmore
9. Dana Michel
10. Dave St-Pierre
Upset here with the ghoulish Dead Doll Dancers breaking into the top two with their living-dead burlesque, and part-comedy, part-dance troupe Dance Animal (a runaway success at last year’s Fringe) beating out some of the country’s best choreographers to round out third place. And if there was any doubt, Blueprint Cru prove that yes, TV can still make you famous—they make their first appearance on the list after busting a move in lace leotards on America’s Best Dance Crew.
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Best Spoken Word Act
1. Lydia Lockett
2. Kalmunity
3. Moe Clark
4. Catherine Kidd
5. Chris Masson
6. Alexis O’Hara
7. Katalyst 5
8. Queen Ka
9. Alessandra Naccarato
10. Eliz Robert
Women take over spoken word (Kalmunity collective males excluded) with ex-Throw Collective’s Chris Masson the only man hitting the top five. Masson would’ve been joined and beaten by fellow guy Shane Koyczan who preformed at the Vancouver Olympics but sadly Koyczan suffers from a fatal flaw—he lives in B.C.
Best Museum
1. Museum of Fine Arts
2. Museum of Contemporary Art
3. Canadian Centre for Architecture
4. McCord Museum
5. Pointe-à-Callière
6. Redpath Museum
7. Biodome
8. Montreal Science Centre
9. Ecomuseum
10. Holocaust Museum
Best Gallery
1. Belgo Building
2. Parisian Laundry
3. Yves Laroche
4. DHC/ART
5. Ctrllab
6. La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse
7. Push
8. Monastiraki
9. Galerie Pangée
10. Articule
One-stop art shop the Belgo Building takes top place this year with its five floors of various contemporary galleries beating out all the other onetrick- pony’s in the city.
Best Exhibit
1. IMAGINE: The Peace Ballad of John & Yoko
2. Bodies
3. Marcel Dzama (MAC)
4. Waterhouse (MMFA)
5. Tiffany Glass (MMFA)
6. Art Matters
7. Robert Polidori (MAC)
8. Leonard Cohen exhibit (Galerie Lounge)
9. Party Like It’s 1699
10. Under Pressure
Unprecedented in best exhibit this year IMAGINE wins for the second year in a row! Proving that, despite breaking up the best musical group in the history of the world, people still really, really like Yoko (and the message of peace). Educationally macabre Bodies takes second spot with Marcel’s Dzama’s light-heartedly macabre exhibit rounding out third. Special mention must be made for Party Like It’s 1699, a baroque spectacular that blurred the definition of “exhibition.”
Best Local Living Author
1. Leonard Cohen
2. Michel Tremblay
3. Dany Laferrière
4. Heather O’Neill
5. Yann Martel
6. Rawi Hage
7. Bill Brownstein
8. Patrick Senécal
9. David McGimpsey
10. Louis Rastelli
Best Cartoonist
1. Aislin
2. Sherwin Tija
3. Rick Trembles
4. Serge Chapleau
5. Billy Mavreas
6. Michel Rabagliati
7. Matt Forsythe
8. Jack Dylan
9. Cameron Stewart
10. Julie Doucet
Best Video Game Company
1. Ubisoft Montreal
2. EA Montreal
3. Eidos Montreal
4. A2M (Artificial Mind & Movement)
5. BioWare Montreal
6. Gameloft
Best Fashion Designer
1. Denis Gagnon
2. Philippe Dubuc
3. Eve Gravel
4. Andy Thê-Anh
5. Travis Taddeo
6. Katrin Leblond
7. Mat & Nat
8. Yasmine Wasfy (Lustre)
9. Lydia Lukidis
10. Marie Sainte-Pierre
After 10 years in the business, designer Denis Gagnon (see story) is finally getting the recognition he deserves and beats out Phillip Dubuc for the top spot with last-year’s Travis Taddeo dropping from second to fifth place. Yasmine Wasfy, owner of Lustre boutique and a designer in her own right also makes the list this year.
BEST PLAY #1:
Mid-life Crisis of Dionysus
Best Graffiti Artist/Crew
1. Omen
2. Castro
3. Roadsworth
4. Zilon
5. SAKE
6. Jim Joe
7. Kops Crew
8. Monk.e
9. NME
10. Flow
Best Festival
1. Jazz Fest
2. Just for Laughs
3. Pop Montreal
4. Fringe Festival
5. Osheaga Festival
6. Beer festival
7. Highlights Festival/Nuit Blanche
8. Fantasia
9. Francofolies
10 Suoni per il Popolo
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BEST EXHIBIT #2: Bodies
The X files
First-time filmmaker Xavier Dolan is
Quebec’s new cinematic demigod
CONQUERING CANNES:
Dolan (Best Local Actor #5, Best Local Filmmaker #1)
by MATTHEW HAYS
“You’re going to ask me if I’m still gay, right?” Xavier Dolan is struggling to anticipate my first question. Um, no, that isn’t what I was going to ask. Actually, I was going to ask Dolan to ponder what a year of such ridiculous highs has done to him personally. In a country notorious for auspicious feature directorial debuts—think Falardeau, Villeneuve, Rozema and Egoyan—Dolan has arguably out-stripped them all. At the wee age of 20, Dolan committed the triple threat of writing, directing and starring in J’ai tué ma mère, which netted three (count ’em, three!) awards at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. He also got a Genie for best first feature, and the film picked up several Jutra Awards. Dolan went from being an actor to Quebec’s wondrous wunderkind.
So what’s the sudden celebrity been like for the BOM chart-topper? “It’s a double-edged sword. I can’t say that I’ve really changed. I’m more aware of the machinations of the film industry. I can foresee things coming that I couldn’t last year. I’d say I’ve lived through a lot, but haven’t changed.”
Dolan concedes he gets stopped on the street “a lot,” but adds that “the people who do talk to me are really kind and flattering, so it’s pretty nice usually.” If cinema is now tantamount to religion—especially in secular Quebec—I point out that Dolan is the new demigod of Quebec’s film universe. “Better demigod than Demi Moore,” he suggests.
But for all its stellar debuts, Canada’s film scene is also populated with hard luck tales of second and third features gone terribly wrong. Now Dolan is about to find out if lightning can strike twice. At 21, he is headed back to Cannes with feature #2, the love triangle romance Les Amours imaginaires (Heartbeats)—a film he again wrote, directed and stars in—which will screen as part of Un Certain Regard section.
The sex kitten of the Plateau is now set to become the darling of Cannes, yet again. And he looks awfully confident, despite the obvious pressure of expectations. “Expectations only exist when there’s a comparison to be made. These are entirely different films. It gets the pressure off my shoulders.”
“But Xavier,” I protest, “I mean, you know they’re going to compare them, right?”
“That would be a huge mistake. You can’t compare Day for Night and 400 Blows. They’re both by Truffaut, but they’re entirely different!”
Last year, prior to heading to the Toronto International Film Festival, Dolan told me “I’m going to fuck my way through TIFF.” Does he find festivals great Caligulaesque orgies, where filmmakers get feted and fellated by adoring fans? “I didn’t really fuck my way through TIFF. I meant that more as a metaphor. Film festivals are hectic times. Even if I do want to go out and watch movies and have fun, it’s hard to do that given all the things that have to be done. I think, if you’re an actor, it’s perhaps a bit easier to do that, but when you’re a director presenting a film, no. You can’t slip out the back door.”
Visually inspired
Denis Gagnon is Montreal’s (and possibly Canada’s)
best fashion export
 
TOP OF THE RAG TRADE: Gagnon (Best Fashion Designer #1)
and looks from his A/W ’10 collection
by SACHA JACKSON
Fashion designer Denis Gagnon’s visibility is growing. His signature Lanvin glasses (a gift from fellow Montreal designer Renata Morales) may already make him stand out, but it’s his sophisticated couture creations that are gaining notoriety beyond fashion circles.
After closing his St-Laurent boutique in 2007 (and dropping out of the 2008 Best of  Montreal results altogether), Gagnon is experiencing a rebirth of sorts, though it’s perhaps more accurate to say that Quebec’s vision has finally caught up with his own.
“I always knew I wanted to work in the rag trade,” Gagnon says. “I remember when I was a child, I was always dressing my Barbies.”
Though his trademark fabric is leather, his last two collections have been covered in zippers, either as embellishments or used to create entire dresses. And though his work sometimes has a futuristic feel, it retains a certain amount of restraint.
So much is written (and photographed) these days about personal style, but for Gagnon it’s simple, “To have class, presence and know how to behave.” When asked what inspires him most about Montreal, he responds with a resolute “Tout m’inspire.” An honest answer from a man whose basement atelier is catacomb-esque.
In the past few years, his shows at Montreal Fashion Week have become standing-room-only affairs and often run twice in order to accommodate the number of guests. Earlier this year, the documentary Je m’appelle Denis Gagnon, premiered at FIFA to sold-out audiences. And with two more projects in the works—a collaboration with Bedo set to hit stores across Canada this August and a mini-retrospecitive at the Montreal Musuem of Fine Arts, set to open in October to celebrate his 10th anniversary in the business—2010 is definitely Gagnon’s year.
When asked this year’s special BOM question, what should Montreal export to the rest of the world? he gracefully sidesteps any attempt at self-promotion. “Our snow! That way we’re not gonna have anymore.” Spoken like a true Montrealer.
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