Love Actually did Brexit (not really)

Christmas movies give us all the warm fuzzies but beneath all the mistletoe and caroling, Ho-Ho-Hollywood may have some tricks up its sleeve

By Ella Miller

A frame from White Christmas featuring two people dressed in suits and boater hats dancing in front of a sky backdrop while holding canes. 

Even when you’re on the threshold of holiday hell, Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye (and the Hollywood propaganda machine) will always be there for you. (via Wikimedia Commons

In 1898, hypnotist George Albert Smith created the first Christmas movie. Smith’s Santa Claus is just over a minute long, and through the crackling celluloid, a story unfolds that has remained unchanged since the 19th century. 

Santa Claus’ Victorian-era predecessors–literary works like A Christmas Carol–did much to influence how we celebrate the holiday. 

“Prior to the nineteenth century Christmas was a far more public holiday, typified by rowdy festivities, misrule, and community celebration,” Melodie Roschman outlines in her article, “‘Now I Have a Machine Gun, Ho-Ho-Ho’: Masculinity, Family, and Redemptive Violence in Home Alone and Die Hard,” published in 2023 in the Comparative American Studies An International Journal.

She continues that during this period, “governments and institutions sought to recreate Christmas as a genteel, civilized celebration of home and family,” with whimsical, good-natured media being a tool used in this transformation. 

Christmas movies, in this way, are the successors to the regularly scheduled ye olde government-sanctioned holiday literature. They serve as protectors of the status quo and tools to inform viewers on how to uniformly construct a ‘perfect’ Christmas.  

Following Santa Claus, theatres, rather fittingly, saw a slew of Christmas Carol adaptations as the go-to festive story on screen: Scrooge, or Marley’s Ghost (1901), A Christmas Carol (1908), A Christmas Carol (1910), Scrooge (1913), yet another Christmas Carol in 1923 and 1938 and three more movies simply titled Scrooge in 1922, 1928 and 1935

It wasn’t until the 1940s that people finally got tired of watching remakes of a one-hundred-year-old Charles Dickens book and forced Hollywood to come up with something original. 

This did not stop at least 15 more A Christmas Carols from being made (though one of those has Muppets in it), two more Scrooge’s and one past tense Scrooged that thought it was doing something there. 

The modern Christmas movie emerged around the advent of the Second World War with Holiday Inn (1942), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Christmas in Connecticut (1945), It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) and Miracle on 34th Street (1947). 

“The sentimental images and customs associated with Christmas represented ideals most threatened by war—peace, family, abundance, tradition—and the retail and entertainment industries were quick to recognize and deploy Christmas as both a narrative and a marketing strategy [...]” writes Carolyn Sigler in the article “‘I'll Be Home for Christmas’: Misrule and the Paradox of Gender in World War II-Era Christmas Films,” published in 2005 in the Journal of American Culture.

The soundtracks packaged with such films were so impactful that they became the soundtracks to Christmas itself. Particularly Holiday Inn, which features Irving Berlin’s immensely popular “White Christmas” and “Happy Holiday” and Meet Me in St. Louis’ “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” 

These movies are now shorthand for what a perfect Christmas is, and their popularity would eventually signal the integration of reverence for the past as a requirement of the Christmas mood. 

“Each of these holiday-themed films offers not so much a journey into the past as a self-conscious, celebratory journey into invented tradition, as the characters travel to and experience the rural, quaintly old-fashioned scenes depicted in Victorian Christmas cards,” Sigler adds.  

The next big wave of now-classic Christmas movies began in the 1980s with A Christmas Story (1983) and, within a period lasting until the mid-90s, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989), Home Alone (1990), The Santa Clause (1994) and Jingle All the Way (1996) would debut. 

It is in these movies that the John Hughes-ification of Christmas takes hold. Hughes wrote Christmas Vacation and Home Alone, injecting those movies with his white upper-class Reaganomic sensibilities; the families live in cushy all-American homes and have the resources to lavish their children with Turbo-Man action figures and Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifles.   

Incorporated into this Hughes-ification, is an increased conservatism and loyalty to a past constructed through the films that came before. 

“Christmas movies are designed to activate emotional resonance through nostalgia,” writes Pam Rutledge in “Why Christmas Movies Make Us Feel Good.” “They rely on our desire to visit the ‘good old days’ with images, stories, and music that stimulate our sentimental and wistful associations from the past.” 

Christmas Vacation is an example of this, weaponizing It’s A Wonderful Life as a way of conveying how wrong compared to the silver screen perfection of Zuzu exclaiming “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings,” the Griswold family Christmas is about to get. 

Except it never quite goes entirely wrong, does it? Despite everything–kidnapping the man responsible for your Jelly of the Month Club membership, viciously maiming two burglars, murdering Santa Claus–these stories have happy endings of happy families experiencing the happ-happ-happiest magic of Christmas. 

But despite this textbook Hollywood un-realism, people just can’t stop watching the movies that trigger all the warm fuzzies. And studios and advertising firms know this. Christmas movies and their characters are now also a part of the marketing machine that has all but devoured the season. 

While researching this article, an ad for OpenTable parodying Love Actually (2003) popped up before a YouTube video. There was also the Google Home ad featuring Macaulay Culkin that went viral a few years ago, those cursed Grinch x Wonderful Pistachio billboards and yet another Love Actually parody that may have made Brexit happen. 

At the opposite end of this palatable marketability lies Female Trouble (1974) by beloved purveyor of trash, John Waters. It is, for reasons known only to the sweet baby Jesus himself, included on Wikipedia’s list of Christmas films. Becoming another entry into the ‘there on a technicality’ phenomenon, alongside other alternative films like Gremlins (1984), Edward Scissorhands (1990) and… Die Hard (1988). 

The inclusion of horror and action movies on a Christmas movies list is, in this writer’s opinion, somewhat of a desperate cry for a more diverse selection in the media people feel as though they are allowed to watch at Christmas. 

Upper-class, upper case-White suburbia is not relatable to many. And, the continuous pressure to only consume movies that reinforce the narrative that this is the most wonderful time of the year can be downright miserable for some. 

“Some viewers are looking at the wealth and all the gifts and identifying, and others are looking at the wealth and the gifts and are being made anxious as are their parents in terms of not ‘keeping up with the Joneses’,” says Graeme Metcalf, a sociology professor at Toronto Metropolitan University.  

This is not to mention those legitimately absent from holiday movies, like people of colour, LGBTQ folks and practitioners of non-Christian religions. While there are exceptions to these categories, they are few and far between. 

And no, slotting a diversity hire into the filmed-in-rural-Ontario Hallmark format does not count. 

“The perpetual joy of the season coming down through this Hollywood mechanism is one in which the joy is a white joy and then we see the tokenism of [...] the Black character who may arrive as one of the star’s best friends or colleagues,” says Metcalf. 

The Preacher’s Wife (1996), The Best Man Holiday (2013) and A Madea Christmas (2013) showcase the few times Black actors are at the forefront of Christmas stories; Tokyo Godfathers (2003), Carol (2015), Tangerine (2015) and Happiest Season (2020) offer some gay and trans representation; and Jewish people are gifted Eight Crazy Nights (2002) as one of the most mainstream tellings of the Hanukkah story. How lovely. 

This all comes back to the status quo. As was the case in the Victorian era and as is the case now, Christmas is simplest when it is packaged for one demographic to enjoy and everyone else to fight for. Scrooges need and deserve to get got by those ghosts. Hollywood needs to change that attitude.  

“In order to do that, they’ll have to address social class and poverty and disenfranchisement and marginalization and differing ways family units operate in terms of class and race and gender and sexuality,” says Metcalf. “And so what they would have to do is actually make Christmas movies about people rather than Christmas movies about consumerism.”    

The current narrow reality of the holidays peddled through Hollywood propaganda works hand in hand with commercialism to obscure the real reason for the season: 

I don’t know… whatever you want it to be. 

The whole thing is probably just a farcical diversion made to compete with pagan Yule celebrations. So, attend Midnight Mass, buy a bunch of stuff online, make a billion cookies, sacrifice your neighbour to Krampus, spread goodwill towards men, do nothing at all, or even, watch Die Hard

In desperate need of holiday cheer? Check out these 10 festive movies!

As exam season is upon us, explore these holiday films to remove your inner Grinch!

By Aliya Karimjee

Are you or a classmate struggling to feel the holiday cheer? Take a break from exams and discover CanCulture’s festive movie recommendations! 

Black Christmas

If Halloween passed by too fast for you, then a must-watch movie for you is Black Christmas (1974)! This beloved Canadian slasher film invites you into a murder mystery where a killer preys upon a college sorority. Being one of the first cited slasher films, it’s interesting to know the real-life Westmount murders inspired this movie in Montréal. If you have ever seen the Scream franchise, you might like this film as it inspired the targeted phone calls concept. Black Christmas will ironically be a dark feature during this festive holiday season. Watch it for free with an Amazon Prime subscription. 

Have you dealt with relatives trying to set you up in the festive season? The movie Holidate demonstrates precisely that and the main character Sloane's way of defeating it. She fakes a romantic connection with someone for the festivities, otherwise known as her "holidate," until those feelings might not be so fake. The plot is captivating, and you get to celebrate two Canadian actors. Andrew Bachelor, comedian and actor, played the role of Neil, Jackson's misguided best friend (Sloane's love interest). You might have also seen him rise to fame on Vine. The second Canadian actor, Jake Manley, plays Sloane's younger brother York. You might have seen him in iZombie, A Dog's Journey or The Order. Overall, if you're a bit "anti-love" this holiday season, see if this movie changes your mind! Check it out on Netflix.

Lovehard

Have you ever been catfished? Lovehard is based on a journalist writing about her experiences with dating apps. When she thinks she has met her perfect match, she flies almost 5000 km to meet him, and discovers he isn't everything he advertised… Later, she meets the man whose picture was used, but who will she choose? This Christmas-themed rom-com was filmed in Metro Vancouver with Canadian star Nina Dobrev, known for her leading role in The Vampire Diaries. Suppose you want to support a majorly Canadian film and relate to some funny dating experiences. In that case, this Netflix movie is for you! 

Happiest Season

This movie is so endearing, considering there aren’t many holiday rom-com starring LGBTQ2S+ couples—especially ones backed by big Hollywood studios. Many queer audiences can resonate with this story in terms of the main character’s coming out journey. The plot revolves around Canadian actress Mackenzie Davis, playing the role of Harper, as she's conflicted between coming out to her “traditional” family versus getting engaged with her partner, Abby (Kristen Stewart). Dan Levy, a Canadian actor playing Abby’s best friend, John, is also a very funny and supportive character in this film. Watch this movie on Netflix

The Holiday Calendar

Do you enjoy counting down the days till Christmas? An advent calendar-inspired film is the perfect way to do so. This movie, filmed in Niagara-On-The-Lake, shows the adventures a photographer experiences after she inherits an antique holiday advent calendar that can predict the future. Will this calendar lead to the love of her life? See for yourself on Netflix

Christmas Wedding Planner

Planning weddings can always be chaotic. However, how weird is it if a private investigator tries to shut down a wedding planner's biggest wedding yet? The bride’s ex, Connor, shows up as a secret private unvestigator at the engagement party to find something to expose the groom. What if this private investigator distracts the wedding planner? What if he catches her eye and turns her world upside down? Will she get her love story, cancel another's, or end up in tears? Watch this Canadian movie on Netflix

Elf

The movie Elf is a funny Christmas-comedy guaranteed to lift your spirits! Filmed in Vancouver, the production team persevered in building the large sets for Santa’s village by utilizing public-use hockey rinks. Raised as an oversized elf, Buddy travels from the North Pole to New York City, hoping to meet his dad. Unfortunately, his dad does not know he exists and is not exactly in the Christmas spirit. Watch this movie on Amazon Prime

The Christmas Chronicles 

Were you in Toronto in 2018? Some city residents were lucky enough to find Kurt Russell dressed in a Santa Claus suit. The Christmas Chronicles revolves around two kids celebrating their first Christmas since their dad passed away. However, they end up stuck in Chicago (AKA Toronto) on an adventure with Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. Watch out for some spots you might recognize in the GTA! St. James Gate in Etobicoke, Tiffany & Co. or Louis Vuitton in Yorkville, and other spots in Leslieville or downtown. Check it out on Netflix

Falling for Christmas/A Snow Capped Christmas

Broadcasted as "Falling for Christmas" in the United States, the Canadian version, A Snow Capped Christmas, is a movie about an injured skater's experience in rehab in the weeks leading up to Christmas. While resting, she meets a former Canadian hockey player who now runs a local ice fishing shop. As he teaches her how to fall in love with winter without skating, she might find herself in her own love story. Filmed in British Columbia, we see pretty views as we uncover the skater and an ice fisherman's love story. Watch the Canadian version on Amazon Prime and the American version, differing slightly through skiing, on Netflix

The Knight Before Christmas

The final movie on our list was filmed in Orillia, Ont. and Bracebridge, Ont., two Canadian cities over 150 km from Toronto. As the name suggests, you should watch The Knight Before Christmas the night before Christmas. A 14th-century knight is given an unknown quest before midnight or he will never be a proper knight. On that same day, in 2019, he discovers the quest was to find love as he meets a science teacher. Discover this love story across centuries as a 14th-century night falls in love with a 21st-century science teacher. Available on Netflix.

Now remove your resting Grinch face and watch these tree-mendously funny or romantic Christmas movies! 

Turning a Christmas classic into a slasher: An interview with the writer-producer of It’s A Wonderful Knife

After writing the script for Freaky (2020), Michael Kennedy returns to the horror genre with a new and bloody spin on It’s Wonderful Life.

By: Isabella Soares 

 Jane Widdop as Winnie Carruthers in It’s a Wonderful Knife (Image via RLJE Films and Shudder)

Writer and producer Michael Kennedy’s latest onscreen endeavour, It’s A Wonderful Knife, brings a new twist to the 1940s holiday classic by turning it into a slasher. 

The film is focused on Winnie Carruthers, played by Yellowjackets’ alum Jane Widdop, a girl who struggles to carry on after she saves her town from a masked serial killer. As she wishes to have never been born, Winnie ends up in a parallel universe that shows her what would have happened to her family and community if she didn’t exist. 

It isn’t the first time that Kennedy has come up with a slasher based on a feel-good classic. His first venture was in 2020 with Freaky, a body-swap horror film that was inspired by the Freaky Friday series. The positive feedback and memorable experiences on set on his previous project were what drew him to partner with director Tyler MacIntyre to work on It’s a Wonderful Knife, both as a writer and a producer. 

Ahead of the film’s sold-out screening at the 2023 Toronto After Dark Film Festival, Kennedy spoke with CanCulture about the behind-the-scenes process of writing the script, casting Justin Long as the devious Mayor Henry Waters (aka the psychotic serial killer tormenting Angel Falls) and how Freaky prepared him to be a producer for the first time. 

This film is a spin on a holiday classic, It's a Wonderful Life. Why did you decide to use this holiday favourite as inspiration for the script?

I always wanted to do a Christmas slasher. So I instantly thought of It's a Wonderful Life because it was my dad's favourite movie. I thought it was a nice way to honour him since he passed away five years ago. That was the first movie that came to my mind, and I started running through the plot in my head, and I was like, yeah, this (a slasher) would actually make a really fun spin on it.

What I really like about this film is that you already know who the killer is right off the bat. This is different from other slasher films like Scream (1996), which always make you wonder who the killer is. What led you to this creative decision?

I wanted to subvert expectations. I also didn't want to have a kill in the first five minutes, so that's kind of a bit different too. I knew there was no way to avoid revealing who the killer was. If the basis of the movie was going to be about somebody who kills, stops a killer, and then wishes their life away. That killer is still going to be around.

I thought it was a fun and a deeper way to examine that portion of life that you never get to see in these slasher movies unless there's a sequel a year later where you get a quick up-to-speed on what that person's been up to but you never get to see the post effects of the hero taking down the villain and what that does to their mind.

How did you find a balance between horror and the uplifting feel of a holiday film in this Christmas slasher?

Christmas is also a rough time for a lot of people, so I thought there was an interesting way to discuss that through the movie. For me it was really natural cause I love horror and I absolutely love Christmas. I love Christmas horror movies.

You're also a producer in this project, which is really exciting because it allows you to also figure out casting. When did Justin Long's name come into the conversation? 

It was pretty late, honestly. We literally cast him, I think the week before we started shooting. We were in negotiations with him for a few weeks before that, but his name came up pretty late. The character kept changing, quite frankly. The original draft of the script had more of an older guy, in his fifties or sixties.

It was a role that we were just struggling to cast. So then about a month before we started to shoot, we had the whole movie filled, except that role. 

We had a conversation, and I was like, I think we need to make him a man my age. I'm 43. That was when someone from the studio was like, oh, we should get Justin Long for that.

As a producer, were you on set with the director and cast every day?

It's different in every movie, depending on what capacity you produce. But for me, yeah, I was there every day. I was involved from day one, even before there was a word written. I weighed in on casting, I weighed in on locations, and I weighed in on hiring Tyler (director). 

Tyler fosters a really collaborative set and we had a really fast shoot. Thank God it came naturally for everybody because there would be days when I'd be writing based on the location.

We had a day that we completely got rained out, so we had to take an entire day that was supposed to be outside and move it inside and figure out a way that made it work and make sense to the movie. It was crazy because I'd never produced before.

How was your experience on Freaky compared to this set, where you had a chance to be more involved in the production process?

We shot Freaky for over 35 days and I think I was there for 25 of them, but I was mostly there to learn. Normally, the writer isn't usually on set, but I wrote the movie with Chris, who directed it, so as he was prepping the movie, I said, can I come? And he goes, yeah, if you want to come, definitely come. I felt like Freaky was my film school and It’s a Wonderful Knife was my coming out party as a filmmaker.

It’s a Wonderful Knife arrives in select theatres and VOD on November 10.




10 festive Christmas songs by Canadian artists

Have a very Canadian Christmas with these carefully curated carols 

By: Daniella Lopez

(David Beale/Unsplash)

As the snow begins to fall and the temperature drops below zero, Canadians are gearing up — and bundling up — for Christmas. Whether you celebrate the festive season by keeping cozy indoors or adventuring outside, one thing is for sure: you’ll need holiday tunes.

Here are 10 songs by Canadian artists to instantly add to your holiday playlist. That is if they aren’t there already.

All these songs and many more can be found on our playlist, A CanCulture Christmas. Available now on Spotify and Apple Music.

Michael Buble - “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas”

When thinking of Christmas songs, you surely can’t forget about the ones sung by the King of Christmas. “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas” is perhaps one of the most famous festive songs to put you in that holly, jolly spirit. Buble’s deep voice is comforting on every Christmas playlist, and while you probably don’t need a reminder, this song will ensure that you don’t forget festivities is right around the corner.

Celine Dion - “Happy Xmas (War is Over)”

Originally recorded by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, “Happy Xmas” is a protest song against the Vietnam War. Dion’s rendition of the song is one of the most popular, as her unique singing style and soft, soothing voice are instantly recognizable on this track. Again, here’s another Christmas song staple to listen to in front of the fireplace with some hot chocolate in hand.

Alessia Cara - “Make It To Christmas”

Christmas is often seen as a holiday best spent with a partner. In this song, Cara sings about the lack of hope she has in her relationship lasting until Christmas. “Just make it to Christmas,” she sings, her melancholic lyrics accompanied by an upbeat tempo that creates a stark contrast. Nonetheless, this song has a happy beat with the realistic woes of the holiday season.

Ryland James - “Please Come Home for Christmas”

Are you missing someone this holiday season? Well, this song may be for you. One of James’ most popular songs is his cover of the original 1960s carol. “Please Come Home for Christmas” was also covered by The Eagles and Jon Bon Jovi, each covering it in their own unique way. James makes his version stand out as he combines the genres of rock, blues and pop to form a contemporary ballad. His strong voice stands out among the music.

If the ballad isn’t your jam, James has some other Christmas music to get you in the spirit. He released his Christmas EP titled A Little Christmas in 2020 and came out with a newer Christmas song in 2021 called “A Christmas to Remember.”

Nikki Yanofsky - “Mistletoe”

Not the Mistletoe you were expecting, huh? While, the Montrealer is best known for singing the 2010 Winter Olympics theme song, I Believe, at the opening and closing ceremonies, she also has a new collection of holiday tunes. In this song, Yanofsky sings about all the Christmas festivities  — from candy canes to hot apple cider to, of course, mistletoe.

Bryan Adams - “Christmas Time” 

While Christmas songs usually include bells and brass, who said we couldn’t listen to a bit of rock too? Adams’ iconic Christmas song is perfect for when all those other holiday jingles start to sound the same. Although it was written and recorded in Vancouver during the 1980s, this song wasn’t released until 1985. In 2019, Adams released a music video for the song. If the title doesn’t ring a bell, just give it a listen, and you’ll surely know it. 

Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine - “It’s Me and You (This Christmas)”

Canadian duo Woods and Fine released this song in 2018. The pair is best known for premiering on CTV’s The Launch, a music competition where contestants compete to have their debut song broadcast commercially. Shortly after the season aired, they released their single “Ain’t Easy.” While the duo has since parted ways, that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the holiday joy they left behind. Whether they’re singing about romance or friendship, this is the perfect song to listen to with your loved ones.

Arkells - “The Last Christmas (We Ever Spent Apart)”

One of the newer Christmas songs on this list, the Arkells gifted us this carol in 2021. The lyrics make it quite clear that the band is referencing Christmas during the global pandemic. “Last Christmas, I didn’t get to hug ya,” they sing. “It almost broke my heart.” This song will surely bring back the memories of the odd holiday season we endured during 2020. 

Virginia to Vegas, Alyssa Reid - “Baby It’s Cold Outside”

It’s a song that has been covered time and time again, but Virginia to Vegas’ version of this song is quite unique. Instead of the deep, jazzy voice often showcased during the male parts in the song, Virginia to Vegas brings a more contemporary pop style. Reid accompanies his voice with strong vocals as well. Overall, the two voices pair nicely together. 

Justin Bieber - “Mistletoe” 

Finally, saving the best for last, Bieber’s “Mistletoe” is a classic Christmas tune that holds a special place in all our hearts. This song was released as part of Bieber’s only Christmas album, Under the Mistletoe, in 2011. It reached the top 10 on Canadian charts and holds the record for the highest Christmas song debut in Billboard Hot 100 history. Gear up for Christmas with this song because, as Bieber sings, “It’s the most beautiful time of the year.”

8 foodie-approved gift ideas from Canadian small businesses

These local food-related gifts will surely bring joy to food lovers this holiday season 

By: Madeline Liao

(Dzenina Lukac/Pexels)

With the holidays fast approaching, many of us are scrambling to find the perfect gift for our loved ones. Gift shopping can be difficult, especially if you don’t know what to buy and where to look. Luckily, there are plenty of small businesses right here in Canada that can help you check things off your shopping list. Here are some potential gift ideas from Canadian businesses that may be just the thing that the foodie in your life is looking for.

1. Fruit syrups from Summerland Sweets 

Based in Summerland, B.C., Summerland Sweets carries a variety of fruit jams and syrups sourced fresh from the Okanagan Valley. Other products also include fruit jellies and nut brittles, which all make for sweet treats. The company is family-owned and the products are made right in their production facility in Summerland. Their assorted gift packages would make for an excellent present and can pair nicely with some Christmas morning pancakes. If you’re in the Summerland area, pay a visit to their facility to see their process (and enjoy some ice cream while you’re at it).

2. Mini six-pack pepper sauces from Spice of Life

Spice of Life is a small, Toronto-based business that carries handmade hot sauces and preservatives. Their products use natural, locally sourced ingredients and are free of artificial flavourings. With a large selection of flavours, Spice of Life sauces could be a fitting gift choice for someone who likes every meal with a little bit of spice. If you’re not sure which flavour to go with, the six-pack of pepper sauces can serve as a trial for the recipient to find their favourite.

3. Loose-leaf teas from Cup of Té

Cup of Té is a Black-owned online tea retailer based in Toronto. Founded by former gymnast Taylor Lindsay-Noel, the company “take[s] pride in the quality and unique blends of [their] products while ensuring that each tea is hand selected, organic and ethically sourced.” When you shop from Cup of Té, a portion of proceeds goes to mental health awareness causes. Check out their gift ideas page for products like the iron cast teapot set or matcha whisk bundle that could make a tea lover happy in the cold weather.

4. Barrel-aged whiskey maple syrup from Wabanaki Maple

One thing this Canadian gift guide definitely needs is barrel-aged maple syrup from Wabanaki Maple, an Indigenous and women-owned company located in Neqotkuk (Tobique First Nation), N.B. They work to preserve the environment and Indigenous communities, and invite customers to “discover a piece of history and a taste of culture in every bottle.” Their whiskey maple syrup is a twist on traditional maple syrup culture from the Indigenous Peoples of the First Nations and is perfect for the winter. Each bottle is made using techniques that have been preserved through generations.

5. An Indigenous cuisine cookbook by Shane M. Chartrand with Jennifer Cockrall-King

This cookbook, tawâw - Progressive Indigenous Cuisine, is a great gift idea for the foodies who are also (aspiring) cooks. The book follows Chartrand’s culinary journey from childhood to adulthood — from learning to hunt and raising livestock to working as a professional chef, making this work transcend the scope of just a cookbook. It shares the meaning of cooking, eating and sharing food in Indigenous homes and communities.

6. Astrological sign resin coasters from Hando Meido Studio 

These custom star sign coasters can be a fitting gift for the astrology-obsessed friend on your list. Each coaster is handmade and can be personalized with the recipient’s name, so every time they drink their morning coffee or tea, they can save their table from stains in style. The Etsy shop, HandoMeidoStudio, ships from Toronto and offers free delivery in Canada. Check out their page for more handmade coasters and other crafty products.

7. Cookie gift box from Craig’s Cookies

With over 40,000 followers on Instagram, Craig’s Cookies is a popular Toronto destination for those with a sweet tooth, and cookies are certainly a practical gift idea for a foodie. There are over 100 cookie flavours to choose from at Craig’s, which can be overwhelming for even the biggest of cookie lovers. Luckily, the store offers gift boxes that are neatly wrapped up for any gift exchange. Those in the Greater Toronto Area can also pick up their order at a store location to avoid shipping delays — Craig’s Cookies can be found in The Village, Parkdale, Leaside, Leslieville and at Yorkdale Mall.

8. Chocolate bundle from Chachalate

A gift guide simply cannot be complete without chocolate. Chachalate is an Asian-owned chocolate company in Toronto that produces vegan chocolate. Their products come from ethically sourced cocoa beans and are all made from scratch, producing a “naturally fruity” flavour. Chachalate’s chocolate bars contain only two to five ingredients, making them a healthier alternative to mass-produced chocolates. The “build your own bundle” option is a great choice for a gift, especially if you’re finding it hard to choose from all their flavours.

5 Canadian films to get you in the holiday spirit

By Nadia Brophy

It’s that time of year again - the one that gets you seated by a warm fireplace, curled up in a blanket with hot cocoa in hand, eyes glued to the TV screen. Ladies and gentleman, it’s Christmas time, and I’d like to gift you with a curated list of some Canadian holiday favourites to get you in the mood for celebrating this special season.

1.     Coming Home for Christmas (2017)

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Nothing quite beats the feeling of flicking on the Hallmark Channel at this time of year and immersing oneself in a feel-good Christmas romance. In doing so, you may come across Coming Home for Christmas, a romantic comedy following the complicated love life of Lizzie Richfield, a house manager for an estate in Virginia. The film focuses on Lizzie’s task in planning a Christmas Eve gala before the estate is sold. During this time, she finds herself caught up in the life of Robert Marley, a member of the family who owns the estate, as she begins to fall for him while also being pursued by Robert’s brother Kip. If you’re not a huge fan of keeping up with complicated love triangles, I urge you to still give the film a chance simply for its beautiful Canadian scenery. Despite being a dual American-Canadian production, all of the scenes in Coming Home for Christmas were filmed in picturesque British Columbia. Canadians from the west will recognize the towns and landscapes of Abbotsford and Langley, B.C., which bear striking resemblance to the intricate Christmas village sets that occupy our mantles during this season.

2.     The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)

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Romance is all good and fun, but perhaps you’d prefer to indulge in a bit of Christmas history. How about a biopic drama about one of the season’s most beloved authors, Charles Dickens, portrayed by Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens in the Irish-Canadian production The Man Who Invented Christmas. This film chronicles the author’s true story of emergence from financial difficulty after he publishes three novels that fail to gain success in England’s literary scene. After gaining some new-found inspiration, Dickens sets his focus on writing the renowned story of Ebenezer Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, A Christmas Carol. What arguably makes the film most intriguing is watching Dickens’ characters come to life as he writes them into existence. The audience is treated to humorous interactions between the author and the infamous humbug played by Canada’s own Christopher Plummer. The film’s score was written by Canadian composer Mychael Danna and features a series of ambient orchestral works that emulate the feeling of waking up on a snowy Christmas morning.

3. The Nutcracker Prince (1990)

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I think we can all agree that there’s something very special about watching animated films during this season. Perhaps it’s the giddy child in us that grew up watching The Grinch and A Charlie Brown Christmas on repeat leading up to Christmas day. If you’re looking to feel that childlike excitement again, The Nutcracker Prince will surely fulfill that desire. Based on the classic story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A Hoffmann, the Canadian animated fantasy tells the tale of a young man - voiced by Canadian actor Kiefer Sutherland - who has been cursed to live his life as a nutcracker doll gifted to a girl named Clara on Christmas Eve. When Clara finds out that the curse can be broken if the Nutcracker defeats the sinister Mouse King responsible for the curse and wins the heart of a maiden, she embarks on a fantastical journey to help her special toy become his true self once more. Part of her journey leads her to be shrunken down and transported through the Land of Dolls where Christmas is brought to life on screen through images of elegant white swans, massive evergreen forests and a towering candy palace. If you haven’t already been convinced to add this enchanting film to your Christmas to-watch list, it is also accompanied by the famed music from The Nutcracker ballet, a classic seasonal production that follows the same story.

4. The Legend of Frosty the Snowman (2005)

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Yes, you did read that right - the ever-classic The Legend of Frosty the Snowman does indeed fall under the category of Canadiana Christmas. While the film was, in fact, a co-production between America and Canada, part of the animated tale was created by former Vancouver-based animation company Studio B Productions. The film also features the voice talents of Tara Strong, a Toronto native whose work includes Rugrats, Powerpuff Girls and Fairly Odd Parents. This classic animated fantasy is set in the fictional town of Evergreen, where children are forced to abide by a strict curfew and told not to participate in any fun activities. But that all begins to change when a black top hat escapes from a mysterious trunk that has been locked away in an attic for years and gives life to the most fun-filled presence of all - Frosty the Snowman. The magical character quickly wins over the hearts of the children in Evergreen as he encourages them to enjoy the winter season while it lasts. The plot begins to take a wicked turn when an antagonizing force leads Frosty to his demise and steals his hat in an effort to keep the town absent of fun. But that doesn’t stop the children of Evergreen from embarking on a quest to reclaim their snowy companion’s hat in an effort to restore the spirit of magic in their somber town.

5. Silent Night (2002)

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When looking for films to get us ready for this joyful holiday, we traditionally wouldn’t reach for a dark flick with intense subject matter. But for those of us who are looking for a little more depth and substance in our films - still keeping with the spirit of Christmas, of course - can turn to Silent Night, a fact-based story set on Christmas Eve during World War II. The film follows a German woman and her son who attempt to escape the dangers of war by fleeing to an isolated cabin in the Ardennes forest. It is not long before their cabin is invaded by groups of American soldiers and their German enemies. The interaction would have ended in a bloodbath if it weren’t for the mother who, after much struggle, is able to convince the German soldiers to set aside their contentions with the Americans and partake in a Christmas Eve dinner together. The soldiers eventually build unlikely friendships that supersede the tension that once existed between them. While I wouldn’t list Silent Night under the ‘feel-good’ category we’re all familiar with during the holidays, I would nevertheless label it a film that captures the spirit of Christmas in bringing people together to celebrate the season.