By Kevin Woodhouse
www.thesuburban.com
Actor and filmmaker George Clooney’s film The Monuments Men, is making the rounds on the movie channel. I was enjoying the film until one of the characters, played by Matt Damon, was told by a French farmer that his French pronunciation was so bad, he must refrain from speaking the language.
When asked where he learned French, Damon’s character said “Montreal” whereupon the Frenchman rolled his eyes and scoffed. Thanks alot guys, especially Clooney who shot his directorial debut here and couldn’t praise the city enough at the time.
It is not like the city of Montreal gets to appear in many films as it is. Often, TV and movies shot in our fair city are supposed to be stand-ins for Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, Pittsburgh or New York, 19-2 excluded of course.
So when our fair city barely gets any notice and when it is acknowledged, it’s mocked, it can be a little annoying. That was until fairly recently when, while my wife and I were preparing dinner, we had the one game show we watch on in the background, Jeopardy.
If I’m having a good night, Alex Trebek’s program can be a real ego boost if I’m able to run a category or two. Then there are those nights where categories like “American Senators of the 19th Century”, “Rivers of the World” or hard science and math categories where you feel your I.Q. decreasing while watching the 22-minute program.
But that Friday was a great night when I heard the Canadian-born host perfectly pronounce the name to the city I’ve called home for the last 20 years: Sainte Anne de Bellevue. The bonus was that Montreal was in the answer as well!
The category was International Universities and it was under the $1,200 clue. The contestant got it right but I had to pause the show, rewind it and get a shot to prove that our American neighbours can put us in a good light.
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