The Writer's Poke

For the curious, this one is available for free on YouTube (fair quality). I watched it because I wanted to see how badly it copied Double Indemnity (1944), and because I've been watching Ann Savage films. Savage plays Toni, the Barbara Stanwyck role. Hugh Beaumont plays Kenny in the Fred MacMurray role. Technically, there's an Edward G. Robinson role, but the actor doesn't stand out in his part whatsoever. Honestly, that's one of the major problems. No chemistry between characters, and no fun banter between the young male and his older boss. If Beaumont was in Double Indemnity, I think he pulls off MacMurray's part just fine. He's just as good an actor, but he just happens to be in a worse film. Although I'm watching Savage films, it's only because of her role in My Winnipeg (2007). That's what interests me about her. She's definitely a B-movie actor -- no Barbara Stanwyck. The murder in this film takes place before the halfway point. The entir...

Cool cover art. Reminds me of Sin City. I just watched Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg (2007), and in it is 86-year-old Ann Savage, an actor who had been retired from the movies for over 50 years. That made really curious to see what the 24-year-old Savage was like. In My Winnipeg, I couldn't tell if she could act, or if the weirdness of the film just called for Savage to be weird. To be honest, after watching Detour, I still don't know for sure if she can act, because her performance is weird in a film noir sort of way. The basic premise is that Al (Tom Neal) needs to hitch across country. His girlfriend is in L.A. She wanted to see if she could make it there, but she quickly discovers she can't. Al wants to get out there and marry her quick. Unfortunately, "fate" isn't kind to Al. He ends up getting a ride from a guy who either died while Al was driving or who died falling out of the passenger's side door, hitting his head on a rock. Al's bad luck ...

"My sister hit and killed a deer. My mother sees through this euphemism, for it is a euphemism. Everything that happens in this city is a euphemism. Mother understands in a second what this deer blood and fur means. And somehow, she's right. She can read our family and our civic secrets, our desire and our shame, as easily as she can read a newspaper." -- Guy Maddin (narrator) In July 2015, I spent the night in Winnipeg. I had the free time to stay longer, but one night was enough. Even in the warmer months, Winnipeg somehow managed to maintain its gloomy winter exterior. I would like to go back some day to see if it's actually like I remember it, but who knows it I will. Even though I live in Minnesota, it's still an eight-hour drive, plus the time spent crossing the border. But today I went back to Winnipeg with Guy Maddin as my tour guide. I need Maddin in my life. So many films are predictable, cut-by-numbers affairs. They're supposed to be. That's wh...