February 11, 1992 Highway 61 isn’t just a road movie, it’s proably the ultimate road movie. Pokie Jones, a barber and aspiring trumpet player in Pickeral Falls (Thunder Bay), and Jackie Bangs, an ex-roadie, are brou gether by a corpse, which Jackie claims is her brother. They set off, with thecoffin strapped to the roof of Pokey’s car, down Highway 61 to New Orleans. Mr.Skin, a kind of ‘wanna-be’ Satan,.who wants the corpse to prove his identity to his surburban neighbours, follows hot on their heels. Directed by Bruce McDonald (Roadkill), witha screenplay by Don McKellar, who also stars as Pokey, Highway 61 is a surreal look at America throughtheeyesofadreamy Canadian boy wising up. America’s legends run parallel with its reality; this duality is echoed by Pokey and Jackies’ relationship (reminiscent of ‘Something Wild’, but more three- dimensional). The best thing about High- way 61 is its humour, which is di- rected at practically everyone. Art Bergman, who took over the role from Iggy Pop, hams it up asa reclu- sive German rock star. Earl Pastko, as Mr. Skin, is brilliantly funny; per- suading the people he meets to sell their souls for booze, petty cash, and householdappliances (which he wins playing bingo). Jello Biafra, of The Dead Kennedys, hits close to home asanover-the-top US. customsagent, and the funeral home director is played by a Poli Sci prof from U of T! The only thing which disap- pointed me was the rather stilted performance of Johnny Askquith, as Claude, Pokey’s French Canadian friend, at the beginning of the movie. Otherwise, all of the actors, whether professional or not, work well to- gether; producing a movie which is consistantly absorbingand often hys- terically funny. Selaaies between disillusionment and romanticism, McDonald's vision is a true reflec- tion of Canadian ambivalence to- wards America culture. Other Arts & Review Mr. Skin intimates in Highway 61 the Other Press Bruce McDonald is a Far From Normal Director by Katherine Mantagu Bruce McDonald’s second ‘real’ movie (Knock Knock, in which heinterviewed famous peoplein their bedrooms,apparently doesn’tcount) is co out on Valentine’s Day (Highway 61 -see review). Roadkill, whichcameoutlastyear, hasalready attained cult status. Even ifhedidn’t rave about zombie movies, comics, and practically everything whichisn’t mainstream, any film maker who describes Hollywood as “more sau- sage-making expression” is far from normal. In fact, McDonaldisan extremely bright, very weird guy. _ Now, th use Im, going to discuss it in such graphic d detail that uur enjoyment would surely be ruined. ___ If you are still reading, you have already seen n the novie and know how great itis. I therefore plan to perform oricalanalysis to find outwhyit’sso great. Now, youmay ve no understanding of rhetorical theory, or hate it when ple pull a great thing apart (kind of like pulling the legs insects) to see how it works, leaving only a pile of words - parts) where a great 1 movie used oe Ith : you to ae van piel thisreview. oe O} val lees ppepuintiadoing then. Just go see the movie. (Or go see it again.) e is interested in the al escribed methodology : Growing up in Sudbury, On- tario, “The Dead Zone”, McDonald and his friends “did anything for kicks.” Making movies was, fortu- nately, oneof those things. “Oneguy stabbed his girlfriend and threw him- self off the balconey. Some people got out.” McDonald may have been one of those, but he hasn’t forgotten Sudbury; Roadkill was filmed there, drawing a lot of criticism from older residents, who complained that he interested in everything, at the col- lege press conference last week, he asked more questions than all five of the writers present put together. At thirty-two, McDonald is, self-admit- tedly, “still the 14-year-old kid” he’s always been. The one thing he takes completely seriously is film -”You’re ing to inspire people,” he said, “not just help them kill two hours. You’re trying to leave them with something. had portrayed Sudbury as a ‘drug ” town’ (which, McDonald, it is). McDonald confounds the common preconceptions of directors as ‘artsy’ or pretentious. Terminally according to Highway 61 cost$1 million to make. Bearing in mind that most films made in Hollywood cost over $20 million, that’s practically mira- cle-working. McDonald and Don McKellar, who also stars, wrote the movie, then looked for financial back- ing. Not only did McDonald per- suade a lot of friends to appear for practically nothing (Art Bergman, Jello Biafra, Tav Falco, Peter Breck, etc.), but he also used the movie to showcase some really excellent Ca- nadian bands (Bourbon Tabanacle Choir et al). Asking whathe hoped would be his contribution to aspiring Cana- dian film makers. Bruce McDonald said: “1 think it/ll be like Hendrix listening to Dylan; thinking ‘If he can sing, I cansing.’ They'll think Tf hecanmake a movie,socanI.” Keith Does Live Grunge Rock Album by Haroon A. Khan The Stones are huge again, with their massive Steel Wheels tour and the subsequent concert film At the Max (check it out folks, it’s phe- nomenal) shows that they're back on top. : Jagger’s in a new flick, Freejack, and recording a solo al- bum. BillWyman/’s ‘electrical stage presence’ willnolongerbe part of the band since he’s apparently quit. and Keith? well he’s finally recording his follow up to the X-pensive Wino’s first, Talk is Cheap, which is due out sometime in the summer. I was set- tling down for a long wait. Nowimaginemy puzzlement when I received this cassette: black with a cryptic skull design emblazoned acrossit. Keith Richards & the X-Pensive Wino’s Live at the Hollywood Palladium, December 15, 1988. I thought that Virgin records is trying to scrape out as much $ out of any gullible stones’ fan that they’d release this, a live album of a near 5 year old show. But as it always is with me, I was curious to hear the tape, so I ripped off the plasti-wrap and popped it in the deck. WhatI heard wasa delightful 45+minutes of grunge rock played by the master and backed with a crack band withnear telepathic flow. Keith Richards, the ugliest man in rock'n roll This live album is totally dif- ferent from the Stones’ Flashpoint record which came out last year. Whereas the Stones were busy emot- ing to over a hundred thousand fans in cavernous stadiums, Keith was playinginanenvironment where the crowd, which in no way wasas large as a stadium grooved to the whole show. The live set features nearly all of TalkIs Cheap, though the scathing indictmentagainstJagger, You Don’t Move Me, is conspicuously absent. Of course there are the ob- ligatory Stones covers of Happy and agreat version of Time IsOn My Side sung with conviction by Richards’ backround vocalist, Sarah Dash. The all star band that features Charles Drayton on Sax, Steve Jor- dan on drums, Waddy Wachtel on guitar, Ivan Neville on percussion and backing vocals. Collectively the group is a powerhouse. Keith’s solo venture(s) show- cases him notas therock & roll demi- god he’sbecomeas partof the Rolling Stones, rather, this livesetshowshim as what heis:a consumate player for life. Check itout, Liveis definitely recommended.