I never understood a film noir that takes place in a sunny locale.

Vancouver, though, has constant rain and the sun sets at 4:30PM during December.

@atomicpoet I think it's the contrast of vulgar beauty and the rot it hides. Like the Black Dahlia murder, a real-life noir if ever there was one.

I also do think sweating is a fundamental part of the genre, too - the man not being in control of his own bodily functions as a stand-in for arousal by the wrong dame. And the sun just hating everything it shines down on is a vibe in some books.

I think California works good for a movie like Vertigo where you have wide vistas.

But as you probably know, Vancouver never plays itself but is the backdrop for a good many movies. And this is my favourite Vancouver film noir:

youtube.com/watch?v=ESO3Ej4LQ3…

Insomnia is also a movie filmed in and also near Vancouver! Like I said, Vancouver never plays itself.

All those snow-capped mountains and waters, those are my haunts.

You know how often my suspension of disbelief is popped because I realize, “Wait, I was there yesterday—that’s not Alaska or Los Angeles or Texas or New York”?

@atomicpoet Haha, yeah, it must be the same for people who live in Atlanta.

That's one thing I like about old TV shows like Columbo - they just set everything in Los Angeles so they can go shoot something down the street. Pixar has a little bit of that flavor, with its frequent references to its hometown Emeryville.

It would be nice if filmmakers didn’t just do Generic USA for movies and instead leaned in on geographic specificities to make things more interesting.

For example, I don’t care for yet another movie set in an LA suburb. But I find the Salton Sea compelling because that place is haunting.

Speaking of which, I just remembered this film noir called the Salton Sea that’s set in the Salton Sea:

youtu.be/hvkGhYkF2nw