BAY OF ANGELS (Demy, 1963)

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(Written and directed by Jaques Demy; starring Jeanne Moreau, Claude Mann, Paul Guers, Henri Nassiet, and Conchita Parodi. Released 01 March 1963; watched 2023w16 via Criterion Channel)

Another (qualified) win from Tycherion's random Criterion Channel selection (this time without any decision data entered; I simply "accepted my fate"): first Demy film which, while a deeply moving – painfully so, at times – daylight noir (though this isn't considered a noir, I consider it one as it follows two people falling victim to the temptation of their addictions) owes its elevated position not only to Demy's writing and directing but to the magnificent lead performance by Jeanne Moreau: her Jackie is one of the great, unsung noir characters, a bright light forever chained to the dark cloud above her. As for why it’s a qualified win: the suddenness of the jarring, flick-of-a-switch turn at the end kills the noirness of the previous 88 minutes for me – though I suppose it doesn't preclude Jackie and Jean from beginning their destructive cycle anew on the other side of the credits.

why the extra w. is required

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"5:17 p.m. — Taco Bell, West Avenue, drug investigation. Tyler Weaver, 38, of ..., was arrested on fentanyl possession and drug possession charges, both felonies, as well as misdemeanor drug abuse instruments, drug paraphernalia and marijuana possession charges. Officers found Weaver unconscious in the driver's seat of a 2011 Hyundai Sonata with uncapped syringes, pills, drug paraphernalia and fentanyl in his lap or on the center console. More than 36 grams of marijuana, a cellphone, an anti-anxiety pill, $266 in cash and other items were seized as evidence, and Weaver transported to University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center. Weaver later left UH Elyria against medical advice, was arrested when he showed up at the Elyria Police Department to retrieve his car, and was taken to the Lorain County Jail."

three quick ((+/-) spoiler-free) notes on PICARD, 3-10

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  • While I still hate that it took the show this long to get this good, I'm glad it got there eventually – though it was so very, very close to losing me at multiple points in the first two seasons. Seven and Raffi saved it both times for me.

  • Which means I'm all there for the next next generation – be it a series or a standalone film.

  • I'll miss the TNG'ers, but what a sendoff. Glad they finally got the farewell they deserved; as they said once before, “All good things…”

/20230420

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... {mowed}:: the lawn... {inexplicably obsessed with}:: OCD-compulsive display heights of creepy DT masks... {wrote}:: something very cool and very surprising that opened another set of avenues to PRESS(A) 02's story but leaves me requiring space to figure out how to begin exploring them (begin at the beginning and...)... {read}:: THE BOOKS OF JACOB, 348-312... {played}:: BREATH OF THE WILD (for the first time since November; will play the next one when I get to the end of BREATH sometime in the next decade or so)... {celebrated}:: new Caterina Barbieri album on the way / the return of LUPIN, on 05 October... {this has been}:: a day in the life of; tomorrow will be another. Until then...

Three Quick (Spoiler-Free) Notes on THE MANDALORIAN S3 finale

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  • That was... nice.

  • Now that that's all done(ish), maybe we can return to the LONE WOLF AND GROGU conceit that made the show so good in the first place, back to the days of yore when it didn't require hijacking a sub-par spinoff that coulda been shoulda been awesome which it would have had Ming Na Wen had led it, to reset itself?

  • Or more things like that hallway / shield sequence? That'd be cool.