few small beers after another

It’s easy to think writing is mainly the transcription of ideas you already have—that is, until you try to write something worthwhile, and you find what you thought were saying transform into something far more interesting in the process. This skips that last step, and that is *not* an improvement.

A screenshot from Leave Her To Heaven. The man says to the woman, "You know, if you'd lived in Salem a hundred years ago, they'd have burned you."

holy mother of pick-up lines #noirvember

a few thoughts (w/ some spoilers) on the film boxd.it/bHmNYt

Chidambaram (Govindan Aravindan; 1985) #desiwatch

Lee Grant in her first role, where she doesn’t even get a name and is just listed as “Shoplifter”, won Best Actress at Cannes and was nom’d for Supp Actress at the Oscars. comic relief in a drama and has maybe 10 minutes of screentime, her final scene is a hoot. memorable debut #noirvember

Detective Story (William Wyler; 1951) #noirvember

a fight for the soul of a policeman across a single day in a busy precinct. fun (and award-winning) ensemble around Kirk Douglas, though its stage origins are evident. wish all “Oscar bait” were this good

Kirk Douglas in a screenshot from Detective Story, directed by William Wyler. The dialogue goes, "I ought to fall on you like the sword of God."

dialogue writing in the classic noir age was something else #noirvember

yep yep, let’s talk then. like, I genuinely wouldn’t mind watching the next part in this world even with all these problems I had

Act of Violence (Fred Zinnemann; 1949) #noirvember

classic man comes into town and causes havoc tale. post-war noir that takes a surgical knife to the facade of valour and glory that built reputations post WWII

without spoiling anything, it has the same problems I've had with most Phase 2 onwards MCU movies. but yea, watch and see

these 4

A ★★½ review of Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra (2025) Anurag Kashyap's review hit on how Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra is an amalgamation of various influences, though I think he's a little more enamoured by it than I am. He calls it "original", which is mind...

A few thoughts on Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra, a very frustrating film boxd.it/bEwZZh #DesiWatch

Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra (Dominic Arun; 2025) #DesiWatch

Cry of the City (Siodmak; 1948)

found its moralising slightly annoying, esp for a noir movie, generally more textured even if the Hays Code keeps things tight. Mature and Conti play a good cat-and-dog game. reminded me of Scorsese crime movies for obvious reasons #noirvember

Odds Against Tomorrow (Robert Wise; 1959) #noirvember

we finally get a Black person as the lead in a classic noir when the era of classic noir has almost ended. Harry Belafonte's coolness really is the perfect foil to Robert Ryan's edginess

YouTube video by PeacefulAutistic Amar, Akbar, Anthony (English Subtitles)

Hindi films and songs referenced by the Mamdani campaign and victory speech at some point.

1) "We made the impossible possible"

youtu.be/YYRWKBIc88w?...

"oh this is gonna end up so badly for everyone involved" - me everytime I watch a classic noir #noirvember

A screenshot of my Letterboxd list, Classic Noir Rolling List for Noirvember, with my notes: A list containing films that can be considered as classic-era noir as LB doesn't have a genre tag for noir. I've not watched all these films, so I can't necessarily speak to their quality, but mostly if I've added an unwatched film here, it's because I've seen LB mutuals collectively rate it 3 and above. There are a few pre-1940 and a few post-1959 that seem to fit the noir mould, so I've left them in. Contains a few films from other countries too (India, Argentina, France, UK, Japan, among others)

made a @letterboxd.social list for noir movies from the classic era. it has 142 films for the timebeing. do suggest if I'm missing out on any good ones #noirvember boxd.it/jBTX4

honestly, I wouldn’t think it possible that Hitchcock would name the killer in one of his movies Keller. that feels too on the nose even for Hitchcock (I’m watching I Confess…) #noirvember

In A Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray; 1950) #noirvember

I'd liked this on a first watch but Bogart's character was so hateful that it kept me at a distance. this time around, I'm fully turned. between this and Sunset Boulevard, screenwriters in 1950 were really going through it huh

A screenshot from In A Lonely Place. The actress says, “It must be wonderful to be a writer.”

A screenshot from In A Lonely Place. The writer replies sarcastically, “Thrilling.”

yes, Bogart, I get you #noirvember

finally began #noirvember (yes, yes, ik it's only the second day of the month), that too on a bangin' note

The Naked City (Jules Dassin; 1948)

A screenshot of my Letterboxd profile, MrNarci. It shows the Favorites section, which has Kiss Me Deadly, The Big Combo, Laura, and The Set-Up.

it’s #Noirvember time, y’all. new @letterboxd.social favourites

second last movie of #Spooktober

People hating on and trying to abolish wfh also seem to think its just "lazy" people who work from home who started during COVID. But the reality is that its revolutionary for sick/disabled employees, people who commute long distances, caregivers and parents.
But all employers care about is control

enjoyed the first Nightmare movie so much that I decided to go back for Craven's only other installment in the series #Spooktober

onto the Raimi #Spooktober

I've written 4 short stories so far. just one published. 3 of the 4 deal with housing/houses/homes. 2 of those 3, including the published one, are about the hazards of living on rent 💀💀

2 things I love about this almost-5k word short story:

1. it's not dialogue heavy, which is generally how my writing goes. even my published one is heavy on dialogue. feels like a little progress on the writing front

2. first story I've written in first-person

classics for a reason