The Last Duel (2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Last Duel (2021): Wife of a knight is raped by a squire, which leads to a duel to the death. Movie tells story three times, from each character's perspective. Stories are too consistent to be Rashomon, the times too misogynistic to be #MeToo, the movie messy but riveting. B+

Scenes from a Marriage (TV 2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Scenes from a Marriage (TV 2021): Intimate look at a troubled marriage. Series lays the kindling, ignites, blazes, finally settles into a steady burn. Couple talk at each other endlessly but seldom connect. Intense acting by Chastain and Isaac. Worthy homage to Ingmar Bergman. A-

"How Terribly Strange to be Seventy"

"Can you imagine us years from today
Sharing a park bench quietly?
How terribly strange to be seventy."

I wasn't yet twenty when Simon and Garfunkel released the album "Bookends" and I first heard those lyrics from "Old Friends" that would haunt me all my life. Fifty years on, I don't find it terribly strange to be seventy. What I find terribly strange is to reflect on the fact that there are no songs about what it feels like to be 120. The milestones in my life are piling up behind me. The road ahead is becoming less congested. The horizon is ever closer. Melancholy fills me. That is what I find to be terribly strange.

POTD: Fresh Air Butcher

From 2019 11 21 Kom Ombo and Edfu

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Edfu, Egypt. It shows a fresh air butcher in a street market.

Bonus photos after the jump.

POTD: Temple of Horus

From 2019 11 21 Kom Ombo and Edfu

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Temple of Horus in Edfu, Egypt. It's a relatively modern shrine, if you can call 2,000 years old modern. it was built in the Ptolemaic Kingdom between 237 and 57 BC. Greek pharaohs. Greek architecture. Those columns would look at home in ancient Athens (or on a federal building in Washington, DC). It is one of the best preserved shrines in Egypt.