August 14, 2020: This bodes ill! Cake shake! The Crime Club convenes to discuss 36th Precinct!

I woke up this morning with a dark sense of foreboding, I assumed, logically, as a result of some unremembered nightmare I’d had the night before.  But, as it turns out, it was prescience.  I turned on my laptop and brought up the overview I’ve been working on – only to discover the work I’d completed over the last couple of days was gone.  Yes, I saved (I always save!).  I have no idea what happened.  After half a morning spent unsuccessfully attempting to locate previous drafts, I gave up and moved on.  It’s disheartening because, following an initial strong start on this project, my progress has ground to a crawl.  The work accomplished over the last two days wasn’t considerable, but it was significant.  Alas, nothing there was nothing to do about it but forge ahead.  I ended up completing another character breakdown (Two down; two to go!) and, even though I’m running behind on my (self-imposed) timetable, I’m hoping I’ll be able to start tackling the pilot episode by top of next week.

Cake Shake?  Yes/No

Absolutely!

The Crime Club convenes to discuss 36th Precinct (36 Quai de Orfèvres)

Reminiscent of movies like Serpico and Infernal Affairs, 36th Precinct examines the corruption, code of silence, and internal politics that plague a Parisian police station. Daniel Auteuil (as Léo Vrinks) and Gérard Depardieu ( Denis Klein) are terrific as rival cops determined to bring down a gang of armored car robbers at all costs.

It’s smart and well-paced, but there were a few questionable plot developments that gave me pause.  The first was Denis’s disciplinary hearing hinging on Léo’s statement despite the fact that at least a dozen other cops were present to witness his insubordination.  Presumably, any of them could have corroborated the account.  The second was Léo’s condemnation on the strength of a witness of dubious character.  The third was Léo’s willingness to believe Denis about Camille’s fate.

Those issues aside, I thought this was a crackerjack thriller.

What did you think?

Tomorrow’s #CrimeClub selection is the 1965 black and white classic Bunny Lake is Missing.

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