Ken and Robin Consume Media: Caught Stealing, The Studio, More Anthony Boucher Mysteries

September 2nd, 2025 | Robin

Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about in greater depth on a little podcast segment we like to call Tell Me More.

The Pinnacle

The Studio Season 1 (Television, US, Apple+, Evan Goldberg & Seth Rogen, 2025) Newly fledged film studio head (Rogen) suffers a series of escalating humiliations triggered by his insecurities and need to be liked by the directors and stars who depend on him for a greenlight and then want him out of their way. Cringe comedy turbocharged into uproarious farce by a killer supporting cast (Ike Barinholtz, Kathryn Hahn, Catherine O’Hara, Chase Sui Wonders), unusually committed cameos by industry stalwarts playing themselves, and stunningly choreographed extended single takes.—RDL

Recommended

Blanche Fury (Film, UK, Marc Allégret, 1948) Seeking a stable position in life, a disregarded woman (Valerie Hobson) signs on as governess at her rich cousin’s estate, where she is drawn to the brooding foreman (Stewart Granger) who claims to be its rightful heir. Noirish Victorian gothic shot in febrile Technicolor.—RDL

The Booksellers (Film, US, D. W. Young, 2019) Documentary snapshot of the rapid shifts in the New York antiquarian book trade from its dusty past as a haven for curmudgeonly reluctant salesmen to an Internet-driven field where ephemera has become the new hotness. Fran Liebowitz, who knows how to talking head, spices up the proceedings with bon mots and anecdotes.—RDL

The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars (Fiction, Anthony Boucher, 1940) A disappearing writer’s corpse and a series of pranks on Holmesian devotees throws the filming of The Speckled Band into disarray and Lt. Jackson of the LAPD must figure out the mystery. Boucher sidelines Fergus O’Breen here to focus on the cast of “Irregulars,” Holmes fans who exist to distract reader and cops from the real crime and let Boucher (and the reader) have fun with Sherlockian allusions.—KH

Caught Stealing (Film, US, Darren Aronofsky, 2025) Stalled NYC bartender (Austin Butler) is drawn into a struggle between violent gangsters after acceding to his punk neighbor’s cat-sitting request. Butler sews up his ownership of the young Brad Pitt slot in a confident throwback to 70s crime flicks.—RDL

Dusty & Stones (Film, US, Jesse Rudoy, 2022) Traditional country duo travels from their in Swaziland home to an international music competition in Texas. Border-crossing fly on the wall documentary is both stirring and suspenseful, as the viewer wonders which side of America the open-hearted protagonists are headed towards.—RDL

The Moon’s a Balloon (Nonfiction, David Niven, 1971) The Oscar-winning avatar of urbane sophistication wittily recounts the triumphs and disasters of a life marked by a streak of self-sabotaging rebellion. As a kid in the 70s I assumed this book was corny because my grandparents owned it but boy howdy I would have learned a ton if I’d cracked it open then.—RDL

They Were Five (Film, France, Julien Duvivier, 1936) A quintet of skint Parisians pool a lottery windfall to turn a derelict house into a riverside cafe. Proletarian solidarity faces off against existential fatalism in an affecting drama of friendship and betrayal.—RDL

Good

The Case of the Seven Sneezes (Fiction, Anthony Boucher, 1942) Fergus O’Breen finds himself invited to a silver wedding anniversary party on an island, held 25 years after another murder among the same party. Boucher plays fair (but not entirely plausibly) with the case and dispenses with characterization in an imperfect attempt at atmosphere. [CW: Cat murder, 1940s psychology]—KH

The Case of the Solid Key (Fiction, Anthony Boucher, 1941) Fergus O’Breen and an Okie playwright join forces to figure out who killed the crooked impresario of a little LA theater, in a locked shed. The theater aspect triumphs over the mystery (which is why it’s Good), but the plot and dialogue seem somewhat stale for Boucher. I didn’t much care for the solution to the locked room, either.—KH

Green Night (Film, China, Shuai Han, 2023) On the fringes of Seoul, a Chinese immigrant customs officer (Bingbing Fan)  stuck with an abusive husband winds up on the lam with an impertinent green-haired drug mule (Lee Joo-young.) Occasionally ill-judged naturalistic crime drama questions the premise of the unlikely allies trope.—RDL

Ken and Robin Consume Media: Weapons, Venus, and Vegan Body Horror from a Nobel Prize Winner

August 26th, 2025 | Robin

Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about in greater depth on a little podcast segment we like to call Tell Me More.

Recommended

The Case of the Seven of Calvary (Fiction, Anthony Boucher, 1937) A Swiss peace ambassador stabbed on a Berkeley street, the enigmatic “Seven of Calvary” symbol on the body, surely this is a case only a Professor of Sanskrit can solve! Come for the interlocking and overlapping murders, but stay for the glimmering conjuration of the prewar University scene. Boucher’s first novel isn’t his best mystery, but it’s well worth reading.—KH

Green Fish (Film, South Korea, Lee Chang-dong, 1997) Ex-serviceman from a shattered family (Han Suk-kyu) drifts into the orbit of an insecure mobster (Moon Sung-keun) and his trapped girlfriend (Shim Hye-jin.) Refreshes an archetypal gangster plotline by sympathetically zeroing in on the characters’ inescapable brokenness.—RDL

July Rhapsody (Film, HK, Ann Hui, 2002) As tensions rise with his wife (Anita Mui), a stagnating high school teacher (Jacky Cheung) passively allows a self-possessed student (Karena Lam) to throw herself at him. Finely observed naturalistic drama gives two HK megastars a rare chance to turn in restrained performances.—RDL

Remember My Name (Film, US, Alan Rudolph, 1978) Impulsive, vengeful ex-con (Geraldine Chaplin) stalks a self-centered construction worker (Anthony Perkins) who has concealed details of his past from his concerned wife (Berry Berenson.) Treats subject matter foundational to the later erotic thriller cycle as the basis for an offbeat dysfunctional character study with a distanced west coast vibe.—RDL

The Vegetarian (Fiction, Han Kang, 2007) To the embarrassment of her proudly mediocre husband and angry shock of her family, a woman attempts to stave off her brutal nightmares by going vegan. Literary body horror in which the gulf between external expectation and concealed selfhood devours the characters from the inside out.—RDL

Venus (Film, Spain, Jaume Balagueró, 2022) Club dancer Lucia (Ester Expósito) steals a big drug stash and hides out with her sister (Ángela Cremonte) in a cursed apartment building. Allegedly a “dirty, modern” adaptation of “Dreams in the Witch House,” it’s actually a superbly paced genre-switcher that puts modern crime beats behind a horror melody to great effect. Expósito carries the film with her acting, switching between suspicion, kindness, and desperation as the film does likewise.—KH

Weapons (Film, US, Zach Cregger, 2025) The simultaneous, overnight disappearance of 17 third-graders from a class of 18 sets a number of characters in motion, among them their teacher (Julia Garner) and one kid’s father (Josh Brolin). Over and above Cregger’s assured overlapping-narrative script, his collaboration with cinematographer Larkin Seiple and editor Joe Murphy provide a consummately creepy feel even in seemingly normal moments. Finally, a huge relief to see a horror film that would rather be scary than write an op-ed about trauma.—KH

Good

Legend (Director’s Cut) (Film, US, Ridley Scott, 1985) When his love the Princess Lili (Mia Sara) accidentally lets goblins kill a unicorn, forest boy Jack (Tom Cruise) must rescue her and the land from the Lord of Darkness (Tim Curry). Adding 25 minutes to the theatrical release, this version sadly doesn’t do much more than extend and deepen a film that doesn’t really ever decide what it wants to do. (It does restore Jerry Goldsmith’s original score, though.) Classic fairy tale, pastoral fantasy, and music video aesthetics likewise tussle for dominance although Scott makes them all look great.—KH

Okay

The Singing Thief (Film, HK, Chang Cheh, 1969) When a mysterious foe starts copying his old M.O., a Raffles-style romantic jewel purloiner turned nightclub singer (Jimmy Lin Chong) matches wits with a wealthy diamond owner (Lily Ho) deputized to bring him in. Swingin’ 60s musical comedy action thriller throbs with omnidirectional bisexual lust. Also, brutal, well-staged martial fight sequences that feel like they belong in a different movie.—RDL

Incomplete

Kingdom III: The Flame of Destiny (Film, Japan, ) When the Zhao army attacks Qin, ambitious warrior Shin accepts General Ohki’s commission to lead a 100-man strike force. Forty minutes of story, and an hour twenty of exposition lead to a non-ending.—RDL

Ken and Robin Consume Media: Fantastic Four, Weapons, Nobody 2

August 19th, 2025 | Robin

Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about in greater depth on a little podcast segment we like to call Tell Me More.

Recommended

The Case of the Crumpled Knave (Fiction, Anthony Boucher, 1939) Card-collecting chemist Humphrey Garnett is found dead by cyanide with a crumpled jack of diamonds in his hand. Surely rookie private eye Fergus O’Breen can solve the case! Boucher, a long-time critic of the mystery novel, turns his hand to an “Ellery Queen” style murder with great felicity and ingenuity, although O’Breen belongs to a more flamboyant detective tradition than modern readers (or Ellery Queen) prefer.—KH

The Fantastic Four: First Steps (Film, US, Matt Shakman, 2025) Global heroes the Fantastic Four (Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Eben Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn) face the destruction of their mid-60s Earth by Galactus (Ralph Ineson). Although suffering from a dearth of superheroics during the long, pipe-laying first act, the movie comes alive once the threat of Galactus appears. A super-fight set in daylight featuring live action and models instead of entirely empty CGI murk, character development, and humor that (mostly) comes from the circumstances instead of the script make this a surprising Good Marvel movie; the zippy Michael Giacchino score and loving retro production design by Kasra Farahani elevate it to Recommended.—KH

The Harder I Fight the More I Love You (Nonfiction, Neko Case, 2025) Singer-songwriter Case recounts her process of self-assembly, necessitated by a childhood of abject neglect that includes at least one plot twist straight out of a film noir. Acutely written rock autobiography serves up another reminder that many of the arts figures we admire have spent much of their lives hanging on by their teeth and fingernails.—RDL

Nine Times Nine (Fiction, Anthony Boucher, 1940) Writer Matt Duncan has just landed the job of assistant to anti-fraud crusader Wolfe Harrigan when Harrigan is shot in a locked room by a man in the yellow robe of LA cult leader Ahasver—who admits that his astral double committed the murder. Boucher tries to out-impossible John Dickson Carr, including a bravura sequence in which LAPD detective Terence Marshall goes through Carr’s classic “Locked Room Lecture” to try and solve the case; the actual solution falls to Sister Ursula, a nun friend of the Harrigan family. The LA occult scene also gets a lively portrait in this terrific mystery.—KH

Nobody 2 (Film, US, Timo Tjahjanto, 2025) Formerly retired hitman Hutch Mansell’s (Bob Odenkirk) waterpark vacation with his wife (Connie Nielsen) and family hits a snag when fate once again confronts him with goons who don’t know not to mess with him. A sequel script that knows how much and how little to extend the original lends action maestro Tjahjanto a solid launchpad for his Hollywood debut.—RDL

Sadie Thompson (Film, US, Raoul Walsh, 1928) Stuck on a South Seas island, a woman with a past (Gloria Swanson) romances a handsome sergeant (Walsh) but finds herself in the sights of a hypocritically pious reformer (Lionel Barrymore.) The broad strokes of the silent era fuel Walsh’s fire as he expresses his sympathy for the underdog and hatred of petty tyrants. First of several adaptations of Somerset Maugham’s story “Rain.”.—RDL

Weapons (Film, US, Zach Cregger, 2025) A spiraling teacher (Julia Garner) and rage-driven parent (Josh Brolin) separately seek 17 primary school kids who simultaneously ran from their homes in the middle of the night. A perspective-hopping, fragmented structure keeps the audience off-balance and primed for creepy scares.—RDL

Good

Timestalker (Film, UK, Alice Lowe, 2024) Life gets no easier across successive reincarnations for a self-absorbed woman (Lowe) fatally attracted to a handsome but gorm-deficient man (Jacob Anderson) and entangled with an abusive partner (Nick Frost.) Barbed era-spanning comedy of obsessive, unrewarding love.—RDL

Ire-Inspiring

The Last Showgirl (Film, US, Gia Coppola, 2024) When the long-running Vegas show she dances in announces its imminent cancellation, a veteran showgirl (Pamela Anderson) heads for a crack-up, exacerbated by her disapproving daughter (Billie Lourd) and mournful ex-flame (Dave Bautista.) Poignant performances from Anderson and Bautista, and Coppola’s grasp of mood make the script’s unremitting cruelty toward its characters all the more gear-grinding.—RDL

Ken and Robin Consume Media: KPop Demon Hunters, The Gorge, and Anglo-Saxons vs Vikings

August 12th, 2025 | Robin

Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about in greater depth on a little podcast segment we like to call Tell Me More.

Recommended

The Devil’s Eye (Film, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman, 1960) The devil (Stig Järrel), his eye inflamed by the existence of a young woman (Bibi Andersson) about to marry as a virgin, sends the damned souls of Don Juan (Jarl Kulle) and his servant (Sture Lagerwall) back to Earth to effect the necessary seduction. Chiefly through Kulle’’s silently ravaged affect, Bergman uses the ostensible elements of a comedic fantasy for an exploration of suffering as acute as any in his filmography.—RDL

The Gorge (Film, US, Scott Derrickson, 2025) Traumatized snipers, one west bloc (Miles Teller), the other east bloc (Anya Taylor-Joy) fall in love from opposite sides of the monster-filled secret canyon they’ve been stationed to guard. The stars turn up all the sizzling charisma a technothriller romance creature feature needs, and then some.—RDL

KPop Demon Hunters (Film, US, Maggie Kang & Chris Appelhans, 2025) A demon-fighting superstar trio’s battle against a boy band from the underworld threatens to reveal the lead singer’s dark secret. US-made, Korean-set animated supernatural action musical that folds anime visual tropes into 3D is a kicky triumph of cultural diffusion.—RDL

The Wolf Age: The Vikings, the Anglo-Saxons and the Battle for the North Sea Empire (Nonfiction, Tore Skeie, 2018) Violent 11th century kings Æthelred, Olaf Haraldsson, and Cnut battle for silver and territory in England and Scandinavia. Stirring, uncluttered narrative history depicts medieval warfare as a busIness model.—RDL

Good

Portrait in Black (Film, US, Michael Gordon, 1960) Neglected socialite Sheila (Lana Turner) conspires to murder her cat-loving husband with his doctor (Anthony Quinn) but complications ensue. Undistinguished semi-noir thriller surprises with great San Francisco location shots, and tries to pull off “everyone in the household has a secret” storytelling to mixed effect. The stacked cast also includes Sandra Dee, John Saxon, Richard Basehart, Anna May Wong, and Ray Walston all emoting up a storm.—KH

The Reluctant Adventures of Martin Jerrold Trilogy (Fiction, Edwin Thomas, 2004-2006) Barely competent poltroon Jerrold (a Royal Navy lieutenant) gets thrust into Napoleonic adventures—clearing his name in a smuggler murder in Dover, hunting an escaped French prisoner, and stopping the Aaron Burr conspiracy—against his will, and resolving them likewise. Sub-Flashman novels begin readable and slowly come into their own with the third book, but that’s all there was.—KH

Summer of 69 (Film, US, Jillian Bell, 2025) When the guy of her dreams becomes available, an adorably nerdy high school senior (Sam Morelos) hires a brusque but kindly stripper (Chloe Fineman) to teach her his reputedly favorite sex move. Female buddy comedy puts a sweetly affirming spin on a raunchy premise.—RDL

Okay

Aenigma (Film, Italy/Yugoslavia, Lucio Fulci, 1987) Comatose victim of a cruel prank (Milijana Zirojevic)  possesses an incoming college student (Lara Lamberti) to act as a vector for lethal, hallucinatory psychic attacks on her tormentors. Fulci’s surreal disregard for mimetic realism provides some interest within a repetitive structure.—RDL