Ken and Robin Consume Media: One Battle After Another, Classic Noir, Chinese Neo-Noir

September 30th, 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

One Battle After Another (Film, US, Paul Thomas Anderson, 2025) Wake-and-bake fugitive ex-bomber (Leonardo di Caprio) and his teen daughter (Chase Infiniti) flee the heavily resourced pursuit of a weirdo anti-terrorism officer (Sean Penn) who once had a perverse relationship with her revolutionary mother (Teyana Taylor.) Anderson trains his cinematic control on the conspiratorial pursuit thriller, satirically tuned to the contemporary moment, with Jonny Greenwood’s restless percussive score its percussive, insistent timekeeper.—RDL

Recommended

Alias Nick Beal (Film, US, John Farrow, 1949) Crusading district attorney Joseph Foster (Thomas Mitchell) offers to sell his soul to get the goods on a racket boss; fixer Nick Beal (Ray Milland) appears to help him rise to the governor’s mansion. Milland is superbly smooth as the Devil in this rare occult noir, shot with foggy menace by Lionel Lindon. Standout sequence: Nick Beal rehearsing fallen woman Audrey Totter in her script of seduction, two consecutive readings of the dialogue showing supernatural menace and emotional depth.—KH [Note: For this Noir City KARCM I am reviewing some films I saw three weeks ago that I’ve already seen, but that I haven’t covered in these hallowed pixels before. After all, the whole point is to point you beloved readers to good movies.]

Cry Danger (Film, US, Robert Parrish, 1951) When a sudden eyewitness (Richard Erdman) springs him from a prison sentence for a robbery rap, Rocky Mulloy (Dick Powell) goes in search of the money to clear his still-imprisoned partner. Rhonda Fleming plays the woman on the outside and William Conrad the oily fixer in this perfectly curdled bit of postwar noir in which the only light remains the easy comradeship of its war veteran characters.—KH

The Fallen Bridge (Film, China, Yu Li, 2022) When her engineer father’s remains are discovered in a crumbled support column of a collapsed bridge he was working on at the time of his disappearance, a stunned college student (Sichun Ma) teams with a wary fugitive (Karry Wang) to investigate. Gritty crime drama indicts official corruption in its way to a thriller conclusion.—RDL

One Battle After Another (Film, US, Paul Thomas Anderson, 2025) Burnout bomber Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio) and psycho colonel Lockjaw (Sean Penn) seek the favors of revolutionary Perfidia (Teyana Taylor), and then custody of her daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti). Anderson’s groove meshes perfectly with early-Pynchon interlocking conspiracies against the backdrop of the Eternal Seventies we seem to be stuck in, and his handling of bombings, chases, and chaos is as sure-handed as his depiction of gormless fuckups. Jonny Greenwood turns in another terrific score, as well.—KH

Phantom Lady (Film, US, Robert Siodmak, 1944) Besotted secretary Carol (Ella Raines) searches for the unknown woman who can alibi her boss Scott Henderson (Alan Curtis) for the murder of his wife. Terrific adaptation of the Cornell Woolrich novel kicks into high gear when Scott’s missing best friend Marlow (Franchot Tone) shows up to help. Don’t miss Elisha Cook Jr’s orgasmic drum solo, either. Woody Bredell’s cinematography and Bernard Brown’s sound design transform a crime thriller into raw noir.—KH

The Prowler (Film, US, Joseph Losey, 1951) Called to the sumptuous home of Susan Gilvray (Evelyn Keyes) by a prowler scare, resentful cop Webb Garwood (Van Heflin) insinuates himself into her life and bed, while her jealous husband (voiced by sub rosa screenwriter Dalton Trumbo) keeps his all-night DJ shift. This can’t last in a proper noir, and doesn’t, leading to a somewhat overblown climax in a desert ghost town. But the first two acts are all weaselly and riveting Van Heflin.—KH

Separate Tables (Film, US, Delbert Mann, 1958) In a sleepy seaside inn populated by long term residents leading lives of parallel isolation, a tormented man (Burt Lancaster) receives an unwelcome visit from the scheming ex (Rita Hayworth) who broke him, and a bluff military man (David Niven) attempts to conceal a scandal. Perfectly judged adaptation of the Terence Rattigan stage play, a capsule from a time before anyone used therapeutic language to describe their problems.—RDL

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (Film, US, Lewis Milestone, 1946) Gambler Sam Masterson (Van Heflin) returns to Iverstown after 17 years to find his childhood sweetheart, heiress Martha Ivers (Barbara Stanwyck) married to the nebbish Walter O’Neil (Kirk Douglas in his first role), now district attorney. Will he be able to escape with ex-con Antonia (Lizabeth Scott) or will he fall for Martha once more? Rich noir melodrama makes a grand feast for Stanwyck, and thus a grand experience for the viewer.—KH

Good

Chongqing Hot Pot (China, Qing Yang, 2016) Desperate to make their failed underground restaurant salable, a trio of childhood friends performs an illegal excavation that accidentally breaks through into a bank vault. Heist movie about comradeship and surprise colliding forces openly signals its love for the works of Johnnie To.—RDL

Dead Reckoning (Film, US, John Cromwell, 1947) Paratrooper Rip Murdock (Humphrey Bogart) heads to Gulf City on the track of his war hero friend Johnny Drake, but he finds a burned corpse, a tangled prewar mystery, and Drake’s former lover Coral (Lizabeth Scott). Convoluted noir works too hard for cool and leans too hard on a somewhat phoned-in Bogart. Scott’s Bacall impression, and Morris Carnovsky’s turn as villainous club owner Martinelli, both deserved a better script.—KH

Murder, My Sweet (Film, US, Edward Dmytryk, 1944) On the trail of a missing nightclub singer, Philip Marlowe (Dick Powell) gets entangled with Helen Grayle (Claire Trevor) and her step-daughter Ann (Anne Shirley) and an also-missing jade necklace. Powell’s Marlowe is weirdly jaunty throughout this Chandlerian labyrinth (based on Farewell, My Lovely), despite getting knocked out at least three times, poisoned, and blinded by gunshot. The film is kind of a mess, frankly, but never boring.—KH

Okay

The Reckless Moment (Film, US, Max Ophüls, 1949) Left to manage the house by herself in her husband’s absence, Lucia Harper (Joan Bennett) tries to shield her daughter Bea (Geraldine Brooks) from a murder charge, as blackmailer Donnelly (James Mason) gets closer. While full of bravura Ophüls tracking shots and domestic stress, it can’t overcome the fundamental passivity of the main character.—KH

The Strange Love of Molly Louvain (Film, US, Michael Curtiz, 1932) On the lam after her no-good ex shoots a cop, a single mom taxi dancer (Ann Dvorak) attracts the eye of a glib, corner-cutting reporter (Lee Tracy), who does not suspect she’s the story he’s trying to track down. Curtiz keeps the pot boiling, and the pre-Code lingerie shots coming, but because the lead role is taken by Tracy, a second banana at best, instead of a charismatic, smoldering movie star, the script makes no emotional sense.—RDL

Ken and Robin Consume Media: Star Trek, Thunderbolts*, The Ballad of Wallis Island

September 23rd, 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

Ladies’ Paradise (Film, France, Julien Duvivier, 1930) Pure-hearted girl (Dita Parlo) reluctantly takes a job in the bustling department store putting her uncle’s fabric shop out of business, catching the eye of its ambitious owner (Pierre de Guingand.). Densely visual, with a quick cutting style that will be obliterated by the coming of sound film and not return for half a century, this modernist melodrama appears to take aim at progress but is actually after an older adversary. Based on an Emile Zola novel.—RDL

Marilyn’s Eyes (Film, Italy, Simone Godano, 2021) Sentenced to remedial behavioral therapy at an outpatient clinic, a chef with anger issues (Stefano Accorsi) and a would-be actress / pathological liar (Miriam Leone) contrive to turn its lunchroom into a high-end restaurant. Psychological rom com features plenty of complications and the magnetic performances essential to the genre.—RDL

The Martyred (Film, South Korea, Yu Hyun-mok, 1965) As the South maintains a precarious hold on Pyongyang during the war, an army officer investigates a Northern massacre of Christian pastors to confirm that it suits his superior’s propaganda objectives. Solemn debate drama examines the ethics of fighting despair with deception.—RDL

Good

The Ballad of Wallis Island (Film, UK, James Griffiths, 2025) Exasperated singer-songwriter (Tom Basden) discovers that his lucrative gig on a remote island is for an audience of one, an awkward superfan (Tim Key), who has also invited his ex (Carey Mulligan) to put their band back together. Adapted from a short, this has too little story for a feature, and strives to ingratiate, albeit with appealing characters and performances.—RDL

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 (Television, US, Paramount+, Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers, 2025) The Enterprise crew battles the Gorn and encounters an ancient evil. Everyone’s favorite starship continues its drift from TOS to TNG as its model, which is a problem for a couple of reasons: 1) the structure is built for a longer per season episode order and 2) the freaking holodeck.—RDL

Not Recommended

Thunderbolts* (Film, US, Jake Schreier, 2025) When her high-handed boss (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) hires other expendable operatives to dispose of her, despondent assassin Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) teams up with them, and Bucky (Sebastian Stan), to keep an amnesiac metahuman (Lewis Pullman) out of her hands. Second and third tier characters battling the personification of clinical depression in the hollowed-out ruins of Avengers HQ supply an inadvertently apt summation of the state of the mega-franchise.—RDL

Ken and Robin Consume Media: Ken Reports from Noir City Chicago

September 17th, 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

Caught Stealing (Film, US, Darren Aronofsky, 2025) Alcoholic washout bartender Hank (Austin Butler) gets dragged into seedy, dangerous crime doings by cat-sitting for his seedy British neighbor (Matt Smith). Plenty of people object to Smith’s blundering, obvious performance but it’s clearly of a piece with Aronofsky’s heightened “animated cartoon but with consequences” sensibility along with the other cartoonish but very dangerous gangsters. Adding real danger to a Guy Ritchie-style crime flick perfectly suits Aronofsky, and gives this film more bite and staying power than its Nineties charm alone would have.—KH

Detour (Film, US, Edgar G. Ulmer, 1945) Lovesick pianist Al (Tom Neal) hitches a ride with a bad hat (Edmund MacDonald) but gets in even worse trouble when he gives a ride to hellcat Vera (Ann Savage). Poverty Row classic takes its sweet time getting started but once the gears of Fate start grinding Al they just never stop. Ulmer was a master at doing a lot with a little, and he never did more with less than this film.—KH

The Hot Spot (Film, US, Dennis Hopper, 1990) Drifter Harry Madox (Don Johnson) gets caught in small-town Texas between his boss’ predatory wife Dolly (Virginia Madsen) and Gloria (Jennifer Connelly), a good girl with a dark secret. Relentless noir originally scripted in 1962 for Robert Mitchum became Dennis Hopper’s vehicle for over-the-top emotional direction: if sunshine Gothic were a thing this would be that thing. The Jack Nitzsche score, featuring Miles Davis, Taj Mahal, John Lee Hooker, and others, really sells this beautifully rancid film.—KH [Note: For this Noir City KARCM I am reviewing some films I saw last week that I’ve already seen, but that I haven’t covered in these hallowed pixels before. After all, the whole point is to point you beloved readers to good movies.]

The Killing (Film, US, Stanley Kubrick, 1956) Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) leads a crew of five in a perfectly choreographed racetrack holdup. Believe it or not, something goes wrong. Kubrick’s first American feature layers scene onto scene, often repeating the action from a different viewpoint to assemble an almost Cubist view of the caper. Much of the film’s strength, however, comes not from Kubrick but from scriptwriter (and hard-boiled novelist) Jim Thompson; the toxic interplay between husband and wife Elisha Cook Jr and Marie Windsor provide the emotional heat (and faulty decision-making) at the heart of this noir.—KH

Out of the Past (Film, US, Jacques Tourneur, 1947) Gone to ground in a small town, former detective Jeff Markham (Robert Mitchum) gets dragged back into the search for corrupt millionaire Whit’s (Kirk Douglas) missing girl Kathie (Jane Greer). None of the three main actors were over 30, and their energy drives what could have been a convoluted switchback of a story, as Tourneur masterfully layers in suspense beat after suspense beat to ratchet up the tension. An uncredited Frank Fenton provides duelistic dialogue while cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca lights up clouds of pointed cigarette smoke in this ne plus ultra of 1940s noir.—KH

Good

My True Story (Film, US, Mickey Rooney, 1951) Paroled thief Ann Martin (Helen Walker) gets enmeshed in another long con masterminded by her old boss Trent (Wilton Graff), to steal precious oil of myrrh from a perfumier’s widow. Walker’s constant code-switching from hood to flirt to respectable lady is the best thing in the movie, Graff’s oily “budget George Sanders” performance is the second-best. Once you get over the notion of a myrrh heist, the movie plays out predictably though seldom without interest.—KH

Tension (Film, US, John Berry, 1949) Cuckolded, bespectacled pharmacist Warren Quimby (Richard Basehart) takes on a second, glasses-free identity so he can kill the lover of his wife Claire (Audrey Totter) but gets caught in a squeeze play. Totter and Basehart between them keep this one popping almost up to Recommended, although it’s almost too straightforward a plot to live up to the high concept. Cyd Charisse isn’t quite wasted as the girl next door, but when Richard Basehart (even without glasses) is the interesting half of a couple things need some kind of adjustment.—KH

The Woman in the Window (Film, US, Fritz Lang, 1944) Psychology professor Richard Wanley (Edward G. Robinson) meets the even-more-beguiling subject (Joan Bennett) of a beguiling painting while his wife is out of town, and that’s when the nightmare begins. With a superb cat-and-mouse tension ratchet driving it along with real guilt and terror, plus Dan Duryea in an early (but still slimy) role, this could have been one of the greatest noirs ever. But the ending just ruins it all, sadly.—KH

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