December « 2021 « Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff

Archive for December, 2021

Ken and Robin Consume Media: Spider-Man, Hawkeye, Licorice Pizza and a Folk Horror Doc

December 28th, 2021 | 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.

Dillinger (Film, US, John Milius, 1973) Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger (Warren Oates) leads an all-star roster of gunmen across the west and midwest with dogged G-Man Melvin Purvis (Ben Johnson) on his trail. With a docudrama veneer misdirecting from its romanticism and operatic body count inflation, Milius explores the paradox at the heart of American conservatism: do you root for the government agents shooting the rebellious crooks, or the rebellious crooks shooting the government agents?—RDL

The French Dispatch (Film, US, Wes Anderson, 2021) Aided by his jailer muse (Lea Seydoux), an imprisoned painter (Benicio del Toro) confounds the art world; a solitude-seeking journalist (Frances McDormand) gets too close to a naifish student protester (Timothée Chalamet); a Baldwinesque writer (Jeffrey Wright) witnesses the kidnapping of a police commissioner’s son. Hyper-stylized tribute to The New Yorker and American dreams of Paris puckishly treats New York intellectualism of the 60s to 80s as a fandom to be rebooted and Easter Egged. The anthology format affords insufficient room for the underlying melancholy to build, making this mid-shelf Anderson. —RDL

Hawkeye Season 1 (Television, US, Disney+, Jonathan Igla & Kevin Feige, 2021) While on family vacation to Christmastime New York, Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) is drawn by a hero-worshiping young archer (Hailee Steinfeld) into a conspiracy involving her mother’s oily new beau and an old costume he’d sooner forget. Renner turns in one of the MCU’s most affecting performances as a battered, world-weary Avenger, and Steinfeld is winning in a potentially annoying role. But most of all we finally have a Disney+ Marvel show with a bona fide conclusive ending.—RDL

Licorice Pizza (Film, US, Paul Thomas Anderson, 2021) Hustling child actor Gary (Cooper Hoffman) falls for directionless twentysomething Alana (Alana Haim) in 1973 Encino. Seventies hangout film told as picaresque scenes in a glowingly recalled romance, tonally nailed by Anderson and held together by two terrifically natural performances as Gary realizes there’s things he can’t hustle and Alana slowly gets a life. Innately shaggy-dog narrative can’t quite compete with PTA’s Pinnacles, but not for lack of charm. Bradley Cooper’s wild turn as Jon Peters deserves a callout. –KH

Pietr the Latvian (Fiction, George Simenon, 1931) Indefatigable flying squad inspector Jules Maigret pursues a border-hopping con man, picking up a deeply personal motivation along the way. The first novel in the classic series finds Maigret’s iconic ethos fully in place, albeit in more of a thriller mode than later installments. You don’t have to start here, but unlike other long running series, it doesn’t hurt.—RDL

Spider-Man: No Way Home (Film, US, Joe Watts, 2021) His secret identity revealed, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) asks Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to erase the world’s memory but of course things aren’t that simple. Less empty than the previous film thanks to Willem Dafoe’s effortless gift, and full of the joy of the franchise, much of it borrowed (to delightful immediate effect) from Into the Spider-Verse. If you love (or even kinda like) Spider-Man, I unreservedly Recommend this film even as I admit it’s basically Ready Peter One. –KH

Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror (Film, US, Kier-La Janisse, 2021) Beginning with the Unholy Trinity canon, Janisse and fifty talking heads set out an expansive 192-minute geography of this film mode or subgenre or vibe. Showing more national cinematic approaches to folk reaction than just England, Janisse reads the voodoo film, the folk-monster film, the vampire film, and many other types through a folk-horror lens, ironically winding up arguing against the subgenre as currently understood. –KH

Good

Dillinger (Film, US, Max Nosseck, 1945) Glowering stick-up man John Dillnger (Lawrence Tierney) busts his cellmates out of prison to stage a series of ingenious bank jobs across the west and midwest. Deromanticizes Dillinger as a resentful churl, with a script unbesmirched by historical detail.—RDL

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Episode 477: Not For That, But Not Not For That

December 24th, 2021 | Robin

Nestle your rattling dice and thumping miniatures with care for our final episode of 2021.

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Bob Grider seeks the connection between the King in Yellow and locally celebrated fast food chain White Castle.

The History Hut goes nautical once more as formidable backer Dave Munro requests the rundown on the Metallic Lord himself, Sir Thomas Cochrane.

A cozy shiver pervades the Horror Hut as we answer estimable backer Matthew Preston’s real question about the differences between Edwardian ghost stories and later American fright tales.

Finally only the Eliptony Hut can untangle the saga of European UFO hoax slash conspiracy slash cult, UMMO.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.

Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

Human problems are out of hand, so thank goodness, and Atlas Games, for Magical Kitties Save the Day, a fresh, fun roleplaying game for players of all ages, and for GMs from age 6 and up!

Score a blood-drenched special bonus from Pelgrane Press when you order the print edition Night’s Black Agents Dracula Dossier Director’s Handbook or any of its associated bundles. A new 50-page Cuttings PDF of deleted scenes and horrors that didn’t fit is now available for a limited time with the voucher code VAMP2021.

The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!

Delta Green: Black Sites collects terrifying Delta Green operations previously published only in PDF or in standalone paperback modules. They lock bystanders and Agents alike in unlit rooms with the cosmic terrors of the unnatural. A 208 page hardback by masters of top secret mythos horror Dennis Detwiller, Adam Scott Glancy, Shane Ivey, and Caleb Stokes.

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Ken and Robin Consume Media: Lovecraft Tales, Succession, Only Murders, and the Psychology of Poker

December 21st, 2021 | Robin

The Biggest Bluff (Nonfiction, Maria Konnikova, 2020) Aided by her psychology background and one of the world’s best players, New Yorker writer Konnikova goes from absolute novice to poker champion. Engrossing interweaving of Plimptonesque experiential journalism and pop science uses Texas Hold ‘Em to explore the twists and traps of the decision-making process.—RDL

Lovecraft: The Great Tales (Nonfiction, John D. Haefele, 2021) Lengthy, layered critical analysis of Lovecraft’s oeuvre traces the underrated influence of other authors on HPL and casts the whole corpus as one multi-textual great work. Haefele expands compellingly on the neglected structuralist insights of George Wetzel (neglected even by Haefele, as it happens) in a great work of his own that all serious Lovecraftians should engage seriously. If my book whets your appetite, this is the big picnic. –KH

Only Murders in the Building Season 1 (Television, US, Hulu/Disney+, Steve Martin & John Hoffman, 2021) The fishy apparent suicide of a resident in an upscale NYC apartment building unites a washed up actor (Martin), a flailing stage director (Martin Short) and a young woman with a secret (Selena Gomez) as neophyte true crime podcasters and amateur sleuths. Comedy-mystery draws on a deep well of solitude but has the sense and taste to undercut its Hallmark moments with big gags.—RDL

Succession Season 3 (Television, US, HBO, Jesse Armstrong, 2021) Kendall (Jeremy Strong) renews his rogue mission against Logan (Brian Cox) as Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) jockey for the number two slot at Waystar-Royco. Where other shows become discursive after a strong early run, Succession achieves success by sadistically tightening its focus on its core hothouse of hilariously awful, conspiratorial characters.—RDL

Voir Season 1 (Television, US, Netflix, David Fincher, 2021) Series of brief essays on cinema features analyses ranging from the political (Walter Chaw on 48 HRS) to the technical (animation character design) to the personal (Sasha Stone on memories of childhood in the summer of Jaws.) The reenactments in the latter have to be the most gorgeously shot in documentary history.—RDL

Good

The Asakusa Kid (Film, Japan, Gekidan Hitori, 2021) Intent on a comedy career but without discernible skills, young Takeshi Kitano (Yûya Yagira) apprentices himself to a fading burlesque troupe’s dyspeptic master (Yô Ôizumi.) Yagira goes way overboard imitating Kitano’s physical tics, and the piece is much more conventional and sentimental than the filmography of its subject, but the depiction of a bygone showbiz world does hold interest.—RDL

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Episode 476: Homeostasis and Recurrence in Great Power Relations

December 17th, 2021 | Robin

In the Gaming Hut we find ways to design scenarios that highlight the cool and unique features of a location.

It’s that most wonderful time of the year as the Horror Hut contemplates Christmas ghost stories.

The Mythology Hut takes a look, get it, look, at the oddball Greek mythological figure Argus Panoptes.

Due to Omicron travel restrictions, Ken unfortunately had to cancel his Dragonmeet trip along with the rest of the inbound Pelgranes. Fortunately he did use the time machine’s bookstore-finding setting to bring back some volumes from other timelines, leading to a very special extradimensional installment of Ken’s Bookshelf.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.

Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

Human problems are out of hand, so thank goodness, and Atlas Games, for Magical Kitties Save the Day, a fresh, fun roleplaying game for players of all ages, and for GMs from age 6 and up!

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Tags: Gaming hut, Horror Hut, Ken's Bookshelf, Mythology Hut

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Ken and Robin Consume Media: Power of the Dog, DIE, and Classic Lubitsch

December 14th, 2021 | Robin

Cluny Brown (Film, US, Ernst Lubitsch, 1946) Suave Czech emigre (Charles Boyer), lightly on the run from Hitler, befriends a sweet young woman (Jennifer Jones) whose love of life is about to be crushed by the English class system. If you ever want to know what the famous “Lubitsch touch” for light, elegant comedy looks like, point yourself toward this gentle romantic comedy of manners.—RDL

DIE Vol. 4: Bleed (Comics, Image, Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans, 2021) The kidnapped gaming group discovers what it takes to leave Die. The dismount was always going to be the hardest part of this book to pull off, and Gillen wisely does it in rocket stages honoring each character rather than try for One Big Ending. Hans still arts the big fantasy reveal as well as anyone ever has, while using color like a film score throughout. –KH

The Pursuit of Love (Fiction, Nancy Mitford, 1945) Romantic illusions lead the charismatic daughter of eccentric country nobles to a pair of marriages to unsuitable, undeserving husbands. Pointed yet sympathetic social observation propels this bittersweet comedy of manners and changing mores.—RDL

The Power of the Dog (Film, New Zealand/UK, Jane Campion, 2021) When his kinder, introverted brother (Jesse Plemons) unexpectedly marries, an insecure, hypermasculine rancher (Benedict Cumberbatch) bullies his sweet-natured bride (Kristen Dunst), arousing the protective instincts of her sensitive med student son (Kodi Smit-McPhee.) Sweeping pictorial beauty counterpoints the subtle authority of direction and performance in this noir-themed Western drama.—RDL

Too Late For Tears (Film, US, Byron Haskin, 1948) Status-conscious housewife (Lizabeth Scott) lets her ruthless streak come out when she and her cautious husband (Arthur Kennedy) receive a bag of cash meant for blackmailer Dan Duryea. Acid-etched noir places its femme fatale dead center as its anti-heroic protagonist.—RDL

Not Recommended

Doctor Who: Flux (Season 13) (Television, UK, BBC, Chris Chibnall, 2021) An engineered space-time collapse destroys most of the universe, pitting the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) against sundry chrono-villains as she and her pals struggle to reverse it. A breathless mish-mosh of plotlines, overstuffed with antagonists and supporting characters, answers the unasked question, “What if the whole season played like the set-up to a two-parter?”—RDL

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Episode 475: Romance or Blasphemy

December 10th, 2021 | Robin

Hey look it’s another all-request episode!

Beloved Patreon backer Kieron Gillen opens the Gaming Hut, which we hope isn’t a portal into a hellish otherrealm, to ask how designers screen out their skill as GMs during in-house playtests.

Erudite backer Bruce Miller infiltrates the Book Hut to ask about Richard Marsh’s The Beetle, a horror novel that for twenty years out-sold Dracula.

In Ask Ken and Robin, estimable backer Martin Rundkvist asks how Robin, and by extension Ken, goes about choosing projects.

Finally sagacious backer Paul Douglas poses a question that can only fit in the paranoid space that is the Conspiracy Corner: was Lenin a mushroom?

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.

Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

Human problems are out of hand, so thank goodness, and Atlas Games, for Magical Kitties Save the Day, a fresh, fun roleplaying game for players of all ages, and for GMs from age 6 and up!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Episode 474: Becuthbert

December 3rd, 2021 | Robin

In the Gaming Hut we look for ways to design F20 encounters that players don’t want to skip.

The Architecture Hut reaches unprecedented heights as beloved Patreon backer Philip Masters seeks the esoteric secrets of the London Eye.

The Cinema Hut takes a bash at that laziest of storytelling devices, the dream sequence.

Finally well-measured Patreon backer bt revs up Ken’s Time Machine hoping to peer into the alternate reality where America’s adoption of the metric system was not thwarted by pirates.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.

Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

Human problems are out of hand, so thank goodness, and Atlas Games, for Magical Kitties Save the Day, a fresh, fun roleplaying game for players of all ages, and for GMs from age 6 and up!