Archive for the ‘Audio Free’ Category
Ken and Robin Consume Media: Classic SF, Classic Yuen Biao, and a Book About a Classic Vampire Film
July 23rd, 2024 | Robin
Recommended
Deathworld (Fiction, Harry Harrison, 1960) After its ambassador pressures him into breaking a casino, a psi-assisted gambler travels to a staggeringly hostile planet, finding that it is not what it seems. Type specimen for pulpy, action-packed problem-solving science fiction.—RDL
Dreadnaught (Film, Hong Kong, Yuen-Woo Ping, 1981) Cowardly laundry assistant (Yuen Biao) attracts the ire of a berserk fugitive in Peking opera makeup as the venerable Wong Fei-Hung (Kwan Tak-Hing) fends off the schemes of a rival martial arts instructor. Biao has never had a better showcase for his acrobatic prowess than this radically tone-shifting kung fu comedy. Kwan makes his 77th (?) and final appearance as iconic hero Wong Fei-Hung, a role he first took on in 1949.—RDL
Martin (Nonfiction, Jez Winship, 2016) Almost stream-of-consciousness narration of the 1977 George Romero near-Pinnacle film, providing production notes and critical observations along the way, reading more like a transcript of a really good DVD commentary track than a conventional work of film scholarship. If it has a flaw, it’s Winship’s desire to find ever more angles from which to admire the film; some of them seem a bit more forced than others.—KH
Sword of the Beast (Film, Japan, Hideo Gosha, 1965) On the run from his clan, a betrayed samurai (Mikijiro Hira) seeks the refuge of a mountain where prospectors risk the death penalty to pan for gold. Jidaigeki action with a noir sensibility, shot in stark 60s style.—RDL
Good
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (Film, US, Mark Molloy, 2024) Veteran maverick cop Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) receives a distress message from old pal Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), leading him back to the west coast, an uneasy partnership with a local detective (Joseph Gordon Levitt) and a reckoning with his estranged defense lawyer daughter (Taylour Paige.) Smart craftsmanship and an understanding of the beloved original provides a solid baseline for this too-old-for-this-shit sequel.—RDL
The Gang’s All Here (Film, US, Busby Berkeley, 1943) Brash army officer (Phil Baker) woos charming singer (Alice Faye) but complications ensue when his financier father (Eugene Pallette) arranges for her show, topped by fruit-hatted sensation Dorita (Carmen Miranda) to rehearse at their Hamptons manor. Letting Berkeley, and his penchant for turning dance numbers into reality-breaking flights of abstraction, loose in Technicolor brings into focus his status as a key exponent of 20th century modernism.—RDL
Ken and Robin Consume Media: Tong Wars, Fassbinder Noir, Korean Cooking 101, and a Japanese Crime Jazz Musical
July 16th, 2024 | Robin
Recommended
Killers on Parade (Film, Japan, Masahiro Shinoda, 1961) Fresh-faced newcomer (Yûsuke Kawazu) wins a competition against eight outlandishly garbed assassins to perform a hit for a corrupt construction firm. Breezy crime jazz musical with an undernote of war trauma radiates early sixties cool.—RDL
The Lower River (Fiction, Paul Theroux, 2012) Unmoored after a late life divorce, a stolid Massachusetts menswear merchant makes an ill-considered return to the remote Malawi village he idealizes from the time he spent there in his twenties as a Peace Corps teacher. Precisely told narrative of literal and conceptual captivity.—RDL
Martha (Film, Germany, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1974) After the death of her father, an unworldly librarian from a wealthy family (Margit Carstensen) weds an eccentric engineer (Karlheinz Böhm) who subjects her to a systematic program of psychological abuse. Fassbinder’s satirically heightened riff on the domestic noir, based on a Cornell Woolrich story, savages patriarchal marriage norms and the German upper class.—RDL
Simply Korean (Nonfiction, Aaron Huh, 2022) YouTuber Huh presents about 100 recipes for the beginning Korean cook, and so far I haven’t hit one that isn’t clear, delicious, and relatively simple. If you’re past the beginning stage of home cooking, this gets you past the beginner stage of Korean home cooking. A must-get if you have a good Korean grocery available nearby.—KH
Tong Wars: The Untold Story of Vice, Money, and Murder in New York’s Chinatown (Nonfiction, Scott D. Seligman, 2016) Lucid account of the conflict between Chinese criminal organizations that led to four violent gang wars between the late 19th and early 20th century in New York City and beyond. Deploys contemporary research methods to peer through obscuring layers of racist mystification, revealing groups who to a surprising degree wove themselves into the city’s power establishment, one with Tammany Hall and the other with their reformist opponents.—RDL
Good
Dicks: the Musical (Film, US, Larry Charles, 2023) A company merger unites two sales department jerks (Aaron Jackson, Josh Sharp) in the realization that they are identical twins separated at birth, leading them to seek the remarriage of their eccentric parents (Megan Mullaly, Nathan Lane.) The supporting cast (also including Bowen Yang and Megan Thee Stallion) outguns the writer/leads in this exuberantly foul-mouthed, out-and-proud stage adaptation, which delivers big weird laughs before running out of steam.—RDL
Ken and Robin Consume Media: Late Night With the Devil, Burgess Does Bond, and Oliver Sacks
July 9th, 2024 | 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
Late Night with the Devil (Film, US, Colin Cairnes & Cameron Cairnes, 2023) In a bid to reverse his spiraling ratings, a weaselly talk show host (David Dastmalchian) invites a medium, a debunking magician and a demon-possessed girl and her handler onto his Halloween episode. A fun stew of 70s cultural references serves up a fresh angle on Satanic horror, with Dastmalchian joining the ranks of character actors capable of carrying a movie.—RDL
Night Games (Film, Sweden, Mai Zetterling, 1966) Brooding scion (Keve Hjelm) brings his fiancee (Lena Brundin) to his family manor, prompting his reckoning with his chaotic upbringing at the hands of his erratic, hypersexualized mother (Ingrid Thulin.) Drama of trauma and escape framed in stark sixties modernism, with an extraordinary final sequence skewering the supporting cast of decadent hangers-on. Shocking in its day and still shocking now, so look for content warnings.—RDL
Oliver Sacks: His Own Life (Film, US, Ric Burns, 2019) Having completed his memoir and learned that he has months left to live, the renowned neurological clinician and author sits down for a biographical interview. Sacks’ personal presence reveals elements obscured in his written works, making the surprising details of his early flailing and delayed acceptance.—RDL
Tremor of Intent (Fiction, Anthony Burgess, 1966) Adventurous British agent spectacularly bungles his assignment to retrieve an erstwhile school chum, a scientist who has defected to the Soviet Union. Brings unexpectedly deep characterization and Catholic eschatology to an outrageous, stinging satire of Fleming, Greene, and le Carré.—RDL
Good
A Thousand Billion Dollars (Film, France, Henri Verneuil, 1982) Conspiracy turns to murder when obsessive journalist Paul Kerjean (Patrick Dewaere) investigates a multinational’s attempt to buy into a French electronics firm. Pointed political thriller slackens the pace compared to Verneuil’s previous efforts, but maybe that’s because the score is a piano quartet and not by Ennio Morricone.—RDL
Okay
How to Rob a Bank (Film, US, Stephen Robert Morse and Seth Porges, 2024) True crime documentary describes the career of Seattle bank robber Scott Scurlock, who hit 19 banks between 1992 and his suicide during a police standoff in 1996. Though touted as a different kind of crime doc, it’s the same talking-heads, fat cops reminiscing, reconstructions in filter, and occasional map you’ve seen a thousand times. The case itself is pretty interesting, though.—KH
Ken and Robin Consume Media: Doctor Who, The Bikeriders, Hundreds of Beavers
July 2nd, 2024 | 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 Bikeriders (Film, US, Jeff Nichols, 2024) Chicago girl Kathy (Jody Comer) falls hard for brooding biker Benny (Austin Butler) but resents his loyalty to Chicago Vandals cycle gang boss Johnny (Tom Hardy). Nichols piles on the distance from his romantic story of girl-vs-masculine-ennui, but the individual vignettes that take the place of narrative still pop with power and (thanks to cinematographer Adam Stone and to Butler’s cheekbones) beauty. In fairness, that certainly is one way to adapt a book of photographs into a film. Perhaps drops to Good for viewers more annoyed by the unnecessary interview-as-frame-story and less enthralled by Nichols’ impressionistic recreation of 1960s Chicagoland.—KH
Crisis Negotiators (Film, China/HK, Herman Yau, 2024) When conspirators in the HKPF frame him for murder, an intense hostage negotiator (Lau Ching Wan) becomes a hostage taker himself, demanding that an ex-colleague (Francis Ng) be called out of retirement to handle the operation. Like any Hong Kong flick with a police corruption storyline these days, this gritty, crackling remake of 1998’s The Negotiator has to present itself as a pre-handover period piece.—RDL
Guilty Bystander (Film, US, Joseph Lerner, 1950) Boozehound ex-cop (Zachary Scott) hunts for his kidnapped son, leading to a tangle with a smuggling ring. Film noir notable for a grotty portrayal of down and out life unusual for its period and a rare tough guy role for Scott, better known for playing suave weasels.—RDL
Hundreds of Beavers (Film, US, Mike Cheslik, 2022) After beavers destroy his applejack distillery, Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) must pit his wits against them (and other mascot-costume animals) to survive and become a trapper. While flooding the zone with jokes, this combo animation-live action flick revels in twists and turns that ultimately pay off. “Charlie Chaplin crossed with Looney Tunes” is a solid log-line, but the zaniness and invention on display in this silent slapstick comedy transcend mere retro homage.—KH
The Settlers (Film, Chile/Argentina, Felipe Gálvez Haberle, 2023) In 1901 Tierra del Fuego, a young Mestizo man (Camilo Arancibia) serves as a guide for a tortured Scots ex-soldier (Mark Stanley) sent by their mutual boss, a big time sheep rancher, to wage war on the area’s indigenous Selk’nam population. Hard-hitting, evocative Western historical drama contrasts the stunning beauty of the landscape with the depravity of its characters’ actions.—RDL
Good
At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul (Film, Brazil, José Mojica Marins, 1964) In a remote village, the murderous, blaspheming undertaker Coffin Joe (Marins) exultantly bullies the menfolk and creepily preys on women. Brazil’s first horror film, which launched Coffin Joe as a multimedia icon, presents a culturally rooted yet personally idiosyncratic take on the gothic.—RDL
Kalki 2898 A.D. (Film, India, Nag Ashwin, 2024) In the final (?) year of the Kali Yuga, the floating Complex dominates the last city Kasi, seeking fertile women to breed a mysterious energy keeping its tyrant alive. Pregnant SUM-80 (Deepika Padukone), mercenary Bhairava (Prabhas), and immortal warrior Ashwatthama (Amitabh Bachchan) find themselves caught up in ancient prophecy. The normal fight choreography and about half the props are kind of terrible, and it doesn’t justify its nearly three-hour run time, but the boss fights and chases are pretty great, and the lash of cosmicism from Hindu eschatology is a trip. If you can imagine a Hollywood that made the equivalent of Dune from the Book of Revelation you can imagine this film and the Telugu film industry; also like Dune Part One, this movie would get Robin’s Incomplete rating.—KH
Okay
Doctor Who Season 14 (Television, UK, BBC/Disney+, Russell T. Davies, 2024) In their exploits across time and space, the ebullient, empathetic fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and his youthful, down-to-earth companion Ruby Tuesday (Millie Gibson) encounter multiple iterations of a mysterious woman (Susan Twist) and investigate the mystery of her parentage. Davies’ return to the franchise finds his key strength—spotlighting his leads’ charisma and establishing a connection with the characters—still in place, and his main weakness—disregard for the structural demands of the problem-solving genre adventure—so glaring that he has written it into his story arc.—RDL
Ken and Robin Consume Media: Furiosa, Hit Man, Evil Does Not Exist
June 25th, 2024 | 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
Evil Does Not Exist (Film, Japan, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, 2023) A single dad who serves as a small village’s unofficial nature guardian (Hitoshi Omika) assists sharp-eyed locals when they suss out the haphazard intent behind a resort camping proposal. Shifts modes from contemplative slow cinema to sly comedy of manners to dark, cryptic koan.—RDL
Furiosa: a Mad Max Saga (Film, US/Australia, George Miller, 2024) When her mother is murdered by aptly-named would-be Wastelands marauder Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), a young girl grows into a resourceful road warrior (Anya Taylor-Joy) torn between a return to paradise and violent revenge. Latest entry in the series is the first to pay as much attention to its antagonist as its hero, leaning harder into the long established conceit that we are witnessing a mythic retelling of unreliably recalled events.—RDL
Hit Man (Film, US, Richard Linklater, 2024) Philosophy prof (Glen Powell) with an unlikely sideline posing as a hired assassin for New Orleans Police Department sting operations gives a beguiling target (Adria Arjona) a pass, then gets too close to her. Deceptively casual souffle of disparate genre influences reminds us that star chemistry is still a thing.—RDL
Good
Mississippi Blues (Film, French, Bertrand Tavernier & Robert Parrish, 1983) With American colleague Robert Parrish as his guide and a documentary crew in tow, the French auteur, fascinated by William Faulkner and the blues, visits the south for the first time. In his amiable ramble, Tavernier finds the spirit of the place in music performed by Black nonprofessionals, from choir practice to a rural church service to a Delta blues jam session in the home of a local resident.—RDL
Not Recommended
Ripley (Television, US, Netflix, Steven Zallian, 2023) Small time grifter (Andrew Scott) gets a second chance when a factory owner hires him to fly to Italy to convince his wannabe painter son (Johnny Flynn) to return home. Stunningly photographed, ridiculously elongated adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s cold and brilliant novel adds an odd alternate take on the character to the fundamental point-missing seen in the Minghella version. This leaves Purple Noon undefeated as the essential film version of this classic portrait of psychopathic transformation.—RDL
Ken is on assignment.
Ken and Robin Consume Media: Ferrari, Stax, and Alexander the Great
June 18th, 2024 | 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
Ferrari (Film, US, Michael Mann, 2023) Luxury car maker Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) prepares his racing team for a dangerous make-or-break race as his wife and business partner (Penelope Cruz) discovers the existence of his longtime mistress (Shailene Woodley) and their young son. Tale of an isolated obsessive pursuing extreme self-realization via roaring, beautiful, dangerous machines allows Mann a platform for an explicit thesis statement of his entire filmography.—RDL
Gate of Flesh (Film, Japan, Seijun Suzuki, 1964) Amid the chaos of postwar Tokyo, a gang of violent streetwalkers lose their collective autonomy when they take in a hypermasculine war vet turned criminal (Jo Shisido.) Hard-hitting crime drama shot in a widescreen color palette as lurid as its sensibility.—RDL
Life’s Edge: The Search for What It Means to Be Alive (Nonfiction, Carl Zimmer, 2021) Bats, boa constrictors, and virophages come under the microscope in this engaging round-up of organisms—or are they?!?—that test science’s ability to coherently define what a life form is. Consumed in audiobook format.—RDL
Stax: Soulville USA (Television, US, Max, Jamila Wignot, 2024) Documentary chronicles the rise and fall of Stax Records, the Memphis outfit that redefined southern soul and then progressive funk before its inevitable betrayal by CBS Records and the local business oligarchy. Thrilling companion piece to Rob Bowman’s richly detailed 1997 book lets the emotions flow through archival performance footage and retrospective interviews.—RDL
Good
Alexander the Great: From His Death to the Present Day (Nonfiction, John Boardman, 2019) Short overview of the legends about Alexander the Great, from the late-antique pseudo-histories to the full-blown medieval Alexander Romance to a afterthought of a chapter about Alexander in movies and novels. Strongest on the Alexander Romance, but more useful to someone who hasn’t already read Richard Stoneman on the topic. Boardman’s specialty is art history, and when he discusses artistic representations of the conqueror the book is far stronger.—KH
Lock No. 1 (Fiction, Georges Simenon, 1933) On his last days before early retirement, Inspector Maigret looks into the attempted stabbing of a blustering tugboat magnate. Our hero does little detecting in what is mostly a character study of its victim-slash-antagonist.—RDL
Okay
The Murder of Eleanor Pope (Fiction, Henry Kuttner, 1956) The first of four mystery novels by superb SF author Kuttner sets up his detective, San Francisco psychoanalyst Michael Gray. Kuttner can’t write a bad sentence, but the murder mystery isn’t particularly interesting (or convincing). Kuttner’s unblinking endorsement of Freudian analysis reads a little like having an astrologer detective solving crimes with horoscopes, except there would probably be less interminable talking.—KH
Ken and Robin Consume Media: Hit Man, The Fall Guy, Maps of Empire and Jorge Luis Borges, Investigator
June 11th, 2024 | 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
Atlas of Empires: The World’s Great Powers from Ancient Times to Today (Nonfiction, Peter Davidson, 2018) In 60 main maps and 240 pages of text, Davidson describes empires from Sargon of Akkad to the EU. While the maps are almost uniformly excellent (I noticed one color-separation issue on the 17th-century imperialism map) the text is the real draw, as incisive and clear as Colin McEvedy at his best. An ideal quick first summary of imperialisms ancient and postmodern, and usefully informative to almost anyone.—KH
Borges and the Eternal Orangutans (Fiction, Luis Fernando Verissimo, 2000) Amateur Poe scholar and Borges fan Vogelstein gets the opportunity to follow his dreams when the Israfel Society holds its 1985 meeting in Buenos Aires. When another Poe scholar turns up murdered, Vogelstein and Borges investigate a trail that oh yes leads through Lovecraft, John Dee, and at least two orangutans. A short, sharp delight, like Umberto Eco espresso.—KH
Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America (Nonfiction, Michael Ruhlman, 2017) Embedding himself in the innovative mid-tier Cleveland area Heinen’s chain, the author examines the many facets of America’s constantly evolving retail food industry. Among the many takeaways from this absorbingly rendered account is the extent to which customer demands for health and sustainability have already transformed the business Consumed in audiobook format.—RDL
A Hidden Life (Film, US, Terrence Malick, 2019) When he is conscripted into the German army, a devout farmer from a remote Austrian village (August Diehl) supported by his steadfast wife (Valerie Pachner), forbears the consequences of refusing to sign the required loyalty oath to Hitler. Faith and idyllic natural beauty contrast with human moral horror in the master director’s signature style.—RDL
Hit Man (Film, US, Richard Linklater, 2024) Psych professor Gary (Glen Powell) meets abused wife Madison (Adria Arjona) while undercover for the New Orleans PD pretending to be a hit man named Ron. This film about the human capacity to change likewise changes from comedy to rom-com to thriller to the edge of noir, with Powell following along in a showcase of acting range.—KH
Loot Season 2 (Television, US, Apple+, Alan Yang & Matt Hubbard, 2024) Resisting her narcissistic ex’s efforts to win her back, Molly (Maya Rudolph) expands her philanthropic empire and struggles with her feelings for button-downed employee Arthur (Nat Faxon.) Smart, character-driven sitcom cruises comfortably into its sophomore season, boosted by the natural chops of supporting players Ron Funches and Joel Kim Booster.—RDL
Good
Christ Stopped at Eboli (Television, Italy, Francesco Rosi, 1979) In 1933, painter Carlo Levi is banished for his anti-fascist writings to internal exile in a remote southern village. In this adaptation of a seminal memoir, Rosi’s prestige-pic penchant for the picturesque and sentimental co-exists uneasily with the text’s horror at the extreme deprivation it documents.—RDL
The Fall Guy (Film, US, David Leitch, 2024) Mystery and peril assist romantic reconciliation when a soulful stuntman (Ryan Gosling) ends his retirement to join the directing debut of the ex (Emily Blunt) he ghosted after suffering an on-set injury. Breezy action romcom has to clear a pacing hurdle caused by the traffic jam of plot elements it needs to establish before it can really get rolling.—RDL
Fast Charlie (Film, US, Philip Noyce, 2023) When rising New Orleans boss Beggar (Gbenga Akinnagbe) wipes out the crew of old-school Biloxi boss Stan (James Caan in his final role), hitman Charlie (Pierce Brosnan doing the most insane Mississippi accent in cinema history) seeks revenge and leverage with the help of Marcie (Morena Baccarin), the widow of his most recent target. Noyce keeps things driving along in whipcrack fashion (it’s only 90 minutes!), and Brosnan is always a delight, but you’ve already seen this movie before, even if this time you probably like it better.—KH
Ken and Robin Consume Media: Godzilla Minus One, Star Trek Discovery, City Hunter
June 4th, 2024 | 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
Godzilla Minus One (Film, Japan, Takashi Yamakazi, 2023) When the dinosaur-like creature he encountered on a remote island in the dying days of the war comes back as a radioactive gargantua, a young man trained to be a kamikaze pilot (Ryunosuke Kamiki) gets a second shot at heroism. Reverent retelling of Ishirō Honda’s 1954 original makes effective, sparing use of its kaiju destruction scenes as it shifts the theme from the cosmic trauma of the H-bomb to survivor guilt and redemption.—RDL
The Last Stop in Yuma County (Film, US, Francis Galluppi, 2024) Stuck in a diner waiting for the fuel truck, several strangers cross paths with escaping bank robbers (Richard Brake, Nicholas Logan) in a neo-Tarantino bottle drama that crosses into Coen Brothers vantablack-humor territory before too long. Jim Cummings’ sad-sack knife salesman and Sierra McCormick’s wannabe Bonnie Parker are only the tip of a superb casting iceberg. What Galluppi lacks in originality he makes up in technical proficiency, and in quickly limning character against a classic American cinema backdrop.—KH
Private Life (Film, US, Tamara Jenkins, 2018) Desperate for a child, a frazzled artsy couple (Kathryn Hahn, Paul Giamatti) enlist their college-age aspiring writer niece (Emily Robinson) as a potential egg donor. Indie drama observes the humiliations of being alive and cognizant with a bleakly funny yet humane eye.—RDL
Good
Hellbender (Film, US, John Adams, Zelda Adams and Tony Poser, 2022) Teen (Zelda Adams) raised in woodland isolation by her loving, protective mother (Tony Poser) discovers that they are beings who gain immense witch-like powers when they consume living things. Indie folk horror fairy tale explores the ambivalence of relationships between teen girls and their moms, ending where its third act ought to start.—RDL
Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 (Television, US, Paramount+, Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise, 2024) To prevent a dark future where the Breen use the technological secret of humanoid life itself to destroy the Federation, Captain Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and crew race against lovestruck mercenaries to gather a series of puzzle pieces. The Trek iteration that was never the same show for two consecutive seasons completes its arc from its starting point of jarring revisionism all the way to Next Generation-style comfort viewing..—RDL
Okay
City Hunter (Film, Japan, Yûichi Satô, 2024) Combat-machine, horndog PI (Ryohei Suzuki) reluctantly teams with his murdered partner’s sister (Misato Morita) as he investigates the super serum conspiracy behind the killing. Latest adaptation of the popular manga series delivers some fun action, dragged down by the dire, jokeless schtick of the protagonist’s canonical lechery.—RDL
Ken and Robin Consume Media: Furiosa, Lovecraft’s Iraq, and a Genre-Blending Romance
May 28th, 2024 | 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
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (Film, Australia, George Miller, 2024) Kidnapped from the Green Place as a child (Alyla Browne) by the warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) seeks revenge and return. A Western epic pivoting on a coming-of-age car-chase-battle as good as anything Miller has ever shot easily hits the Recommended level despite the inevitable prequel handicaps. Hemsworth is a delight as a cartoon villain whose arc mirrors that of the hateful world where Furiosa is trapped.—KH
History is Made at Night (Film, US, Frank Borzage, 1937) Renowned restaurateur (Charles Boyer) steps in to protect the independence-seeking wife (Jean Arthur) of a psychotic shipping magnate (Colin Clive.) The director’s subtle mastery of feeling and atmosphere fuses the seams of a genre-blending romantic thriller.—RDL
Is This Anything? (Nonfiction, Jerry Seinfeld, 2020) Compilation of virtually all of Seinfeld’s stand-up material from the 1970s to 2020 shows both the steady honing of his writing and the vital importance of delivery on stage.—KH
White Elephant (Film, Argentina, Pablo Trapero, 2012) Terminally ill priest (Ricardo Darin) takes in a traumatized colleague (Jérémie Renier) in the unspoken hope that he will succeed him in his violence-plagued shantytown parish. Star-driven social drama establishes obvious expectations and then veers away from them.—RDL
Good
Category III: The Untold Story of Hong Kong Exploitation Cinema (Film, UK, Calum Waddell, 2018) Survey of the Hong Kong film industry’s adult-rated output, which ranges from the sordid to classics of extreme and arthouse cinema alike, told through talking heads and scuffed-up trailer excerpts. Most remarkable among the interviews is an unnervingly revealing appearance from actor Anthony Wong.—RDL
Lovecraft’s Iraq (Fiction, David Rose, 2022) When a USMC patrol outside Fallujah finds pages from the Necronomicon in a cultist safe house, things get increasingly weird for the survivors. More military horror-fantasy than pure Lovecraftian tale, worth reading for Delta Green GMs.—KH
Master of the World (Film, US, WIlliam Witney, 1961) In 1868, investigating mysterious phenomena from a Pennsylvania mesa, Interior Department agent Strock (Charles Bronson) becomes the captive of Captain Robur (Vincent Price) on his aeronef Albatross. Competent, if florid, Richard Matheson adaptation of two Verne novels struggles against an AIP budget. For whatever reason, Bronson and Price never truly face off in what would have been quite the actors’ duel.—KH
Themroc (Film, France, Claude Faraldo, 1973) After an incident at work, a brutish prole (Michel Piccoli) destroys his flat, inspiring his neighbors to join in and provoking a violent response from the riot squad. Dadaist satire of devolution and authority with only unintelligible gibberish is the missing link between Buñuel and current practitioners of the French arthouse weird such as Leos Carax and Gaspar Noé. Like many experimental films it could stand a tighter edit.—RDL
Okay
The Delinquents (Film, Argentina, Rodrigo Moreno, 2023) Unassuming bank clerk (Daniel Elias) absconds with a gym bag full of cash, roping in a glum colleague (Esteban Bigliardi) as an accomplice after the fact. Genre elements compete uneasily with the hyper-elongated pacing of slow cinema.—RDL
Ken and Robin Consume Media: The Book of Eating, The Idea of You, and Martial Arts Marital Problems
May 21st, 2024 | 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.
Ken is on assignment.
Recommended
The Book of Eating: Adventures in Professional Gluttony (Nonfiction, Adam Platt, 2019) Longtime NYC restaurant critic recounts his youthful eating experiences as the son of a diplomat posted to the Far East, his quixotic dieting attempts, and run-ins with aggrieved chefs. Lyrical and amusing memoir most covers the food and media industries in a time of radical, Internet-driven upheaval. Consumed in audiobook format.—RDL
The Idea of You (Film, US, Michael Showalter, 2024) Recently divorced gallery owner (Anne Hathaway) stumbles into a relationship with a searingly famous young pop star (Nicholas Galitzine.) Showalter’s commitment to real human behavior brings emotional context to the star sizzle of its leads in this romantic dramedy.—RDL
Good
Heroes of the East (Film, HK, Chia-Liang Liu, 1978) Newlyweds Tao Ho (Gordon Liu) and Yumiko (Yuka Mizuno) clash over the virtues of their respective Chinese and Japanese fighting styles, leading to a mix-up in which all of Japan’s martial arts masters challenge him in turn. The promise of a kung fu rom com where fights determine the course of love gives way to a series of well-staged duels, with the merits of many different weapons discussed in detail..—RDL
What a Way to Go! (Film, US, J. Lee Thompson, 1964) Good hearted lover of the simple life (Shirley Maclaine) falls for a succession of men (Dick van Dyke, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum and Gene Kelly), inadvertently inspiring them to success that brings about their early demises. Lavishly produced, extravagantly costumed, cartoonish, postmodern anti-capitalist satire will have you looking it up on IMDB to prove to yourself that you didn’t hallucinate it. From the director of Cape Fear, The Guns of Navarone, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, and Death Wish 4.—RDL
Okay
A Week’s Vacation (Film, France, Bertrand Tavernier, 1980) Disaffected middle school teacher (Nathalie Baye) takes a week of sick leave to reconsider her life. Naturalistic drama exemplifies the way in which accurate portrayals of depression run counter to the demands of traditional narrative.—RDL
