Archive for the ‘Audio Free’ Category
Ken and Robin Consume Media: Oppenheimer, Barbie, Secret Invasion
August 8th, 2023 | 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
Oppenheimer (Film, US, Christopher Nolan, 2023) Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) runs the atomic bomb program and makes enemies, including rising politico Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey, Jr.). A double murderers’ row of actors superbly convey Nolan’s theme that human beings are their own chain reaction, as we follow two storylines focused on Oppenheimer and Strauss, intercut like a cooled-down version of JFK. Jennifer Lame’s precision edits and Ludwig Göransson’s modernist score are the absolute standouts in a nearly flawless film. —KH
Recommended
Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud (Nonfiction, Ben McKenzie with Jacob Silverman, 2023) His acting career sidelined by the pandemic, TV’s Lt. Jim Gordon teams up with a seasoned journalist to investigate their strong hunch that something that walks like a Ponzi and quacks like a Ponzi is in fact history’s biggest Ponzi. McKenzie deploys his storytelling chops to wrap deliberately opaque financial details in a procedural investigation structure. For the first time I understand blockchain, up until the point where it’s not supposed to make sense.—RDL
Mixed by Erry (Film, Italy, Sydney Sibilia, 2023) Aided by his business-minded brother and his violence-ready brother, a meek would-be DJ builds his mixtape fandom into a music piracy empire that eclipses Italy’s legit record business. Layers sprightly light observational comedy onto the Scorsesean rise-and-fall crime docudrama structure.—RDL
Good
Barbie (Film, US, Greta Gerwig, 2023) Mysterious angst grips Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie), sending her out of Barbieland and into the real world. Alternately didactic and too on-the-nose, the dialogue kneecaps this ostensible comedy, stopping it dead more than once. Madly brilliant design, generally excellent cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto, and flashes of serene absurdism show what could have gone right, and Ryan Gosling once again shows his great comedic strengths, making more than the best of his role as Beach Ken. —KH
The Black Phone (Film, US, Scott Derrickson, 2022) Kidnapped middle schooler (Mason Thames) receives aid from his psychic sister and the ghosts of previous victims in his attempt to escape the basement of a masked serial killer (Ethan Hawke.) Muted 70s colors, creepy mask design and Hawke’s layered freak characterization stand out in a piece pitched to a scare level your non-horror fan friends and family can withstand.—RDL
Not Recommended
Flaxy Martin (Film, US, Richard L. Bare, 1949) When his double-crossing singer girlfriend (Virginia Mayo) is suspected of murder, a self-righteous mob attorney (Zachary Scott) confesses, thinking he can beat the rap. Great noir cast brings intensity to a thoroughly ridiculous script.—RDL
Secret Invasion (Television, US, Disney+, Ali Selim, 2023) Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) returns to Earth to battle a terrorist insurrection led by a skrull ex-protege (Kingsley Ben-Adir.) Dour, dispiriting slog through a long-foreshadowed plotline devalues our sympathy for Fury and emphasizes the jarring disjunctions that spring from attempts to overlay MCU continuity onto real world geopolitics.—RDL
Ken and Robin Consume Media: Classic Logo Design, Avant Garde Color Guard, and Noir Rarities
July 25th, 2023 | 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
By Design: The Joe Caroff Story (Film, US, Mark Cerutti, 2022) Arts profile documentary sits down the legendary graphic designer responsible for the West Side Story poster, the 007 logo and the Last Temptation of Christ title treatment among many others to learn the thought processes behind their creation.—RDL
Contemporary Color (Film, US, Bill Ross IV & Turner Ross, 2016) Ten high school color guard squads stage an arena performance with the music stars, including St. Vincent, Ad Rock, Nelly Furtado, and organizer David Byrne, who have composed songs for them. Vibrant documentary paean to the affirming joys of joint creative work under pressure.—RDL
Cry of the City (Film, US, Robert Siodmak, 1948) Wounded cop killer Martin Rome (Richard Conte) attempts to evade detective Candella (Victor Mature) and venal lawyer Niles (Berry Kroeger) to escape with (some) loot and his girl. Taut script provides magnificent character beats for not just ultra-weasel Kroeger but Shelley Winters, Kathleen Howard, and the wonderfully menacing Hope Emerson. A best-of-breed Siodmak B noir. –KH
Good
Kingdom (Film, Japan, 2019) Brash slave intent on rising to fame as a general (Kento Yamazaki) aids the deposed Qin king (Ryô Yoshizawa) as he allies with a hill barbarian army to reclaim his throne. Sometimes on-the-nose but ultimately rousing Warring States epic with a mythic manga sensibility. To clear up or intensify any confusion, yes, it depicts Chinese history but features a Japanese cast speaking Japanese.—RDL
Pitch Black (Film, US, David Twohy, 2000) The determined pilot (Radha Mitchell) of a crashed spaceship reluctantly teams with a prison-bound murderer (Vin Diesel) to protect passengers from the planet’s darkness-dwelling apex predators. Solid exercise in SF problem-solving held back by clumsily executed or insufficiently examined elements.—RDL
Raw Deal (Film, US, Anthony Mann, 1948) Escaped heister Joe Sullivan (Dennis O’Keefe) and his partner Pat (Claire Trevor) kidnap Joe-besotted paralegal Ann (Marsha Hunt) to get past the dragnet. John Alton’s paradigmatic noir cinematography, and wonderfully monstrous villain Raymond Burr, are the real standouts in a pulp wallow where Mann visibly (but sporadically) finds his feet as a director of cruelty and fate. –KH
What Have You Done To Solange? (Film, Italy/Germany, Massimo Dallamano, 1972) Philandering teacher Enrico (Fabio Testi) finds himself embroiled as a serial killer murders girls at his school. Exploitative and misogynistic even by giallo standards, it nonetheless features strong mystery plotting and pacing, an ominous Morricone score, and confident if not brilliant camera work. To clear up or intensify any confusion, yes, it depicts an English school but features an Italian cast speaking dubbed English. –KH
Ken and Robin Consume Media: Mission Impossible, Uncanny Wartime Paris, and A Movie About, Uh, Dungeons and [Checks Notes] Dragons
July 18th, 2023 | 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
Paris Noir: The Secret History of a City (Fiction and/or Nonfiction, Jacques Yonnet, 1954) Hiding from the Gestapo among down and outers of the 5th arrondissement, a Resistance operative with an antiquarian bent learns their often uncanny secrets. Enchanting concoction of wartime memoir, demimonde anthropology, psychogeography, and weird horror. The author’s preferred title, Rue des Maléfices (Witchcraft Street) better conveys its spirit .—RDL
Recommended
AKA (Film, France, Morgan S. Dalibert, 2023) Lethally competent DGSE operative (Alban Lenoir) returns to France to infiltrate the household of a gangster linked to a terror suspect (Kevin Layne.) Centers realistically drawn characters in its ambitious mix of hard action, political thriller, and the undercover cop crime drama.—RDL
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (Film, US, John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein, 2023) Bard master planner (Chris Pine) and his barbarian comrade (Michelle Rodriguez) assemble a band of adventurers to reclaim his daughter from their double-crossing former partner (Hugh Grant.) In addition to solid fight choreography, smart obstacle building and engaging performances, this serves as an object lesson in executing a light, breezy tone in a geek-forward IP adaptation. There are plenty of jokes, but they’re never telling you that the source material is fundamentally stupid and unworthy of the filmmakers’ attention.—RDL
Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One (Film, US, Christopher McQuarrie, 2023) Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and skilled thief Grace (Hayley Atwell) must evade every nation’s secret agents plus the enigmatic Gabriel (Esai Morales) to obtain the key to a rogue AI called The Entity. Frontloading the exposition changes the dynamic of this film from the familiar beats of the franchise, as it tries to wryly sum up and cap itself. Not the strongest in the series, but a worthy beginning of the end. And yes the motorcycle jump is amazing. —KH
Open Your Eyes (Film, Spain, Alejandro Amenabar, 1997) After a jilted lover nearly kills him in a car accident, a formerly handsome, now disfigured hotel heir (Eduardo Noriega) bitterly pursues his dream girl (Penelope Cruz) and experiences a series of reality breaks. Moody existential mystery subsequently remade as Vanilla Sky, also with Cruz.—RDL
Good
Kagero-za (Film, Japan, Seijun Suzuki, 1981) A playwright (Yûsaku Matsuda) succumbs to a surreal entanglement with various women in the orbit of a gun-toting rich eccentric (Katsuo Nakamura.) Striking images dominate cinema’s most accurate evocation of what it feels like to keep falling back into the same frustrating dream.—RDL
Ken and Robin Consume Media: 19th Century Spirit Photography, the Granddaddy of Police Procedurals, and Chow Yun-Fat as a Weirdo Columbo
July 11th, 2023 | 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 Goddess (Film, US, John Cromwell, 1958) The insecurity of childhood emotional neglect eats away at a woman (Kim Stanley) as she rises from small town lust object to Hollywood star. Full-throated fifties method acting drives home every moment of Paddy Chayefsky’s lacerating, psychologically penetrating script.—RDL
Hell Dogs (Film, Japan, Masato Harada, 2022) Rogue ex-cop (Jun’ichi Okada) comes in from the cold of a vengeful kill spree to go undercover as a yakuza bodyguard. A knack for surprising moments and staging marks this mix of underworld intrigue with heroic bloodshed themes of brotherhood and betrayal.—RDL
Love Unto Waste (Film, HK, Stanley Kwan, 1986) A rich merchant’s wastrel son (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) falls in with a singer, a model, and an actress; when one of them is murdered, an eccentric detective (Chow Yun-Fat) insinuates himself into their lives. A prime example of the French New Wave’s influence on the golden age of HK cinema, this drama of bohemian angst unsettles by flirting with, and then veering away from, the murder mystery genre.—RDL
Peterloo (Film, US, Mike Leigh, 2019) Pro-democracy activists bring famed orator Henry Hunt to address a protest gathering in 1819 Manchester, provoking a deadly response from the city’s reactionary magistrates, Working in his meticulous historical recreation mode, Leigh zeroes in on the manners and gestures of political activity, depicting the foibles of his heroes and the grotesquerie of his villains.—RDL
Good
The Naked City (Film, US, Jules Dassin, 1948) NYPD homicide detectives Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) and Halloran (Don Taylor) investigate the murder of a model. Against the almost neo-realist background of Manhattan’s “low and high”, the extensive use of verite-style location shots, and Dassin’s riveting chase climax, one must balance the jabbering voice-overs by the producer and various vox pops and the almost entirely routine story and acting. The result: a Good film that became perhaps the most influential police procedural ever made: Law and Order, Homicide, and every other cop show apes this movie. So, Recommended for film or cultural historians. –KH
Okay
The Apparitionists: A Tale of Phantoms, Fraud, Photography, and the Man Who Captured Lincoln’s Ghost (Nonfiction, Peter Manseau, 2017) During the Spiritualist blossoming of the mid 19th century, photographer William Mumler goes into business making images of sitters with spectral visitors, leading to bunco charges in New York City. Mumler, an unassuming and sedentary character, did not leave a book’s worth of colorful life to document, requiring the author to also profile a number of other figures whose connection to the main narrative is not always apparent.—RDL
Ken and Robin Consume Media: Indiana Jones, Asteroid City, and an Alternate Oppenheimer
July 5th, 2023 | 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
Asteroid City (Film, US, Wes Anderson, 2023) Grieving war photographer Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman) navigates a panoply of emotional impacts during an elaborate science fair in the titular small town. Presenting his latest film as a film-of-a-play-within-a-TV-special, Anderson triples down on criticisms of his “artificial” style and methods, arguing more fiercely than ever that without artifice, art cannot exist. Anderson’s wondrous occult masterpiece rings with stellar performances from an immense cast, perhaps none better than Willem Dafoe as an acting teacher who explains the meaning of the film in about 45 seconds. –KH
Recommended
Ashik Kerib (Film, USSR, Dodo Abashidze & Sergei Parajanov, 1988) Minstrel goes on a dangerous quest to win the approval of his beloved’s father, who opposes their betrothal. Hyper-theatrical evocation of Azerbaijani mythology and folklore told through music, dance and visual art.—RDL
Batman: The Dark Knight: Master Race (Comics, DC, Frank Miller & Brian Azzarello and Andy Kubert & Klaus Janson, 2018) When the Atom unwisely enlarges a Kandorian murder cult, old Batman and young Batgirl must enlist the reluctant Justice League to defeat them. DC wisely put two governors on the project to avoid the wild-swing-disastrous-miss that was DKII, and both Azzarello and Kubert channel Miller’s power without going nuts. The result: a high-stakes operatic super-battle like you love to see, interspersed with Miller & Janson’s almost sketchbook style art in the backup stories. –KH
The Oppenheimer Alternative (Fiction, Robert J. Sawyer, 2020) Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer builds the atomic bomb but uncovers an even more apocalyptic secret. I almost hesitate to describe even the nature of the twist in this very realistic, “you were there” narrative of Oppenheimer’s life, but suffice to say Sawyer wrings tension masterfully from this secret history turned alternate history. –KH
Sing and Like It (Film, US, William A. Seiter, 1934) Inexplicably moved by the terrible singing of an amateur actress (Zazu Pitts), a sentimental mob boss (Nat Pendleton) decides to put her on Broadway, foisting her on a long-suffering producer (Edward Everett Horton.) Snappy showbiz comedy gives witty dialogue to actors who know what to do with it.—RDL
Good
Django Kill… If You Live, Shoot! (Film, Italy, Giuilio Questi, 1967) Betrayed bushwhacker’s (Tomas Milan) quest for gold and vengeance goes off the rails in a town populated by noose-happy hypocrites. With its psychosexual brutality and the characters’ dreamlike disinclination to protect themselves, this Spaghetti western presages the amoral universe of 70s Italian horror.—RDL
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (Film, US, James Mangold, 2023) His god-daughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) summons an aging Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) out of retirement and into the unfinished business from one of his WWII adventures. Much like The Force Awakens, this fifth installment essentially assembles itself from beats of its original trilogy. Eerie de-aging CGI becomes uncanny valley CGI (or just bad green screens) too often for Mangold’s great chase sequence instincts to work (and they’re usually too long, to boot), and he lacks Spielberg’s balletic gifts among other things – but at the end of the day, this is a pretty good end of the day for Indy. –KH
Okay
White Noise (Film, US, Noah Baumbach, 2022) Cultural studies prof (Adam Driver) and his anxious wife (Greta Gerwig) struggle to protect their kids during and after an Airborne Toxic Event. This broad, stylized satire would more accurately convey the spirit and meaning of Don DeLillo’s seminal novel if Baumbach had shot it in his usual naturalistic style.—RDL
Ken and Robin Consume Media: Asteroid City, M3GAN, Magic Mike, and a Noirish Giallo
June 27th, 2023 | 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
Asteroid City (Film, US, Wes Anderson, 2023) In a movie within a live TV recreation of a play, a numbed war photographer (Jason Schwartzman) takes his kids to a science fair award presentation in a crater-side desert motel. The discombobulations of the post-pandemic era permeate Anderson’s most direct, yet paradoxically most layered, examination of artifice as a containment vessel for overwhelming emotion, from the thunderbolt of first love to the shoals of grief.—RDL
Recommended
Magic Mike’s Last Dance (Film, US, Steven Soderbergh, 2023) A down-on-his-luck Mike Lane (Channing Tatum) agrees to assist a rich imminent divorcee (Salma Hayek) in a revenge scheme to transform a staid period play into a male stripper extravaganza. Cheekily proceeding as if they have heard of but not seen their original film, the director and screenwriter genre-shift it into a backstage musical, and vehicle for Soderbergh’s offbeat cool.—RDL
M3gan (Film, US, Gerard Johnstone, 2023) Tightly wound toy designer (Allison Williams) bonds with her newly adopted, orphaned niece by bringing her into the development of her latest project, an AI-driven robot doll. Topical Frankenstein riff plugs into the satirical spirit of 90s SF cinema and outputs a new horror icon.—RDL
Zigeunerweisen (Film, Japan, Seijun Suzuki, 1980) Id meets superego in Taisho-era Japan, as a pall of haunted weirdness hangs over the friendship and loves of a repressed academic (Kisako Makishi) and a brusque nonconformist (Yosho Harada.) Placidly surreal ghost story perched on the threshold between wakefulness and dream.—RDL
Good
The True Adventures of Raoul Walsh (Film, US, Marilyn Ann Moss, 2014) Documentary profile of the charming roughneck whose prodigious filmography includes such classics as White Heat, High Sierra, and The Roaring Twenties, anchored by extensive voiceover drawn from the subject’s autobiography.—RDL
Who Saw Her Die? (Film, Italy, Aldo Lado, 1972) When his daughter becomes the latest victim of an obsessed killer, sculptor Franco Serpieri (George Lazenby) investigates corrupt Venetian society. Moodier, with a fogbound noir feel, and far less lurid than other giallo, this almost seems like an inspiration for Nicolas Roeg’s 1973 Pinnacle Don’t Look Now. Ennio Morricone’s literal killer theme is another standout element. —KH
Okay
The Mummy (Film, US, Alex Kurtzman, 2017) Not-particularly-lovable rogue Nick (Tom Cruise) opens the tomb of Egyptian princess Ahmanet (Sophia Boutella), awakening her mummy and interfering with the plans of Henry Jekyll (Russell Crowe). Two not-objectively-terrible ideas for films clash here, a horror movie and an action romp, but the end result is far less than the sum of its parts. A few strong vistas and good production design indicate where the money not spent on endless rewrites went. –KH
Ken and Robin Consume Media: The Flash, DC Super-Pets, and Thai Penanggalan Romance
June 20th, 2023 | 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
Carlos (Television, France/Germany, Canal+, Olivier Assayas, 2010) Aspiring terrorist commander Ilich Ramirez (Edgar Ramirez) takes the code name ‘Carlos’ as he rises to celebrity in the 1970s. Assayas plays the standard biopic story – big dreams, meteoric ascent, hubris, fall – under a syncopated thriller beat in three long episodes peaking with the bravura Episode 2 hijacking of the OPEC summit in Vienna. Edgar Ramirez wonderfully inhabits the arrogant, charismatic blowhard with an inner conviction that fools himself and sometimes even the viewer. –KH
DC League of Super-Pets (Film, US, Jared Stern, 2022) After eating green kryptonite, Superman’s dog Krypto (Dwayne Johnson) must lead a team of shelter pets empowered by orange kryptonite against Luthor’s former guinea pig Lulu (Kate McKinnon). A sweet story interspersed with plenty of cool fights, with a more-distinct-than-normal animation style: seems like a good recipe for a superhero movie. Standouts include McKinnon (of course) and Keanu Reeves’ pitch-perfect petulant Batman. Kudos for including the Golden Age Flash’s old backup feature Merton the turtle (a wonderful Natasha Lyonne), and I assume Streaky has been saved for the sequel. –KH
Donbass (Film, Ukraine, Sergei Loznitsa, 2018) Vignettes depict Eastern Ukraine’s descent during the 2014 separatist war into a grotesque version of everyday life intermittently interrupted by checkpoints, shakedowns and artillery barrages. Pitiless long takes portray a society coarsened by conflict and threadbare jingoism.—RDL
Inhuman Kiss (Film, Thailand, Sitisiri Mongkolsiri, 2019) In wartime rural Thailand, a nurse’s assistant (Phantira Pipityakorn) who ought to be deciding between her two potential boyfriends instead worries she’s turning into a krasue, the local cousin to the penanggalan. Impeccably localized horror romance provides much-needed representation for cephalic monsters.—RDL
Our Twisted Hero (Film, South Korea, Jong-Won Park, 1992) A man recalls the year he spent as the new kid in a rural school under his fifth grade class president’s bullying tyranny. Emotionally potent political allegory features Choi Min-Sik as an idealistic teacher.—RDL
Good
Fifth Avenue Girl (Film, US, Gregory La Cava, 1939) A sweet-natured industrialist (Walter Connolly) shakes up his neglectful family by installing a straight-talking gal (Ginger Rogers) in his household as an apparent paramour. Agreeable shot at turning the director’s earlier hit My Man Godfrey into a repeatable formula.—RDL
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (Film, US, Guy Ritchie, 2023) Mastermind Nathan Jasmine (Cary Elwes) assembles a team led by superspy Orson Fortune (Jason Statham) to recover “the Handle” from sleazy arms-dealing billionaire Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant). This intermittently fun flick feels exactly like somebody hired Guy Ritchie to make the fourth installment/soft reboot of a failing spy franchise. Hugh Grant and Aubrey Plaza (as the new hacker on the team) alternate stealing scenes, and Jason Statham hits people in well-lit exotic locations. (Mostly their throats.) –KH
Okay
The Flash (Film, US, Andy Muschietti, 2023) Against Bruce Wayne’s (Ben Affleck) advice, a traumatized Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) decides to run back in time and change history to save his own parents, but instead creates a timeline with no superheroes but Batman (Michael Keaton). Never has a movie run away from its interesting premise this fast, taking refuge in arbitrary ever-changing time travel rules rather than confront the question it purports to ask. Ezra Miller’s acting against Ezra Miller (as the other timeline’s younger goofier Allen) is actually good, but of course it’s wasted in pursuit of a nonsense dilemma. Despite the truly godawful CGI, Keaton and Sasha Calle as Supergirl narrowly bash this morass into Okay territory. –KH
Yaksha: Ruthless Operations (Film, South Korea, Hyeon Na, 2022) Seeking a career comeback, an unyielding prosecutor (Park Hae-soo) accepts a mission to travel to a spy-ridden Chinese industrial town to report back to NIS HQ on a team of rogue agents headed by a no-shits-given veteran black operative (Sol Kyung-gu.) Slick but passionless action thriller brings back the Japanese as default villains.—RDL
Not Recommended
The Mad Miss Manton (Film, US, Leigh Jason, 1938) Aided by a gaggle of fellow daffy socialites, a rich prankster (Barbara Stanwyck) sleuths a murder case, to the smitten consternation of a handsome newspaperman (Henry Fonda.) Six screenwriters broke from what I presume to be heavy martini consumption to quickly dash off the script’s nonthreatening hijinks.—RDL
Ken and Robin Consume Media: Early Michelle Yeoh, Renfair Bikers, and Keanu Breaking It Down
June 13th, 2023 | 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
Apples (Film, Greece, Christos Nikou, 2020) Withdrawn man (Aris Servitalis) undergoes a series of exercises designed to individuate victims of an amnesia pandemic. Deadpan fable of isolation and grief puts a gentler spin on the absurdism of the Greek Weird Wave..—RDL
The Art of Action Episodes 45 & 46: Keanu Reeves (Web Series, UK, Scott Adkins, 2023) Martial arts actor Adkins takes his John Wick Chapter Four scene partner through an in-depth retrospective of his action work from Point Break to The Matrix and beyond. Charming, informative shop talk between enthusiast practitioners offers detailed, revealing insight into fight scene construction. See how much Keanu is still Ted when he lets his guard down in a relaxed setting! Watch Adkins make the classic mistake of starting an interview by trying to get a Canadian to accept a compliment!—RDL
Royal Warriors (Film, HK, David Chung, 1986) After interrupting the attempted rescue of a prisoner from an airplane, a Hong Kong police inspector (Michelle Yeoh), a Japanese ex-cop (Hiroyuki Sanada) and a gormless air marshal (Michael Wong, but I said gormless already) defend against a series of reprisal attacks. Plunks Yeoh’s then-standard kung fu sweetheart persona into the full gonzo plotting and casual brutality of golden age HK action.—RDL
Knightriders (Film, US, George A. Romero, 1981) Uncompromising leader (Ed Harris) struggles to maintain his hold on a Renfaire that stages its jousts on motorcycles. Simultaneously romantic and ironic look at the American hero myth with echoes of Ford, Altman, and George Stevens not elsewhere seen in Romero’s work.—RDL
The Stranger (Film, Australia, Thomas M. Wright, 2022) Undercover cop (Joel Edgerton) takes part in a sting operation designed to win the confidence of a suspected child murderer (Sean Harris) in order to prompt a confession from him. Moody, controlled visuals and unnerving sound design give oppressive weight and a fog of enigma to this true crime docudrama.—RDL
Ken is in Brazil.
Ken and Robin Consume Media: Spider-Verse, John Wick, and a Masterful Homage to Hong Kong Neon
June 6th, 2023 | 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
A Light Never Goes Out (Film, HK, Anastasia Tsang, 2022) Grieving widow (Sylvia Chang) discovers that her late husband (Simon Yam), one of the last craftsman of Hong Kong’s once celebrated neon sign tradition, has secretly kept his shop open and even taken on a dedicated apprentice (Henick Chou.) The two great stars of this drama of loss and memory show how little an actor of genuine presence need do to bring profoundly moving moments to the screen. Nostalgia for the city’s heyday of neon provides a safe way to regret Hong Kong’s constricting present.—RDL
Recommended
Broken Lullaby (Film, US, Ernst Lubitsch, 1932) Remorse-stricken French WWI veteran (Phillips Holmes) goes to Germany to visit the grave of the soldier he killed, stumbling into a bond with his fiancee (Nancy Carroll) and father (Lionel Barrymore.) The master of sophisticated comedy makes an atypical excursion into serious drama, with alternately hard-hitting and moving results.—RDL
John Wick Chapter Four (Film, US, Chad Stahelski, 2023) When a freedom-seeking John Wick (Keanu Reeves) starts knocking off leaders of the assassin’s guild, a reluctant former colleague (Donnie Yen) and a mercenary outsider (Shamier Anderson) come looking for him. Masterful series course correction stages gobsmacking action set pieces, makes full spectrum use of Yen as both fighter and actor, and, most importantly, remembers that John Wick should be heading toward the bad guys, not running away from them.—RDL
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Film, US, Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, 2023) After saving the cosmos, Spider-Man [Miles Morales] (Shameik Moore) yearns to reconnect with Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) and the other Spider-Men of the multiverse, but the villainous Spot (Jason Schwarzman) wants to secure Spider-Man’s respect and comeuppance. Wisely spending far less time in Morales’ sub-Pixar home dimension, this movie flows through an extravaganza of animation styles reinforcing the riotous diversity of Spiders-Man that Miles inherently embodies: is tragedy necessary for heroism? Scriptwriters Phil Lord & Christopher Miller spend the runtime delightfully on jokes, spectacle, and Spider-bits so we don’t get an answer to that question, but we do get enlightenment arcs for Miles and Gwen, which is enough excuse to grade this film Recommended instead of Incomplete. –KH
Good
Identification Marks: None (Film, Poland, Jerzy Skolimowski, 1965) Directionless failed ichthyology student (Skolimowski) kills time before reporting for his stint in the army. Skolimowski’s first feature cobbles together an evocative New Wave slice of life on a sub-shoestring budget.—RDL
Symphony for a Massacre (Film, France, Jacques Deray, 1963) Suave crook (Jean Rochefort) fails to account for the inevitability of things screwing up when he rips off a satchel of cash from his partners. Laconic crime flick from the peak era of Gallic existential cool.—RDL
Ken and Robin Consume Media: Succession, Barry, and Fast X
May 30th, 2023 | 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
Succession Season 4 (Television, US, HBO, Jesse Armstrong, 2023) An inevitable surprise development leaves Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook), and Roman (Kieran Culkin) struggling against and alongside one another for control of Waystar-Royco in the wake of Mattson’s (Alexander Skarsgard) takeover offer. Takes time for character moments both empathetic and razor-edged as it rattles through its compressed timeline to a fitting well-scheduled conclusion.—RDL
Recommended
Barry Season 4 (Television, US, HBO, Bill Hader and Alec Berg, 2023) Chickens come home to roost after an imprisoned Barry (Hader) and Fuches (Steven Root) turn on one another. A left-field midseason gambit unsettles expectations as our hitman protagonist faces inevitable punishment, along with the audience that has been trained to root for him.—RDL
Barry Season 4 (Television, US, HBO, Bill Hader and Alec Berg, 2023) The final season opens with hitman Barry (Bill Hader) in jail and the rest of the cast in flux. Where they come down is the question the series answers, according to its abiding moral principle: honesty. That doesn’t make for comfort viewing, and the jokes are thin on the ground, but it’s a compelling ending to a terrific show. —KH
Taylor Tomlinson: Look at You (Standup, Netflix, Kristin Mercado, 2022) Tomlinson returns with a more revelatory, personal set focusing on her mental health – and the best jokes include “six minutes on my dead mom” and about wait times on a suicide hotline. She’s great at incorporating her physical stance and movement as part of her delivery, as well as the timing and vocal control I highlighted last review. –KH
Who I Am (Nonfiction, Pete Townsend, 2012) Guitarist/songwriter for The Who critically assesses his personal failures amid the artistic triumphs of his decades-long rock god career. Lucid account of the collision between a compulsive, addictive personality and the temptations of the arena rock era.—RDL
Good
He Thief, She Thief (Film, Italy, Luigi Zampa, 1958) Determined young woman from the literal wrong side of the tracks (Sylva Koscina) must choose between a charming ex-con from the neighborhood (Alberto Sordi) or the handsome, apparently decent new boss (Ettore Manni.) Koscina is the protagonist of this amiable comedy of class mobility, but Sordi is the star, which becomes a problem when the second act abandons her throughline for his con-man hijinks.—RDL
Okay
Ant Man & the Wasp: Quantumania (Film, US, Peyton Reed, 2023) Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and the ant family are sucked into a subatomic realm, where they confront exiled time warlord Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors.) Checks the boxes on almost all of the flaws of recent MCU outings, so I’ll pick just one to mention: it takes more than an hour to give the protagonist his goal.—RDL
Incomplete
Fast X (Film, US, Louis Leterrier, 2023) Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa) seeks to punish Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) for the death of Dante’s father in Fast Five by attacking … his family (!!). After 141 minutes of inane dialogue, mediocre CGI instead of cool car stunts, unearned callbacks to the first nine better films, and halting, nervous direction, we’re basically back where we started except all 23 characters have been introduced. Momoa’s decision to play his villain for extreme camp is at least something fun to watch. –KH
