Ken and Robin Consume Media: An Under-Celebrated Horror Writer and New Films by Yuen Woo-Ping and Zhang Yimou

February 24th, 2026 | 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

Blades of the Guardians (Film, China, Yuen Woo-ping, 2026) Imperial guardsman turned bounty hunter and surrogate dad (Wu Jing) agrees to escort a revolutionary (Sun Yizhou) and a khan’s archer daughter (Liya Tong) on a journey to the capital. The non-combat parts of Yuen’s directorial efforts can be uneven, but that’s not at all the case in this wuxia epic, where story and thrilling fight choreography fully mesh. With Tony Leung Ka Fai and, in what is billed as a final role, Jet Li.—RDL

Lord Peter Wimsey (all 5 series) (TV, BBC, Richard Beynon and Bill Sellars, 1972-1975) Ian Carmichael’s sprightly but layered performance as Wimsey keeps all five of these series more than watchable despite their visible budgetary (and videotape) limitations; the scripts uniformly respect both Sayers’ originals and the audience’s intelligence. Murder Must Advertise is the best of the five, tight plot surrounded by wonderful character work, Five Red Herrings the weakest, but still very respectable (and mostly shot on film) despite a bit of a fall-off and a parade of comic Scots suspects.—KH

Randalls Round (Fiction, Eleanor Scott, 1929) The only horror collection published by Scott comprises nine stories of generally Jamesian intent and good-to-superb execution. “Randalls Round” and “The Cure” both strongly prefigure folk horror, and “Celui-Là” echoes Lovecraft into the bargain. The linked edition includes two other pseudonymous tales by “N. Dennett” that editor Aaron Worth believes may also be by Scott, of which “The Old Woman” is another minor masterpiece.—KH

Scare Out (Film, China, Zhang Yimou, 2026) Counterintelligence squad leader (Yilong Zhu) and his loyal second in command (Jackson Yee) become the prime suspects in a mole hunt. It goes without saying to any serious student of the spy genre that a technothriller melodrama with American adversaries from the grandmaster of mainland Chinese film is required viewing.—RDL

The Secret Agent (Film, Brazil, Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2025) A scientific researcher (Walter Moura) goes underground in authoritarian 1970s Brazil to escape the wrath of a regime-connected industrialist. Confident, multi-layered political thriller in which withheld information is both subject matter and narrative strategy.—RDL

Such a Pretty Little Beach (Film, France, Yves Allégret, 1949) A melancholy young man (Gérard Philipe) arrives in a rain-drenched off-season resort town with a need for rest, a fishy story, and an equally enigmatic pursuer (Jean Servais.) Regret-soaked existential noir centered around a small ensemble and constrained set of locations.—RDL

Good

Four Flies on Grey Velvet (Film, Italy/France, Dario Argento, 1971) Prog-rock drummer Roberto (Michael Brandon) accidentally stabs the man he catches following him, an act photographed by a masked tormentor who tightens the noose around our frankly unappealing hero. Argento cares only for the wonderful camera stunts, set-piece stalks, and kills here, filling the rest of the script with comic hobos, a camp gay P.I., and a bit of nudity to pass the time. Morricone’s score seems like an afterthought, and as a giallo this is perhaps best viewed through Argento’s frustration with the straight crime thriller.—KH

Marty Supreme (Film, US, Josh Safdie, 2025) Narcissistic hustler (Timothée Chalamet) sucks both of the married women he’s sleeping with, childhood friend Rachel (Odessa A’zion) and faded movie star Kay (Gwyneth Paltrow) into his vortex of chaos as he tries to raise the scratch for a trip to a Tokyo ping pong championship. Antidote to the inspirational sports biopic makes big, wild swings without unifying its stew pot of elements—particularly the choice to score, edit and shoot it as if Alan Parker made this in 1983. Release the vampire cut you cowards!—RDL