Ken and Robin Consume Media: Bill Burr, 80s Elmore Leonard, and a Martial Arts Crossover Event
April 8th, 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
52 Pick-Up (Film, US, John Frankenheimer, 1986) Steel company exec Harry Mitchell’s (Roy Scheider) philandering exposes him to blackmail by Alan Raimy (John Glover), setting off an escalating battle of wills and wits. Elmore Leonard co-wrote the script based on his novel, and the result feels tighter and smarter than the average 80s thriller, while not quite maintaining the tension Frankenheimer was capable of.—KH
Behind Closed Doors: At Home in Georgian England (Nonfiction, Amanda Vickery, 2009) Deep dives into 18th century household account books, letters, court records and commercial catalogues illuminate Georgian home life, with a particular eye to the roles assigned to women and men. If you don’t want an entire chapter on the 18th century wallpaper industry maybe this isn’t for you, but I am addressing a self-selecting crowd here.—RDL
Bill Burr: The Drop Dead Years (Stand-up, Hulu, Ben Tishler, 2025) At age 55, Burr begins to confront his “drop dead years” by attempting to modulate his “angry Everyman” persona. The best individual bits, by and large, still come from that old type, but the larger structure of the routine points to a key change that will either produce a whole new comedy or remove his teeth entirely.—KH
Escape from Mogadishu (Film, South Korea, Ryoo Seung-wan, 2021) When embassies in the Ethiopian capital come under attack during the 1990 overthrow of Siad Barre, the mutually distrustful delegations of North and South Korea band together to find a way out of the war torn city. Docudrama political thriller culminates in a heart-in-mouth suspense action set piece.—RDL
The Girl on a Broomstick (Film, Czechoslovakia, Václav Vorlícek, 1972) Bored by the prospect of a 144-year detention, an inattentive student witch (Petra Cernocká) splits for the mortal world, where her shaky grasp of magic wreaks havoc at a contemporary high school. Wacky, anarchic comedy with funny gags, beguiling credits sequence illustrations and a jazz-funk soundtrack. I theorize that Cernocká and her foxy witch outfit exerted a galvanizing effect on a generation of impressionable young Czechs.—RDL
Nickel Boys (Film, US, RaMell Ross, 2024) Studious teen (Ethan Herisse) unjustly sentenced to a corrupt, murderous reform school befriends a more realistic fellow inmate (Brandon Wilson.) Moments of evanescent, Malick-esque beauty juxtapose with memories of rage and horror in a confident adaptation of the novel by Colson Whitehead.—RDL
September 5 (Film, US/Germany, , 2024) The ABC sports team at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, led by obstacle-smashing exec Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) and voice-of-caution Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin) invents live crisis coverage on the fly when the Black September terror group attacks Israeli athletes and coaches. Journalistic procedural docudrama executes the shouting into phones genre with tension and clarity.—RDL
Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman (Film, Japan, Kimiyoshi Yasuda, 1971) When samurai seeking to cover up a massacre hunt a high-leaping Chinese warrior (Jimmy Wang Yu), the swordcane-wielding blind masseuse yakuza punks can’t stop messing with (Shintaro Katsu) steps up to protect a young boy who knows what really happened. A martial arts crossover event for the ages becomes a fatalistic meditation on cultural barriers in this above-average entry in the long-running series.—RDL
