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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

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