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.
