Ken and Robin Consume Media: Reality Horror Super Spies, a Belle Epoque Superstar, and Murderous Hair
May 12th, 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
Obsessed with Light (Film, US, 2023) Documentary profile reveals the life, technological innovations, and lingering influence of Loie Fuller, the American dancer whose fabric and light performance art made her a star in Belle Époque Paris. Fuller appears in The Yellow King RPG, leading one to nod knowingly at plot hooks shown here, like the one involving radium and her friendship with Marie Curie.—RDL
Reflections in a Dead Diamond (Film, Belgium, Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani, 2025) The glint on a diamond nipple ring prompts an old man at a luxury beach resort (Fabio Testa) to recall his past exploits as a suave super-agent (Yannick Renier) locked in a deadly game against Serpentik, a female catsuit-clad assassin with a thousand faces. Deconstructed homage to the 60s euro spy genre blurs the line between meta-fiction and reality horror.—RDL
Good
Exte: Hair Extensions (Film, Japan, Sion Sono, 2007) Freaky morgue attendant (Ren Ôsugi) sells hair extensions harvested from a zombie-like corpse, endangering a protective apprentice stylist (Chiaki Kuriyama) and her traumatized niece (Miku Satô). Outre body horror lets the momentum flag in stretches between disturbing hair attacks.—RDL
Sapphire (Film, UK, Basil Dearden, 1959) Briskly professional police superintendent (Nigel Patrick) leads the investigation into a young woman who was passing as white. Social issue police procedural in a mold that has become a television staple isn’t the most dated anti-racist film of its era. Features lushly muted Eastmancolor cinematography by Harry Waxman.—RDL
Okay
Killer Nun (Film, Italy, Giulo Berruti, 1979) A string of murders enforces the reign of a delusional nun (Anita Ekberg) over the long term care ward she cruelly domineers. Visually undistinguished mix of nunsploitation and hospital horror, loosely based on a real case, plays like grindhouse Buñuel.—RDL
