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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<\/a>. 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\u2019ll talk about in greater depth on a little podcast segment we like to call Tell Me More.<\/i><\/p>\n An American Pickle (Film, US, Brandon Trost, 2020) After an entirely scientifically plausible freak pickling accident in 1920, a pugnacious Jewish immigrant (Seth Rogen) wakes up today and decides to shake his great-grandson (Seth Rogen), a water-treading app developer, from his stasis. Battle of the generations comedy dishes out satire with a heart. Structurally remarkable for its tight focus on just the two Rogen characters. If this had gone through a theatrical development process instead of made-for-streaming, it surely would have had a girlfriend and several confidant characters shoehorned in.\u2014RDL<\/p>\n Damascus Gate<\/a> (Fiction, Robert Stone, 1998) An American journalist in Jerusalem\u2019s research into a newly forming cult of apocalyptic mystics stumbles onto a murky scheme to blow up the Temple Mount. Literary thriller methodically establishes a naturalistic vantage on its setting and characters before escalating the suspenseful final act.\u2014RDL<\/p>\n Funeral in Berlin<\/a> (Film, UK, Guy Hamilton, 1966) British spy Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) arranges the defection of KGB Colonel Stock (Oscar Homolka) from East Berlin despite his misgivings. Helmed by former British naval intelligence agent Hamilton and filmed very much on location in Berlin, this borderline noir is by far the most realistic of the three Harry Palmer movies. Caine\u2019s suspicious yet cool, ironic performance delightfully bounces off his supercilious boss, an Israeli honey trap, and various weaselly Germans. Kudos to Hamilton and producer Harry Saltzman for straightforwardly adapting Len Deighton\u2019s byzantine, excellent novel.<\/a> –KH<\/p>\n I\u2019ll Be Gone In the Dark (Television, US, HBO, Liz Garbus, 2020) Docu-series studies the cold case hunt, energized by true crime writer Michelle McNamara, for a shockingly prolific rapist and serial killer who stalked 70s Northern California. Masterfully weaves together multiple narratives: the procedural elements of the investigation; the experiences of surviving victims; the grief of McNamara\u2019s husband Patton Oswalt after her sudden death; and most of all, an inquiry into the contradictory appeal of the true crime genre itself.\u2014RDL<\/p>\n Ministry of Fear<\/a> (Film, US, Fritz Lang, 1944) Released from an insane asylum, Stephen Neale (Ray Milland in top form) impulsively visits the village fete and steps into a web of Nazi conspiracy. Lang punctuates his visual paranoia with wartime blackouts and sudden death from Blitz and betrayal alike. Based on my favorite<\/a> of Graham Greene\u2019s novels, the film doesn\u2019t live up either to its source or its director\u2019s potential, but enough remains of their twin nightmares to captivate and surprise. –KH<\/p>\n The Old Guard (Film, US, Gina Prince-Bythewood, 2020) Immortal, fast-regenerating good-guy mercs led by Andromache herself (Charlize Theron) fight their way out of a trap sprung by a megalomaniacal pharma exec. Presents an appealing character ensemble but keeps stopping the action-thriller in its tracks to deliver extended and mostly irrelevant exposition from the originating comic book.\u2014RDL<\/p>\nRecommended<\/h2>\n
Good<\/h2>\n