December « 2024 « Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff

Archive for December, 2024

Ken and Robin Consume Media: New Neal Stephenson, An Aptly Named Action Movie, and a Classic M. R. James Adaptation

December 10th, 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.

Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point (Film, US, Tyler Taormina, 2024) In the long-gone days of the late flip phone era, an extended Italian American clan gathers for a raucous holiday celebration. Observational ensemble drama evokes the loving chaos of family events and a nostalgia unstuck in time. Producer Michael Cera appears in a small role as a befuddled policeman.—RDL

Destroy All Neighbors (Film, US, Josh Forbes, 2024) Put-upon sound engineer (Jonah Ray) spirals into hallucination and murder when the EDM beats jackhammering from the apartment of his grotesque weirdo new neighbor (Alex Winter) interfere with the creation of his prog rock masterpiece. Witty, amiable gore comedy shambles to the beat of its own oddball drummer.—RDL

Kill (Film, India, Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, 2023) Commando (Lakshya) boards a train seeking to elope with his sweetheart (Tanya Maniktala) only to wind up fighting his way through an entire bandit clan. Though this aptly named revenge actioner leverages the limitations of confined space fight choreography, its chief innovation is to show the emotional impact of the death toll on the villains as well as the heroes.—RDL

Polostan (Fiction, Neal Stephenson, 2024) Russian-American Communist cowgirl Aurora (aka Dawn Rae) returns to the Soviet Union to assist the Revolution as a spy. Told in overlapping flashbacks from 1919 to 1933, running through the Bonus Army March and the Century of Progress World’s Fair among other things, this first volume of a trilogy is a peak Stephenson blend of background crunch and driven characters.—KH

Support the Girls (Film, US, Andrew Bujalski, 2018) On a bad day in an Austin Hooters-style restaurant, accumulating crises test the unrewarded competence of beleaguered manager Lisa (Regina Hall.) Observational workplace ensemble drama finds a transcendent nobility in the neverending struggle against everyday bullshit.—RDL

Whistle and I’ll Come To You (Television, UK, Jonathan Miller, 1968) Fusty academic (Michael Hordern) staying in a Suffolk hotel digs up an old whistle that tests his disbelief in the supernatural. Assigning himself the daunting task of rendering M. R. James prose cinematic, Miller zeroes in on the very English auditory realm of non- and sub-verbal utterances and mumblings. First aired as part of the Omnibus anthology series, this paved the way for the BBC’s A Ghost Story for Christmas series, the early installments of which North Americans can now find on Shudder.—RDL

Good

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (Film, US, Guy Ritchie, 2024) Desperate to break the U-boats’ stranglehold on Britain, M (Cary Elwes) recruits maverick Major March-Philipps (Henry Cavill) and his team to scuttle the Nazi supply ship in neutral Fernando Po. Rousing action film never quite manages to hold or maintain tension (never Ritchie’s strong suit, Wrath of Man notwithstanding) but looks great throughout (Ed Wild shoots in a lively supersaturated 70s palette) and zips along through a two-hour run time.—KH

Okay

Abigail (Film, US, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett, 2024) Professional heisters (Dan Stevens, Melissa Barrera, et al.) snatch a little girl for ransom and take her to an old mansion chosen by their client’s cut-out (Giancarlo Esposito) but things aren’t as they seem. The first surprise (she’s a vampire!) is revealed in the trailer and the poster; the film takes too long to get to the second, and really could use a third one to pick up the slack. I enjoyed Stevens and Barrera, and am a sucker for the premise, but this is a high Okay at best.—KH

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Episode 628: July 1st Seems Good Enough

December 6th, 2024 | Robin

In The Business of Gaming we check in on the state of crowdfunding through the lens of the recently concluded Trail of Cthulhu 2nd Edition campaign.

There are ants, ants, ants as big as well they’re quite small really but they’ve nearly completed a program of global conquest so Fun With Science takes a look at their supercolony wars.

Grab some cotton candy or a corn dog as the Word Hut offers a course on 1920s and 30s carnival slang.

Finally, at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Paul S. Enns, Ken’s Time Machine glimpses the dark timeline where an 1866 proposal by a US Congressman to annex the British North American colonies actually went somewhere, depriving Canada of its origin story and the world of Canada.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.

Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.

A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!

Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.

Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.