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Ken and Robin Consume Media: Nosferatu, Presence, MadS, Land of Bad

February 4th, 2025 | 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.

Dahomey (Film, France, Mati Dion, 2024) Documentary follows the repatriation of 26 key royal court artifacts captured during the conquest of Dahomey to what is now Benin. With the notable exception of searching narration in the booming supernatural voice of a kingly statue, takes a distanced, observational stance, relying on a student symposium to articulate the layers of ambivalence surrounding the items’ return.—RDL

Land of Bad (Film, US, William Eubank, 2024) When an anti-terrorist extraction mission in the Philippines goes south, an inexperienced signal operator (Liam Hemsworth) must fend for himself, with only the far-off voice of a maverick drone pilot (Russell Crowe) to guide him. Cleverly weaves contemporary drone warfare into the charging beats of a military action thriller, with affectionate characterizations that sharpen the stakes.—RDL

MadS (Film, France, David Moreau, 2024) Party boy Romain (Milton Riche) scores some indeterminate drugs and almost immediately enters an increasingly nightmarish horror that I shall forbear from describing further. So much of the delight and frisson of this film comes from discovering things partway through that I can only gesture at Moreau’s bravura direction, the startling camera work by Philip Lozano, and the riveting performance by Lucille Guillaume as Romain’s hard-done-by girlfriend Julie.—KH

The Man I Love (Film, US, Raoul Walsh, 1946) Live-for-the-moment singer (Ida Lupino) fends off the advances of a slick club owner (Robert Alda) to pursue a tormented ex-pianist (Bruce Bartlett.) Walsh, not a name one associates with the woman’s picture, adds noirish atmosphere and an empathy for the lead characters’ self-imposed outsiderness.—RDL

Nosferatu (Film, US, Robert Eggers, 2024) Intent on possessing his cosmically fated love (Lily-Rose Depp) the vampire Orlock (Bill Sarsgaard) lures her advancement-minded husband (Nicholas Hoult) to Romania to assist his relocation to their German home city. Lushly horrifying upsizing of the 1923 Murnau version is extremely faithful to its structure and motifs while also fixing its few key flaws.—RDL

Presence (Film, US, Stephen Soderbergh, 2024) Grieving teen (Callina Liang) at odds with her singleminded mom (Lucy Liu) and insensitive brother (Eddie Maday) heightens tensions when she describes eerie encounters in their new home. Naturalistic weird thriller observes family drama from the ghost’s POV.—RDL

Signs Preceding the End of the World (Fiction, Yuri Herrera, 2009) Self-possessed telephone operator travels from her remote Mexican village to the US in search of her brother. Spare, evocative portrayal of the migrant experience as mythic death and rebirth.—RDL

Good

Mr. Right (Film, US, Paco Cabezas, 2015) Intense but charming woman (Anna Kendrick) forms a rebound attachment to a quirky stranger (Sam Rockwell), incorrectly assuming that he’s doing a bit when he describes his activities as a rogue assassin. The leads’ action rom com star chemistry compensates for a choppy first act bearing the marks of editing demands from a panicked back office.—RDL

The Saint in London (Film, US/UK, John Paddy Carstairs, 1939) Visiting London, adventurer Simon Templar (George Sanders) meets plucky socialite Penny Parker (Sally Gray) and takes on criminal mastermind Bruno Lang (Henry Oscar). Although the script doesn’t really play up the Saint’s unique set of skills, Sanders lounges delightfully through the part and Gray and Oscar play well off him. Filmed in London, but indistinguishable from the RKO backlot. If you enjoy slightly lazy “thrillers” of the era, you’ll enjoy this one.—KH

Okay

Angel With the Iron Fists (Film, Hong Kong, Lo Wei, 1967) Agent 009 (Lily Ho) cozies up to criminal jeweler Tieh Hu (Ching Tang) to uncover and infiltrate the Dark Angels, a kind of Temu SPECTRE led by a mysterious Chief (Tina Chin-Fei). A Shaw Brothers post-Bond outing that launched a franchise despite a lackadaisical story randomly punctuated by fights, but I said Shaw Brothers already. Slow but fun if you’re in the mood for it, with one or two gonzo moments in its over two-hour runtime.—KH

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