Bald Movies – Roma (2018)

Jim and A.Ron have seen the highly acclaimed Netflix original, “Roma”, and we’re conflicted. On the one hand, we can see what it’s seen as great; it’s beautiful to look at, and it’s final act is as good as anything you’ll see anywhere and is widely accessible. The problem is that it asks you to crawl through 90 minutes tedious and boring and banal moments of everyday life before you get there. Now, that’s exactly how real life is, which is probably the point, and probably makes the final act land as well as it does, but it’s not going to be something everyone can or is willing to interface with. We think on balance it’s worth the effort, but not everyone is going to agree on the math on that. 

Bald Movies – The Lives of Others (2006)

Nicholas Ragovis / AKA Doctor_Nick, victor of the Bald Move Fantasy Football League, has come to claim his spoils; a commissioned podcast! He has a great film for us, the 2006 German film The Lives of Others.  Written and directed by Henckel von Donnersmarck, the movie offers a look into the brutal repression and paranoia of the East German State Police during the 80s, and the effects it had on the lives of those that had to live under it. But there is hope in the form of a Stasi captain that has to confront his own conscious and humanity during an assignment to monitor an esteemed playwright. This movie has us thinking about totalitarian regimes past, current, and future, the strength of the human spirit, and how we as citizens need to keep the hands of the joyless off the levers of state power.

Bald Movies – Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

Jim and A.Ron saw Alita: Battle Angel tonight, and declare it a mess, albeit a beautiful, groundbreaking one in terms of effects work. This feels like the first half of the third part of a movie trilogy; everything is mysterious, nothing makes sense, the world is being built hastily and right in front of our eyes, and the movie ends right at the beginning of what promised to be a kick ass third act. But if you want to see what state of the art CG looks like in 2019, this is a shining $170 million example.

Bald Movies – High Flying Bird (2019)

We took a look at the latest Netflix original, High Flying Bird. Directed by Steven Soderbergh and shot on an iPhone 8, it tells the tale of NBA management squeezing the players for a reduced share of profits during a labor dispute, and one high profile sports agent that is caught in the middle. It works on the level of a heist film; instead of smooth talking con-man Danny Ocean, we have smooth talking agent Ray Burke. Instead of boosting millions off of a ruthless billionaire casino owner, we’re negotiating for millions off ruthless billionaire team owners. But it also works as a commentary on the power dynamics of labor in general, and on a meta level, the film industry itself. It’s a well made, well-acted, gorgeous film, and it’s final act is as thought provoking as it is fun to watch unfold.

Bald Movies – The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)

Jim and A.Ron have seen The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part and it’s almost if not just as good as the first one. Father/son relational dynamics take a back seat to big bro/little sis dynamics for the sequel, but Everything Remains Awesome. This movie is bright, colorful, funny, inventive, and packs a lot of heart. Go see it unless your inner child is dead and your heart is gripped by icy black despair. In which case I’d recommend The Lego Batman Movie, instead.

Bald Movies – The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Special thanks to Hatorian, who by right of conquest in the Bald Move Fantasy Football leagues has won his prize; a commissioned podcast of his choice. He has chosen wisely, selecting the classic 1994 prison/drama/inspirational The Shawshank Redemption. This is a nearly perfect piece of filmmaking, with a confidence in pacing and direction from Frank Darabont matched by the nuanced work of the film’s two leads, Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. We had a lot of fun watching and discussing this one Hatorian. Hopefully, it won’t be the longest podcast of your life…

Bald Movies – Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)

Jim and A.Ron checked out the latest Netflix original film, “Velvet Buzzsaw”. Directed by Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler) and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo. It functions well enough as a horror story, a farcical look at art criticism, as well as an introspective look at the creative process and the related critical process. We have quibbles here and there, but the film looks great, has some inventive/gruesome deaths, and the main cast has a lot of fun being terrible people.

Bald Move TV – Baldies 2018 – Awards Ceremony

Welcome to the fifth annual Baldies Awards, the most prestigious Cincinnati-based podcast fake awards show on the planet, where we honor the outstanding achievements in film, television, and Bald Move podcasting for the year! This is the main event, the 2017 Baldies Awards Ceremony proper. Once again we don our most formal t-shirts to hand out the Baldie gold to those deserving. Who takes home the top prize for Drama and Actor? There is sure to be fun and controversy along the way! If you want more, check out below for our full expanded Baldies coverage!  Literally every question you’d have about our process and why we voted the way we did is contained in the hours and hours of content below.

Bald Move TV – Baldies 2018 – Deliberations IV

Unlike many other, actual awards shows that are taken seriously by the industry, we’re not content to merely rip open some envelopes and throw some confetti and that’s that. Oh, no. We sweat the details and record audio and video of all the debates Jim and I have had to arrive at the winners. If you disagree with our rankings and ratings, this is the info that will hopefully explain where and why we disagree! Topics in this episode include Comedy, Biggest Miss, Biggest Surprise, and Most Under-Appreciated Bald Move Content…

Bald Move TV – Baldies 2018 – Deliberations III

Unlike many other, actual awards shows that are taken seriously by the industry, we’re not content to merely rip open some envelopes and throw some confetti and that’s that. Oh, no. We sweat the details and record audio and video of all the debates Jim and I have had to arrive at the winners. If you disagree with our rankings and ratings, this is the info that will hopefully explain where and why we disagree! Topics in this episode include Best Female Actor, Worst Career Suicide, and Worst Disappointment…