Bald Move TV – Altered Carbon Season One Wrapup

We spin up Netflix’s Altered Carbon after we’ve decanted it for a few weeks, to see what we make of it in our final analysis.  Cool concepts, excellent design, and decent sci-fi action are slightly undercut by sometimes silly and hammy execution, and a failure to take ideas to their logical conclusion.  Still, we’re always down to ponder futurism and human singularities, so we dig it.  It will be interesting to see if and how they decide to proceed with future seasons!

Bald Movies – Looper (2012)

Today’s commissioned podcast is Looper, the 2012 sci-fi action thriller directed by Rian Johnson and starring, Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Emily Blunt.  We have David Babulak to thank for this, as he’s the one who pulled the trigger and made the commission.  This movie is really, really great, thought provoking, well made, and entertaining.  It’s one of those podcasts where we sit back and think about time and space and what it’s like to meet yourself from the future, which is always fun.  It’s not perfect, but it may not be possible to make a better time travel movie that’s this much fun to watch.

Bald Move TV – Altered Carbon First Impressions

Jim and A.Ron have seen the first two episodes of Netflix’s new sci-fi film noir series Altered Carbon.  Hundreds of years into the future, the wealthy elite change bodies like we change clothes, and a fallen rebel from a long ago civil war is brought back to life by a rich immortal who wants him to investigate his own “murder”.  Intriguing premise, looks amazing, with fantastic action sequences, but we’re a bit worried that some of the lofty ideas and world building are half baked.  Nothing fatal, which, what does that even mean to a series featuring unlimited lives?  But we’re hoping for some satisfying answers and payoff in the weeks ahead. 

Bald Movies – The Circle (2017)

Jim and A.Ron have seen the future, and it is The Circle, and we’re not sure if it’s good. This movie, or the future. They’re both kind of a mess. While extremely well cast and for the most part acted, the basic plot is caught between a cautionary tale, a psychological thriller, and a Young Adult novel, and doesn’t manage to pull any facet off well. But it is legitimately thought provoking. You’ll find the spoiler section for this movie to be positively chocked full of provoked thoughts, but you’ll have to be a Club Member to hear us talk about the tensions between liberty and privacy and our fears for the inevitability of radical transparency.

Bald Movies – Aliens (1986)

Multiple-commissioner Josh from Saxapahaw, NC is back with another goodie, James Cameron’s take on the Aliens franchise. One of the all time great sci-fi action movies, it supplies nearly non stop action with a sturdy heroine to build around, lots of colorful characters to die, implacable, terrifying antagonists, and impressive effect and design work. Plus, we eulogize the late, great, Bill “Tons of Peace” Paxton. Thanks again, Josh, this was a lot of fun!

Bald Move TV – Babylon 5

Special thanks to Brian Strader for bravely and against all odds commissioning the 90’s era sci-fi drama “Babylon 5”. Jim and I thought such a sprawling project couldn’t be properly covered in just three episodes, given our bias against the series dated FX, questionable set and costuming, and our rabid pro-Trek bias. But, amazingly, he selected three beauts that we feel gave us a newfound respect and understanding of the Babylon 5 fandom. Tune in if you want to hear a lot of comparisons and contrasts between B5 and DS9, discussion of interstellar sex, and appreciation for the emoting of snake men and owl people.

Bald Movies – Star Trek: Beyond (2016)

Jim’s on vacation, so filling in his spot is Cecily, A.Ron’s co-host on the American Horror Story Podcast, True Blood Authority, Penny Earful, and life. A.Ron approaches the film from the perspective of a life long Trek fan, Cecily approaches it more from the casual fan perspective, but both are in agreement that this installment of Trek can best be described as “mediocre”.