Bald Move Pulp - Dark Phoenix (2019)

Jim and I went to see the latest X-Men flick, Dark Phoenix. It’s not as bad as it’s Rotten Tomatoes rating would imply, but it’s certainly not good. And it’s unfortunately because once again a classic X-Men plotline is burnt (refried, in this case) and all-time great Magneto and Professor X performances by Fassbender and MacElvoy are wasted on a script with muddled characters and paper thin villains. Long time fans of the X-Men will enjoy some great stand alone moments with their favorite characters, and the core chemistry of Xavier / Magneto / Mystique work to get the film’s emotional heart a brief jump. But ultimately the film folds underneath the weight of apathy and ugly FX  work.

Bald Move Pulp - Chernobyl – Episode 5 – Vichnaya Pamyat

The final episode of HBO’s Chernobyl, “Vichnaya Pamyat” derives it’s title from the traditional prayer said at the end of an Eastern Orthadox funeral; “memory eternal”. Our hope is that everyone who has watched this and will watch this in the years to come takes to heart this encomium, that we need to remember the cost of lies, the cost of taking our eye off our institutions and systems we setup to keep us safe and prosperous, because if you fail to do so the cost only becomes more dear. Thanks for watching along with us, we’ve loved having you all along for the experience.

Bald Move Pulp - Deadwood: The Movie (2019)

Jim and I have come to Deadwood at long last, to behold it in movie form. We’ve seen differing amounts, but we have a lot of esteem for David Milch’s western epic, and we thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent this week at the old camp. We talk about our experiences with the show, how Justified informs our thoughts on Deadwood and vice versa, Milch’s thoughts on mortality, and how amazingly the movie gave equal closure and tribute to it’s legion of incredible characters.

Bald Move Pulp - Good Omens, Barry Season 2 Wrap Up

Jim, A.Ron and Cecily team up to take on the end of the world as envisioned by Amazon Prime’s Good Omens. Adapted from the novel of the same name by co-author Neil Gaiman himself, it offers a warm, funny, and human take on the Apocalypse, focusing on the unlikely friendship between a demon (David Tennant) and an angel (Michael Sheen) who have decided they like Earth like it is, thankyouverymuch, and team up to keep it that way. Then, Cecily and A.Ron talk about their thoughts on the conclusion of the sophomore season of HBO’s Barry (00:26:45).

Bald Move Pulp - Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)

Jim and I are both long-time fans of Godzilla, and we’re here to report that this here is a really great Godzilla… trapped in a really, really dumb film. Godzilla: King of the Monsters has never looked better, has never been more bad@ss, has never been a meaner lizard, the problem is the homo sapiens that keep interrupting the truly amazing kaiju action we’re getting here. If you can find a dumber lot of heroes and villains in a major motion picture, we’d like to see them. Worse, there are zero stakes because apparently it’s not possible for these morons to die unless they’re faceless extras or it’s the dramatically appropriate time for them to die, but again this film doesn’t understand drama or tension, so that doesn’t really work, either. This would be a really fun film to rip on and root for the monsters on a lazy Saturday with your best friends, but it ain’t worth the time going out to see it. We’ll hope for better next week with the X-Men as we get a first look at Dark Phoenix!

Bald Move Pulp - Fleabag Wrap, Dead to Me, The Perfection

Me, Cecily and Jim have some recommendations and thoughts for your weekend viewing! We rave about the nearly flawless two seasons of Fleabag we just saw on Amazon Prime (00:00:00), Jim gives a bit of a preview for Netflix’s new dramedy Dead to Me (00:00:00), starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini, and then… we get to our review of The Perfection (00:00:00). This is a movie that Jim walked out on. Twice. Yet people are loving this film. What gives? Cecily and me try to defend the film on it’s merits, but the truth is it’s a hot mess of a film that tries to get away with a lot it probably shouldn’t be trying, and you’re either up to seeing it or you’re not.

Bald Move Pulp - Aladdin (2019)

If you’re wishing for a three-way review of Disney’s latest live-action adaptation, Aladdin, then listener you’re in luck. Wish granted. Cecily, Jim, and I went to see it tonight with appropriately low expectations, but were very pleasantly surprised at how much fun and energy the movie provided. Better, the script smartly adapted the original, improving it’s pacing while also adding depth to Jafar’s intrigue and Jasmine’s character, making it smarter and more relatable to modern audiences. The Tomatometer is kinda brutal for Al and friends right now (59% as of this writing), so take our review with a grain of salt. And we’re still skeptical of the long term viability of these live-action adaptations, but we feel like this movie is proof that they aren’t necessarily doomed to be pointless wastes of time.

Bald Move Pulp - Chernobyl – Episode 3 – Open Wide, O Earth

Jim and I have seen episode three of HBO’s Chernobyl series, “Open Wide, O Earth”, and are shaken by the graphic depiction of the Chernobyl first responders’ last days. We get to see the horror from multiple perspectives, the victims themselves, the and the friends and family who struggle to cope with this strange manner of death and the danger it poses to them. Meanwhile as the Soviets manage to contain and stop the fire, we gear up for the long war ahead; to fully contain the death and destruction of Chernobyl it will require 750k lives and three years of sacrifice. Will they be up for the challenge? And will they solve the mystery of the reactor’s destruction, so that it might never happen again? All this plus some light discussion on the relative merits of free market capitalism vs centrally planned economies in feedback. You know, kids stuff.

Bald Move Pulp - John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019)

Jim and I take a belated look at the latest installment in the John Wick saga, Chapter 3: Parabellum. JW3:B, has some of the finest action sequences we’ve ever seen, but it’s also rapidly approaching diminishing returns in terms of quantity over quality. We’re all for combat innovations including insane knife work, horse and dog augmented combat, and up-armored adversaries, but there’s only so many times you can watch Keanu kill a guy with a gun before you start checking your watch. With John Wick 4 looking to keep upping it’s ante, is this momentum sustainable? We’ll look forward to finding out!