Bald Move Pulp - Hackers (1995)

Max commissioned one of his beloved films from high school (shout out to the Class of ’95!), Hackers.  Directed by Iain Softley and starring Jonny Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie, Hackers is a mostly ridiculous look into mid-90s hacker culture that’s core plot is a rehash of Office Space, which is to say it’s a rehash of Superman III.  We discuss the film as contemporary computer nerds and as grown men looking back at the naivety of early hacker culture and the weird prescience the move shows. 

Bald Move Pulp - Ready Player One (2018)

We saw Steven Spielberg’s 80’s nostalgic fun fest, Ready Player One, and we were surprised that it managed to be a good film.  We’d heard nothing but shaky things leading up to it, but with our appropriately set expectations, we had a lot of fun with it.  It’s not perfect, the ending in particular is a bit of a mess, but it works if you want it to work, and if you’re in this movie’s target demo, you’re going to want it to work.  Since we’re both pretty much at ground zero of that target, we can’t say how well it would hold up if you’re safely outside the film’s nostalgia blast wave.

Bald Move Pulp - It Follows (2014)

Today’s commission is courtesy the kind support of Sean Ray, a five time commissioner!  He selected It Follows, an extremely clever and inventive horror flick written and directed by David Robert Mitchell.  It has big ideas, and while it struggles to live up to them in places, the concept and performance of the plucky cast of likable yet relatively obscure young actors really makes the film shine.  It’s fun to watch, it’s fun to think about, and it’s fun to talk about.  How would you survive being hunted by “It”?  That and a few beers is a topic that can easily kill a whole evening of hanging with your friends.

Bald Move Pulp - Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018)

Jim and I saw a movie about giant robots punching even bigger monsters, and it was even dumber than we thought it would be.  Jim and I have no small amount of affection for the first Pacific Rim.  But hoo-boy, Pacific Rim: Uprising might up the robot on monster punching action slightly, but removes all of the spunk and charm of the original to give us a loud, boring, and thoroughly by the numbers action movie.  My 11 year old loved it, though, so if you have one of those around, or are one of those in heart and mind, by all means, don’t let us stop you from seeing Pacific Rim 2. Everybody else should steer well clear.

Bald Move Pulp - Highlander (1986)

Special thanks to our buddy Jason Shankel hailing from the Nattercast for commissioning this podcast for the 1986 sci-fi action fantasy film Highlander, directed by Russell Mulcahy and starring Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert. Jason and his friends also did a deep dive on Highlander, so please check that out if you’re looking for a very affectionate and informed take from life-long fans of the franchise.  As for us, we thought Highlander was cheesy fun.  The film boasts an excellent soundtrack, exciting and varied sets for the extended sword fights, and some of the sturdiest and most interesting fantasy bones to hang a franchise on.  We walk away wondering why hasn’t anyone rebooted this?

Bald Move Pulp - 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 Move Pulp - Black Panther (2018)

Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther is a great super hero film, and an even better launching point into interesting discussions about the politics of colonialism and liberation.  Starring Chadwick Boseman as the Panther himself, and Michael B. Jordan as the best Marvel villain since Magneto, the movie is a constant challenge to one’s complacency and sense of justice.  Wakanda looks amazing, the cast is fantastic, the world they are building is both visually and philosophically amazing, to the point that one of the films weaknesses is that we were desperate to learn and know more.

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 Pulp - 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 Move Pulp - Black Mirror Season 4

Welcome to our coverage of Black Mirror, where you’ll never know whether you’ll have a heart wrenching or heart warming experience, but it will definitely revolve around the implications of technology and culture.  From Star Trek simulations, ultimate dating apps, and murderous robotic dogs, this season hits some amazing  highs, but for the first time also hits some fairly deep lows.  Or maybe what’s most amazing is how the show remains fresh and original four years into it’s creative process?  All I know is there are few things Jim and I like discussing more than futurology.  Enjoy!