Bald Move Prestige - A Quiet Place (2018)

Jim and I went to see the new horror/suspense film, A Quiet Place, directed by and starring John Krasinski, who is joined by his co-star Emily Blunt.  Both are extremely effective at wringing genuine fear and emotion from the audience as they interact with a cast of really talented young actors.  There are problems we have with the film, some of them big ones, but the bottom line is the movie offers a very unique theater experience, it’s extremely tense and scary, and the parts that have to work really work well.

Beltalowda - A podcast for The Expanse - Season Three Preview Podcast

Jim and A.Ron talk about the upcoming season three of SyFy’s The Expanse.  We talk about our experience with the show (and Jim’s recent experience reading the first three books in the series by James S. A. Corey) and our thoughts about where we left off last season and where we think we’re headed.  Other topics include our spoiler policy, our favorite characters, the Rocinante’s power level, and much more.

Watching Dead - A Walking Dead Podcast - 814 – Still Gotta Mean Something

Jim and A.Ron are here to, sort of backhandedly compliment the latest episode of AMC’s The Walking Dead. It’s one of the better recent episodes, but the unfortunate thing is all of the moments and beats they come really close to nailing here are ones that have been so worn through mindless repetition to the point we’re incapable of feeling anything but boredom.  But yeah, Andrew Lincoln, Denai Gurira, and Lenni James really know how to act, and work their professional asses off to sell this material. Oh, and Rat-Faced Jesus has a very satisfying character development.  Just two episodes left!  See you next week.

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.

Watching Dead - A Walking Dead Podcast - 813 – Do Not Send Us Astray

AMC’s The Walking Dead served up what A.Ron describes as a top 5 worst episode of all time in “Do Not Send Us Astray”.  The show continues to find new lows in its regard for the audience’s intelligence, as they don’t even bother trying to plausibly setup any action set pieces or plot, it just kind of happens because reasons. We have at least five morgalizers at this point. Day turns to night turns to day and Maggie has been pregnant for like ten seasons now.  There was a helicopter at some point?  I think Father G. went blind earlier? The only thing I know is that we’ll be back for more next week.  See you then.

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.

Watching Dead - A Walking Dead Podcast - 812 – The Key

“The Key”, which is the latest episode of AMC’s The Walking Dead continues to erode Negan’s aura of invincibility, as he can’t even keep Rick’s hands off his precious Lucille as he lurches from one insane and pathetic deal to the next.  Simon’s had enough, and leads the rest of the Saviors off to war against the Hilltop.  Meanwhile, Maggie makes a deal for The Key to the Future for a milk crate full of phonographic records, and Enid openly wonders if anything means anything anymore.  You and me both, Enid.  You and me both.