Bald Move Pulp - Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Jim and I saw a Star Wars film tonight.  We were displeased. If you loved or liked the film, we’re really happy for you. But this trilogy wasn’t for us, much like it’s father, the prequel trilogy before it. If you hate the film, we totally get that, too. All we ask is that you try to be happy for the people who are happy, and try to be understanding to the people who are feeling a bit numb like us.  We’ll be back in 2020 for some more awesome movies, and probably a few that will suck, as is tradition. See you then!

Bald Move Prestige - Ford v Ferrari (2019)

We saw the Ford v Ferrari tonight, and got exactly what we were bargaining for. A film about cars designed to go fast and the men who are driven to, uh, drive them. There’s lots of cussin’ and fussin’ and punchin’, and going real fast. All driving strategy is reduced to shifting a gear and hitting the gas at the dramatically appropriate moment, and there isn’t a lot of depth and complexity. But man, the cars are beautiful, the driving action intense, and the sound design amazing. If you were looking forward to seeing this film like we were, then it’s hard to imagine you’ll be disappointed. And if you weren’t? Well, see us back next week for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood!

Bald Move Pulp - Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)

Jim and I saw Zombieland: Double Tap tonight, and we are prepared to give it a triple, quad, quint, or whatever amount of Tap required to put this series down for good, because baby… it’s gone bad. We are pretty big fans of the original Zombieland, but  it turns out they used up all the imagination, fun, and clever jokes in the first one.  I will say that the house I saw the movie in was having a good time, and laughing at/with the movie, and at time of writing it’s boasting a pretty respectable Rotten Tomato score.  Maybe there’s something fun here we’re missing? But we recommend you miss it too.

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Bald Move Pulp - Joker (2019)

Jim and I went to see the Joker tonight, and it was intense, challenging, but also beautiful and engrossing look at mental illness and the sicknesses at the heart of our society.  Director Todd Phillips gives us a plausible, believable, and terrifying Joker to inhabit a world that is set in a hazy late 70s period but…

Bald Move Prestige - Ad Astra (2019)

Jim and I went to the outer reaches of the solar system with Ad Astra, the paradoxically slow moving, absorbing, thoughtful, but action packed sci-fi film starring Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones. We spend the better part of an hour talking about what we thought the film was about, and the strange, ultra-realistic yet dreamy quality to a lot of the proceedings. I think we both admired the film more than loved it, but I at least wouldn’t be surprised if further contemplation (and watches) revealed some hidden depths. 

Bald Move Pulp - IT Chapter Two (2019)

We went to see Chapter Two of Stephen King’s IT, and we were both kind of underwhelmed. We were both fans of the first installment, but unfortunately the great acting and interesting characterizations are undermined by hokey horror sequences and what feels like a lot of recycled material from Chapter One. We think it’s an okay film, not a very effective horror movie, and with the cast and material that’s pretty surprising. We’ll be back in a few weeks to take on Ad Astra (and Cecily and I will be sneaking in a review of the Downton Abbey movie), see you then!

Bald Move Prestige - Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019)

We went and saw “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, the latest movie written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Margot Robbie. It’s not his best film, it’s certainly not his “worst”, but for us it’s extremely watchable throughout it’s nearly three hour run-time and when it finally goes off the rails in the last reel, hoo-boy. Brad and Leo are having a lot of fun, the film is as gorgeous as you’d expect, and Hollywood looks as magical as it ever has on screen.  We’ll be back next week to check out Hobbes and Shaw, see you then!