Today we’re talking 1961’s The Hustler, which might just be the greatest movie about the game of pool that has ever been made. Starring Paul Newman, Piper Laurie, and George C. Scott, it’s a tale of an up-and-coming pool hustler trying to make it big but, more importantly, it’s the story of a man trying to figure out what makes a person a “winner”.
A big thank you to Ann Merin for commissioning this podcast on Chaos on the Bridge, William Shatner’s 2014 documentary that peeks behind the scenes of the first few years of Star Trek: The Next Generation with cast interviews describing tumultuous power dynamics both in and out of the writers room. Frankly, it’s a must-see movie for fans of TNG and now we’ve finally seen it. Give the podcast a listen to find out what we thought.
Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of Christopher Nolan’s dreamscape heist film, Inception. We covered it immediately after its initial release and 10 years later we’re back to do it all over again. I assume we’ll hit level three in about 90 more years and come back from limbo to cover it one final time, but until then check out our 2nd podcast review of this film.
We seem to be on a Vietnam kick with a couple of our movie choices lately. Oliver Stone’s 1989 adaptation of Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic’s autobiography of the same name, recounting his journey from a combat-thirsty young man to a disabled anti-war activist, is worthy of the two academy awards it won. Join us for a discussion about the film, this American folly, and its lingering effects on our society today.
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the release of Apollo 13. It was a movie A.Ron and I loved back then and we were pleasantly surprised to see how well it held up. Join us for a discussion of the film, the real Apollo missions, the future of space exploration, and beyond.
This week we take a look at Ryan Coogler’s first feature film, Fruitvale Station, about the 2009 murder of Oscar Grant. It is competently directed by Coogler but the impeccable performances by recognizable names such as Octavia Spencer and Michael B. Jordan, as well as its tragically-evergreen relevance, are what really make the film a must-see.
After we announced last week that we’d be covering Fruitvale Station, Spike Lee went and dropped his latest joint, Da 5 Bloods, on Netflix, to rave reviews. So, we’ve decided to postpone Fruitvale Station for a week in favor of timely coverage of what’s sure to be a strong contender come Oscar season. Join us for the podcast to hear our what we thought.
The Talented Mr. Ripley is a name for a film that only appeals to grandmothers above a certain age. And more specifically, English ones. They also have boring taste in men. But don’t let the name fool you; the Talented Mr. Ripley is an excellent thriller and, unlike our podcast, it is decidedly not for boring English grandmothers.
After Westworld season 3 ended, I expected we’d be done discussing what it means to be alive and artificial intelligence. And then we started talking about Devs. And now we’re covering this. Join us for about an hour as we discuss Alex Garland’s ambitious Turing test, Ex Machina.
Bald Move Prestige is where the best of the best come to shine. In the Prestige podcast, we talk about serious dramas, excellence in filmmaking, and everything in between; on television or on the big screen. Prestige doesn’t cover sci-fi, but if that is your thing, you might be looking for Bald Move Pulp.