Bald Move Pulp - The Toxic Avenger (1984)

Merry Christmas, Jason Miller! Your wife, Aime thought it would be a nice present to commission you a pair of podcasts to open beneath the tree. This is one of them, 1984’s cult horror classic, “The Toxic Avenger”. Directed by Michael Herz and “starring” Mitch Cohen, Mark Torgl, Andree Maranda, it’s a work of pure cinematic insanity of over the top and cheaply filmed gore, sex, violence, and sexual violence. We discuss Troma films in general, pollution, dick punching, and much more as we attempt to review a movie that defies criticism.

Bald Move Prestige - Blood Simple (1984)

Sean Ray commissioned one of his favorite movies, the Coen Brothers’ 1984 directorial debut, Blood Simple. Starring Coen favorite Frances McDormand, it’s an interesting look into the prehistorical fossil Coen record. So many shots and themes established in this first film go on to make up the DNA of their later works. You’ll see Fargo, Miller’s Crossing, No Country for Old Men, and even a few dashes of Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski in this film. Having said that, there is a whole helluva lot of 1980’s film making and first time directing on display as well.

Bald Move Pulp - Primer (2004)

The string of solid commissioned hits is in full string with one of Jim’s favorite movies and A.Ron’s soon-to-be favorite, Primer. If you’re into noodly time travel plots and engineers talking in fits and starts about really technical stuff like we are, you’ll probably love this one. Thanks to Mike Jacyna for his excellent taste in commissions.

Bald Move Prestige - Pontypool (2008)

Josh Black stepped forth to commission the mind blowing 2008 film, Pontypool. Starring the very underrated Stephen McHattie, and directed by veteran cult filmmaker Bruce McDonald, Pontypool is set in a small Canadian town where a humbled former shock jock takes on the job of talking about the sleepy local news in the wee hours of the morning. And then something big happens. I really can’t tell you more without spoiling a great film that should be seen by a lot of people, and right now you can see it streaming from among other places, Netflix, so I encourage you to give it a whirl before listening to this podcast. Things get crazy and “deep” in the way things sometimes do on these podcasts. Do not translate this message.

Bald Move Prestige - Falling Down (1993)

Special thanks to Ruben from Boston who selected the 1993 Joel Schumacher drama/thriller/anger-porno “Falling Down” as the subject of this podcast. And it got us thinking a lot about where we were when we first saw this movie, and where we’re at now, how this film fits into the pantheon of well made, highly regarded films, how it’s aged, and what its meanings are. Plus, we do a bonus retrospective of the strange career of wild excess that is Joel Schumacher.

No Country for Old Men (2007)

Special thanks to the intrepid crew of Bald Move Commissioners who banded together to make this podcast happen; Keith Alejandro, Jen, Alex M, Matt DeRemer, Stephen, mydeardeadly, Andy G, Jefferson B, cocoa2mc, Gary Turco, Jasmyn P, Andrew K, Conner B, Martin K, and Geoffrey Bowser. Possibly the deepest commissioned roster we’ve had so far. And they had us review one of the greatest of the Coen Brothers productions, 2007’s No Country for Old Men.

Bald Move Prestige - Fight Club (1999)

Merry Christmas to Daniel L. from Alyssa, David, and Ryan, who joined forced to commission this podcast on 1999’s “Fight Club”, directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter. Fight Club is a dark and yet at times humorous look at the savage heart of mankind, and the guys have a lot of thoughts on it’s ideas and philosophy, despite the constraints of talking about Fight Club while working within the film’s first and second rule.

Direct - Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained

Our tour of Tarantino lands on his masterful south/western legend of a former slave named Django, and his precocious mentor, Shultz. This film is like a master class in Tarantino-isms. It has bad people doing bad things, primal justice, revenge fantasies, QT’s company of actors, and memorable dialogue. It’s a great introduction into Tarantino’s wild west, where his next film will take place. Join us next week for The Hateful Eight.

Direct - Quentin Tarantino – Kill Bill vol. 2

The second installment of the Kill Bill series brings us incredible characters, awesome fights, and an intense Texas funeral. Eric and Levi surely enjoyed this cinematic experience. QT seems to be honing his strong voice and concrete style while paying homage to the flicks that excited him throughout his lifetime. It’s an impressive piece of work. Join us next week for Death Proof.