Bald Move Pulp - Fleabag Wrap, Dead to Me, The Perfection

Me, Cecily and Jim have some recommendations and thoughts for your weekend viewing! We rave about the nearly flawless two seasons of Fleabag we just saw on Amazon Prime (00:00:00), Jim gives a bit of a preview for Netflix’s new dramedy Dead to Me (00:00:00), starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini, and then… we get to our review of The Perfection (00:00:00). This is a movie that Jim walked out on. Twice. Yet people are loving this film. What gives? Cecily and me try to defend the film on it’s merits, but the truth is it’s a hot mess of a film that tries to get away with a lot it probably shouldn’t be trying, and you’re either up to seeing it or you’re not.

Bald Move Pulp - Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile / Knock Down the House / Tuca & Bertie / American Gods Season 2 Wrapup

We’ve got the whole crew together today, forming up like a TV-reviewing (and definitely the least rad) Voltron to tackle yet another Netflix original about piece about Ted Bundy, a powerful documentary on the fight to give power back to the people, a modern animated tale of the ups and downs of relationships and the final verdict on season two of American Gods.

Bald Move Pulp - Grass is Greener, Bonding, Beyonce’s Homecoming, Vice’s The Future of Work

We have a buffet of TV offerings this week, including two documentaries (one about the history of marijuana in America and the other on the future of employment in the face of robotics and AI), one amazing concert experience, and one micro-comedy about BDSM and sex-work. Join our round table featuring Jim, A.Ron and Cecily as we discuss!

Bald Move Prestige - The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019)

We’ve seen Chiwetel Ejiofor’s (star of 12 Years a Slave, Doctor Strange) directorial debut on Netflix, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, and found it compelling and enlightening. Based on a true story about a Malawian boy who saves his village from famine with his wits, ingenuity, and education, The Boy offers us an inside look at things we can barely begin to relate to; widespread starvation, civil unrest and the breakdown of society. Things that we may have to relate to sooner than we think. 

Bald Move Pulp - The Umbrella Academy / Lorena

Jim and A.Ron have seen The Umbrella Academy and Lorena, Netflix and Amazon originals respectively. The Umbrella Academy is a smart, fun take on the X-Men universe with some Noah Hawley DNA mixed in. Lorena is a four part documentary examining the 1993 dismembering case of Lorena Bobbitt. While the case is no doubt interesting and probably a big landmark in the struggle for equality of the sexes, we’re not sure this production is doing a great job of raising these issues or presenting the facts in a straightforward way. We’ll be back next week to give The Umbrella Academy and Lorena another whirl!

Bald Move Prestige - High Flying Bird (2019)

We took a look at the latest Netflix original, High Flying Bird. Directed by Steven Soderbergh and shot on an iPhone 8, it tells the tale of NBA management squeezing the players for a reduced share of profits during a labor dispute, and one high profile sports agent that is caught in the middle. It works on the level of a heist film; instead of smooth talking con-man Danny Ocean, we have smooth talking agent Ray Burke. Instead of boosting millions off of a ruthless billionaire casino owner, we’re negotiating for millions off ruthless billionaire team owners. But it also works as a commentary on the power dynamics of labor in general, and on a meta level, the film industry itself. It’s a well made, well-acted, gorgeous film, and it’s final act is as thought provoking as it is fun to watch unfold.

Bald Move Pulp - Russian Doll and Black Earth Rising

Jim and A.Ron take a look at Netflix’s new darkly comedic take on the Groundhog Day concept, Russian Doll. Starring Natasha Lyonne, it offers a funny, inventive, and interesting take on the human condition, what being happy and connectedness means, and what obligations we have to our fellow humans around us. At a binge time of less than 4 hours, we both feel like it’s worth just about everyone’s time to check out. We also circle back around to Black Earth Rising, which is still phenomenally interesting at its core, but can’t decide which of a million sub-plots and character details it wants to focus on and remains a bit of a jumbled mess. 

Bald Move Prestige - Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)

Jim and A.Ron checked out the latest Netflix original film, “Velvet Buzzsaw”. Directed by Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler) and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo. It functions well enough as a horror story, a farcical look at art criticism, as well as an introspective look at the creative process and the related critical process. We have quibbles here and there, but the film looks great, has some inventive/gruesome deaths, and the main cast has a lot of fun being terrible people.