Watching Westworld - 207 – Les Ecorches

In this week’s episode of HBO’s Westworld, “Les Ecorches”, Bernard and Ford have a heart to heart, Dolores flips her daddy’s wig, William is betrayed by his old buddy Lawrence, Maeve makes a promise that she might not be able to keep, and the end game involving the Valley Beyond starts to come into focus. We also discuss our feelings about the way action is being handled on the show, debate whether the structure of Westworld itself is necessary, and consider a ton of feedback, theories, and speculation for what’s to come!

Beltalowda - A podcast for The Expanse - 308 – It Reaches Out

SyFy’s Amazon’s The Expanse this week takes a turn for the surreal in the tense, amazing episode “It Reaches Out” that will have you desperate for the next one. The episode practically drips with mystery and meaning that we’ll eventually understand (What does the protomolecule want with Holden and the Rocinante, and why is it reaching out 113 times per second? Who stands to benefit from framing the OPA for the Seung Un atrocity? Are Melba and Cohen working together, and to what end?) but for now… you got to watch your doors and corners, kid.

Bald Move Pulp - The Terror

Jim and A.Ron have seen AMC’s The Terror, the epic horror/historical drama set in the mid-nineteenth century that tries to answer the question of what went wrong during the doomed Franklin expedition to the arctic circle. These intrepid men were looking for a path through the sea ice that would open up speedier (and more profitable) trade to the new world and eastern markets, but instead they find themselves trapped in a frozen hell for years. Which will run out first? Their supplies or their sanity? To make the situation worse, they are steadily hunted by an mysterious creature. The show is gorgeous, it’s extremely well acted with Bald Move TV vets such as Jared Harris, Ciarán Hinds, and Tobias Menzies, and features genuine moments of psychological dread and horror. We talk about the show itself, and briefly talk about what the ensuing anthology AMC has recently green-lit might look like.

Bald Move Pulp - Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

We’ve seen Solo: A Star Wars Story and… really liked it! Maybe it was low expectations, maybe it’s just impossible to hate on Han, Chewie, and Lando dashing around the galaxy doing derring-do (although…), all we know is that we found ourselves grinning like idiots throughout huge chunks of this movie.  Maybe you will too? It’s hard to tell, I feel like I used to know what a Star Wars fan would like, but after the prequels and The Last Jedi, I just don’t know. The big takeaway is that we’re both back to being pretty excited to see what kind of storytelling can take place in this universe, which is something we were afraid wasn’t possible anymore.

Watching Westworld - 206 – Phase Space

In this week’s episode of HBO’s Westworld, “Phase Space”, Maeve learns the soft limits of her power, the Man in Black has a heartfelt conversation with his daughter, Teddy gets “fixed”, Bernard introduces us to the CR8-DL, and a fresh crop of a-holes from Delos Corporate literally parachute onto the Mesa, leaving us unimpressed. We also discuss a boat load of email, speculation and theories at the end of the podcast!

Beltalowda - A podcast for The Expanse - 307 – Delta-V

SyFy’s The Expanse experiences some time dilation as we leap ahead and then try to catch up with what’s happened in the appropriately named “Delta-V”.  We discuss the leadership crisis looming aboard the Behemoth, the documentary crew’s agenda with the Roci, try to sleuth out the loyalties of a deadly new saboteur, and look for clues about the nature of Bobby and Alex’s long distance relationship.  All this, some #SaveTheExpanse talk, and feedback from your fellow fans!

Watching Westworld - 205 – Akane No Mai

Welcome to Shogun World! HBO’s Westworld expands its horizons in the latest episode, “Akane No Mai”, as we get to meet a cast of entirely new but strangely familiar characters in a deadly new location.  We also get to find out some more info about the role of the mysterious Cradle, watch Maeve as she discovers a new “superpower”, and Teddy and Dolores have a falling out over there very different approaches to veterinary medicine. We discuss this as well as your feedback and popular theories and speculation.

Hard Boiled (1992) LIVE WATCH

Special thanks to Ajas, who commissioned a very special project; our first commissioned Live Watch!  If you don’t know, a Live Watch is where we watch a show and record commentary for it, which you can sync up to watch with us at home with your own personal copy.  And this movie is one of the craziest, over the top action films of all time. A John Woo picture, starring Chow Yun-fat, it features a hard-boiled detective desperate to put an end to the violent gang of gun runners who murdered his partner. Boasting an improbably number of bird and bullets, and featuring stunts that are just slightly less lethal than filming actual gunplay, the plot makes no sense but the gonzo nature of the film more than makes up for it. You thought Jason Statham’s baby routine in Fate of the Furious was crazy?  You haven’t seen nothing!