Schindler’s List (1993)

Liam Neeson stars as Oskar Schindler, a Nazi party member and war profiteer who goes to Krakow, Poland to find cheap Jewish labor. Steven Spielberg strips down his usual directing style to deliver a documentary-like narrative of the fight for survival of the Jewish people. This episode isn’t just a review, get a dose of history and behind the scenes filmmaking in the creation of this movie.

Bald Move Pulp - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Last Crusade was an excellent sendoff, so when this movie hit the big screen, people had things to say. Fourteen years later, Jim and A.Ron are here to share takes that are still scorching hot. Spielberg and Lucas, bastions of movie magic, sparred during production…and it shows. Indiana and his crew uncover alien activity and survive a Chet Hanks cameo. Climb into your emergency fridge and hang on for this wild ride.

Lincoln (2012)

Join us as we add another Daniel Day Lewis movie to our podcast, Lincoln directed by Steven Spielberg. Lewis’s Oscar-winning performance was surrounded by a killer cast and historical accuracy. Yes, you read that right. Unlike the beloved Gladiator, Lincoln’s true to life portrayal takes a look at the titular character without the false bravado and vampires of other movies. Listen in as we dissect this masterclass in playing hate-able and lovable characters, creating authenticity in tone, and what it means to closely adhere to realism.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Take a walk on the adventurous side as we revisit a staple of classic pulp movies. The dialogue crackles, the visuals stun, and Harrison Ford creates an icon of 20th century cinema. We have the behind-the-scenes of stunts and the story of Lucas and Spielberg’s fateful Hawaii trip. From the rolling boulder to the Ark wiping out the Third Reich, it’s a rip roaring time of good writing, great acting, and a score that soars.

Thank you to Bill Dodd for commissioning this episode!

Jurassic Park (1993)

We have a new commissioned podcast from bald move fan Sheldon… it’s Jurassic Park! Do the effects hold up? Are the kids annoying? What happened to the shaving cream can full of dino embryos? What would this movie look like with Jim Carrey in the role of Dr. Ian Malcolm? We ponder all these and more as we gaze into the amber orb of nostalgia that is Jurassic Park.

Bald Move Pulp - Ready Player One (2018)

We saw Steven Spielberg’s 80’s nostalgic fun fest, Ready Player One, and we were surprised that it managed to be a good film.  We’d heard nothing but shaky things leading up to it, but with our appropriately set expectations, we had a lot of fun with it.  It’s not perfect, the ending in particular is a bit of a mess, but it works if you want it to work, and if you’re in this movie’s target demo, you’re going to want it to work.  Since we’re both pretty much at ground zero of that target, we can’t say how well it would hold up if you’re safely outside the film’s nostalgia blast wave.

Bald Move Prestige - The Post (2017)

We saw The Post tonight, the star-studded retelling of The Washington Post’s decision to publish the Pentagon Papers, the internal history commissioned by the Dept. of Defense that detailed the long list of failures in America’s involvement politically and militarily in Vietnam, risking financial ruin and jail time.  Told from the perspective of the owner of the Post, Katharine Graham (Meryl Streep), and her editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks), as they wrestle with their own cozy relationships with previous and current presidential administrations and the legal, financial, and ethical risks of defying the government.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more impressive cast,  the film is gorgeous and extremely well written and tells a powerful and important story of how vital a free press is to the health of our nation.