Commissioned

Prisoners (2013)

February 6, 2018 Bald Move Prestige

Special thanks to Hatorian, the commissioner of the various Bald Move FFL divisions, and two time BMFFL champ, once again shows up to claim his prize in the form of a movie commission.  His choice is the 2013 crime thriller, Prisoners, directed by Denis Villeneuve, whom we admire a lot in these parts.  Starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal, it’s as much a meditation on ethics and morality as it is a tightly plotted thriller with several twists and turns.  It features confident direction and great performances by all of the leads, and leads to a lot of discussion on vigilantism, the importance of good process, self-reliance, and notions of good and evil.  

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The Lost Boys (1987)

January 25, 2018 Bald Move Pulp

Special thanks to Saylor from Santa Cruz, the latest Bald Move Fantasy Football champ to claim their prize for winning the league.  Emerging from the pile victorious, he has selected the 1997 vampire flick, The Lost Boys.  Helmed by Joel Schumacher and chocked equally full of cool and hilarious moments and extremely questionable decisions, the film manages to confound and delight.  Why is 16 year old Corey Haim taking baths and being tucked into bed by his mother?  Why is there a shirtless oiled up, muscle bound sax player?  Why is Rob Lowe gazing seductively from Haim’s bedroom closet, and more importantly, why is Jim completely oblivious to his siren’s call?  Is the grandpa a vampire or what?  All these questions and more are explored in the depth to which they deserve.

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American Psycho (2000)

January 23, 2018 Bald Move Prestige

Today’s podcast was commissioned by Rylan, by virtue of his victory in the famed Bald Move Fantasy Football league.  To the victor go the spoils, and Rylan has claimed the 2000 slasher/satire/thriller, American Psycho.  Directed by Mary Harron and starring Christian Bale, the movie is dark, disturbing, hilarious in places, and provoked a lot of thoughts and opinions from Jim and I.  What does it mean to be a sociopath, how much of this film is reality and how much is fantasy, what does it say about society and the conflict between our stated and actual values?  

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Black Rain (1989)

January 16, 2018 Bald Move Prestige

Special thanks to Sean Ray (previous commissioner of the Insidious series, and Blood Simple) for commissioning this late 80’s Ridley Scott crime thriller, Black Rain.  Michael Douglas plays a cop alongside Andy Garcia that gets mixed up in a gang war between the Yakuza and a rival upstart over counterfeit US currency.  The film explores the intercultural exchange as Douglas’s corrupt and brash NYC cop runs into the brick wall of Japanese police decorum and honor, but how successful it is in that exploration is an open question.  The film is great looking, has some solid action sequences, and hilarious Michael Douglas hair, and it’s concepts don’t quite stand the test of time.  But Andy Garcia’s chest hair is magnificent.  

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Battlestar Galactica (2004)

January 11, 2018 Bald Move Pulp

Today we’re here to talk about the 2004 SyFy reimagined Battlestar Galactica.  Jim loves this series, I have problems with it.  Still, we talk for nearly two hours and find what we think will be a lot of common ground with any fan of the show.  Despite my  misgivings I do recognize it’s quality and importance to Sci-Fi in general.  So say we both.  Special thanks to our intrepid community of commissioners who made this podcast possible.  To Jay “Nothing-has-corners-for-some-reason” Russo, Jeff, Anubus21, ClevelandPunk, Manoj, Matt from Boston, Devin from Maine, Ben from Yronwood, Isd5u, sam.n, leaplizard, elstenger, shenson90, jeffrey.w, enquiries, Shayne Bowman, nikhonesty, thank you for your generous support!

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Dr. Strangelove (1964)

January 9, 2018 Bald Move Prestige

Today’s commissioned podcast is one for the pantheon, Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 masterpiece of satire, Dr. Strangelove.  Kubrick set out to make a nuclear thriller, but instead decided to lean heavily into the existential absurdism that was and still is the world’s nuclear weapon deterrent, mutual assured destruction.  Hey, it’s worked for sixty years, let’s keep the streak going!  Special thanks to our committee of commissioners, “Breaking Bad Fest” Jennie, Gulleen, Manoj, Flash Gordon, Anthony, leaplizard, hiroprotagonist2002, tingudu, Don M, Zack Z, Sean R, and Alex K for making this happen.  We loved revisiting this film and it’s as funny and relevant today as it was back in ’64.  Enjoy!

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Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)

November 8, 2017 Bald Move Pulp

Once again commissioner Fernando Rodriguez (you may better know him as FernNYC17 on our forums) steps up with a choice selection, this time the oft maligned Return of the Jedi.  Often dismissed as derivative or childish when compared to A New Hope or The Empire Strikes Back respectively, we have nothing but love for the climax of the story of Skywalker.  It’s got the best space battle, the best lightsabre battle, and the best puppets in all of Star Wars.  The Special Edition changes?  Not so much love.

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Batman Begins (2005)

October 2, 2017 Bald Move Pulp

Special thanks to Ethan and Allison for commissioning Batman Begins, the first in the Nolanverse Batman trilogy (you can see our podcast on Batman: The Dark Knight here).  This is a fantastic comic book movie that also happens to be a fantastic film in it’s own right.  We love the fusion of gritty realism with the strong emotional core and exploration of Bruce Wayne and his struggle to walk the narrow path between justice and vengeance.  Excellent casting, excellent performances, and while the third act perhaps leaves something to be desired in light of a decade of super hero movies continually trying to outdo themselves in terms of spectacle, the movie holds up like a champ and is an undeniable part of what makes the sequel work so superbly.  

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Reservoir Dogs (1992)

September 25, 2017 Bald Move Prestige

Special thanks to Steven Sprague, celts77, Laura Hamilton, ztziemke, and Don C for commissioning this podcast, on the 1992 Quintin Tarantino crime drama, Reservoir Dogs.  We discuss the writing, the performances, our opinions on the true meaning of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”, the insights QT has on crime and society, and debate it’s place in the Tarantino pantheon.  Thanks again to all of our commissioners, we couldn’t do it without you!

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Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

July 13, 2017 Bald Move Prestige

Special thanks to our twin commissioners, Steven S. and Mozbeet for commissioning one of my very favorite films, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, directed by Peter Weir and based on the Patrick O’Brian series that is my very favorite books of all time. Thank god Jim thinks it’s awesome too, or there might have been bloodshed. We discuss the film’s historicity and verisimilitude, the unique relationship between Captain Jack and Doctor Maturin, life aboard an 19th century Man o’ War, and I make a pitch for reading the original novels towards the end. Thanks again Steven and Mozbeet, this was a real treat!

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