Across the Movie Aisle

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) break down the strange story of Ozy Media, the various scams of which have been chronicled by the NYT’s Ben Smith in recent weeks, and the overall state of media accountability. Then they review The Many Saints of Newark , David Chase and HBO’s new prequel to The Sopranos currentl...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch ( The Bulwark ), Alyssa Rosenberg ( The Washington Post ), and Peter Suderman ( Reason ) discuss the legal back and forth between Disney and the estates of Marvel’s most famous creators, including those of Steve Ditko and Stan Lee, as well as fan reactions to the (very slight!) possibility that copyright termination notices will be the death of the MCU as we kno...

This week Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post, and Peter Suderman (Reason) take a look at the controversy swirling about CBS’s instantly canceled show, The Activist . What’s so bad about making activists compete for attention dollars? And the gang reviews Cry Macho , the latest from director-star Clint Eastwood. Is he too old for this movie, or is Sonny a despicable ag...

This week Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), Peter Suderman (Reason), and Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark) discuss the pros and cons of advice columns and whether or not it’s okay—or, frankly, just plain hilarious— to lie to advice columnists . And the gang reviews Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter (Sonny’s review here ; Peter’s here ). Make sure to check out our bonus episode on Oscar Isaac’s great...

Alyssa ( The Washington Post ), Peter Suderman ( Reason ), and Sonny Bunch ( The Bulwark ) know folks are a little tired of MCU-centric episodes, but this week demonstrates why it’s a constant topic of conversation: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings grossed $75 million over its first three-day weekend and almost $95 million once Labor Day was included. Does this prove Disney was correct to...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss the controversy (or possibly the nontroversy?) surrounding Spike Lee’s inclusion of 9/11 Truthers in his new documentary about New York City’s last 20 years. (To get a full sense of the issue, make sure to read this Slate  piece by Jeremy Stahl on what Lee included.) Do fi...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) argue about whether or not the controversy swirling around Jeopardy’s hosting post is a controversy or a nontroversy. Why didn’t Sony do a better job of vetting their host? In the back half of the show, the gang reviews Reminiscence , the neo-noir from Westworld mastermind Lisa Jo...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) address whether it’s a controversy or a nontroversy that the star of Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is calling out the head of Disney for saying the film’s release—a 45-day theatrical run followed by the film’s release on streaming—is an “experiment.” Is this all a ploy...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason Magazine) all agree that James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad is, basically, a nine-figure descendant of The Toxic Avenger. But does that make it good, or expensive, overbearing schlock? And they debate whether or not Johnny Depp should be given the lifetime achievement award at the San...

This week Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) take a hard look at Scarlett Johansson’s suit against Disney alleging that the Mouse House’s dual VOD/theatrical strategy will cost her upwards of $50 million. Is this is a game-changing moment in the relationships between movie stars and studios? Or is she going to get steamrolled? Plus: the g...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss the new Nicolas Cage movie, Pig . Why do all three concur that it’s probably the best movie they’ve seen in theaters this year? Plus, Netflix is getting into gaming! What does that mean for the movie streaming service and its customers? Make sure to check out our special b...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) go deep on the controversies swirling about the new documentary about Anthony Bourdain, Roadrunner . Is it a big deal that the director used an AI program to have Bourdain narrate some of his emails? Is it a much bigger deal that the documentary excludes the point of view of his e...

This week Sonny Bunch ( The Bulwark ), Alyssa Rosenberg ( The Washington Post ), and Peter Suderman ( Reason ) assembled for a rare in-person show to discuss the biggest movie of the year (so far!), Black Widow . Is it fine? Okay? Acceptable? Perfectly competent? Listen to find out! Plus, the gang discusses the ethics of using personal histories of non-famous people in response to revelations that...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss the great Richard Donner, who died on Monday at the age of 91. They also discuss the new Prime Video offering The Tomorrow War . Is it a modern sci-fi masterpiece or a bit of a mess? Listen to find out! And make sure to check out our bonus members-only episode on the great...

This week Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) tackle the first big blockbuster of the post-COVID era: F9: The Fast Saga. Noted fun-hater Sonny did not care for it. But did Alyssa and Peter? You’ll have to listen to find out. And in controversies and nontroversies, we take a look at a growing problem for Hollywood: China’s increasing influe...

On this week’s episode of Across the Movie Aisle, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss whether or not Focus Features is correct in their effort to silence outspoken writer-director and social media gadfly Paul Schrader. Plus, they review the remarkably bad The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard. And make sure to check out our special bonus e...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark) takes a back set to let Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post) review the new Lin-Manuel Miranda musical, In the Heights. Did it make our panel’s toes tap with joy? Or did it make them check their watches? (Spoiler: the answer is yes.) And in controversies and nontroversies, we discuss a new documentary about the film Kids making waves on the festi...

This week, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason Magazine) discuss Netflix’s The Woman in the Window , a fantastic mess of a movie. But is it more fantastic, or more mess? And we wonder about AMC’s decision to play nice with the memesters who are driving up AMC’s share prices by offering them free popcorn for investing. Will this all end in t...

Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (the Washington Post) and Peter Suderman (Reason Magazine) were all underwhelmed by Cruella , Disney’s latest IP-mining cash grab. Plus, they debated about the end of mask mandates in theaters for the fully vaccinated and what it means for our shifting social norms. And if you want to comment or listen to our special members-only episode on long movies w...

This week on the show, Sonny Bunch ( The Bulwark ), Alyssa Rosenberg ( The Washington Post ), and Peter Suderman ( Reason ) discussed Netflix’s long-awaited Zack Snyder zombie heist opus, Army of the Dead . Meanwhile, in cons and nons, the gang discussed the MGM/Amazon deal and if it’s a break from the past—or a continuation of it. Meanwhile, on the special bonus episode , the trio picked which in...

This week Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) review Taylor Sheridan’s new fire jumping flick, Those Who Wish Me Dead. Is this ’90s throwback a hit or a miss? Or just kind of generic and lumpy? Plus, we ask whether or not the once-canceled, now-revived biography of Philip Roth by Blake Bailey should see the light of day, given sexual assau...

This week, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason Magazine) discuss NBC’s decision to pull the plug on next year’s Golden Globes following a series of controversies surrounding the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. And the gang debates the merits of the new Guy Ritchie/Jason Statham action heist thriller, Wrath of Man . Make sure to check o...

Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman are all experiencing buyer’s remorse this week after sitting through the not-quite mediocre Without Remorse. Plus, the gang talks about the Rosenberg-edited op-ed by Lucy Liu in the Washington Post about what it means to achieve progress in representation onscreen—and why young progressive critics are wrong to ca...

Sonny (The Bulwark), Alyssa (The Washington Post), and Peter (Reason) have a lot of thoughts about the Oscars, both the show and the winners. And we have a lot of thoughts about The Falcon and the Winter Soldier , a TV show that thinks it has a lot of thoughts, but none of them really go anywhere. Leaving that aside, though: was it any good and is it worth six hours of your time! All that and more...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark) asks Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post) and Peter Suderman (Reason Magazine) if a recent report in the New York Times proves once and for all that celebs should ditch the politics if they want the Oscars to be watchable. (Spoiler: It’s complicated!) And the gang makes their Oscar picks. Who SHOULD win? Who WILL win? Plus, on our special bonus e...