Across the Movie Aisle

On this episode of Across the Movie Aisle, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) said goodby to Gene Hackman, who was found dead at the age of 95 last week. Then they discussed the Oscars, hosted by Oscar O’Brien. How was the show? What about the winners? Make sure to swing by Bulwark+ on Friday for a bonus episode with some reading recommen...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) talked about Amazon’s newfound ability to greenlight James Bond vehicles without the approval of the Broccoli family or Eon Productions. What does this mean for the British superspy? Then they review the first proper MCU movie in nearly 18 months. Has absence made the heart grow f...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss the blight of the Inappropriate Laughers. ( Here’s a gift link to the New York Times piece we reference. ) Then they review I’m Still Here , the, uh, other foreign language film nominated for best picture at this year’s Oscars. Make sure to swing by Bulwark+ for our bonus...

Some websites and podcasts start putting out their best-of lists on December 1. Not Across the Movie Aisle. We want to make sure you had plenty of time to see all the award-season stuff. If it takes until February, well, so be it. If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend!

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss the, frankly, bonkers number of nominations received by Emilia Perez . Will the Academy favor it for best picture as a way to stick it to Trump? Then they review Presence , Steven Soderbergh’s new haunted house movie told from the perspective of the ghost. Is it just a for...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask what, precisely, Trump’s “ ambassadors to Hollywood ” are supposed to be doing. Then they review September 5 , the harrowing tick-tock examination of how ABC Sports covered Black September’s terrorist attack at the Munich games that led to the slaughter of nearly the entire Is...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) broke down why the PVOD window has settled where it settled. Then they review The Brutalist , Brady Corbet’s three-and-a-half hour portrait of artistry and immigration and assimilation in America. (We know this movie isn’t out in most of the country yet, so we tried to keep it pre...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discussed the announcement that a Melania Trump documentary is in the works with director Brett Ratner for Prime Video. (No, this is not Mad Libs.) Then they reviewed Nosferatu , Robert Eggers’s remake of the 1922 silent film by F.W. Murnau. Make sure to swing by Bulwark+ on Frida...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason), discussed Will Tavlin’s n+1 opus on Netflix and the rise—or maybe resurgence—of casual viewing as the primary mode of media engagement. Then they reviewed A Complete Unknown , James Mangold’s movie about Bob Dylan’s early years on the New York folk scene. Make sure to swing by Bu...

Merry Christmas Eve! On this week’s supersized episode to get you through the airport, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask if it’s a controversy or a controversy that Blake Lively’s costar and director, Justin Baldoni, seems to have orchestrated a virtual sliming of her in response to fears he was going to get called out for harassing...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) looked at The Entertainment Strategy Guy’s breakdown of podcast stats and asked if this truly was “the podcast election.” Then they reviewed Kraven the Hunter , a movie so bad it killed an entire cinematic universe. (Kinda.) Make sure to swing by Bulwark+ on Friday for our bonus e...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discussed a controversial (or possibly nontroversial?) op-ed in the New York Times asking if “the awkward diversity era” of blockbuster filmmaking is over. (Gift link there so you should be able to read it.) Then they reviewed Amy Adams’s new movie Nightbitch , in which she plays...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask if it matters that people prefer AI slop to art produced by real-world hacks. (Kinda?) Then they review Wicked , a movie that’s half a movie despite being 160 minutes long. Make sure to swing by Bulwark+ on Friday for a discussion of Juror Number 2 , out on VOD today. And if y...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) examine a shocking story in Vanity Fair by Vincenzo Barney about the legendary writer Cormac McCarthy’s “secret muse,” Augusta Britt, whom the 42-year-old writer met when the girl was just 16. Then they review Gladiator II , a disappointing retread of the original. Make sure to sw...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask if the Jake Paul/Mike Tyson “fight” that was “watched” (when they could get the stream to work) by “60 million people” (okay I’ll stop with the scare quotes) represents the future of streaming. Then they reviewed A Real Pain , Jesse Eisenberg’s new film about a pair of very di...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) asked if wall-to-wall celebrity endorsements might have backfired on Kamala Harris. Then they reviewed Anora , a movie fascinating in both its sympathies and its judgments. Make sure to swing by Bulwark+ for Friday’s bonus episode on the best movies of the decade (so far!). And if...

On this Election Day’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss Warner Bros. baffling decision to bury Clint Eastwood’s Juror No. 2 . Why deprive young fogeys like this trio of a primo legal procedural from an aging master? Then they reviewed Conclave , another movie holding well at the box office designed to appeal to precisel...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask if comic book legend Alan Moore is right to blame toxic fandom and arrested development for the rise of Trump. Then they review Venom: The Last Dance , a movie that’s bad … but watchably so? Make sure to swing by Bulwark+ for some election even distraction suggestions. And if...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss both AI witchhunts and Blumhouse’s decision to partner Meta with filmmakers in an effort to bring AI into the filmmaking fold. (You can watch the video/ad by Aneesh Chaganty we discussed here .) Then, in a slight departure for the podcast, we discuss a book: Neal Stephenso...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask if social media influencers are the new Hollywood A-Listers. (Spoiler: they’re not. They’re something older and potentially much lamer but also maybe more interesting.) Then they review Saturday Night , a movie that revels in the excitement of The New. Make sure to swing by Bu...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss the dread toxic fandom , every executive’s favorite scapegoat for why their product failed to find an audience. Then they review Joker: Folie à Deux , one of the most disastrous sequels ever made. Make sure to swing by Bulwark+ on Friday for a discussion of sequels that ha...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask why so few watch Netflix’s prestige pictures, and if it really matters. Then they discuss Francis Ford Coppola’s long-in-gestation epic fable, Megalopolis . Yes, it’s a mess, but is it a brilliant one? Make sure to swing by Bulwark+ for our bonus episode on the mobile Criterio...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss the $2.2 billion in improvements to movie theaters, which are looking to add more premium screens and more … ziplines and pickleball courts? What could go wrong! Then they review Wolfs , which hits AppleTV+ on Friday and had a limited run in theaters last weekend. We mostl...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss Francis Ford Coppola’s libel suit against Variety, as well as a whacky idea for the theatrical presentation of Megalopolis . Then they review Rebel Ridge , a movie with a message. Were Sonny and Peter suckered in by the film’s message? Make sure to swing by for our bonus e...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss why indie studios like Neon can’t really afford great films like Hit Man anymore. Then they review Beetlejuice Beetlejuice , a nostalgia play with too many new elements. Thanks again to everyone who showed up for the live show in Dallas and the happy hour in Austin; it was...