Across the Movie Aisle

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) look at the last-minute deal that brought ESPN back to Spectrum cable customers just in time for Monday Night Football. Is this deal a game-changer, or simply a delay of the inevitable diminishment of cable TV? Then the gang reviews You Are SO Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah , the l...

This week, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask if Taylor Swift and AMC got the better of the studios by agreeing to a direct distribution deal for her forthcoming Eras Tour movie concert. Given the way studios are messing with the release calendar in response to the ongoing strikes, was this a smart short-term play to fill a revenue ga...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss the sticking points between the AMPTP and the WGA, and why the stickiest may wind up being data divulging. Streamers don’t want to give it up; the union doesn’t want to give up a golden opportunity to force success-based residuals. What might a compromise look like? Then t...

On this week’s show, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss fraud at the Korean box office and why rumors of studios and distributors inflating receipts are regular fodder for the conspiratorially minded. Then they review Strays , a movie that made some of them laugh despite themselves. Make sure to swing by Bulwark+ for our bonus epi...

This week, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) look at Disney’s shaky economic and creative output and discuss how it serves as a sort of canary in the entertainment industry’s coal mine. Then they review Full Circle , the entertaining-but-convoluted new show on Max (formerly, HBO Max) from Steven Soderbergh and Ed Solomon. Make sure to sw...

This week, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss the controversial (or nontroversial?) practice of digitizing extras . Setting aside issues of informed consent: Is this an existential threat to the Screen Actors Guild, or simply a necessity in the world of spiraling production costs and the risks of Covid-era shutdowns? Then the gang...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask if you’re ready for the nascent Mattel Cinematic Universe (as chronicled by the New Yorker here ) currently being developed by Hollywood. If you enjoyed Barbie , you’re gonna love Uno ! Speaking of: did we love Barbie ? It’s the hit of the summer—and could wind up being the hi...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask if movie theaters could wind up being the biggest casualty of the ongoing actor’s strike despite this weekend’s huge box office returns for Barbenheimmer. Then they review Oppenheimer , which is a clear frontrunner for best picture of the year. Make sure to swing by Bulwark+ o...

This week, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) try to figure out why the studios and the actors are so far apart in their negotiations. Spoiler: It’s not entirely about the money. (Though it is, in a larger sense, always about the money.) Then they review Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning: Part One , the latest entry in Tom Cruise’s dec...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask why WB keeps stepping on rakes by doing things like demanding GQ rewrite pieces about David Zaslav and messing with critics by scheduling Barbie screenings on the same day as Oppenheimer screenings. (Late-brekaing update here: the studio seems to be adding screening dates for...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask if the apparent dismantling of Turner Classic Movies is a controversy or a nontroversy, before musing over what the channel should look like in a streaming-first world. Then they review Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny . Can James Mangold replace Steven Spielberg? Is it e...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) try to figure out how this Vulture feature on the work that went into making Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse depicts an abusive workplace. Then they review Wes Anderson’s new film, Asteroid City , a movie about a fictional play anthologized on a fictional TV show set in a fict...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) talk about the summer of nine-figure bombs. With movies like Transformers: Rise of the Beasts , Elemental , and The Flash all slated to lose more than $100 million at the box office—and movies like The Little Mermaid and Fast X unlikely to break even—is it time for Hollywood to st...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss whether or not the digital censorship of The French Connection is the inevitable result of our puritanical desire to protect present audiences from past prejudices. Then they discuss Transformers: Rise of the Beasts . Sure, it’s a little boring, but at least it’s more cohe...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask what the future of indie theatrical films looks like if festival purchases continue to crater . Then they talked about one of the best films of the year (so far!), the amazingly inventive and spectacular-looking Spider-Man , which snared all three in its beautiful web. Make su...

On this week’s show, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) argue over whether or not “kink” is the right word to use when discussing a movie about a teenage mermaid. Then they discuss just went wrong with Disney’s latest live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid . Make sure to swing by for the bonus episode, in which we critique Disney’s...

On this week’s episode Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman explain why the phrase “go woke, go broke” obscures more than it illuminates in the case of Disney and its various business dealings/struggles. Then the gang reviews Fast X , a bad movie with a very interesting (although also possibly bad) performance at the heart of it. Make sure to swing...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask if people should stop fighting the war on spoilers once and for all . Then they review the new J-Lo movie The Mother , Netflix’s number one movie. Make sure to swing by Bulwark+ for a special live bonus episode this Friday. (Looking forward to seeing some of you folks at the C...

Only four tickets are left for Across the Movie Aisle live , on Tuesday, May 16 at 7:30 PM at the Crystal City Alamo Drafthouse. (They’re marked as handicapped but there are actual chairs there and the rest of the tickets are sold out, so they’re fair game.) We’re showing WarGames and then talking about it (and other apocalypse-minded movies) afterward. Tickets are just $7! If we don’t sell it out...

Before we get started, wanted to share a cool little thing I learned literally yesterday. Typically at a movie theater—or, at least, the movie theaters I’ve been to—the handicapped seats are just empty spots where you can fit a wheelchair. At the Crystal City Alamo Drafthouse, they’re actual chairs that can be taken out to provide a space for wheelchairs. There’s a cool little animation on the sit...

Just a quick reminder to pick up tickets for Across the Movie Aisle live at the Alamo Drafthouse in Crystal City on Tuesday, May 16 , where we’re presenting the Matthew Broderick classic WarGames . There are only 20 tickets or so left, but I’ve got good news: they’re the best seats in the house! The front row! You’ll be very close to Alyssa, Peter, and me as we do the show! Can’t ask for more than...

Before we get to today’s episode, a piece of exciting news: Across the Movie Aisle is teaming up with the Alamo Drafthouse in Crystal City for a special screening of the Matthew Broderick classic Wargames (1983) on Tuesday, May 16, at 7:30 PM. Alyssa, Peter, and Sonny will all be there, and they’re going to be taping a bonus episode of the show in addition to hanging out and enjoying a draft or tw...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss a rumor that the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences want to broaden the theatrical exhibition requirement. Would this benefit theaters or just serve as a way for entrenched streaming powerhouses like Netflix to shut out mid-level distributors? Then the gang discu...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark) and Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post) ask if the well-oiled machine that is Marvel studios is about to see the wheels come flying off. (Peter is out this week, but have no fear: He should be back next week.) And then they discuss John Wick: Chapter 4 , a movie that is not only immensely fun to watch but also, possibly, sneaky-deep? Make sure t...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) talk about departing NYT film critic A.O. Scott’s thoughts on fandom and its effect on the way we talk about movies. Then they review HBO’s hit show The Last of Us and ask a very important question: Was Joel right? Make sure to swing by Bulwark+ this weekend for a bonus episode on...