Across the Movie Aisle

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) talked about the Oscars. Sonny is shockingly happy. Peter is down on the whole thing. Alyssa, meanwhile, wonders how we’ll look back on this show’s snub of Tár in years to come. Then the gang reviews 65 , the movie about Adam Driver fighting dinosaurs that has too little hot Drive...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) talk about Vulture’s exposé on the state of theatrical exhibition. Does it actually matter to audiences? And then the gang reviews a movie that seems to have won audiences over regardless of projection quality: Creed III . Is Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut a knockout? Make...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss Scott Adams’s decision to commit reputational suicide by Twitter Cops. Then they heap praise upon Poker Face , the show worth subscribing to Peacock for. Make sure to swing by Bulwark+ on Friday for a deeper discussion of movie and TV detectives. And if you enjoyed this ep...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask if the decision to rewrite Roald Dahl to bring him more in line with the perspective of sensitivity readers is a controversy or a nontroversy. (The title of this podcast is a hint! For more on this insane story, make sure to check out Charlie’s newsletter .) Then they discuss...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask if all the famous faces at the Super Bowl mean it’s time to make selling out a dirty word again. Then they review Magic Mike’s Last Dance , a movie that doesn’t seem quite sure as to why it exists. Make sure to swing by Bulwark+ on Friday for an episode on Channing Tatum, one...

This week, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark) and Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post)* discussed Netflix’s plan to crack down on password sharing. It’s a fun story because there are lots of tiny violins to break out: not only for the people who think they should get something for nothing but also Netflix itself, for allowing/encouraging this behavior for so long. Then Alyssa and Sonny discuss Women Talk...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) highlight the dumbest Oscar controversy of all time—did Andrea Riseborough’s friends send too many emails on her behalf in helping her secure a best actress nomination?—and try to explain the broader culture war reasons this has blown up into A Whole Thing. Then they review All Qu...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason), ask what it means that Chinese theaters are apparently open again for Hollywood business. Then they discuss Netflix’s new murder mystery, The Pale Blue Eye : Is it a cut above Netflix’s standard hashtag-content, or something to watch while folding laundry on a Wednesday night? Ma...

This week, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss the growing push for unionization in the visual FX industry. What will it mean for the industry—and for movie lovers—if special effects artists are treated like actual, you know, people. Then they discuss the first big hit of the new year, Blumhouse’s M3GAN . Is this your standard kill...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask if they’ve all been focused on the wrong thing when it comes to the future of streaming. Movies, TV shows: none of these things really matter compared to … sports. At least, financially. And then they discuss Babylon , Damien Chazelle’s woozy and wicked ode to/condemnation of...

Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ring in 2023 by looking back at 2022. What were their 10 (or so!) favorite films of last year?

This week, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) review the first of Rian Johnson’s two Knives Out sequels for Netflix, Glass Onion . Is it a mystery worthy of Benoit Blanc or something a little lesser? Before that, the gang discusses the biggest business stories of the year: streamers, sports, theaters, China, and more all get a mention. If...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) return to Pandora for James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water . Is the sequel 13 years in the making worth the wait? And then they discuss the oncoming streaming crunch. What does it mean that fewer shows will be made in the coming quarters? Make sure to swing back by Bulwark+ on...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask if awards season fare has a place at the multiplex any longer. Are prestige pictures doomed to a streaming-only existence in the near future? Or will audiences come back? And then we review the streaming service Apple TV+’s award season venture Emancipation . Does it have a sh...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) talk about the Sight and Sound’s decennial 100 Greatest Films of All Time list, which crowned a new champ … but not without controversy. Then we reviewed The Fabelmans , Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical movie about his childhood and how the art of film shapes his relations...

On this week's episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason), talk about the sad state of Junot Diaz. Semafor's Ben Smith interviewed the novelist about his odd career limbo; why can't folks who were accused of misbehavior before being exonerated get their reputations back? Then the gang shifts to a cleaner Me Too target: Harvey Weinstein a...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss the late-night drama in Burbank, where former Disney CEO Bob Iger replaced current Disney CEO Bob Chapek. From tumbling stock prices to unhappy talent to a messy reorg, things weren’t going well … but is Iger the guy to right the ship? And then the gang reviews Martin McDo...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) try to figure out why Warner Brothers can’t get a handle on one of their most valuable intellectual properties, the Harry Potter franchise. Then they review Black Panther: Wakanda Forever , the MCU’s effort to grapple with the untimely death of Chadwick Boseman. Is it something yo...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) review one of the best movies of the year that very few of you have gone to see: Tár . It’s a great movie about the ambiguities of our moment with an absolutely wonderful performance by Cate Blanchett at its heart. Go see it! Before that, we had some laughs at Elon’s expense as we...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask if the New York Times is right to wonder if a backlash against diversity and casting and the #MeToo movement is upon us. Then they review Ticket to Paradise , a replacement-level romcom that tries to get by on the charms of two huge stars, George Clooney and Julia Roberts. Mak...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask how much longer Kathleen Kennedy can stall the Star Wars theatrical slate. Then they discuss Black Adam , aka Murder Superman , and the movie’s interestingly muddled politics. Make sure to tune in on Friday for a House of the Dragon wrap up. How did the first season go? Will w...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask why one of the world’s most popular musicians wants to buy one of the world’s worst social media apps, Parler, and also delve into the dangers of Elon Musk’s effort to buy Twitter. After that, they review Catherine, Called Birdy , Lena Dunham’s adaptation of a YA novel set dur...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason), bid farewell to Nikki Finke, the notoriously nasty maven of Hollywood gossip who revolutionized the trade magazine business at Deadline Hollywood Daily. Then they review Amsterdam , David O. Russell’s big-budget, star-heavy flop . What went wrong with this farce about fascism? Ma...

This week, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask if it’s a controversy or a nontroversy that Billy Eichner blamed the straights for Bros bombing at the box office. Warning: there is journalist math in this section.  And then we review Blonde , a tremendously depressing movie that goes on at great length. Make sure to swing by Bulwark+ on...

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask if all the drama swirling about Jihad Rehab —the Sundance-selected documentary that some say never should have been made because the director is white while others say skirted questions of consent—is a controversy or a nontroversy. Then they review Don’t Worry Darling , a movi...