Across the Movie Aisle

On this week’s episode, we discussed YouTube’s acquisition of the Academy Awards starting in 2029 and why it might not be quite as disastrous as everyone is making it out to be. Then we reviewed Avatar: Fire and Ash, a movie that has approximately 498% more Spider than anyone could possibly want. But at least it still looks pretty great!  As a reminder: If you’re a paying member, you can set up a private RSS feed through Substack to get ad-free episodes delivered right to your preferred app. If you’re not a paying member, you can always sign up for the show on the service of your choice. We’re on Apple, we’re on Spotify, we’re on Amazon. We’re everywhere, baby. Check us out. On Thursday, we’ll have a bonus Christmas episode. I’ll let my description of it in the episode speak for itself. Share THIS episode with a friend who is doing some Christmas traveling, they’ll really appreciate it!

Just a quick programming note, combining emails so as not to kill your inbox: On Tuesday of next week we’ll be discussing Avatar: Fire and Ash.  Sad news this week about the death of Rob Reiner. We weren’t quite sure what to do so we just talked for 20 minutes. Hopefully it helps. This bonus bonus episode is open to all because we didn’t feel right putting it behind a paywall. If you enjoyed it, please share it with a friend?

Before we start, we just wanted to say how shocked and saddened we all are by the news of Rob Reiner’s death. Sonny wrote an obit here; if you’d like, the chat is open for subscribers to discuss here. The news broke literally as we were taping this, so we couldn’t work it into this week’s episode, but we plan on taping an extra podcast at some point this week to discuss his life and legacy. Stay tuned for that. --- We’re trying something new with this week’s episode: We have a special guest for cons and nons! The Entertainment Strategy Guy is here to break down what he loves and what he hates about the pending Netflix-WB deal. It makes sense for Netflix … but is it good for the industry as a whole? We break it down for your today.  And then Peter, Alyssa, and Sonny break down the latest Benoit Blanc adventure: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. Yes, it’s a murder-mystery, but it feels as though Rian Johnson is finally trying to do something a little deeper than settle petty political grievances.  Make sure to swing by Thursday for our bonus episode on ensemble movies. And stay safe out there. It was a weird weekend.

On this week’s episode, Sonny, Peter, and Alyssa look at another side of the Netflix/WB deal, namely what will happen to HBO and WB’s more experiential events. Then they review Netflix’s big awards season play, Jay Kelly. A movie about movies: will this help Netflix win that Oscar trophy they’ve been chasing? Make sure to swing by the Substack page on Thursday for our bonus episode on Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair and his idiosyncratic top 20 list. And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend! 

On this week’s episode, Sonny, Peter, and Alyssa discuss James Cameron’s interview with Matt Belloni and his take on the state of the industry. (You can listen to part one of that interview here and part two here.) Then they discuss Guillermo del Toro’s new adaptation of Frankenstein. It’s a beautiful movie, lovingly crafted and exquisitely designed … yet one that undercuts the point of the book through the characterization of the monster and a performance by Jacob Elordi that occasionally feels as though it’s channeling a classic Ben Stiller character. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend! Sharing is caring, as they say.

On this week’s episode, Sonny, Peter, and Alyssa highlight all the problems with the potential buyers of Warner Bros. Then they review Wicked: For Good, a movie that fails on nearly every conceivable level. (Or maybe it doesn’t, make your case in the comments!) Make sure to swing by the site on FRIDAY, not Thursday (Happy Thanksgiving!) for our bonus episode/gift guide. Speaking of gifts: Treat yourself to something nice from the Dashery Store, we’re doing a Black Friday sale! And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend, you’re our best source of new listeners and we need more listeners!

On this week’s episode, Sonny, Peter, and Alyssa discuss “The Anti-Cosmetic Surgery Essay Every Woman Should Read” and what it says about our own movie-centered discourse. Then they review The Running Man, Edgar Wright’s new adaptation of Stephen King’s story of a world gone mad. Make sure to swing by this-here website on Thursday for our bonus episode on whether movie stars can save movie theaters. And if you enjoyed this episode, make sure to share it with a friend!

On this week’s episode, Sonny, Peter, and Alyssa debate the merits of an AI actress. Then they review Predator: Badlands, which is either a good action-comedy or a bad Predator movie. Maybe both. Who can say. We can say! On Thursday, we’re going to be revisiting the original Predator, which is streaming on Hulu and a bunch of other places. Watch it. It’s perfect! And if you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend. We need those shares, people! 

On this week’s episode, Sonny, Peter, and Alyssa discuss what Taylor Sheridan’s decision to leave Paramount+ for Peacock means for the streaming landscape. Then they review Bugonia, which joins Eddington, After the Hunt, and One Battle After Another as key texts for our cultural moment. If you enjoyed the episode, share it with a friend!  Also: If you need help setting up a private RSS feed so the episodes will go directly to your Apple (or other) app, let us know and we will walk you through it. It’s slightly tricky; you have to do it from the web, the app won’t let you. But we’ll help you out. 

On this week’s episode, Sonny, Peter, and Alyssa discuss the Ellison family’s (literal) trump card in its pursuit of Warner Bros.-Discovery. Then they review A House of Dynamite, Kathryn Bigelow’s star-studded nuclear panic movie for Netflix. Sweet dreams, kiddos! Make sure to swing by movieaisle.substack.com for our bonus episode on this genius and harrowing feature piece on a niche internet subculture that … well, you’re just going to need to read about them. It’s a trip. You are definitely going to want to watch that episode on Thursday. Sonny makes some faces. Buy some merch! Our Dashery store is “lit.” And if you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend! 

A few housekeeping items: This episode is the first main episode that is available to our subscribers before anyone else.  We have merch! Just a couple items right now, more to come, hopefully. You can see the Dashery store here. Alyssa’s wearing the shirt on the show today! It looks like a movie ticket! Because movies! BUY ONE TODAY. OK, the episode itself. We discussed AMC finally granting Netflix some space in their multiplexes. Is this glasnost between the world’s biggest streamer and the world’s biggest theater chain? What comes after? Then we discussed After the Hunt, Luca Guadagnino’s post-MeToo cinematic provocation … albeit one with a purpose. This movie’s getting hammered by critics but … not by us. Probably because it’s a good conversation starter and we love having conversations!  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend! Evangelizing the show is the best way to help it grow and make sure it continues!

This is a tease of the bonus episodes on Thursdays! They have video too over at the Substack! MovieAisle.substack.com. Go sign up!  On this week’s special bonus episode, you get video, you get audio, you get it all. You get everything. (I’m still tinkering with the Riverside video editing software but … it’s pretty good? Just need to figure out how to incorporate clips and the such. Maybe next week you’ll get the intro and outro music the audio episodes have.)

On this week’s episode, Sonny, Peter, and Alyssa said goodbye to Diane Keaton, a key part of one of all of their favorite movies, The Godfather. Then they reviewed Tron: Ares, a music video in search of a purpose. Make sure you swing by movieaisle.substack.com on Thursday for our bonus episode.  If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend. And if you have a problem with the sound quality, let Sonny know in the comments! He’s tweaking some stuff. Playing with Audition’s presets and the such. 

Before we get to the episode, a quick note: we are spinning off Across the Movie Aisle into its own separate thing; it will no longer be part of the Bulwark network of shows, but it will still exist on Substack at movieaisle.substack.com. If you listen via Apple, nothing much will change for the moment; if you listen via Substack there may be a few changes for you. But we’ll cover that next week in our first episode at the new spot. —SB On this week’s episode, Sonny, Peter, and Alyssa look at the perilous state of film and television production in Los Angeles. Is Hollywood’s time as the undisputed king of film production at an end? What does that mean for the people who make a living out there? And what does it mean for the idea of an American film industry? Then they review The Smashing Machine, Dwayne Johnson and Benny Safdie’s award season play. Is this the movie The Rock needs to regain some credibility as an actor? Or does it miss the mark? 

On this week’s episode, Sonny, Peter, and Alyssa discussed Apple’s move to shelve the TV show The Savant in the wake of multiple bouts of politically inspired violence. Then they reviewed One Battle After Another, the latest movie from Paul Thomas Anderson starring Leonardo DiCaprio. (Here’s a link to the New York Times profile of PTA mentioned briefly in the podcast this week.) Make sure to swing by Bulwark+ on Friday for a bonus episode about PTA. And if you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend!

On this week’s episode, delayed slightly due to technical difficulties, Sonny, Peter, and Alyssa broke down the struggle between Jimmy Kimmel, Disney, Nexstar/Sinclair, and Brendan Carr at the FCC. Is this just business as usual at the FCC, or has the regulatory administration overstepped its bounds here. Then we said goodbye to Robert Redford, looking at some of his 1970s classics like All the President’s Men, Three Days of the Condor, and The Sting, among other titles. If you enjoyed the episode, share it with a friend!

On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch, Alyssa Rosenberg, and Peter Suderman discuss Comedy Central’s decision to pull a recent South Park from the rerun rotation after the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Then they review The Long Walk, a movie that is either appropriately brutal or exploitatively violent. Which? Hard to say, but the end result is pretty depressing, regardless. Make sure to swing by Bulwark+ on Thursday for a bonus Stephen King adaptation draft. And if you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend.

On this week’s episode, Sonny, Alyssa, and Peter asked why Activision would turn down a chance to have Steven Spielberg direct a Call of Duty movie. Then they reviewed Highest 2 Lowest, the latest collaboration between Spike Lee and Denzel Washington. Spoiler: We all loved the score, which is apparently a controversial opinion in some quarters! (Also the rest of the movie is pretty good too.) Make sure to swing by Thursday for a bonus Spike Lee draft. And if you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend!

On this week’s episode, Sonny, Alyssa, and Peter discuss the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots at Disney World, as chronicled in this New York Times piece. Then they review Caught Stealing, the new Darren Aronofsky film that’s being marketed like a Guy Ritchie caper but is something else entirely. Some spoilers over the last 15 minutes or so of this pod, so just keep an ear out if you’re worried about that sort of thing. Swing by the Bulwark on Thursday for a bonus episode on High and Low and King’s Ransom, the movie and book, respectively, on which Spike Lee’s new film, Highest 2 Lowest is based. And if you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend!

On this week’s episode, Sonny, Alyssa, and Peter highlight the shocking success of Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters at the box office last weekend and muse about what it means for the streamer’s overall strategy. Then they review the first three episodes of Alien: Earth, the gory, thought-provoking new show on Hulu. Is it another hit for Noah Hawley (who made the TV shows Fargo and Legion?) Or a misfire lost in its own metaphors? If you enjoyed this episode, leave a comment or share it with a friend!