Here’s the elevator pitch: It’s “Left, Right, and Center” meets “Siskel and Ebert.” Three friends from different ideological perspectives discuss the movies and controversies (or nontroversies!) swirling around them. You’ll have to sign up for the Substack to get bonus episodes and you can do that at movieaisle.substack.com.
42: 'Promising Young Woman' Reviewed! Plus: Seth Rogen v. Ted Cruz.
Jan 26, 2021
Show notes
On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss the provocative new movie Promising Young Woman. Meanwhile, in controversies and nontroversies, the gang weighs in on the Ted Cruz/Seth Rogen spat. And make sure to sign up for Bulwark+ so you can listen to a members-only bonus episode on Joe Biden’s watch and the aesthetics of politics.
41: 'Wandavision' Reviewed! Plus, Armie Hammer's Cannibalism Conundrum
Jan 19, 2021
Show notes
This week on Across the Movie Aisle, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) review the MCU’s big new release: Wandavision, now streaming on Disney+. Plus, in controversies and nontroversies: how much privacy Armie Hammer should be afforded after he felt forced to abandon a movie shoot following the release of damaging DMs and claims of controlling behavior by an ex-girlfriend? And don’t forget to check out our Substack members-only episode on the defining films of the Trump Era at atma.thebulwark.com! You won’t want to miss Sonny, Alyssa, and Peter’s choices there.
40: QAnon and Conspiracy Media; Plus: 'Lovers Rock,' Reviewed!
Jan 12, 2021
Show notes
On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss the ways in which culture and technology helped influence the unchecked spread of QAnon-style conspiracy theories. And the gang reviews “Lovers Rock,” the much-ballyhooed installment of Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” series on Amazon and BBC. Also: make sure to check out this week’s special bonus episode of Across the Movie Aisle, in which Sonny, Alyssa, and Peter discuss Arnold Schwarzenegger’s moving address to the American people.
39: 'Soul' Reviewed, Plus: A Special Look at Bruce Willis's Filmography
Jan 05, 2021
Show notes
On the latest episode of Across the Movie Aisle, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss the strange late-career filmography of Bruce Willis and the surge in stars cashing in on their personae for straight-to-DVD-and-VOD projects. And they review Pixar’s new piece of emotional terrorism, Soul. Is it good for kids and adults? Does it avoid answering the tough, and touchy, questions that it raises? All this and more on today’s episode!
38: 'WW84' Reviewed; Plus: Best Movies/Shows of 2020, Chosen!
Dec 29, 2020
Show notes
On this special year-end episode of Across the Movie Aisle—and what a weird year it has been—Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) pick their top movies, shows, and games of the year. So much #content, such little time to discuss it all. And they review HBO Max’s hit new movie, Wonder Woman 1984. Is it as bad as the critics are suggesting? Or is it totally, you know, kind of acceptable as a piece of entertainment-like filmmaking, more or less? Listen now to find out!
37: 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' Reviewed; Plus, Barack Obama's Best-Of List Analyzed
Dec 22, 2020
Show notes
On this episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) break down Barack Obama’s list of the year’s best movies and TV shows and wonder why it is people cannot accept he loves the middlebrow features beloved by the hosts of Across the Movie Aisle. Then they review Netflix’s new feature, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom! Alyssa provides a deep dive on the plays of August Wilson and then the gang discusses how, exactly, a filmed play translates to “cinema.”
36: Sound of Metal; Plus Directors vs. WB
Dec 15, 2020
Show notes
This week Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason Magazine) review the critically acclaimed new movie, Sound of Metal, streaming on Amazon now. And in controversies and nontroversies, they discuss whether or not directors are ingrates for being upset at Warner Bros. for dropping their whole 2021 slate on theaters and HBO Max simultaneously.
35: 'Mank' Reviewed, Plus: WB Dumps Its Slate to HBO Max
Dec 08, 2020
Show notes
On this week’s episode of Across the Movie Aisle, Sonny, Alyssa, and Peter talk about the politics at the heart of David Fincher’s new Netflix movie Mank, a film that is nominally about the writing of Citizen Kane but is actually about something much deeper. And, in controversies and nontroversies, the trio take a look at the shocking decision by Warner Bros. to release their entire 2021 film slate on HBO Max and in theaters simultaneously. Is Christopher Nolan right when he says that “Some of our industry’s biggest filmmakers and most important movie stars went to bed the night before thinking they were working for the greatest movie studio and woke up to find out they were working for the worst streaming service” — or is that a bit of an overreaction?
34: 'Let Him Go' Reviewed, Plus: A Box Office Rebirth?
Dec 01, 2020
Show notes
On the latest episode of Across the Movie Aisle, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) ask in controversies and nontroversies why the box office had an unexpectedly “good” week. And the trio reviewed the newish Kevin Costner/Diane Lane joint, Let Him Go.
33: Hillbilly Elegy
Nov 25, 2020
Show notes
Across the Movie Aisle Returns! Many thanks to the good folks at The Bulwark for resurrecting the podcast, which can be pithily described as “Left, Right, and Center” meets “Siskel and Ebert.” 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 WW84 is moving to HBO Max at no extra cost. And they review Ron Howard’s Hillbilly Elegy while trying to suss out just why its existence has made so many critics so crotchety.
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