The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood

On this week’s episode, I’m rejoined by Geoff Edgers of the Washington Post to discuss The Tale of Norm Macdonald and prod Geoff about his forthcoming* book on the great comedian who sadly died in 2021. Geoff wrote one of the defining profiles of Macdonald in 2016 for the Washington Post and appears, briefly, in the new Netflix documentary. (You’ll see him; he’s the one being served a sandwich by Norm’s mom.) But he does not appear as a talking head, as this documentary has no talking heads: It’s a compilation of clips with some voiceover narration provided by Norm himself from the grave! (Or, possibly, the audiobook of his novelistic memoir, Based on a Memoir: Not a True Story.)

*In 2028! Very forth. But Geoff’s book on The Police (the band, not the law enforcement) comes out in March of next year. I bet he’ll come back on the show if you ask real nice! He talked to all three members; it’s a really good book, I’m reading it now.

I’m rejoined this week by Matt Roller, the showrunner of Netflix’s Haunted Hotel, to discuss the second season of his hit animated show. We talked about the difficulties of getting a new season done in just one year, how the fandom has reacted to the show (and why he tries to avoid letting the fanfic influence his work), and whether or not season three is on the way. If you haven’t watched Haunted Hotel and are a fan of similar shows like Bob’s Burgers or Futurama, you should really check it out. And if you enjoyed this episode, I hope you share it with a friend!

On this week’s episode, I’m rejoined by Katey Rich and Christopher Rosen, the Prestige Junkies over at The Ankler, to talk about the early days of the Oscar campaign. It’s finally heating up now that we’re hitting awards season and the prestige pictures are making their debuts; you can find our early preferred nominees at the Ankler Pundits landing page. But we cover a ton of ground in this episode, including how early favorites like The Odyssey will hold up, why La Bola Negra may well be Netflix’s best chance for a Best Picture trophy, and whether or not Inde Navarette of Obsession fame has a shot at a nomination. Plus: Wild Horse Nine! You Can See Everything! Fjord! So much to discuss, such little time. But we crammed a lot in for you. Leave your favorites of the year so far in the comments below!

On this week’s episode, I’m rejoined by Sean McNulty of The Ankler’s excellent morning newsletter, The Wakeup, to discuss some of the big stories in the news. We start with the Paramount-Skydance/Warner Bros. deal going through its final phases before approval, before heading into some discussion of the federal film tax credits (17:10), and then wrapping up with a discussion of the state of sports rights and plateauing audience numbers there (29:30).

On this week’s episode, I’m joined by V for Vendetta director James McTeigue, whose film is returning to theaters on the first and fifth of November (“Remember, remember!”) via Saga Arts and Fathom Entertainment. We had a really interesting discussion both about the making of the film (I had no idea Hugo Weaving replaced another actor you may well know several weeks into production) and its continued relevance. What was intended as a metaphor for the War on Terror now holds up pretty well in our current age—arguably, much better, given the state of things now compared to then.

On this week’s episode, I’m rejoined by the one and only Chris McKenna who, alongside writing partner Erik Sommers, cowrote the highest-grossing film of all time, domestically: Spider-Man: Brand New Day. He broke down the thought process that went into getting Peter Parker back together with his friends, the tricky negotiations between Marvel and Sony over who could use which characters and when, and posited some alternate futures about what the story could have looked like. On the episode, we also discussed Haunted Hotel, which comes back for season number two on October 9. Chris is an Executive Producer on that show; you may remember that I interviewed the showrunner, Matt Roller, about it last year. It’s fun! Add it to your watchlist! Go see Spider-Man: Brand New Day again! If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend or leave a comment!

This week I’m joined by Godfrey Cheshire to discuss his new book, Cheshire on Film: Life & Writings. Cheshire is a long-time critic—in addition to writing for Variety and http://RogerEbert.com, among many other outlets, his stint at the New York Press with Matt Zoller Seitz and Armond White was a legendary run during the golden age of the alt-weeklies and was recently collected in The Press Gang—and his new book highlights a number of his seminal pieces, including interviews with David Lynch and Charlton Heston.

But it also functions as a memoir of sorts, a remembrance of a vibrant time in film and film writing that is hard to imagine today. And it serves as a crash course on Iranian and Chinese cinema for those who need one. This is a must-read for anyone who is interested in the world of cinema.

You can check out his Substack here. If you’re in North Carolina on September 9, Chesire will be at the Rialto hosting a Q&A and signing books. And New York City residents should make sure to check out Cheshire’s appearance at the IFC Film Center with filmmaker (and Bill and Ted costar) Alex Winter onMonday, September 21. If you make it out there for either of these shows, please say hi from The Bulwark!

This week I’m joined by Puck’s Eriq Gardner to discuss his fascinating piece on Warner Bros. efforts to keep a lid on spoilers for their new show, Lanterns, including some potential abuse of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s ability to remove infringing content from the Internet. We discussed what’s happening and how it could reflect a broader effort to stifle speech in contexts other than spoiler warnings. You can read Eriq’s reporting on the topic here. And if you enjoyed this episode, make sure to share it with a friend!

This week’s episode is a real treat: I’m joined by Alex Ullom, the 28-year-old writer/director of It Ends, and he provided a real window into the process of getting a low-budget indie movie made. His story has everything: fundraising from professional magicians; a first cut that didn’t work at all; acceptance into SXSW followed by no offers to buy the movie; a grassroots groundswell that got it the attention of Letterboxd; and, finally, a pickup by leading indie distributor Neon for release this week.

It’s playing in Los Angeles and New York City this week before expanding wide next week, and I cannot stress this enough: if you liked Backrooms or enjoyed the existential dread of Exit 8, you have GOT to go see It Ends.

This week, I’m joined by Robert Corn-Revere. Currently the chief counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, Corn-Revere also served as the chief counsel to the Federal Communications Commission chair in 1993 and as a counsel on important First Amendment cases that have made their way all the way to the Supreme Court. (Seriously, check out his Wiki, it’s crazy.) We had a pretty in-depth chat about how the FCC works and the myriad ways in which Trump’s hand-picked chair, Brendan Carr, is perverting some of the long-term ideals of the commission.

This week, I’m joined by Sugar showrunner Sam Catlin to discuss the second season of Apple TV’s under-appreciated gem. If you haven’t watched the show, you should; season one is available in full and the penultimate episode of season two airs today. It’s a neo-noir with a sci-fi twist, a show about how media can shape us as people, and one of the best-acted programs on television. (Seriously: There’s a whole TV show with Colin Farrell doing A-List work and people aren’t talking about that nearly enough!) I hope you give the show a watch and give this episode a listen.

On this week’s episode, I’m joined by Nate Jones of Vulture to discuss his monumental effort to rank the 100 most powerful directors in Hollywood. We discussed how the audience has shifted from stars to IP to maybe, now, directors, and what that means for the industry. Plus: Who did his inside sources think he rated too highly … and too lowly? All that and more on this week’s (if I do say so myself) very fun episode. Debate amongst yourselves: Who has the most juice in Hollywood … and who should have the most juice?

On this week’s episode, I’m rejoined by Chris Fenton to discuss efforts to pass a federal tax credit that would help reshore American film production and his own made-in-America film, Bad Counselors, which hits theaters next week. Things got a little spicy as we debated some of the downsides of these programs—and how they might come to pass—but let’s make sure to maintain a respectful tone in the comments if you choose to weigh in.

On this week’s episode, I’m rejoined by renowned critic and film historian David Thomson to discuss his new book, A Sudden Flicker of Light: A Revisionist History of Movies. It’s a bracing tome, given its thesis: That the film screen has fundamentally altered who we are and how we interact with the world, in ways mostly negative. I’ll have more on this book in my newsletter this week, but I really hope you pick it up; there’s a lot to chew on in it.

This week I’m joined by CNN’s media analyst Brian Stelter to discuss the big news of the week, Comcast’s decision to spin NBC Universal off into a separate company. What will happen to the broadcast network? Who might some of the suitors be for the standalone company? All that and more on this week’s episode. If you enjoyed it, please share it with a friend!

On this week’s episode, I’m joined by Ben Fritz of the Wall Street Journal to discuss his exclusive on the partnership between Google and A24 and what it portends for the rest of the studios who are either diving into the world of AI filmmaking or cautiously sitting on the sidelines waiting to see how things shake out.

On this week’s episode, I’m rejoined by my first guest, the great Richard Rushfield, to talk all things TV. What’s the deal with Fox buying Roku? What does the post-peak-TV era look like? And, perhaps most importantly, who is on the Mount Rushmore of television? All that and more on this week’s episode. Leave your pick for the all-time-top-four TV figures in the comments!

I’m joined by Peter M. Hoffman this week to discuss his new memoir, Karmic Winds, about his time in Hollywood as the tax lawyer who could figure out how to get movies financed and get people paid. Fans of 1980s action movies will recognize many of the names here, as Hoffman was a key figure in the Golan and Globus empire before becoming CEO of Carolco Pictures during their epic run of films that included Basic Instinct and Terminator 2. We also discussed the way tax laws helped—and then hindered—getting movies made, and Peter’s own unfortunate run-in with IRS authorities. If you want the full story, make sure to check out his book, which goes into much more detail than we had time for here.

This episode gets a bit in the weeds about tax law and the such, but I’d love to hear from folks about their favorite Carolco films. One that we touched on very briefly is Jacob’s Ladder, a movie I’ve always found fascinating in part because I don’t think it entirely works. Or at least, it didn’t for me … but Peter’s book highlights the ways in which the film reflects the Tibetan Book of the Dead, which may just be the key to unlocking it all. I’m excited to go back and revisit it with that idea in mind.

I’m super-excited about this week’s episode, as I’m getting to talk about one of my favorite zombie movies (Day of the Dead) with one of the creators of that film (John Harrison, the first assistant director and composer of its iconic score) and one of the producers at one of my favorite boutique Blu-ray labels (Jeff Roland from Shout Factory/Scream Factory). We talk all about the making of the film, of course, but also the making of this set: one of my favorite special features on the bonus disc is a 30-minute-or-so doc about the actual restoration of this film. How they tracked down the interpositive, what they had to do to get the transfer into shape for a 4K release, how they had to mix the sound, etc.

I really cannot recommend this set enough: it comes out June 16, but I strongly recommend picking up a copy now, as these collector’s editions can be hard to keep in stock. Obviously, the fans of Romero’s films are going to want it. But I would pitch it to anyone who appreciates a good piece of archival work: There are documentaries on this thing that will simply help you understand the world of physical media better. Plus a fun new audio commentary featuring Drew McWeeny and Daniel Kraus. And, of course, a pristine new transfer that gives extra depth and definition to all of those scenes set in the underground mines where most of the movie takes place.

Just as a heads up: This episode was posted on the Takes feed over the weekend, but I wanted to make sure and share it with y’all because a.) it was a lot of fun and b.) I did a weirdly large amount of work for it, having to rewatch three films and read a bunch of stuff. But I wanted to make sure you guys heard it in case you haven’t subscribed to the Takes feed. (And if you haven’t, for shame! You’re missing JVL and me riffing on the terrible America 250 concert!)