Afleveringen
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On this weekās episode, Iām rejoined by renowned critic and film historian David Thomson to discuss his new book, A Sudden Flicker of Light: A Revisionist History of Movies. Itās 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. Iāll have more on this book in my newsletter this week, but I really hope you pick it up; thereās a lot to chew on in it.
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This week Iām joined by CNNās media analyst Brian Stelter to discuss the big news of the week, Comcastās 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 weekās episode. If you enjoyed it, please share it with a friend!
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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On this weekās episode, Iām 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.
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On this weekās episode, Iām rejoined by my first guest, the great Richard Rushfield, to talk all things TV. Whatās 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 weekās episode. Leave your pick for the all-time-top-four TV figures in the comments!
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Iām 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 helpedāand then hinderedāgetting movies made, and Peterās 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 Iād love to hear from folks about their favorite Carolco films. One that we touched on very briefly is Jacobās Ladder, a movie Iāve always found fascinating in part because I donāt think it entirely works. Or at least, it didnāt for me ā¦ but Peterās 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. Iām excited to go back and revisit it with that idea in mind.
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Iām super-excited about this weekās episode, as Iām 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 collectorās editions can be hard to keep in stock. Obviously, the fans of Romeroās 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.
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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 yāall 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 havenāt subscribed to the Takes feed. (And if you havenāt, for shame! Youāre missing JVL and me riffing on the terrible America 250 concert!)
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On this weekās episode, Iām rejoined by Julia Alexander to discuss her latest piece for Puck on why romantasyāthe subgenre of fine literature dedicated to dragons and sexāhas had a hard time gaining a foothold on streaming services despite burning up the book charts. We also chatted about Amazonās advertising ambitions and how it hopes to use its supposedly profitable video division to drive business elsewhere on the site ā¦ and whether or not the company is getting so big, it might make sense for the government to force some parts of it to split off. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend!
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Hey everyone, so: This posted in the Takes feed over the weekend. (You can watch the video on Substack here or YouTube here.) I Just wanted to make sure this episode got into the Bulwark Goes to Hollywood feed in case you donāt subscribe to the Takes feed (though you should!) and also to give everyone a heads up that Mona Charen and I will be doing an episode of her podcast on A Man for All Seasons. You can watch that movie for free on YouTube, so long as you donāt mind ads.
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On this weekās episode, Iām rejoined by Scott Mendelson of The Outside Scoop to preview the summer movie season and address some of the hottest questions in the biz. Why did Netflix push Greta Gerwigās Narnia movie to next year and give it a full(ish) theatrical window? Whatās shaping up to be the biggest flop of the summer? Is box office health finally back on the upswing after some down years post-COVID and post-strikes? And what the heck is āInfinity Visionā? All that and more on this weekās episode. Leave your most-anticipated film in the comments!
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Occasionally, someone will ask me if I think they should invest in a movie. My answer is, invariably, the same: you should only invest in movies you really believe in; you should understand that even if you invest, the movie will likely never get made because most movies never do; and you should only invest if youāre willing to lose everything you put in, because even those movies that do get made tend to show a loss.
I lead with this because today Iām talking to Jeff Annison of Legion M, a production and distribution company built on the idea that fan investments are a great way to both develop seed capital and drive enthusiasm at theaters. Legion M is not a fly-by-night company and has a number of productions under its belt, including My Dead Friend Zoe and The Man in the White Van. Jeff will be the first to tell you that investing is risky and should only be done if youāre comfortable with losing it all, though he obviously has staked his claim with Legion M and put no small amount of his own capital at risk. And theyāve certainly seen some successes with films like the Nic Cage-starring Mandy (one of my favorites of the 2010s).
We discussed how changes to investment laws in 2016 helped spur a shift in indie fundraising from crowdfunding models to models that allow individuals to earn equity in the movies they contribute to the production of. We also discussed the Legion M Film Fund, their distribution-minded arm that provides last-in, first-out money for films seeking a domestic release. And we chatted about the effort to build a consistent fan base via the cultivation of retail investors.
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On this weekās episode, Iām joined by Lou Diamond Phillips, who you know from ā¦ well, tons of stuff. La Bamba, Young Guns, Longmire, and last yearās best new TV show, The Chair Company. Heās on the show this week to discuss his new film, Keep Quiet, which is playing this Saturday evening at the Dallas International Film Festival and should hit theaters this summer. We talked about all sorts of stuff, but one thing I find really fascinating is Keep Quietās place in the burgeoning mini-genre we might think of as Native Noir: films like this, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Wind River, TV shows like Reservation Dogs, Dark Winds, and Longmire, etc. Itās an interesting moment, and Keep Quiet is a key part of it. I hope youāll seek it out once it hits theaters ā¦ donāt worry, Iāll remind you when itās about to happen.
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Special two-part episode of the podcast this week! The big news in Hollywood this week has been the burgeoning effort by Hollywood creatives to fight the purchase of Warner Bros. by Paramount Skydance. Thousands of namesāincluding some of the biggest in the businessāhave signed an open letter in the hopes of demonstrating that not everyone in the industry is on board with the potential deal. So I wanted to talk to some of the folks behind it.
First up is an interview with Ted Hope, indie producer extraordinaire and author of the Hope for Film Substack. We talked about how indie production has changed over the last few decades and what could be lost if Warner Bros. and Paramount are allowed to merge.
Then I got Jon Reiss and Jax Deluca of the Future Film Coalition on the horn. We discussed what concrete steps could be taken to help fight this merger and what media consolidation means to the indie filmmakers out there.
If you found this podcast interesting or informative, I hope you share it with your friends!
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Iām joined on this weekās episode by Ed Solomon, the writer of the new Steven Soderbergh feature, The Christophers, which is in limited release this weekend and going wider next. Itās the story of an aging artist, played by Ian McKellen, and his new assistant, played by Michaela Cole, who has been hired by the artistās son and daughter to forge a series of paintings from an earlier, more successful period in his career. The idea being that, when he dies, the kids can sell the āfoundā works for millions.
Solomon discussed the idea for the film, which began with a single sentence from Steven Soderbergh, and blossomed from a twisty noir into something more emotionally resonant. We also discussed their previous collaboration, No Sudden Move, and why he wishes more people had had a chance to see it; the difference between more conceptual art and actual paintings; and the joy of working with McKellen and Cole in shaping the voice of the characters on the screen in The Christophers.
It was a wide-ranging chat, is what Iām saying, and we didnāt even get a chance to discuss Men in Black or the Bill & Ted series of films, which he co-wrote. Maybe next time! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend! -
On this weekās episode, Iām joined by Steve Starkey to discuss his new book, On the Set of Forrest Gump. Steve won an Oscar for best picture as producer on that film, but he has a career that, as I told him, has meant a lot to me, with credits on, among other pictures, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the two Back to the Future sequels, Contact, Cast Away, and, of course, Forrest Gump.
We discussed all sorts of stuff here, from the movie magician who made Lt. Danās legs disappear, to his work as second unit director, to the early days of using digital trickery to fake the words and faces of famous people, to the worst note heās ever gotten after an audience test, to the difficulties facing Californiaās film industry in the face of global tax rebates and production credits.
On the Set of Forrest Gump is laid out like a coffee table book and is beautifully illustrated with 250 or so full-color stills from set. So itās nice to look at. But the story he tells is a fascinating glimpse into the push and pull of art and business, the struggle between the producer on the ground trying to make sure his director has the resources he needs and the studio bankrolling the whole thing and worried about losing tens of millions of dollars on a movie that isnāt a guaranteed hit.
Anyway, I hope you check it out. And if you enjoyed this episode, I hope you share it with a friend!
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On this weekās episode, Iām very pleased to be joined by McKay Coppins, author of Aprilās cover story in The Atlantic: āSucker: My Year as a Degenerate Gambler.ā We discussed the rise of sports betting apps, why his boss gave him $10,000 to lose, how the wild proliferation of sports gambling could destroy faith in the sports we watch, and why Kalshi/Polymarket could wind up getting people killed. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend! And make sure to read McKayās story! Itās really quite good.
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Iām very pleased to be rejoined by Kevin Goetz, who is the guru of movie testing to discuss his latest book, How to Score in Hollywood. When you spend nine figures on a film and another eight figures marketing it, you want to know what works for audiences and what doesnāt, and Kevinās the guy who can help you do that. He believes that nearly every movieāif itās made for the right price and marketed to the right peopleāshould be able to make money, and heās happy to explain how his company, Screen Engine/ASI, can help make that hope a reality. Our discussion runs the gamutāfrom concept testing to post-screening focus groups to some Oscar chatterāand I hope you enjoy.
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On this weekās episode, Iām very pleased to be joined by David Streitfeld to discuss his new book, Western Star: The Life and Legends of Larry McMurtry. Amongst the topics discussed: McMurtryās obsession with book buying and selling; how his books and the films they were made from helped shape the view of the west; and why Lonesome Doveāboth the book and the miniseriesāendures more than 40 years later. From The Last Picture Show to Brokeback Mountain, McMurtry rests alongside Cormac McCarthy one of the great modern voices of the American west.
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On this weekās episode, Iām very pleased to be rejoined by Rod Blackhurst (we had him on a couple of years back to discuss his indie crime drama Blood for Dust) and joined for the first time by Ethan Suplee, veteran character actor we all know and love from films like Mallrats, Remember the Titans, and The Wolf of Wall Street and TV shows like My Name Is Earl.
Weāre discussing their new film, Dolly, a true indie endeavor made in the spirit of American classics like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Evil Dead or the New French Extremityās High Tension. Rod and his partners raised some money, brought some folks to the woods of Tennessee, and put together something he hopes will be memorable for the audiences who see it. Itās hitting theaters this weekend, playing around 800 or so screens across the country, and if youāre a horror headāor just someone looking for something differentāI hope youāll check it out. (It is a horror movie, though, so I cannot provide any refunds if the onscreen terror sparks a walkout.)
As I said, getting Ethan on the show is a real treat because Iāve been a fan for years and itās been interesting to watch him dip his toes into some darker waters in recent years in films like Dolly, Babylon, Blood for Dust, and God Is a Bullet. It was fun to pick his brain about consciously making that shift and why his film work often gives him a little more space to stretch than his TV work.
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We have a special bonus episode this week: Iām joined by Ćliver Laxe, the director of the Oscar-nominated SirÄt, to discuss his film about a rave at the end of the world and how we can find community in an age of dislocation and isolation. I wanted to get this out now because a.) the film is expanding this weekend, b.) Laxe himself will be in attendance at a handful of shows across the country over the next week or two here, and c.) it really is the sort of movie you need to see in a theater. For the sound system and the big picture, yes, but also the sense of community a packed theatrical showing can generate. Youāll want to experience it with other people, believe me.
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