The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood – Details, episodes & analysis

On this week’s episode, I’m joined by John Magary, editor of the new film Between the Temples. We discuss how he got into the editing business, the role of the editor in building the rhythm and flow of a picture, the aesthetic choices an editor can make in shaping the meaning of a movie, and a little about his work with the Criterion Channel. If you enjoyed this episode, try to find a theater playing the movie near you; it’s in 500 or so screens, which means there’s a decent chance there’s a showing somewhere in your neighborhood. And make sure to share it with a friend!

My guest this week is Valentina El Harizi, an 18-year-old first-time filmmaker who has an entry at the DIFF Shorts Film Festival. (If you get this email early enough and happen to live in the Dallas area, you can head over to the Angelika Film Center Dallas on Mockingbird Lane and catch the film; the “High School Shorts” program starts at 3PM local time.) We discussed her film, “Behind the Scenes,” as well as the difficulties of growing up in a world where social media is the first, second, and third option most kids have to interact with each other. If you enjoyed this episode—or think someone with kids surrounded by social media should hear it—please share it with a friend!

On this week’s episode, I’m rejoined by Sean O’Connell to discuss his new book, Bruce Willis: Celebrating the Cinematic Legacy of an Unbreakable Hollywood Icon. Breaking down Willis’s career—which has been sadly cut short following his diagnosis of aphasia—by comedies, action movies, work with auteurs, and “Die Hards,” the book is an exhaustive look at, mostly, the highs (and some of the lows) of Willis’s career. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend!

On this week’s episode, Sonny is joined by Aaron Reynolds, creator of Effin’ Birds. Having a daily comic read by half-a-million people is cool and all, but what’s really cool is criss-crossing North America to sell merch featuring that comic and other various designs. Aaron talks about the economics of convention life, how COVID has shaped the way conventions work, what it’s like to have a booth at San Diego Comic Con, the crazy economics of attracting huge stars to cons, and, most importantly, what it was like to be endorsed by pop star Britney Spears on her 41.8-million-follower-strong Instagram account. You can follow Effin’ Birds on Twitter and Instagram and Aaaron on Twitter and Instagram.

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On this week’s episode of The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood, Sonny is joined by longtime New Yorker writer Ken Auletta, who stops by to discuss his new book Hollywood Ending: Harvey Weinstein and the Culture of Silence. Both a biography of Weinstein and a tick-tock of the trial that ended with the Oscar-winning producer’s imprisonment, Auletta’s new book is a fascinating glimpse at the life and times of a man whose predatory instinct was allowed to go unchecked thanks to the caliber of the movies he made and the way he distributed favors to filmmakers, cultivated journalists, and ingratiated himself to politicians. If you enjoyed the episode, make sure to share it with a friend … and pick up a copy of the book! It’s a must-read for anyone who lived through the Miramax era. 

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On this week’s episode, Sonny is joined by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman to discuss their new history of the John Wick franchise, They Shouldn’t Have Killed His Dog: The Complete Uncensored Ass-Kicking Oral History of John Wick, Gun Fu, and the New Age of Action. (Listen to the podcast to hear how to properly announce this title.) In addition to talking John Wick and the history of the action film art form referred to as “Gun Fu,” we talked about the tricky art of authoring a compelling oral history. Believe it or not, it entails more than just cutting and pasting long chunks of interviews into a Word document! If you’re in San Diego for Comic Con this week, make sure to swing by Ed and Mark’s panel on Friday (you can find it on the full convention schedule here), which will be followed by a signing at the Saint Martin’s booth. Tell them I sent you! And if you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend!

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On this week’s episode of The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood, Sonny is joined by Ron Shelton, the writer/director of Bull Durham, to talk about his new book on the making of the film, The Church of Baseball. In addition to discussing the fights over casting, the weirdly lackluster response from test audiences, and the movie’s impact on the minor league game writ large, we also chatted about some of Mr. Shelton’s other films like White Men Can’t Jump and Dark Blue. 

Make sure to pick up his book; while you’re doing that, the excellent Blu-ray release of Bull Durham is 50 percent off as part of Barnes and Noble’s 50 percent off sale on all Criterion discs. (In the podcast, I also mentioned the Arrow Video release of Dark Blue, but you should only pick it up in the United States if you have a region-free Blu-ray player; luckily it’s streaming on Prime Video right now for free.)

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This week, CNN’s Frank Pallotta rejoins the episode to do a box office victory lap. The movies are back, baby! Older audiences are showing up for Top Gun: Maverick and Elvis; younger audiences are showing up for Minions: The Rise of Gru; and no one’s showing up for Lightyear. Why are the first three hits and the last a miss? What’s the most successful way to sell moviegoing audiences on future movies? And what are theaters going to do over the next few months as COVID-related production slowdowns mean fewer big movies hitting theaters before the Thanksgiving season? All that and more on this week’s episode of The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood. If you enjoyed the episode, share it with a friend!

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On this week’s episode, The Ankler’s Richard Rushfield returns to talk tumult at Disney, what Hollywood might be looking for in a studio head, and how the town is feeling about Netflix. If you enjoyed the episode, share it with a friend!

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On this week’s episode, Sonny is joined by Jason Baker of Callosum Studios, the house that helped design the sure-to-be-iconic mask from the upcoming horror film The Black Phone. They also discussed designing masks for the WWE, pandemic-related slowdowns, working with FX legend Tom Savini, and Jason’s documentary about said legend, Smoke and Mirrors: The Story of Tom Savini. You can stream that now on Tubi or YouTube or hold off until the special edition Blu-ray drops in October. Make sure to check out Jason’s handiwork in The Black Phone, dropping next week. And if you enjoyed the show share it with a friend!

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