The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood

On this week’s episode, I’m joined by Daniel Roher, the Oscar-winning director of Navalny, to talk about his first narrative feature, Tuner, which is streaming now on Paramount+. It’s one of my favorite movies of the year, so I was pretty thrilled to get him on the show and pick his brain about how the movie came to be, the importance of sound design for creating an unforgettable theatrical experience, and how he nabbed Leo Woodall, who has shot up my list of best young actors on the planet following this and Tony. 
And really, seriously: you should watch Tuner. It’s streaming now and available for rental. It’s a propulsive 107 minutes, the perfect length for a high-concept thriller like this. And I guarantee you’ll be blown away by the cast: Dustin Hoffman, Havana Rose Liu, and Woodall are all pretty amazing.

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).