The Bulwark

The Bulwark

Home
Shows
Newsletters
Special Projects
Events
Founders
Store
Archive
About

Share this post

The Bulwark
The Bulwark
Merry Christmas!
User's avatar
Discover more from The Bulwark
The Bulwark is home to Sarah Longwell, Tim Miller, Bill Kristol, JVL, Sam Stein, and more. We are the largest pro-democracy bundle on Substack for news and analysis on politics and culture—supported by a community built on good-faith.
Over 835,000 subscribers
Already have an account? Sign in
Bulwark Goes to Hollywood

Merry Christmas!

Plus, a multiplex ranking.

Sonny Bunch's avatar
Sonny Bunch
Dec 24, 2021
17

Share this post

The Bulwark
The Bulwark
Merry Christmas!
Share

Merry Christmas, everyone! Just wanted to share some links—including my annual top ten—with you. But before we do that, I figured I’d let you know what you should check out in multiplexes if you have some time to kill this week. I’m going to be seeing Licorice Pizza at some point, since it’s playing near me in 70mm. Since I haven’t seen it, though, I can’t rank it. Of the films I have seen that are out right now, the list looks something like:

7. The Matrix Resurrections (I’d just watch this one at home, honestly, since it’s streaming on HBO Max. It is very rare that I make this recommendation, so that should help you decide what I think of this one.)

6. The King’s Man (It’s an interesting mess!)

5. Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Probably the family-friendliest option.)

4. West Side Story (Steven Spielberg doesn’t miss.)

3. Nightmare Alley (For those looking for something a bit darker.)

2. Spider-Man: No Way Home (There’s a reason it’s going to pass a billion dollars at the box office at some point tomorrow.)

1. Red Rocket (Do not, I repeat, do not take grandma and grandpa to this one.)


Share


Links!

Make sure to check out my annual, and definitive, top ten.

I dropped two reviews on the site this week: one for The King’s Man and one for The Matrix Resurrections. You can probably guess by my ranking above which I prefer, though I think both are kind of a mess.

We had a fun series of essays on Christmas movies that aren’t traditional Christmas movies:

  • Bill Ryan sang the praises of The Ice Harvest, an absolutely under-appreciated Harold Ramis gem.

  • John DeVore made his debut on the site to highlight one of my personal favorite Christmas movies, Brazil, the most dystopian film about our most dystopian holiday.

  • And I took a crack at Metropolitan, a movie that calls to mind the Christmas party season about as well as any I can think of.

Addison Del Mastro’s take on the state of Christmas songs is well worth reading if you have found yourself wondering where the great modern Christmas songs are.


Assigned Viewing: Deadly Games: Dial Code Santa Claus (AMC+)

I received Deadly Games: Dial Code Santa as a gift last year from my friend JK and it is absolutely bonkers. Imagine Home Alone (the makers of which were threatened with litigation by the producers of this film for ripping it off), but instead of Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern hunting a snot-nosed punk it’s a deranged, murderous Santa Claus, and instead of Chris Columbus, imagine the film is directed and set-designed by people who were very into 1980s heavy metal music videos, and you have some sense of what’s going on in this picture. Not for kids!


Subscribe to The Bulwark

Tens of thousands of paid subscribers
The Bulwark is home to Sarah Longwell, Tim Miller, Bill Kristol, JVL, Sam Stein, and more. We are the largest pro-democracy bundle on Substack for news and analysis on politics and culture—supported by a community built on good-faith.
17

Share this post

The Bulwark
The Bulwark
Merry Christmas!
Share
The American Age Is Over
Emergency Triad: The United States commits imperial suicide.
Apr 3 ā€¢ 
Jonathan V. Last
5,379

Share this post

The Bulwark
The Bulwark
The American Age Is Over
1,482
How to Think (and Act) Like a Dissident Movement
AOC, solidarity, and people power.
Mar 24 ā€¢ 
Jonathan V. Last
4,138

Share this post

The Bulwark
The Bulwark
How to Think (and Act) Like a Dissident Movement
1,164
Chaos, Cowards, and Alligator Alcatraz
The gang goes live on this edition of The Next Level.
Jul 2 ā€¢ 
Tim Miller
, 
Jonathan V. Last
, and 
Sarah Longwell
2,487

Share this post

The Bulwark
The Bulwark
Chaos, Cowards, and Alligator Alcatraz
698
1:06:42

Ready for more?

Ā© 2025 Bulwark Media
Privacy āˆ™ Terms āˆ™ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share