Before we get to today’s episode, a piece of exciting news: Across the Movie Aisle is teaming up with the Alamo Drafthouse in Crystal City for a special screening of the Matthew Broderick classic Wargames (1983) on Tuesday, May 16, at 7:30 PM. Alyssa, Peter, and Sonny will all be there, and they’re going to be taping a bonus episode of the show in addition to hanging out and enjoying a draft or two. Click on this event page to buy tickets (make sure to pick Tuesday 5/16 and Crystal City.) Make sure to share this with friends who might enjoy either the pod or simply watching a movie about cinema’s apocalyptic moment!
On this week’s episode, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) talk about Warner Bros. Discovery’s decision to strip the HBO from HBO Max so as not to scare off fans of Dr. Pimple Popper. Then they discuss Netflix’s hit comedy Murder Mystery 2. Is this the lowest-common-denominator fuff WBD should be chasing? Did, gasp, one of our enlightened group of elite critics really enjoy this picture? You’ll have to listen to find out! Make sure to swing by Bulwark+ on Friday for our bonus episode on the best movies of the century (so far!). And if you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend!
I'm with Alyssa on Adam Sandler. There are others too. You are not alone.
All of Zaslav's decisions have been probably right given the current situation. Things would probably have been better if Warner Brothers and Discovery hadn't merged and taken on $15B of debt though.
I’m not a fan of Adam Sandler but I do watch his movies when the critics go wild, and uh, that’s okay. Uncut Gems was good. I totally get why MM2 is so popular.
LOVE this pod! That said, I think Ryan Murphy’s insane deal (and others like it) are not a SECONDARY question at all: MAX is a lazy solution to a problem no one seems to want to understand well enough to find an actual good solution. In addition to the Disney model to which Sonny refers, there is the Amazon come-play-here-and-embellish-as-you-choose model with mGM+, BritBox, and other add-ons. A reasonable approach; and, as with most things Amazon, it’s going to generate customer/use/price data everyone else is going to drool over😉
And I’m totally with Amanda re Adam Sandler.
I am totally in agreement with Amanda. I can not really stand Adam Sandler or Aniston. Also was very disappointed in the Clooney /Roberts movie.
totally mean comment. Sorry. I am Canadian so I must apologize. I love your pod cast. Never miss it, but if Adam Sandler was on every Netflix show, Sonny, that would be truly awful.