The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood The Bulwark

As readers may remember, The Beekeeper has been one of my favorite movies of the year thus far. One thing in particular I loved about it was the costume design: It’s an underappreciated artform, conveying character through clothing, and the costuming in this film perfectly conveyed a range of characters, from “taciturn hero” to “crazed killer” to “crypto douchebag.” 

Which is why I’m very excited to have Kelli Jones, the film’s costume designer, on this week to talk about The Beekeeper and her work elsewhere. From previous collaborations with director David Ayer on movies like Bright to the long-running FX biker gang show The Sons of Anarchy to Oscar-nominated biopics like Straight Outta Compton and Nyad, Jones’s work is a striking example of the importance of clothing in bringing a cinematic world to life. 

And I have a favor to ask you. The next time you’re watching a movie, think about the silent—but very visible—work that costume design is doing. Look at the suits, soak in the dresses, think about how fabrics can convey period with a simple glance. 

On this week’s show I talked to Rod Blackhurst, the director of the new film Blood for Dust, about … well, a whole bunch of stuff. From his early shorts on the comedy website Funny or Die starring Dave Franco and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, to a documentary about Amanda Knox, to the horror short “Night Swim” (which recently received the feature-length treatment), to his new picture with the great Scoot McNairy and an all-star supporting cast that includes Ethan Suplee, Stephen Dorff, Josh Lucas, and Kit Harrington, we cover his whole career.

Blood for Dust hits VOD and has a limited theatrical engagement six days from now, and if you’re in the mood for a western neo-noir that deals with people who feel real (and have real-feeling problems), you’re not going to want to miss it. 

I’m very excited to be rejoined by the Entertainment Strategy Guy (subscribe to his newsletter!) to discuss the year in streaming. What were the biggest hits in TV and film? What were the biggest misses? Could linear-like ad-supported streaming services be the future for big services like Netflix and Disney+? Is there a double standard for the tech-based streamers and the studio-owned streamers? All that and more on this week’s episode. If you enjoyed it, share it with a friend!

This week I was thrilled to chat with star David Krumholtz and writer-director Bob Byington about their new movie, Lousy Carter. It’s a wide-ranging conversation, touching on topics from shooting during the age of Covid to where Krumholtz was when he got the call to audition for Oppenheimer, and I hope you find it as fun to listen to as it was for me to conduct. If you enjoyed it, I hope you share it with a friend.

A little extra this week: I hope you check out both Lousy Carter and Byington’s body of work. Everyone says they’re tired of the same old mush at the multiplex; well, here’s a chance to dive into a body of work you may not be familiar with. Some highlights:





Byington and Krumholtz previously worked together on Frances Ferguson, which you can watch for free on Amazon Prime; it is charmingly dry and occasionally cutting without coming across as meanspirited. Star Kaley Wheless gives a realistic and somewhat complicated performance as the substitute teacher convicted of sleeping with an (of-legal-age) student, while Krumholtz’s turn at the end as a group therapist is both humorous and humane.




Somebody Up There Likes Me (available for free on Peacock and for rental elsewhere) is an amusing look at a slacker floating through life starring Nick Offerman and Keith Poulson, and the framing device—we skip ahead five years each sequence, giving us 35 years in the life of Poulson’s character—is weirdly affecting. The passage of time comes for us all, or some such.




Infinity Baby (streaming on Kanopy and Amazon) is probably the oddest of these four films: set in the not-too-distant future, Kieran Culkin’s Ben works for a pharmaceutical company that accidentally made babies that never grow older. He’s interesting as a free-floating cad—and Culkin is an absolutely magnetic screen presence—but I think the best performance belongs to Martin Starr (Silicon Valley, Party Down). He’s playing slightly against type here: rather than a sure-of-himself-know-it-all, he’s a little more fidgety, a little unsteady. And that unsteadiness pays off in the film’s closing moments, as we see the results of an unexpected responsibility.

On this week’s episode I’m thrilled to be rejoined by Brandon Struessnig and Bilge Ebiri, who spearhead Vulture’s annual Stunt Awards. We talked about the year’s big winner, John Wick Chapter 4, how folks kind of have to decide for themselves how much CGI is too much CGI when determining what counts as practical and what counts as digital, and compiling the 100 most influential fight scenes of all time. Some important links for you: 


The winners of the 2024 stunt awards;
Brandon’s tribute to Henry Kingi;
The 100 most influential fights in action cinema;
And a preview of The Fall Guy.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend!

This week I’m honored to be joined by Dallas Film Commissioner Tony Armer to discuss what, precisely, a film commissioner does. On this episode he discusses his own path to getting involved in the film industry, breaks down different kinds of incentives cities and states use to woo productions, and talks about how Dallas has made itself more attractive to major productions looking for a place to shoot. We also talk a bit about Tony’s podcast; do yourself a favor and check out the episode featuring a post-screening Q&A with cinematographer Roger Deakins, who was in town a few months back for a showing of Blade Runner 2049. And if you enjoyed this podcast, please share it with a friend!