The Son Also Rises: John Buffalo Mailer on Defending Cinema in the Age of Slop
Alex Rollins Berg's Substack interview with John Buffalo Mailer on film culture, Rotten Tomatoes, working with Oliver Stone and Mike Nichols, and growing up as Norman Mailer's son. An about-Mailer (family/legacy) clipping.
Read an excerpt (rights pending)
Alex Rollins Berg. “The Son Also Rises: John Buffalo Mailer on Defending Cinema in the Age of Slop.” Underexposed, 19 June 2025. https://alexrollinsberg.substack.com/p/the-son-also-rises-john-buffalo-mailer
The 50th edition of Berg’s film newsletter, given over to an interview with John Buffalo Mailer — screenwriter, actor, and producer, and executive producer of the 2024 documentary How to Come Alive with Norman Mailer. The conversation ranges over the corrosive effect of Rotten Tomatoes on film culture, his work with Oliver Stone and Mike Nichols, the “nepo baby” label, and “growing up in the shadow of a literary street fighter.” Norman Mailer figures as inheritance and frame of reference throughout. The full text is held in the working archive (rights not yet cleared); see The Son Also Rises: John Buffalo Mailer on Defending Cinema in the Age of Slop under texts.