We took a major hiatus from releasing podcast episodes. For all of you supporters—with their time and/or dollars—we have a special episode bringing back a special guest for a Spoilers episode on Disclosure Day. DD was our scorecard last week, and we’re stoked to bring Patrick D’Silva, PhD, back on to break down Spielberg movies, DD, and speak to the story's religious themes with an expert in the subject. Josh had a blast talking with him, and we’ll get the episode up on the feed by the week’s end.
Until then,
Here’s what we have for you this week:
Concession Stand Scorecard: Toy Story 5
Watchlist Worthy: The Fifth Ogre & Donkey installment?!
This week’s movie - Toy Story 5
Letterboxd Description:
It’s on.
When Bonnie receives a Lilypad tablet as a gift and becomes obsessed, Buzz, Woody, Jessie and the rest of the gang’s jobs become exponentially harder when they have to go head to head with the all-new threat to playtime.
Best Watched With
Anyone who is still a kid at heart (or anyone who wants to be)
End Credit Thoughts
Okay — the crew (Eric) may be a little biased on this one. Some of us (Eric) still have Buzz Lightyear toys from the 90s that we just couldn’t get rid of. Some of us (Eric) have taken Buzz with us (Eric) to other countries and even to Europe in high school.
SO, take that into account when reading this. LOL.
Pixar never misses when it comes to Toy Story movies. Do they miss with other movies? Yeah, they absolutely do all the time. But damn, they still got it. Jessie, Woody, Buzz & the gang take us on another adventure against everyone’s worst enemy: TECHNOLOGY. Now going into this, based on the trailer, etc, we really thought this would be a shake-your-fist-at-the-sky “curse you technology” freight train. But, as Pixar always does, they told a wonderful story about how we can navigate change and growing up through love.
The entire toy gang goes up against Lilly Pad, a device that sucks Bonnie (and every other kid on planet earth) into all-out zombie mode. When she first gets her device, she becomes lifeless. She discards her toys, ignores her parents, and wants nothing more than screen time. The gang must find a way to win Bonnie back and not lose her to tech forever, and the adventure they go on to do just that is such a fun ride!
Life is tough for a kid. At times, technology makes it much tougher. It can be brutal, and the movie shows the dark side of tech and handles a bit of cyberbullying. We come full circle in the end, and the toy gang helps Bonnie learn to navigate tech, build friendships, and navigate change and growing up. There was a line in there (that we may butcher), but it was something along the lines of TRUE friends won’t want you to change a thing. We love that. True friends will take you as you are.
So, for all the kids out there who want to fit in, don’t worry! The right people will come along eventually, and you’ll find a community that is worth waiting for. Screw any kid or “friend” who wants you to change who you are.
The Pixar way of weaving in humor for the adults is so amazing. We truly believe this is a movie for ALL ages. As is every movie in the Toy Story saga.
Please go watch this in theaters. Not only to keep the theater alive, but to keep the inner child inside you alive, too.
Want to know more about our individual ratings of movies?
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Shrek 5 by Walt Dohrn, Conrad Vernon
Letterboxd Description:
The All-Star returns.
Shrek and Donkey team up for another whirlwind, big-city adventure.
The fifth?! Honestly, I forgot we’ve already gotten a third and fourth.
Will this continue the swamp ogre’s legacy? Or is this too much?
I do not know. But Shrek was paramount to my upbringing, and is a staple in popular culture. It stars the OG folks like Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz with the addition to new voices: Zendaya (who is on a tear of pumping out BANGERS), Marcello Hernádez (who I have yet to meet someone who is not charmed by his charisma), and Skyler Gisondo (who has been building up a name for himself, including starring in the latest Superman movie). I would watch this movie regardless, but with these new names, I am even more sat. I am looking forward to experiencing this big-city adventure of Shrek and Donkey and I am sure I am not alone.
-JP :)
Tune in next week for | Supergirl
Hopefully. This is the plan. It may come Saturday morning. There’s a lot going on next week, but we’ll see how it pans out.
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