Across the Movie Aisle

'Toy Story 5' Asks Why We Need to Play

Plus: Amazon-MGM kills a movie critical of OpenAI. Should we be worried?

Sonny Bunch, Alyssa Rosenberg, and Peter Suderman

Jun 23, 2026

On this week’s episode, we discuss the startling news that Amazon-MGM has decided to bail on distributing Luca Guadagnino’s forthcoming film about Sam Altman and OpenAI. Is this simply a matter of reconciling conflicts of interest, or is something more dastardly involved? Then they review Toy Story 5: The One With Screens. Does it live up to its predecessors? Or is it something to be half-watched on a tablet while folding socks? Make sure to swing by Bulwark+ on Thursday for our special bonus episode on the best animated features of the 21st century. And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend!

Discussion about this video

1. The 'Toy Story 5' conversation left me wondering if Neal Stephenson's 'The Diamond Age' can be seen as a forerunner to the entire 'Toy Story' series. (Probably not, but....one never knows.)

2. Not sure if you're familiar with the circumstances under which J. Robert Lennon's 'Happyland' was shelved by its publisher about 20 years ago, but — it might be apropos to the 'Artificial' discussion. NY Times Article

3. The discussion over government authority and corporate authority reminded me that I've been meaning to read this book for ages now: Private Government

Alyssa, Peter, your thoughts on this?