Pixar films, and especially those in the Toy Story franchise, have always excelled at pitching to both kids and adults. Toy Story 5 takes that feature to the next level by tackling issues on every parent’s mind: screen time, devices, and Internet safety. As both parents of grade school kids and teachers of college students, Greg and I really ran with this topic and the film’s treatment of in it in our discussion. We share our prior relationship to the franchise, compare this fifth installment to the previous ones, and share what moved us and what made us laugh.

We go into SPOILER MODE at the 25:13 minute mark. If spoilers are not a part of your daily weather forecast, you can listen safely until then.

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The truth is really out there! This week on the show we talk about Steven Spielberg’s latest cinematic statement on extraterrestrial life, Disclosure Day. In theaters now, the science fiction thriller is full of intense chase sequences, inexplicable phenomena, and an astonishing performance from Emily Blunt; all of that prompted us to over-analyze, over-interpret, under-critique (if we’re being honest), and parse the polarized response to the film. Before we get into our discussion of Disclosure Day, we check on our 2026 Movie Hype Draft rosters to see who has taken the lead or fallen behind in the wake of release announcements and the Cannes Film Festival.

Also, check out Greg’s written review of Disclosure Day on his own Substack.

We go into SPOILER MODE at the 45:43 minute mark. If spoilers are not a part of your daily weather forecast, you can listen safely until then.

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Here at The Long Take Review, we are incredibly excited to see master filmmaker Steven Spielberg return to the sci-fi thriller genre for the first time since War of the Worlds in 2005. But, as fans of his know, his filmography of over 60 years spans many other genres as well. So what better way to celebrate the architect of the modern summer blockbuster than to have a draft of all of his films to date? We invited Anthony King of Force Ghost Conversations to join us in a rumble across six categories: Oscar Nominee, Science Fiction, Historical Film, Collaborator, Produced By, and Wild Card.

For more Spielberg-centric content from both The Long Take Review and Force Ghost Conversations, follow the links below:

Masters of the Air (Force Ghost Conversations

Saving Private Ryan (Force Ghost Conversations)

Schindler’s List (Force Ghost Conversations)

Jaws 50th Anniversary (Force Ghost Conversations)

Jaws 50th Anniversary (The Long Take Review)

This is a spoiler free episode. We do discuss some of the qualities of each film we draft, but our discussion contains no major spoilers.

Image Credit: Reddit r/popculturechat (taken from the Disclosure Day press tour)

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The box office is booming, but, weirdly, it’s not because there’s a new Star Wars film in theaters for the first time in seven years. Two low budget horror films that have ties to YouTube, Backrooms (which cost $10 million) and Obsession (which cost < $1 million), have raised eyebrows and questions about the future of theatrical moviemaking.

This unexpected windfall caught our attention as well, so we called in our own in-house horror expert, Professor Sarah Hastings, to give us a rundown of the year in horror films so far and help us with a deep dive into Obsession. We talk about who the villains and victims of the film might be, share the moments that scared us the most, and collectively build a thesis for what the film says about relationships, dating, consent, Gen Z, and even A.I. We hope you stay with us and never leave. *grin*

We go into SPOILER MODE at the 52:21 minute mark. If spoilers don’t set your heart ablaze, you can listen safely until then.

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The Internet can’t seem to decide if The Mandalorian and Grogu is actually doing well at the box office so far. Many news article frame the opening weekend as a failure, saying it is a “disappointment” that hits a “series low.” Meanwhile, other articles have crowned the action adventure film as the winner of the long weekend. According to box office analyst Scott Mendelson, the early performance of The Mandalorian and Grogu resembles Solo: A Star Wars Story, but, importantly, has a much smaller budget hurdle because it didn’t have all of the production turmoil that Solo did. Solo had to recoup a $275 million budget while Mando and Grogu needs to surpass $165 million to break even. This is all to say that while this film likely won’t compete with bigger hits from this year like Project Hail Mary, it’s still going to do “fine.”

But will any of its moderate success be deserved? That’s the big question we debate on this episode of The Long Take Review. And to help us assess what many critics call a glorified television episode, Star Wars author and podcaster Dan Zehr joins us to discuss the questions of audience, story, character development, and Star Wars mythology that surround baby Yoda’s first movie. Dan also shares some insights he has gained from his experience attending the Hollywood premiere and interviewing the creators behind the film.

You can find Dan and all his amazing work at coffeewithkenobi.com.

We go into SPOILER MODE at the 33:52 minute mark. If spoilers are not party of your bounty hunter assignment, you can listen safely until then.

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Star Wars is about to return to cinemas with Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian and Grogu, which is just days away from its opening weekend. To celebrate Star Wars on the big screen, and, frankly, to calm our nerves as we restlessly await the new film, we recorded an extra long take in which we rank all twelve films from the franchise that were released in theaters. (In case your math is not mathing, we included the 2008 animated film The Clone Wars.) For an added challenge, we forced (no pun intended) ourselves to come to a consensus to build one ranked list together. Where will we agree? Where will we put up a fight? And how will our micro-generational differences manifest in our individual placement proposals? Listen to find out as we start at the bottom and work our way to the top.

We’d also love to hear your rankings! So please feel free to drop those in the comments.

Image Credit: Star Wars News Net

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Strike a pose and prepare your finest fit montage because we’re reviewing The Devil Wears Prada 2! Having looked back at the original film last week, Greg, P.T., and I size up one of the most anticipated sequels of the summer movie season. What surprised us about this reunion 20 years later? What delighted us? And how might this film be the perfect encapsulation of life, media, and technology in 2026? Follow us down the runway to find out.

We go into SPOILER MODE at the 27:30 minute mark. If spoilers are not your style, you can listen safely until then.

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Gird your loins! The first movie of the summer movie season, The Devil Wears Prada 2, is in theaters now. To prepare for our review, we wanted to turn back the clock twenty years and revisit (or, for some of us, watch for the first time) the original film starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, and Emily Blunt. What feels dated? What holds up? Is this the Meryl Streep show or an ensemble film? Does Miranda Priestly’s behavior make us smile or call HR? Join us for a fashionably long conversation. (We’re sorry, do you have some prior commitment? Some hideous skirt convention you have to go to?)

Since The Devil Wears Prada is a vintage design, we get into spoilers pretty quickly. You can catch the film on Disney+ or Hulu and then come back in style with us after you’ve seen it.

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When Oscar nerds think back to the 71st Academy Awards, they remember Shakespeare in Love, which won seven Oscars, Saving Private Ryan, which won five, and maybe Life is Beautiful, which won 3. (I still remember actor/director Roberto Benigni climbing on the seats to get to the stage when his film won in what is now the International Feature category.) Too often, though, people forget that the same year Spielberg’s film about WWII Normandy hit big at the box office, another epic war drama with a large, star-studded ensemble came out that year: Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line.

Luckily, friend of the show and host of the Force Ghost Conversations podcast, Anthony King, joins us on this LTR Guest List episode to rescue Malick’s work from history. He shares his wealth of knowledge about WWII and behind the scenes stories of the film’s production as we dissect what can only described as a transcendental experience. How does Malick portray war differently than other filmmakers? Which young up and coming actor from the 90s did we enjoy best? And what’s going on with all the cutting to shots of nature or Miranda Otto? Army crawl with us as we traverse the many hills of this film.

SPOILER WARNING: Unlike our regular reviews, LTR Guest List episodes will be in Spoiler Mode from the beginning so that our guests can feel as unencumbered as possible. So if you have not yet seen The Thin Red Line and do not want it spoiled, return to us after you’ve seen it.

The Thin Red Line is currently available to rent or buy on platforms such as Apple TV, Amazon Prime, etc.

The LTR Guest List is a special series in which we ask our friends to pick a movie – any movie – to discuss with us on air. If you’re a friend of the show and you have a movie you’d like to pitch, you can email us at [email protected].

Image Credit: RogerEbert.com

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For once, a trailer didn’t spoil the movie! The marketing materials for Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama, playing in theaters now, have kept one big reveal fundamental to the plot of the film a secret. And considering it made $14 million its opening weekend and is currently at over $46 million worldwide, it seems as though that decision has paid off. Was it purely the intrigue and mystery of the plot that drove people to theaters? Or were its megawatt stars, Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, enough to draw them out of their homes?

In this episode of The Long Take Review, Greg, P.T., and I try to dance around spoilers big and small while still helping those who have not yet seen it decide whether or not they would like it. Then we let loose and dive deep into an examination of what the film has to say about marriage, relationships, moral judgment, and memory.

We go into SPOILER MODE at the 21:11 minute mark. If spoilers give you pre-wedding day jitters, pause your listening then.

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