With Jeremy Fuster having to bow out for the week, Caroline Siede, she of The AV Club, the podcast Role Calling (each episode is “a five-film retrospective starring an actor they love”), stops by to discuss all things Toy Story 5, with a few brief notes related to Obsession’s ridiculous legs, hopes and fears for Supergirl and last weekend’s other three releases (The Death of Robin Hood, Leviticus and Girls Like Girls). Among the subjects of discourse…

* All of the reasons (some less obvious than others) that Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story remains a top-tier artistic and commercial franchise

* The miracle that is Jessie, beginning as a supporting character in Toy Story 2 and then almost immediately becoming a co-lead going forward

* Why you can’t make a Toy Story movie without Woody or Buzz

* Whether any franchise can match Toy Story’s artistic batting average

* The value of keeping theatrical IP almost exclusive to theatrical release

* How A24 has positioned itself, whether it works each time out, as a genuine brand name for moviegoers

* The commercial value of LGBTQIA-friendly movies during Pride Month

* To what extent Taylor Swift gave the film a commercial boost or merely hitched her wagon to a preordained blockbuster (and why WB should have offered up Supergirl trailers and TV spots featuring modern music*)

* And more…!

*Okay, so WB eventually did exactly as hoped, natch…

Recommended Reading/Listening…

* Scott Mendelson went long on how the wave of youth-skewing sleeper hits, alongside older franchise flicks breaking out partially because they are attuned to today’s kids, is reminiscent of the great box office readjustment of 2001.

* Jeremy Fuster goes deep into attempts to pitch the federal government (the executive and legislative branches) on a federal film tax credit.

* Lisa Laman offers her picks for the best neo-westerns of all time.

* Ryan Scott dug into the commercial failure and complicated post-debut legacy of what is technically the first Black superhero movie (at least of remotely modern times), Robert Townsend’s The Meteor Man.

* Caroline Siede explained, quite correctly, I might note, how and why The Adventures of Robin Hood (or, as I call it, the best Hollywood action movie up until, I dunno, From Russia with Love) is the ideal gateway drug to get kids (and adults) into classic cinema.

If you like what you hear, please like, share, comment, and subscribe (using a cartoon mallet) with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at [email protected] (which I finally fixed so that it’ll forward to my personal business email, natch).

* Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News

* Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap

* Lisa Laman - Land of the Nerds, Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Autostraddle

* Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm, Fangoria and Inverse

* Max Deering - Fangoria and Action For Everyone

* Caroline Siede - GirlCulture, The AV Club and Role Calling

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