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I'm Stephen Metcalf, and this is the Slate Culture Gab Fest Maximum Fun edition.

This is also the daily podcast from Slate.com for Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010.

On today's program, Toy Story 3, The Science of a Good Vacation, and Clive Thompson joins us to talk about

Watson, the latest development in artificial intelligence. Joining me today, our Slate's deputy

editor, Julia Turner. Hello, Julia. Hi, Steve. And our film critic, Dana Stevens. Hey, Dana.

Hey, Dana. The Toy Story franchise is now 15 years old. It's still crisply, arguably, beautifully produced entertainment. The new one gives us Woody and Buzz, of course, but also daycare as a kind of toy penal colony presided over by Ken, a sinister metrosexual, and a giant, hideous cock-eyed baby doll as the muscle. It's clever, it's fun. There was a line at the – I finally saw the first one, which is a terrific movie. At the end of it, there's an absolutely killer line, which is great. Now I have guilt. And now it turns out it was a... Who says that? I can't remember. I think it could be... One of them screws up trying to get Buzz and Woody back onto the moving van, and he really messes up egregiously, and he says, great, now I have guilt.

And it's a great line because it will go flying way over the head of a kid.

But it was a peep into where the franchise was going in a way.

I think of you as this hard-bitten, you know, leathery, a tough guy.

You don't let these movies hit you in the solar plexus, but you've done nothing but weep your way through these movies, Dana.

Tell me about what it is about them.

But first of all, I have no idea where you got leathery, a tough guy, because I'm the biggest sap in the history of film pieces. But, oh, yeah, Toy Story. Well, okay, where do we start? I thought the new movie was a complete success and a surprising success. I can't think of another case in which the third installment of a three-part series is as good as the best one and possibly is the best one. Another thing that's unusual, I think,

about this part three serialization this time is just that there was such a huge lapse in between

the last movie and this one, right? The first toy story was in 1995. It was the first Pixar movie.

The second was in 99. And then suddenly 11 years later, we get the third one. So it couldn't

help but feel like, well, maybe this is something sputtering to a close? Are they trying to milk the franchise? Is this going to be up to the level that we've come to expect from Pixar? And I just really felt that it hit it out of the park. I don't know about you guys. And knock my socks off. I was so funny, so clever, so smart. I was weeping like a child at the end. And you hadn't seen the first two.

I still haven't seen the first two movies ever. And I want to go back and see them immediately. You were actually the only one of us who would have been in the age demographic to see them as a little kid. I'm not that much younger than you, Dana. I always think of you as some, how old were you in 95? ballpark if you will

17

oh okay so that's exactly the age

you wouldn't have seen it. Right, right, right. But Steve, you had never seen them with your kids or anything? I hadn't. They'd been the right age for some of the new releases from Pixar, so I never went back and read a toy story. I always heard it was a great movie. I finally watched it this past weekend. It's terrific. I do think the first one is untouchable in a way, but that they're able to even approach it with the third one is absolutely amazing. They make very smart choices for writers. They hired Joss Whedon before Joss Whedon was Joss Whedon to work on the first one. Joel Cohen. I'm assuming, is Joel Cohen of Joel Cohen fame,

...