Tag Archives: Ike Barinholtz

Amazon pulls out of releasing the Sam Altam biopic Artificial after a partnership with OpenAI

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Logo design featuring the word 'mozon' with a stylized arrow underneath, resembling the Amazon logo.

Welcome to entertainment where one unrelated division’s interests and deals impact movies and television. Amazon will no longer release Luca Guadagnino‘s film Artificial, which is a biopic about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The film stars Andrew Garfield as Altman and is currently in post-production.

A spokesperson for Amazon confirmed the change of plans:

We have the utmost respect and admiration for Luca Guadagnino as an award-winning filmmaker — not to mention a longstanding relationship that we hope to continue. We believe that Artificial will be better served if it were released by a different studio and are working closely with the filmmaking team to find the film a new home.

Amazon has said it’d “attempt to help” Guadagnino find another studio to release the project.

In February 2026, OpenAI and Amazon announced a strategic partnership that included an environment of OpenAI models available to AWS customers, AWS being the exclusive third-party cloud distribution provider for OpenAI Frontier, Amazon investing $50 billion OpenAI, and more.

Artificial explores Sam Altman’s OpenAI and its turbulent time in 2023 when Altman was fired and rehired over a couple of days.

The film was announced in 2025 and the ensemble includes Mark Rylance, Andrew Garfield, Yura Borisov, Monica Barbaro, Billie Lourd, Jason Schwartzman, Cooper Koch, Cooper Hoffman, and Ike Barinholtz.

Beyond the partnership witb OpenAI, Amazon’s chief Jeff Bezos has been bullish on artificial intelligence, stating more resources should be given to it and that it wouldn’t take jobs from humans but he believes it’ll create jobs.

Experts have warner AI will have a negative impact on the labor market and we’ve already seen its devastating impact on the environment and its sucking up utilities causing prices to soar.

The move by Amazon should be a concern for anyone when it comes to the consolidation of entertainment and news by large tech companies and their willingness to use both to benefit themselves.

Amazon’s move can easily be read as its unwillingness to criticize a partner of theirs, risking an investment. It should then extend to Bezos’ Washington Post and what stories they might be ignoring or suppressing due to similar concerns.

With the current acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance, we can question that marriage of technology company (Paramount Skydance’s owner David Ellison is the son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison) and entertainment and whether the new Paramount Skydance/WBD would be willing to have its news division or entertainment criticize AI or even come out against it. DC Comics‘ leadership has stated AI would not be used in the production of their product as an example and we’ve seen Ellison’s choice for leadership of CBS News willing to spike stories to benefit the Ellison’s and their relationship with the Trump administration.

A bigger question needs to go to those in the entertainment industry, how much are they willing to go along with this “mandate” and how much are they willing to push back against it?

Movie Review: Blockers

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blockers posterEven while being a tad predictable, Blockers manages to subvert many of the tropes of the teen sex comedy genre and provide some refreshing social commentary on the sexual politics of 2018.

Parents played by Leslie Mann, John Cena, and Ike Barinholtz stumble upon their daughters’ group text messages promising to lose their virginity on prom night and decide they have to put a stop to it. And wackiness ensues. Sounds pretty basic, right? Except director Kay Cannon (Pitch Perfect, 30 Rock) brings a sardonic social commentary that sets it apart from its peers.

By focusing on characters and motivations, the film transcends its otherwise formulaic plot and gags. Both Mann and Cena have to confront their own internalized patriarchy, gender roles and sex-negative attitudes, but they’re both coming at this from very different places. Even better, both show depth as actors, not just comedic performers, and provide good ways “in” for the audience.

Mann’s overactive busybody mom is a great feminist — except when it comes to letting her own daughter make her own decisions. So, in reality, she’s a bad feminist.

Cena’s sensitive, supporting dad is a textbook example of alternative, non-toxic masculinity — until he isn’t, and wants to throw his daughter’s prom date through a wall.

In one of the best scenes of the film, Cena’s wife, played by Sarayu Blue, calls them both out for their ridiculous behavior and hypocrisy. They don’t get it, but hopefully we do.

In a surprising turn, Barinholtz provides the most interesting character arc, as his motivations for stopping his daughter are due to (spoiler alert? not exactly) the fact that he knows she is gay, even if she doesn’t yet. As the screw-up in the troika of main adult characters, it’s surprising that he is the one with the clearest and most defensible motivation.

The actual standout performance of the film, however, comes from Geraldine Viswanathan, who plays Kayla, one of the three girls. She is a star in the making, and it’s unfortunate Marvel can’t snatch her up and speed a Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel film into production.

It would also be remiss to not mention amazing appearances by Gary Cole and Gina Gershon. Spoiler alert: nudity. Lots and lots of nude Gary Cole. Good for you, Gary!

While this film has a lot of laughs, it’s also a bit longer than it needs to be. And despite its social message, it really is just a teen sex comedy. But if you’re looking for some cringeworthy laughs and lots and lots of mens’ butts, you might enjoy Blockers.

3 out of 5 stars