Speaker 1: And we are back with another edition of the Federalist
Radio Hour. I'm Matt Kittle, Senior Elections correspondent at the
Federalist and your experienced Shirpa on today's quest for Knowledge.
As always, you can email the show at radio at
the Federalist dot com, follow us on x at FDR LST,
make sure to subscribe wherever you download your podcast, and
of course to the premium version of our website as well.
Our guest today is Christian Toto, Award winning film critic,
journalist and founder of Hollywood in Toto, the excellent site
for all things Hollywood criticism, movies, entertainment culture from a
conservative point of view. How about that? He also hosts
the Hollywood in Toto podcast on the Radio America Network. Christian,
thank you so much for joining us on this edition
of the Federalist Radio Hour.
Speaker 2: Oh my pleasure. Glad to join the show.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. You and I have spoken on a number of
occasions over the years in radio formats. You know that
gives us just a few minutes to hash out what
is happening the latest madness in Hollywood. I'm glad we
have a chance to kind of expound upon that through
this format. Let us begin with topics you cover on
a daily basis, and that is now Hollywood in Trump
two point zero. The madness continues. It continues, certainly from
the corporate media news interest. It definitely continues in Hollywood.
There was some sense, maybe I was naive about this,
that things might change through perspective. Hollywood really only has
one perspective, doesn't it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, it's funny after the election. Immediately after
the election, there was a little bit of a lull
that the Hollywood community or the key players didn't really
get on the resistance bandwagon like they did last time.
And even some August publications like Variety and The Hollywood
Reporter were just worried to death about this. You know,
where is the resistance? Where is the fight within this community?
But I think it's here. You know, we're seeing it
on stages, We're seeing it at the can Film Festival,
We're seeing it in different venues. For sure, it will
get more intense. I think as time marches on. And
you know, we saw with the last election that the
collective clout of this industry is waning. You know, we
don't really have movie stars anymore that are not named
Tom cruise, and you know, all the biggies really kind
of rallied around Kamala Harris and it didn't work. So
I don't think they took that message. I don't think
they understood what's going on, and they just are starting
to double down at this point.
Speaker 1: Are they paying the price? Which is ultimately what Hollywood,
at least the executives care about. Are they have they
paid the price financially?
Speaker 3: It's kind of a yes and no answer. I tease
before the death of the Movie Store, you know, you
really don't have any actors.
Speaker 2: Who can open a movie by themselves. Really.
Speaker 3: You know, you have properties, You've got Minecraft, You've got
the Jurassic Parks series, things like that. Those are the
really the big, the big movers and shakers in Hollywood.
So I think the actors have less job security than
they once did, but they're also gainfully employed. And you know,
Pedro Pascal is becoming one of the more vocal stars
on a lot of different fronts, and he is gainfully employed,
and he's working all the time, and he's busy as possible.
So I don't think he's suffering directly, but I think
collectively we just get a bit more frustrated by the stars.
And you know, listen, they have their free right, free
speech rights. They can say what they want. I just
wish they were more thoughtful, more measured, and less aggressive
in their posturing. I mean, you know, a Petro Pascoal
can say exactly what he wants to say, but do
it in a less severe manner, a more nuanced matter,
a less divisive matter. And they don't seem to take
that message to the heart.
Speaker 1: Oh it's the Michael Jordan thing, isn't it. And I
don't when I say Michael Jordan, I don't mean Michael B.
Jordan or whoever the star is is that I don't
know as a middle initial I can't remember. But the
guy who swept up in the Diddy situation, which if
we get a chance to we'll we'll touch upon at
a later time. But Michael Jordan used to say, you know,
how come you don't when they asked him, how come
you don't come out and talk about social issues and
all the injustices in the world, And he said, well,
first of all, I'm a basketball player, and a damn
good one, by the way, as time has told. But
he said, you know, conservatives buy my shoes too, And
that's something that I think Hollywood. It reminds me on
the news side of things, of PBS. In NPR. We
just had, you know, a couple of months ago, these
hearings about should taxpayers continue to fund these very left
wing news outlets that have just had an open war
with conservatives and Republicans, And you know, they came, their executives,
came before Congress and made their appeals and hat in
hand and said, no, we're changing, we're changing. But we
know that that is not the case. And you know
there's volumes of evidence to show that is not the case.
Hollywood is in that same sort of bubble situation. Instead
of the DC bubble, it is the Hollywood bubble, and
they just can't seem to break that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think we've seen some interesting examples in recent months.
You know, the snow White Gate with Rachel Zegler.
Speaker 2: The star of Live action reboot.
Speaker 3: You know, she really not single handedly, but her comments,
her attitude, her attacks on half the country didn't help
that film at all and it's been a massive underachiever
at the box office. And you'd think that would be
the final lesson where actors say, gosh, you know, I
may think a certain way and maybe I want to
shout my views to the world for all to hear.
But you know what, doing that may hurt my movie profits.
It could hurt you know, the box office. Maybe I
should be a little bit more thoughtful, more subtle, more
nuanced with it, and they just don't go there. And
just a recent example is the upcoming Fantastic Four movie.
Three of the four stars have either been aggressive and
trashing the source material or in the case of Pascal
I mentioned before, you know, getting very political, very vitriolic
about various causes, and it's not what the audience wants
right now. And again I mentioned the last movie star,
Tom Cruise, Well, he was recently asked about Trump and
tariffs and what impact that could have on films, and
his answer was just textbook. I just want to talk
about mission a possible party. That's what I want to
talk about. That's why I'm here. And if more stars
would take that message, I really think it would collectively
help their industry.
Speaker 2: Would it be dramatic? I don't know. I don't think so.
Speaker 3: I think there's a lot of swirling winds of change
around Hollywood and theater experiences and how we consume content.
Speaker 2: But it couldn't hurt, that's for sure.
Speaker 1: It happens on the music side as well. I think
the example. Djure is a guy who has been billed
as the Boss for years. And let me say this
first and foremost, I'm a big fan of the music
of Bruce Springsteen. I always have been and I always will.
You know, Pete Rose was one of the greatest ballplayers
of all time. He was a flawed human being. We're
all flawed human beings. I don't care about Bruce Springsteen's politics.
I don't identify with it. When he goes overseas to
the United Kingdom and starts, you know, bashing on a
duly elected president, that's his right to do, but it
doesn't mean it doesn't come with repercussions, the same kind
of repercussions we saw with the football player by the
name of Colin Kaepernick and the whole knee movement years ago.
This guy is indeed paying the price.
Speaker 3: Is he not now well, I think that's yet to
be determined. He's touring overseas and making a lot of
his comments overseas. I think that's a bit of a
tactful error, to put it kindly, you know, listen, I
think my problem with the Bruce Springsteen type is that
he's the every man.
Speaker 2: He's the blue collar hero.
Speaker 3: But when people were complaining about the high ticket prices
he was charging a couple of years ago, he basically
shrugged and said, I'm worth it. I'll give you your
money back if you don't think I gave a good show,
and really disregarded his audience. Now, listen, he is a legend,
he is an icon. He could charge whatever he wants,
but if you truly care about your fans, maybe there
are things you could do to make a little less profit.
He is insanely wealthy and he's earned it. He's a
great musician, So I thought that was a tell. But
you know, more recently, some of his comments about Trump,
and hey, listen, you could agree with everything he said
and at the same time recognize that we had a
president who was compromised intellectually and physically, and he said
nothing and he'll never say anything about it. So if
you really want to be a true blue, blue collar American,
you've got to be a truth teller.
Speaker 2: And he's not. He's just a partisan. And I think
they just makes him look poorly Christian.
Speaker 1: You know, they tried to sell us in every man
in politics. Last year's name was Tim Walls. He wore
flannel shirts. That's why he was an everyman. We're told
he was a volunteer assistant football coach or whatever he was.
He was an everyman. You know, the left has tried
to sell us the everyman idea. And you know, you
raise a very good point about appealing to the average American.
We saw this with the Budweiser the excuse me, the
bud Light campaign. They got away from the everyman, the
every American. They started pitching stuff that the everyman certainly
didn't relate to. It did not resonate with bud Light, Budwiser,
Anheuser Busch learned a very valuable lesson. Again, it goes
back to will these celebrities, Will this industry ever learn
that lesson?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, we're living in a very interesting time
in this regard, because authenticity matters greatly. We're inundated with
content and noise and programming and all these different things,
and yet I think we really do hunger for the truth,
for something raw and genuine. I think one of the
reasons why Joe Rogan is so successful as a podcast.
He's not the greatest interview he's not the greatest comedian,
but he is who he is, and I don't think he.
Speaker 2: Has any sort of pose about him.
Speaker 3: And you know, even Donald Trump, for whatever flaws he has,
he's the real deal.
Speaker 2: Hate him or love him, it's it's not a pose.
Speaker 3: And I think when you have at Tim Walls, who
is as inauthentic as humanly possible. I mean, you couldn't
you couldn't create him in a lab, you couldn't write
him in a script.
Speaker 2: He's that.
Speaker 3: He's that false and every way that matters, and you know,
he's trying to win us over and it just doesn't work.
We see right through it instantly. He's maybe more of
the more cartoonish figures I've ever imagined in the political scene,
and he's got a lot of competition he does.
Speaker 1: And it's an interesting tie. I think that is interesting
to everything you just described about Tim Walls, just how fake,
just how manufactured he was, the whole narrative. I think
that that is, you know what, he was created by
Hollywood in a sense that kind of Hollywood is if
you will, you mentioned before what Hollywood helped try to
sell us over four years more than that in Joe Biden.
We have learned a great deal from the mia Culpa
tour of the Jake Tappers of the world, which, speaking
of authenticity, lost our lack thereof exactly. That is the
Jake Tapper book that is coming out very soon. And
so you know, we had Hollywood selling us that. And
I can't think of one guy more in Hollywood or
more identified with Hollywood selling us this bad bill of goods,
this false narrative that Joe Biden was sharp as attack
and you shouldn't have to worry about this guy holding
the reins of power in the most powerful nation on earth.
That's George Clooney. And isn't it interesting that we find
out in one of these tell all books now, from
these apologizing so to speak, journalists, so to speak, that
you know that Joe Biden didn't even recognize Joe Clooney
at a fundraiser that George Clooney put together for Joe Biden.
How much is Hollywood responsible for the great cover up
maybe one of, if not the biggest political scandals of
our lifetime and maybe at the lifetime of this country.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they played their part. I don't think they were
the major players. I think the media and the administration
were the key villains there. With doctor Joe Biden playing
a prominter, she gets the lead role in that particular performance.
But you know, listen, Hollywood did its part. Hollywood had
four years to pounce and or seize on those clips
that we saw.
Speaker 2: Again.
Speaker 3: I mean, it was almost like a daily occurrence where
we saw a video of him stammering or stuttering or
stumbling or falling. And listen, take a step back. You
never ever ever make fun of an older gentleman or
a woman who is dealing with these kinds of issues.
But if they're presented to us as sharp as attack
and the president and everything, then it's game on. And
that's been my philosophy about Biden for all this time.
But you had Late in ITV which wouldn't touch them,
and they would do the generic softball Biden so old,
he has these references and he's aw Shuxi, and he's this,
and he's that. They were toothless satirical attacks. They never
really got to the heart of the matter. Saturday Night
Live wouldn't touch this as well. There was one skit
from I think it was twenty twenty one where Jason
Sudeikis was playing a younger Biden talking to the current Biden,
and he made a quip that the current Biden wasn't lucid.
And that was essentially all that SNL could do to
mention the fact that what we all saw was happening
before our eyes. So these are the prime satirical outlets
of our country, and they held their ground, And of
course most comedians held their ground too, And I make
exceptions for people like Tyler Fisher or Kyle Dunnaghan, Adam Carolla,
and of course Joe Rogan to a degree I thought
he treated Biden's dementia a little more seriously. They were
the exceptions to the rule the Hollywood said, you can't
talk about this, you can't investigate it, you can't make
fun of it, you can't mock what's going on in
our country. And that's pretty profound because they are supposed
to be the.
Speaker 2: Truth tellers of the world.
Speaker 3: And it gets even worse because both Stephen Colbert and
Jimmy Kimmell hosted or co hosted, or were key players
at different Biden fundraisers. They saw him up close and personal.
I guarantee they didn't see as sharp as attack guy.
And they were quiet as well, because even though George
Clooney eventually spilled the beans and the New York Times
up ed saying, Joe, you.
Speaker 2: Got to go.
Speaker 3: Jimmy Kimmel immediately after that fundraiser where Biden froze on
stage for all to see, Jimmy Kimmel said, don't trust
your eyes.
Speaker 2: It didn't happen.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, very interesting and knowing the latter two comedians late
night talk show host as You mentioned they have been
an absolute war with Donald Trump, and it's not just
joking about Donald Trump this or that. And you know,
that's certainly fine. I think in the eyes of a
lot of Americans, a lot of viewers, those who don't
like it, they're going to tune it out and turn
it on off. But it's not equal opportunity, as you mentioned,
and that used to be the basis of comedy. You
know that everyone was you know, a target of lampooning
or you know, mockery. But that's not the case with
late night talk show hosts, particularly Kimmel, particularly with Cole Baer.
They have decided they have and apparently the network and
their sponsors have decided that they're going to play to
one part of the audience. I think about Hollywood in
general and what you have written about extensively over the
past several years, there is a movement, and I want
to get your sense on where that movement is today
of real conservative actors, you know, or actors who are
just saying, you know what, I don't want to get
into the politics. There are movie producers is to say,
I'm not going to get in necessarily into the politics,
but I'm also going to give you the other side
of the story. That's a growing area of Hollywood. That's
something to be you know, a very positive development. How
much of that is making an impact in Hollywood and
entertainment today, you know.
Speaker 3: It's a small impact, but it's not insignificant. I can
point to Am I Racist, which came out a few
months ago in theaters that became the top grossing documentary
film with the last decade. So that's a start for sure.
And I think that moves like that, and also films
like What Is a Woman? Also from the Daily Wire,
they have had an impact on the culture. It does matter,
but it is the proverbial drop in the bucket.
Speaker 2: The people who.
Speaker 3: Have those sort of right leaning or more balanced points
of view are outnumbered so aggressively it's hard to believe.
Speaker 2: And I think there's a real uphill battle.
Speaker 3: And I think that for some reason, the people who
are on the ride, who have the fattest wallets and purses,
still are reticent to donate to pop culture causes.
Speaker 2: They don't want to fund these movies. And I you know.
Speaker 3: I've spoken to Kevin Sorbo, who essentially was canceled because
he's a Christian and a conservative, and I I mean,
just saying that aloud is so shocking to me that
we just accept that, and clearly not alone. I mean,
James Woods hasn't worked in a decade and he's a
terrific actor, so you know, but Sorbo has told me
and other people like you know, we just I struggle
to get the funding. He makes small films on very
very modest budgets. I suspect they do fairly well because
the you know, because those budgets are so low, and
he has a specific audience and he's aiming directly at them.
And it's still a struggle, even though he's a name
in this industry and even though he's got experience. So
that's that's the downsidere I. You know, I think we're
in much better shape than we're ten years ago. You know,
we used to have people like Andrew Breitbart, and thank goodness,
Andrew Claven is still here, you know, ringing the bell
and saying we can't ignore pop culture. You know, fellow conservatives,
you do that on your own peril.
Speaker 2: We can't.
Speaker 3: But I think the good thing right now is that
all the technological barriers are falling, where if I have
an idea, and I've got a YouTube channel, and I've
got an iPhone. I could put something up and be
satirical and funny and crazy and compete with the big
boys and gals. So you know that really matters. And
you know, as the costs keep falling and as the
technology keeps improving, then these sort of upstart creators can
share their message and tell their own stories their way
without working in Hollywood. This is a little bit of
an aside, but it really kind of burned me. The
woman who wrote American Dirt, which was a book that
was canceled aggressively five years ago, Jennie Cummins, she has
a new book out and it's not having any sort
of culture war battles. She's not being canceled. Good for her.
She still had to submit to a sensitivity reader when
she put her book out, and she said that without
that sensitivity reader, she would not that publisher would not
work with her. So what we need to do is
work around these gatekeepers and say, hey, I'm going to
self published. I'm going to be like Kirt Schlichter and
just put out books and speak directly to my audience,
and I'm going to be successful. And not everyone can
be successful, but I think that is the future for
people on the right to kind of avoid the gatekeepers,
do things in their own, not wait for the big
wallets to open up to give them the cash.
Speaker 2: It's very hard, It's very hard.
Speaker 1: No, we certainly saw that with the producers of you
Know Almost you could, you could describe it as a phenomenon.
And what a wonderful thing that this is a phenomenon.
I think it speaks to something that's deeply missing in
the culture. But that's the Chosen, you know, the series
on Jesus Christ and his disciples, those who were called
to serve with Christ and his mission, that being made
today almost seems impossible given what we've seen from Hollywood,
and not just you know, the gomorra it is, but
you know, the fact that it is so many at least,
it seems at least too many have been all in
on the from the River to the Sea idea. You know,
the whole Hamas is just a freedom fighter kind of
concept that we've seen out of Hollywood and in our
college campuses. But how did that all come about? I
know you have written quite a bit on the Chosen
and the you know, the production company that said we're
going to do this in a little different way.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, it starts with a vision, it starts
with the creator, Dallas Jenkins, who knows what he wants
to share. And Angel Studios initially had or oversaw or
owned er anybody would describe it. I know that's moved
on from Angel Studios, is not connected to them any longer.
But they started very modestly and they had mostly actors
who were not household names. But because the show was
so good, it broke through the zeitgeist and all of
a sudden everyone was talking about it. And flash forward
five or so seasons and you could watch it now
in Prime Video. When some of these products really do
breakthrough and make money and make an impact, then Hollywood
begrudgingly says, okay, we'll accept you. We'll we'll work with you.
That's why you've got Prime Video working with that directly.
But it's not always easy, and it takes time, and
there's certainly reticence. And I'll put you to another recent film,
The King of Kings, which I believe is Angel Studios.
That's an animated film. Charles Dickens is involved. It's obviously
the greatest story ever told with a kind of a
youth friendly perspective. And that movie has Oscar Isaac and
Mark Hamill and Kenneth Branna. I mean, pretty darn big names,
pretty an overtly faith based product. I don't think that
happens ten years ago. But when you have success on
this level, then it starts to change some hearts and minds.
Speaker 1: Does And I mean that's really at the end of
the day where all of this is I think intended
to go, the changing of hearts and minds. Our guest
today is Christian Toto, Award winning film critic, journalist and
founder of Hollywood in Toto, excellent website all things entertainment
from a conservative point of view. He hosts the Hollywood
in Toto podcast on the Radio America Network. Let's talk
a little bit about Hollywood sending in madness at least
some of the players in Hollywood really rallying behind the
Free Palestine effort. You've written a lot about that, Hollywood
in Toto. You know, we've seen this constantly doubling down.
It kind of seemingly went away a little bit, or
at least there was a break from last year's massive
disorder movement at college campuses. But you know, it's back
in Trump two point zero. They must think this is
a winning strategy at some level. But are you surprised
by the rallying around this particular issue in Hollywood?
Speaker 3: You know, I am. I'm pretty cynical about Hollywood in general.
I've learned to be that way. And initially after October seventh,
there were I think, you know, signed letters by a
whole bunch of celebrities being outraged by what happened, and
that's good. And there were a very, very few, a
small group of stars who spoke out and continued to
speak out, including Deborah Messing, Michael Rappaport, Patricia Heaton, John Andrassik,
who's five for fighting, a really nice fellow I've gotten
to know a tiny bit over the years. And then
it flipped, really and then it became the stars signing
every other open letter in support of the Palestinian cause
or something related to that. And what I found so
shocking over the last year and a half, it's it
really hurts to even just share it is that, you know,
every award show gets political and they use their podium
time to make stump speeches about politics, about you know,
gender this or that, you name the cause, they talk
about it. I don't think there's been a single person
who won a single award who said let those hostages free.
Not I don't think there's a one unless I missed it.
And I find that so disconcerting. It's not political, it's
from a deeply human point of view. But I get
the sense within the creative community that if you are
pro Israel, pro Jewish causes anti Hamas, that you are
either told directly or indirectly or suspect you should be quiet.
I just think that's what's going on. You know, I've
been covering actors and talented people who have been canceled
because they are Jewish. Michael Rappaport one of them.
Speaker 2: You know, I've seen that.
Speaker 3: I've seen film critics mostly ignore some pro Jewish features,
documentary films. It's I think we're all collectively, I suspect,
roll collectively shocked how much anti Semitism is in was
lurking to not even run the edges anymore.
Speaker 2: It's really in your face.
Speaker 3: But Hollywood is part of that. It's truly shameful.
Speaker 1: Well, so much for the idea that Hollywood is run
by Jews. You know, that's the whole notion over how
many years, you know, But it is shocking there is
how much anti Semitism we have found in Hollywood.
Speaker 2: It really is.
Speaker 3: And you know, there were some people who paid a
brief price for being flirting with anti Semitic thoughts, like
Susan Sarandon and Melissa Barrera from the screen films, and
then I keep seeing Susan Sarandon on a movie screens
large and small. I don't think that she's necessarily suffered
too much. I think she lost her representative initially, and
I think that Barret actress has got new gigs lined up.
You know, I don't like it when actors are canceled
unless they've done something truly horrific. So I'm not in
favor of that, per se But I just just mentioning
what happened after the Octo per seventh attacks.
Speaker 2: But yeah, it's it's been shocking to see.
Speaker 3: And you know, I grew up as a big fan
of John Cusack, a good actor is in some iconic films,
certainly of my youth and many people's youths as well.
And you follow his Twitter feed, it's pretty rough. It's
pretty rough. It's pretty anti Israel, it's pretty propalacity and
cause in a way that I find deeply uncomfortable. And
I don't even know if he cares to work. Anyone
to know what his situation is. I don't want him
to be blocked from working, But if I was a
Jewish actor on a set with him, I'd be I'd
be uncomfortable.
Speaker 2: I just put it that way.
Speaker 1: I went too. I understand it, and I think a
lot of Americans have just tuned that out. You know,
we shut off the social media stuff. We've gotten that
since the advent of social media, we've learned a lot
of things, a lot more about these people that we
thought to be heroes. You know, we put up on
a pedestal and then all of a sudden, God, is
that is that the Is that a commonality that a
lot of Americans now share as we have to kind
of readjust our thoughts. You know, the celebrities of one
kind or another have taken positions, political positions or whatever.
But you know, it's like the Bruce Springsteen stuff, you know,
portrayed as someone that you know he clearly is not.
And we learn through all of these social network posts
a lot more about these people, and I know I'm
one of them, and I know that there are many
other Americans who, you know, we get this kind of
additional information, the supplemental information about these people because they
are people at the end of the day, they have
believe have ideas. But we're just like I have enough.
I didn't pay this much money to go to a
theater if I go to a theater anymore, or pay
this much for my streaming service to have to be
inundated with your political crap all the time.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I think, even though I probably agree
with a lot of what a kid rock might say
on stage and off, if I go to his concert,
I really don't want to hear it.
Speaker 2: I really don't know. I understand. I want to hear him.
I want to hear him.
Speaker 3: Tell stories about why he wrote that song, or how
he recorded it, or the most memorable time of him
singing it. That's why I'm there, That's why I paid
big bucks to go see that concert. So that can
be very frustrating. There are some articles after the recent
twenty forty and four election that said that the celebrity
endorsements might actually be working against the Democrats.
Speaker 2: At this point.
Speaker 3: And you know, it's tough to really nail down from
a data point of view, for sure, but just the
fact that that's even out there is indicative of the
frustration that many people have. And listen, you can thread
the needle. I've always found that Angeline and Joe Lee
is more thoughtful and more considerate of the world around her,
and she's not just a vapid celebrity. But I've never
heard her really demean my views or other people who
think like me. I don't think that's the way she rolls.
So I certainly think there's room for an actor to
use his or her clout to speak for an issue.
I want to share it just a really quick story.
I don't know if your listeners may know the actor
Tony Todd. You may know his name, his face when
you see him. He's an African American actor. He just
passed away a few months ago. Really known for his
horror work. He was really prolific in that arena, and
he recently started a new movie called Final Destination Blood Lines,
and he's in it's his last big screen performance. And
from what I'm reading on Twitter, and I think this
is accurate, he was sick on the set. They knew
he didn't have a lot longer to live, but he
wanted to be in this movie. And the director and
the creative team said, hey, Tony, why don't you improvise
this last scene and just share your thoughts almost like
you're talking to your fans. And every time I hear
that story, I do two things come to mind. I
want to cry because it's such a beautiful moment. Yeah,
and also, you know, I think by default we want
to like actors. They make our lives better, They entertain us,
they engage us, they make us laugh, to make us cry.
I think we are predisposed to think they're interesting people.
Speaker 2: I'd like to meet them, like to shake their hands
one day.
Speaker 3: And I think by not just getting political, but getting
surly and angry and dismissive and cruel, they really do
shadow that bond and it's a shame.
Speaker 2: I don't think that needs to.
Speaker 1: Be Yeah, I agree with you on what a powerful
moment that was from Tony Todd and you know, his
last moments really and sharing that special moment with his
fans over over the years. Well, let's talk about the
things that actors are supposed to do. Like act or
paid to do, I should say better put, we have
a right smack dab or coming up smack dab in
the middle of what used to be. And I'm curious
if it still is the biggest time of the movie season,
or at least one of the biggest times of the
movie calendar year, and that is the big Memorial Day
weekend release into the big summer blockbusters. Let's begin. There
is this still meaningful in the age of streaming, all
of the releases coming out this time of the year,
the first big weekend of the summer, and let's talk
about some of the blockbusters that are headed our way.
Speaker 3: Yeah, better be meaningful because this is where Hollywood should
make some serious coin and a lot of bucks are
being spent to make that possible. Now mission impossible. The
Final Reckoning is coming out this month, Tom Cruise. It
should be very big. The complication there is the budget
was enormous. I've heard it as high as four hundred
million implication. There's a lot going on behind the scenes.
But I think that's really indicative of where Hollywood is
in trouble at the moment, because even their slam dunk
movies may not even be profitable because those budgets are
sky high. Now, if you look at the recent Mission
Impossible films, in order to kind of cut, you know,
get to even this one will have to overperform.
Speaker 2: So that's already a question mark.
Speaker 3: So you know, whether you love the movie, you hate
the movie, it's just there's a fiscal reality there. But
we have others that seem like surer things. I mean,
there's a new Jurassic World movie with scroll at Johansson.
That movie just that DIFFERENTI just just generates money. It's
just it's a machine and I never bet against it.
The new Fantastic Four movie is more of a question
mark on multiple fronts, including the actors sort of putting
their foot in their mouths with and the Rachel Zegler effect.
The new Superman movie comes out in July. I think
just from curiosity alone, it could be huge, but the
fall off could be profound if it doesn't really deliver.
So you've got movies like that coming soon. Yeah, this
is the summer movie season. This is where you make
a lot of money, and then it's followed by the
Oscar season. So that's a much more muted response from
at least from a box office perspective, and you know this,
this year start out very badly, a lot of big bombs,
Mickey seventeen, the Auto Nights just really depressing. Of course,
snow White was a significant rechiever.
Speaker 2: But then we got a.
Speaker 3: Minecraft movie, which was huge, and we got Sinners, which
is a great movie and is delivering at the box office.
So the bottom line is, I think people are still
intrigued and interested by the theatrical experience, but you've got
to give them a reason to go, and often Hollywood
doesn't do that.
Speaker 1: Four hundred million dollars, My god, that was crazy. That's
a cutter jet right there. Holy moly. Well, you know
it's as much as I am. I am not your
average moviegoer. I haven't seen a movie at the theaters
and I don't remember. I remember my kids were much
smaller and the demand from the kids was much greater
at that time. But you know, we watch a lot
of stuff, anything new we're watching via streaming. And I
will tell you this that I have good news, at
least in a small sample size for Hollywood and the
big productions. My son, who is graduating from high school
here in a few days. He and his buddies painted
themselves up in Minecraft green or whatever it was, and
you know, they went out to the movie and it
was packed, and you know, the kids got into the spirit.
The movie going crowd got into the spirit of the movies.
And that's something that I don't think we have had
a lot of. It seems to me in recent years,
the kind of crowd engagement that that movie seemingly has drawn.
Do you think Hollywood will will notice that and double
down on that kind of entertainment.
Speaker 2: It's good thinking they should.
Speaker 3: I think it's far trickier than you imagine, because it's like.
Speaker 2: Unexpected in a way.
Speaker 3: You know, a couple of years ago, I didn't like
the Barbie movie, but a lot of people loved it,
God bless them, and it was a huge hit. But
that became an event. Women would get their girlfriends together,
they'd dress up like Barbie or they just look great.
Speaker 2: And they'd go to the movie together. It became an event,
it became a moment.
Speaker 3: I think a Minecraft movie had that similar impact, and
so I think that's really good for the theatrical experience.
I think anytime Christopher Nolan, the great director, comes out
with a movie like Oppenheimer. It becomes an event and
you can't just say I'm gonna watch it on streaming.
Speaker 2: I need to see it. I need to have a conversation.
Speaker 3: So that's very tricky to do to build up to
make possible.
Speaker 2: But I think that studios.
Speaker 3: Should really think about ways they could spark that kind
of anticipation.
Speaker 2: I think that would help.
Speaker 3: You know, there's been really good numbers out of the
popcorn bucket industry where they make these really unique popcorn
buckets based on certain films, and I mean it sounds simple,
it sounds basic, but that makes people interested and that
they maybe they can want to collect their favorite popcorn bucket.
So I think you need a little bit of innovation
going on. A few weeks ago, I saw would be
called Novacane. It's an action comedy and the theater I
saw it in was was called four D or four
D Express and I hadn't seen this before. Where my
seat shook during the movie, ah the hero was getting punched.
I felt things in the back of my head.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: I had to say, I'm an old timer, so I'm thinking,
let me get let me get out of here. I
don't want to do I don't want to do this,
but I told my kid it was a teenager about it.
Speaker 2: He's like, yeah, that sounds amazing. So I think we
have to.
Speaker 3: Start innovating at the theatrical level and make it something special, because,
like you said, streaming is comfortable, it's wonderful, it's easy.
The titles come to streaming much sooner than ever before.
That's a lot to compete with, and Hollywood has to
think about that.
Speaker 1: It's funny that you say that, because you know, we're
talking about innovation and it does sound that way, But
there were movies in the nineteen fifties, you know that
obviously had the three D and had the goofy three
D glasses, but they had similar situations where people were feeling,
you know, whatever was supposedly and I'm sure the technology
was a little bit different in nineteen fifty seven than
it is today. But nonetheless, you know, this is taking
that immersive sort of experience into the movie theater well
close with the best and worst movies that you have
seen thus far this year and so far in terms
of your reviewing the big you know, Hollywood blockbusters coming
out this summer. But before we do that, I want
to get your thought. I would assume you have not
seen the final cut of the latest Spinal Tap movie
that is set to come out, I believe in September.
What are you hearing though about this movie? I am,
as a Spinal Tap fan, very excited and also a
bit nauseous because I know Meathead's involved. Obviously he didn't
bring in his leftist political commentary into that movie, and
let's face it, many of the movies he's made, but
he is such it's the same kind of thing. You
just wonder how much is going to be injected into
this latest iteration? What have you heard about? This is
Spinal Tap with Meathead at the helm.
Speaker 2: You know it's funny.
Speaker 3: I've heard almost nothing about it, specifically heard it teased
her to go into production. Then finally there was an
announcement it's coming in September, like you listen.
Speaker 2: At one point, Rob Reiner.
Speaker 3: Was the toast of Hollywood and made some great movies
back to back to back to back. Misery stand by me, Princess.
Probably when Harry met Sally, a few good men. I
mean he had a run. Dude had a run, and
he hasn't made a good film in a very long
time he is trump ranged in a way that is
really off the charts. So I couldn't be more nervous
about it. It doesn't seem necessary. It seems like a
tremendous risk. So that's those are my thoughts about it.
I mean, I couldn't be more nervous about it. The
film is a classic. I love it to death, but
I have to say I've not shown it to my
teen children because I don't think that they get many,
if not any, of the references too as the rock
and things. So in a way it's oddly dated. It's
through no fault of its own. It's just time marches on.
But yeah, I'm I have no idea what they're going
to present to us. I know the people, you know,
Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest are extremely talented,
and I really hope this isn't a paycheck for them,
because this deserves something significant and worthy of that legacy.
Speaker 1: I agree. I showed it to my wife in a
similar experience, and I'm just very fortunate to be married
to this day. She did not get it to her.
It was like the Three Stooges for women. It just
it did not it did not connect. All right, let
us close by some examples of some really good movies
that you have seen thus far you would recommend, and
you have some real dud's coming out of Hollywood today.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mentioned briefly before Sinners was terrific. It's a
vampire movie, but it's it's got depth and soul and
great music and sex appeal. It's a little bit of everything.
Ryan Coogler is the director, the man behind Creed and
Black Panther and fruitfel Station. He's a really talented filmmaker.
And the fact that as a horror junkie who's seen
every horror film and loves it to death, it felt
different and fresh and novel. I don't know how you
do that as a filmmaker, So bravo to It might
be my favorite movie the year so far. On the
clunker side, it's a little easier. The Alto Knights was
a movie with Robert de Niro playing not one but
two gangsters. Numbs's decisions I can possibly imagine, but the
film is a disaster, a terrible script Listen Denannier was
still a great actor.
Speaker 2: I don't fault him.
Speaker 3: I felt the decision to have him play two different
people in the film.
Speaker 2: So that was awful. A movie I just saw on
streaming a few weeks ago.
Speaker 3: I think it might be prime video called Holland with
Nicole Kidman. Now I know where there was no buzz
and why I went straight to streaming. It's a terrible film.
It's a little bit like Stepford Wives, but not really.
Just skip it all costs, and of course Craven the
Hunter was I almost hesitated to put it on a
terrible list because it's so bad. It's oddly entertaining at times,
but it's still a bad movie, so it belongs there.
Speaker 1: Howard the Duck so you know in that van, Yeah,
you know.
Speaker 3: I've recently rewatched Howard the Dock. I don't I think
it's just flat out a bad movie. I don't think
it's got that so bad. It's good vibe, which I enjoy.
Like I think even Madam Webb for Last from last
year was so awful. I think I want to.
Speaker 2: Rewatch it and just laugh. Yes, maybe have an adult
beverage along the way.
Speaker 1: I was in the sixth grade when Howard the Duck
came out, and I went with my older brother ten
years older and his friends and we had a hoot,
not because the movie was was a comedy, not because
it made us laugh, but it made us laugh, of
course in ways that it did not intend to, and
sometimes that's the joy. Well, I very much, as always,
appreciate your perspective and I really enjoyed the fact that
we had a chance to really extend our conversation and
get into some you know, some issues that we're watching
play out every day from Hollywood and beyond. And thank
you so much for joining us on the Federalist Radio Hour.
Speaker 2: Oh my pleasure. I enjoy it.
Speaker 1: Thanks again to our guest today, Christian Toto, Award film critic, journalist,
founder of Hollywood in Toto, and host of the Hollywood
in Toto podcast. You've been listening to another edition of
the Federalist Radio Hour. I'm Matt Kittle's senior elections correspondent
at the Federalist. We'll be back soon with more. Until then,
stay lovers of freedom and anxious for the Fray.
Speaker 3: I heard the fame voice reason, and then it faded away.