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 ex 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, founder and the guy
who runs everything at just a great conservative movie entertainment
review site. And it is unusual, once again we've talked
to Christian in the past. It is very unusual to
have a Christian, excuse me, a conservative review site in
liberal land in entertainment in America. Christian is also the
host of the Hollywood and Soto podcast, and he joins
us today to talk about the best and the worst,
if you will, of twenty twenty five as this year
quickly comes to an end, the good, the bad, and
the oh so ugly. Christian, thank you for joining us
in this edition of the Vedroolist Radio Hour.
Speaker 2: Oh my pleasure. Thanks for a nice intro.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, you do great work, and we'll hit the website
here before we end our conversation, because, like I said,
you just don't find this perspective out there in the
world of entertainment review. Let's begin, I guess, with a sense.
Speaker 3: Of where we are.
Speaker 1: In wokeland, the constant press by the left and of
course the left that controls much of the entertainment industry.
What was twenty twenty five like on that front, when
we're talking about the cultural battles, you.
Speaker 2: Know, I think it's a bit of a course correction
where some of the woke we've been seeing, some of
the messaging that's been going on aggressively, and Hollywood has
been diminished. It's still there, for sure. There are still
restrictions in place, which is really frustrating. I mean, if
you're an artist, you don't want those restrictions generally speaking.
But I do think the industry is starting to acknowledge that, hey,
this isn't working, This isn't really drawing eyeballs like we
thought it might or that be hoped it might. And
because Hollywood is in trouble, the streamers aren't making as
much money as they used to, the box office receipts
are down, lots of different reasons why the industry is worried,
and I think they can't afford to be as woke
as they once were, so I think all those factors
are making things a little more hospitable for free speech,
for artistry, and I think you see it mostly in comedy.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: We haven't had any big body r rated comedies of
consequence lately, but you know, when you think about podcasts
and Patreon and live stand up stages and even some
roasts here and there, comedies on the comeback trail, as
far as the I can say what I want to
say and let the audience decide if it's funny or
offensive or not.
Speaker 4: Well.
Speaker 1: Jerry Seinfeld ought to be particularly excited about that. He's
been talking about that about college campuses for years, but
of course was it earlier this year he kind of
issued ama kulpa about well, maybe I shouldn't shouldn't say
things that would offend my liberal friends out there. I
didn't really mean that there was a problem.
Speaker 3: With all of this.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's frustrating. You know, I've been following the journey
of Sidney Sweeney in recent weeks. Man, of course, she
made that infamous American eagle genes ad I've got good genes.
She was talking about. It was silly, it was innocuous,
it was a little play on words. A very very
small segment of society said white supremacis, and rather than
apologize or backpedal or do anything, she just kind of
said nothing. And that was the state of affairs. And
then she was asked about it by a woke GQ
interviewer and she essentially just stood her ground. But in
recent days she's done some quasi backpedaling. She denounced hate,
and she said, I wish I had explored this issue earlier.
And that's because her last several movies a bombed And
she understands that being in this Hollywood community, she's got
to speak a certain way and she's got to embrace
certain views. So it's been an interesting year in this
sort of cultural situation. Good signs, bad signs, mediocre signs.
But that's where we are.
Speaker 1: Yeah, But that's the difficulty, isn't it, Because, like you said,
Sidney Sweeney's movie as a bump.
Speaker 3: Now, that may be.
Speaker 1: A product of the movies that Sydney Sweeney was in.
In part, maybe the marketplace is just not interested. Although
you know, as a red blooded American male, I can
understand the appeal of Sydney Sweeney.
Speaker 3: That said, that's what the left has.
Speaker 1: Learned in the hard way, that it has alienated half
of its movie going entertainment going audience. Is the same
thing happening to Sydney Sweeney, you know, with the liberal
viewers leaving her.
Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't think so. The movies that
she made in recent months, at least the ones that
are coming out now, they were smaller films. They didn't
have a lot of marketing behind them. They weren't, you know,
cat nip. It wasn't like she was doing an action
movie or a rom com. And the one movie that
was a real it was sad to see was Christy,
which is about the box of Christy Martin. It's a
very good film and she's terrific in it, and it
had some Oscar Oscar buzz a little bit when it
first came out. I think it's kind of faded away
at this point. But you know, boxing is in catnip
to audiences today, female boxing even less. So I didn't
get a huge promotional push again, and it's a very
complicated marketplace, so it's not shocking that these movies are
not surviving and thriving. I mean a lot of movies
are stumbling at the box office. But you know, one
thing I've lamented in recent weeks is that, you know,
not that she's conservative, and not that she's mega or
not that she's anything in the common, but just standing
up to the woke mob and refusing to bow and
to grovel and to do the hostage apology tour. I
think conservatives should have rallied around Christy and said, hey,
I'm going to go see that movie. But what I've
found frustrating in recent years and is that conservatives really
sometimes don't process pop culture well, or they don't fight
the good fight in ways that they should. And could
you know you can use your money to not just boycott,
but by good and buy these things by tickets. It's Sydney.
We appreciate the fact that you stood tall, and we're
going to support your movie and it's not really complicated.
But that's not happening, and that's why she's in this
quasi backpedal format.
Speaker 1: Well, you know, it's very similar in politics, and I'm
worried about what we're going to see in twenty twenty six,
as a reporter that covers politics and that has had
a lot of low propensity voters, voters that don't come
out very often, if at all, casting ballots for Donald
Trump in twenty twenty four and the results are, you know,
clearly what they were, pretty significant victory for Donald Trump.
Will they come back out in twenty twenty six in
a mid term without Donald Trump on the ballot, even
though his policies are on the ballot. Well, it's not
looking good at this point, and the Republican Party really
has its work cut out for it, as do the
conservative grassroots movement, you know, but that's that's what it is.
But consistent, you know, we talk about this sort of stuff,
but who is walking the walk now? I'm not going
to cast any stones at glass houses because I don't
ever really pay money to go. I can't remember the
last time I've been to a movie theater. And I
don't think I'm alone in that. I do have streaming
devices and I don't watch a lot of that stuff.
I mean, it's more for my kids and my wife.
But I think that's America in general, because over the
last couple of decades, you know, twenty thirty years. Really,
the whole landscape has changed, hasn't it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I agree, and I understand that completely. I
think what frustrates me is that there are a lot
of people in the right, my friends, and they say
I hate Hollywood or I'm sick of this product and
I want stories that speak to me, or I want
more stories that reflect my worldview. And then when we
do get the occasional project that is like that or
similar to that, then we don't support it. And listen,
Hollywood responds when they see money. And the Passion of
Christ really invigorated the whole faith based movie market and
it's still thriving to a degree now. And you know,
a few years ago, I was really lamenting the release
of Richard Jewel by Clint Eastwood because to not only
was it a wonderful, entertaining, well told story, but it
really reflected a right leaning fear and trepidation over the
media and their corruption and FBI malfeasons. And at the time,
we just didn't rally behind it and it flopped. And
I even recently, and this is anecdotal and not exactly scientific,
but I mentioned on social media, you know, Sidney Sweeney
really stood up to the mob, the woke mob, and
I think the least that people in the rank can
do is maybe support her movie. And I was yelled
at on social media and now I'm not going to
see my movie. What do we care? Well, because now
she's back peddling, and now she's going to be more
likely to bend the knee. And not just her, but
these things impact the culture. You know, when Stephen King,
halle Berry, a Scrolet Johannson, when they bowed to the
woke mob, what chance do we have. We're not rich
and powerful and successful like they are. And if they
can't stand tall and just stand by the principles, then
makes it a heck of a lot harder for us too.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it really does it. Also, you know, whether you
like it or not, as a parent, our kids are
seeing role models out there, at least making role models
out of these celebrities in music and movies and television shows,
streaming whatever. And they're seeing fewer and fewer people who
are not part of that woke mob. And that's something
I think we should all consider as well, just as
we're seeing so much indoctrination going on in our public schools. Obviously,
a lot of that is going on in Hollywood too.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're not shy about it. And I think, like
I said, it's got and better to a certain degree
this year, a certain acknowledgment that this is not the
path forward economically. There's still a lot of that messaging
almost everywhere. And I look no further than one Battle
after another, a movie that seems like a lock for
Best Picture and a lock for a lot of the
key categories that the Oscars come March, and it is
an aggressively hard left movie that glorifies violence against the government,
that radicalism, that paints anyone trying to enforce immigration laws
in the worst light imaginable. And it's going to sweep everything,
and it's getting, you know, a laudatory coverage, and it's
going to awards, and it's going to be the front
and center for weeks and weeks. That kind of messaging
is really hard to duplicate in society, but here we are,
and that's just part of the system at play. It's
just it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll tell you again. On the news side, I mean,
you have The New York Times winning Pulitzers for lying
to Americans for years over the Russia collusion hoax. They
haven't given back their Pulitzers now that the record is
obviously changed and they've had to correct the record. But
you know, that's where we are speaking of political infusion
in just about everything we do, every walk of life.
We are having a discussion now.
Speaker 3: The day after.
Speaker 1: I think someone that a lot of Americans have known
for what now fifty five sixty years was just brutally
murdered along with his wife in his California, Los Angeles
area home. Is still sorting out the details on this,
but it is heartbreaking to see this kind of thing,
this murder that had occurred, or at least that's what
we were told by law enforcement officials. But the guy
that you got to know very well and all in
the family played Michael Stivic and or Meat had the
guy who was behind the camera and so many movies
that Americans loved. That a guy who also was extremely
strident about his politics and where he stood a lot
of people are thinking about.
Speaker 3: Those two things today.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Rob Brinder was such a consequential director, and I'm
certainly not a fan of his politics or his tone,
and I think he I don't think he was well
mentally as far as the look is a perspective on
pop culture, on politics, He've admitted that he might, you know,
you know when people say things on social media be
he kind of intimated that that maybe taking a break
or going to a facility or something. That was I
think that around the election of twenty twenty four. But yeah,
I mean, even though his output diminished greatly in the
last twenty plus years, Guy directed banger after banger, I mean,
Princess Bride, Misery, when Harry met Sally, stand by me,
a few good men. I mean, just this is spinal tap.
One of my personal favorites is The Sure Thing, a
wonderful rom comedy, one of the many films they couldn't
make today because it's provocative subject matter, but it's actually
very sweet and sweet and soulful at the end. He's
a significant figure and he will be missed, and the
details of his death are among them more shocking i've
seen in quite some time as far as someone dying
in the celebrity landscape. It's just awful.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was amazing, And unfortunately both sides, of course,
are guilty of this. It's not a both side is
some sort of thing. But let's be honest, we do
have such a political culture. We certainly learned what happened
after the you know, Charlie Kirk, but you know a
lot of people have been into on social media and
you know, with a lot of different theories about who
who committed this crime when again, police have in custody,
have arrested and charged Rob Reiner's son, who was struggling
with drug addiction for a long time, and that'll play
out in the court system. But what do you think
about where we are now thanks to social media, politics
and entertainment at that crossroads.
Speaker 2: Well, it's rarely good, it's rarely healthy. It's really something
to admire. I think we often are at our worst
on social media. I try not to be myself personally,
but other people aren't aren't quite that way.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: The one thing that maybe I don't know if you're
asking directly or hinting at it, but you know, President
Trump made some comments about Rob Reiner shortly after his death,
and I found them. I found them gross and excusable.
And I know it's just words, and I'm I'm not
going to not vote for him or his policies, and
I do try to take a big picture look at
who he is. But my gosh, I just thought it
was words fail me. And you know, listen, some people
are saying, well, they say the same thing about him.
A man was just slaughtered by his son, allegedly, and
his wife died as well in that attack. The last
thing you do is you say what Trump did on
social media, and I you know, Trump can be a
bare knuckle brawler, and one of the things I often
admired about him is that he could be rough and
tumble and then when the chips are down, or then
when he meets someone face to face, he could be
more cordial. You know, when he was with Biden during
the presidential transition. I think we've seen elements of that.
But what he said helps no one makes him a target.
It makes the right of target and it's just wrong.
It's just wrong. And before the mics went on, I
think he was doubling down in some of his comments,
and I just I'm almost have a lost for it.
Speaker 4: Could this latest jobs report be an election decider? Who
watched Out On Wall Street Podcast with Chris Markowski. Every day,
Chris helps unpack the connection between politics and the economy
and how it affects your wallet. New jobs reports show
that numbers fell way below expectations, and small businesses are
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are less than five years old. Whether it's happening in
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Speaker 3: Be informed.
Speaker 4: Check out the Watch Dot on Wall Street podcast with
Chris Markowski on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just and we've seen so much of that
over the last year. Again, I know people are trying
to say all the left does it, you know, and
we certainly did see some horrible behavior, horrible conduct, horrible
messaging from the left after you know, a young man
who had become you know, a conservative icon was murdered
in front of his wife and young children in Charlie Kirk.
But you know, it's just whoever is doing it. I
just I really want to keep my eyes on, you know,
the policy, and I know as a reviewer, you want
to keep your eyes and your ears on what is
shaping culture and what's going on in entertainment. At the
end of the day, for you, it is about offering
criticism and review of the product. That's coming out of
Hollywood or wherever entertainment is made today, and again, so
much of politics is infused in all of that. I'll
tell you what though, it was quite a year once
again for all kinds of different experiments in a world
of movie making. Some of these experiments, of course, have
been tried and tried again. We had some sequels that
came out this year. Let us begin, if you will,
by taking us through maybe some of the best what
you're hearing in terms of Oscar buzzworthy stuff and whether
that buzz is warranted.
Speaker 2: Well, I touched them upon one battle after another. It's
going to win everything, I think, unless something derails it.
I don't see that happening. But to me, the best
movie of the year is Marty Supreme. And it's not
even the theories yet. I got a sneak peek out
of it. It comes out on Christmas Day. This is
with Timothy Chalomage. He plays a ping pong prodigy in
the nineteen fifties. It's very loosely based on true events.
But just go in there and enjoy the film. It's
a ride. It's over two hours. Every other movie now
is well past two hours. I wish that would change.
I don't think you need to tell stories of that length,
but this one just flies by. It's beautifully told. He's
terrific in it. It's imaginative, it's fresh, it's exciting, it's interesting,
and as an ex New Yorker, some of the details
and accents of the New York scene really made me smile.
I don't think everyone's going to get that, because not
everyone's from New York Is like I am. But just
a wonderful movie. So look out for that one December
twenty fifth, Christmas Day, it comes out, and it'll be
interesting to see. I would think that it's going to
have good word of mouth. But you know, adult minded
dramas are really struggling right now, and it's anything goes
right now. It's you know, we just want to see
the Wickeds and the Zutopia sequels and the horror movies,
but straight ahead dramas really are having a harder time,
and I think that's maybe the future where they'll just
pop up on streaming first, and maybe the roller coaster
ride type movies will be the ones ac in theaters.
I don't know.
Speaker 1: I'm not in that we category, by the way, but
my children are, they would rather see those who, particularly
my daughters. There is a movie out there I wanted
to get your take on because I'm a fan of
the musician, and you know, the biographical musical drama has
been in play for more time, and the latest was
about Neil Diamond. If you remember from one of my
favorite Bill Murray movies, what about Bob, when he says
to his psychiatrist, doctor Leo Marvin, there are two kinds
of people, those who love Neil Diamond and obviously those
who do not. That said, there's an interesting story about
in everyman kind of It was every man kind of story.
A guy who became a Neil Diamond impersonator, you know,
covered his stuff, performed as Neil Diamond is people have
performed as Elvis for years. It's called Song Sung Blue.
I was wondering what you thought about that production.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's Hugh Jackmans and Pet Hudson's storing and that
film directed by Craig Brewer, who's a little hit or missed,
but when he makes movies about music, they're really spot on.
He did a Hustle and Flow years ago, and a
few others as well. I can't get into it in depth.
The embargo I think is still in place, but I
think people will really enjoy it just from the music alone.
It's almost like a jukebox musical. But I'll also tell
you that when you see the film, go google the
true story behind it. There's some creative license here, but
it sticks closely to the real story, which is just
a jaw dropper at times. So I'll be very curious
to see the reaction. And I love the breakdown of
there are people who love me and people who don't.
I don't know if I trust the people who don't.
You know, I think part of the mystique of Neil
Diamond is that for years and years he wasn't cool
in a hip rock sense, and I think people maybe
found him schmalty or to pop or too easy going
in a way. But man, that music and if you
love that music, if you like that music, I think
you're gonna really, you know, sing your teeth into this
particular film.
Speaker 1: Perhaps bar Stress ended him in because that was a
rough time for me personally with Diamond. I can take
all the denim and blue jeans you can throw at me,
but you know, the bad stuff didn't have me on board. Well,
our guest today is Christian Toto. You can find all
of his great work at Hollywood in Toto and the
address is pretty simple, is it not Hollywoodintoto dot com.
Speaker 2: I am nothing if not consistent. It's my Twitter handle,
and then on Instagram, I'm at real Hollywood and Toto,
which is a shake it up just a little bit.
Speaker 3: I love it. It's easy.
Speaker 1: It's like my email handle, Matt at the Federalist dot com.
It's the easiest email I've ever had in this news business.
And I can't believe I'm saying that, but it is true.
Of course, you've got the Hollywood in Toto podcast as well.
We're going to talk a little bit more about that
coming up, but wanted to continue to focus on some
of the big movies, some of the big shows, if
you will, this year on the movie side, though, talked
about some of the critically acclaimed and a little bit
about what you personally like, what movies, other movies that
have come out that you would recommend that maybe didn't
get a lot of attention, maybe didn't get it didn't
have the same kind of budgets that we see with
some of those we've talked about.
Speaker 2: You know, I think some of the movies that I
liked a lot actually were almost universally cheered on. And
I mentioned Weapons, which is a terrific horror movie that
had a lot of depth to it, and also Sinners
as well. I could say the same thing. That's director
Ryan Kugler with Michael B.
Speaker 3: Jordan.
Speaker 2: It's a vampire movie, but it's so much more than that,
and it takes a while to kind of get to
a simmer, but it's enjoyable. It's got a lot of
things to say. The craftsmanship is through the roof. And
I'll mention another one which is coming soon that I
think may get looked past. It's called Is This Thing On.
It's directed by Bradley Cooper tran to be just oh yeah,
a tour behind the camera as well as being a
very charming actor in front of it. It's about a
couple I've been married for twenty years. They're splitting up,
and then the man and the couple played by Will Ornette,
essentially stumbles into a comedy club and does a little
bit of stand up at an open mic night and
realizes that that's the therapy he needs. So it's all
about him. Discovering himself, kind of figure out if this
marriage is going to be salvageable, and getting to know
himself as a creative person. I found it fascinating and
the subject matter itself is enjoyable too. So Laura Duran
is the co star there. She's terrific. She's always great,
So I just think that one's going to get lost
in the shuffle. Even though Bradley Cooper gets a lot
of attention paid to his movies, he's a big movie star,
so that one is certainly one to look at. And
I also enjoyed j Kelly. It didn't get a lot
of acclaim. It may be mild in the Oscar consideration,
but it's a drama about a movie star looking at
his past and thinking, maybe I was a pretty bad dad,
and do I regret being that father? And I kind
of wish I could be a better person now. It's
George Clooney playing a variation at George Clooney, and he's
quite good at it, shockingly So that one's on Netflix
as we speak, so you can check it out there.
Adam Sandler's got a supporting role, just strong as he
always is, and it's so surprising to see how he's
transitioned so effortlessly into a dramatic actor. He's good, He's
just flat out good, and he had something special to
the movies. So I enjoyed it mostly good reviews. Actually
a guest critic on my side, Hollywood and Toto, who
was not a fan of it at all, again one
and a half stars. But I enjoyed it much more.
I think it's interesting. And again, I hate to frame
it this way, but it's on Netflix, and if you're
not loving it, you could always tune away and find
something else. But I liked it until I liked it
a lot, so I.
Speaker 1: Recommend it interesting. I'll have to check that out. Does
George Clooney at any point in this movie talk about
how the Joe Biden we're seeing now as we watched
for years, it's not the same Joe Biden now.
Speaker 2: No, they should have a scene where he waits until
the poll numbers shrink and then he comes out with
his confession. But maybe that was left in the cutting
room floor.
Speaker 3: Maybe maybe just that's right, Well, that was right.
Speaker 1: That was a big Hollywood mall went there, George Clooney
and friends and a big Biden fundraiser and Biden came
out on stage and froze up and did all of
those sorts of things, and why wouldn't you know it?
What long after you got a New York Times op
ed from George Clooney saying all that stuff about Joe Biden.
Let me go back to the is this thing on?
I'm curious because I have seen some really good movies
over time about you know, comedians, their lives, how they
became comedians. This sounds kind of on that track. This
guy wasn't a comedian, but he finds out, Hey, he
can say some funny things at the same time figure
out what's going wrong with his relationships. I think about Punchline.
You remember that movie with Tom Hanks years ago. I
thought that was It was a lot darker than I
thought it was going to be walking into a movie theater,
but I thought that was very well done. Obviously Dustin
Hoffman being Lenny Bruce, and there are others along the line.
Does it is there a comparison there?
Speaker 3: Does it stand up?
Speaker 2: Gosh? I don't think direct comparisons because this is a
part of the story and the bricker presentation is this
will this marriage survive? And can this couple, you know,
find what made them magical in the first place. I
will say it reminded me a lot of a great
TV show from a couple of years ago. Lasted three
seasons called Crashing, and that was Pete Holmes. It was
sort of semi autobiography.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, that was good.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, And that was about it. He was just
trying to get into stand up comedy. Uh huh in
dignities he faced along the way. A really. I know
it got some critical acclaim and some people talked about it,
but it's just a wonderful show. And that one was
a little bit darker. Two mature subject matter that not
your cup of tea. Definitely would stay far far away.
But I'm fascinated by comedy, how people compile their act,
how they market themselves, how they enter the business, how
they fail and fail and fail on stage. But those
are the necessary baby steps you need to take before
you can fly. I mean, I think every comedian's got
a story about them, face plan, I thing on stage.
It's just part of what it is. And even the
best I've had those issues. So I think the subject
matter is fascinating, but the way they approach it in
this movie was just this is therapy for him, This
is him getting out what he needs to get out.
But can he make it creative and funny and compelling?
And that's another question.
Speaker 1: I think Will Arnette has a lot in his personal
life to draw when it comes to this story. Okay,
what about the absolute turkeys, the worst the movies? You
would tell those listening right now stay away from it,
like the Plague.
Speaker 2: Ah, there's always a few of those. I'll start with
a movie that just left me scratching my head. It
was called The Alto Nights. I believe it's on HBO
Max right now if you dare to sample it. It's
a gangster movie with Robert de Niro in two different
gangster esque roles. Now why you'd cast him twice? I
just don't know. It's wildly distracting. The movie is an
absolute dud on almost every level. I think it might
have been based on a true story or true figures.
I'm not quite sure. My memories a little fuzzy on
that regard. I think it was directed by Barry Levins
and it's made great films in the past. But like
someone else we've you know, can talk about Rob Reiner
just lost their fastball when it comes to Yeah, sadly,
so that makes me sad when Francis Ford Coppola, you know,
I'm trying to think the Brianda Palmer comes to mind.
Speaker 1: As Brian de Palma.
Speaker 2: Sure, just directors who gave us some great movies over
the years and just can't reclaim that glory certainly qualifies here.
It made zero money the box office, and probably that's
even more than it deserved.
Speaker 1: There is a consolation note for de Niro and the
crew on that. I believe it'll be least through MSNBC
whatever they're calling themselves soon. I just, of course, but
that's where Robert de Niro seems to show up, you know,
after a few drinks these days. Anything else on the
wretched list for twenty twenty five, Yeah.
Speaker 2: A movie called Mickey seventeen. It's a futuristic tale about
a fellow who is cloned and cloned and cloned again
to be used by this corporate body for a kind
of quasi nefarious purposes. You know, it's a kind of
imaginative movie that I technically cheer on. You know, we
need more stories that are original and fresh and have
something to say. A lot of the politics. Here are
the cultural politics. It's pretty heavy in and again I
get swallow that the movie is entertaining, but this is
a bust. Robert Pattinson does what he can with the material,
but it's just disastrous by the end. I just want
I was watching it at home and I just wanted
to switch away. But when you review a movie, you
have to stick to the very end, the bitter end,
and that one is a clunker. It made a little
bit of scratch at the box office, but the budget
was huge, so I'm sure it lost a lot of
money and sadly deserved it.
Speaker 1: So yeah, that is the casualty. You guys should actually
be paid casualty, some sort of stipend for that. To
have to watch some of these movies until the end.
Speaking of Rob Reiner, one of and he has, you know,
particularly in his earlier years, fantastic movies. You mentioned some
of them. I think of Harry met Sally immediately. But
the one that really sticks with me in my formative
years came out about forty years ago. This is Spinal Tap.
I thought it, you know, as an aspiring rock and
roll musician. I loved it for that, I loved it
as a mockumentary, which was, you know, kind of new. Yeah,
we hadn't seen a lot of that, and I just
I really liked the ensemble and I really liked Rob
Reiner as the documentarian because there wasn't any real politics.
And man, you can't beat Fred Willard either. So the sequel,
long awaited sequel, is coming out. Have you seen it
and what is your take on it?
Speaker 2: Well? I just caught up with it this past week
and it came out in September. It was not screened
for many critics. Some it dip and it didn't get
to me. And you know, when I heard about the project,
I was a little excited because, like you, I adore
the first movie, and then I was really scared, thinking
what could they possibly do? This seems like this could
go wrong in about twenty different directions. But you know,
these are very talented people. Even though Reiner hasn't made
a great movie in a while, he's still Rob Reiner.
And you know the trio of Starrs Michael McKeon and
Harry Shearer and Christopher Guest are super talented as well.
They've got great comic skills. How bad could it be?
And then I watched it, I thought, oh, it can
be this bad, and I think the saddest well, there's
so many sad elements of it, the fact that it
was unnecessary. But you can probably feel a small book
in all the ways this has gone wrong and all
the missteps and mistakes. But also it just didn't have
a comic conceit, like why do they make this beyond
you know it's a you know, it's something it couldn't make.
It could be profitable based on they love that we
have for the original movies. So it's very sad that
Rob Reiner is gone. It's very sad that this last
movie is such a dysfunctional affair, but it is, and
I have to say it, and I don't wish, I
don't wish, I wish I could say anything else, but yeah,
A spinal tap two the end continues is just dreadful.
Speaker 1: Sorry, it seems to me that most of America feels
the same way about that, at least based on the
box office proceeds.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there was no real appetite for it. There was
no real reason for it. And you know, when you
have a movie with cameos by Elton John and Paul McCartney, too,
just absolute legends. Yeah, you make that work either, It's
just wow. It's just wow.
Speaker 1: Now just I guess they didn't want to do it,
and they didn't want to do it for years, and
they finally said, Okay, let's do it. Maybe for a
cash grab. I don't know, but it sounds like it
did not work out. I'll just have a few minutes left.
And it's the most wonderful time of the year when
it comes to Christmas movies, holiday movies, of course, And
I wanted to get a sense from you. What are
your favorite movies Christmas movies, holiday theme movies this time
of the year. And also, what are some of the
worst Christmas movies you have seen over your time in
this business.
Speaker 2: A quick word on the worst. It was called Deck
the Halls. It's just an terrible movie. Terrible movie. Two
big stars, Mathew Broderick and Danny DeVito. They can seemingly
do wrong, but they do play wrong in that film.
I've only seen it once. I thought it was dreadful.
I would never punish myself again. You know, there have
been lots of mediocre films Christmas with the Cranks with
I think it was Tim Allen Jim Curtis was watchable
nothing more. It's funny because in the last maybe three
to five years, Hollywood has decided that they're going to
crank out. I don't know how many Christmas movies you
go on Netflix is a new title. They all have
cutesy brands and names. A lot of them don't have
big stars. They must be really economical to produce. I imagine
someone's watching them, because why else would they keep making
them and making them. But I will say that it's
really hard to make a classic. I think it was
called Red One from last year with Dwayne Johnson, and
if it was Folks with JK. Simmons and Santa. You know,
it was fine, it was watchable, it was forgettable. I
might watch it again someday. It wasn't as bad as
a lot of people said. But it just makes you
appreciate a movie like Elf all the more. And it
on Elf in that. I believe that Will Ferrell has
offered a lot of money to do a sequel and
he declined, And I just if I met him, I'd
hug him for that because it just needed It's so
perfect as is. But when director Jon Favreau, who also
did Swingers and a lot of other great films iron
Man as well. He made the movie as timeless as possible.
The songs are not the hit songs of two thousand
and three. I think that was the year, give or
take the dialogue. The references are not of the moment.
Then it just feels like you could watch it today,
you could watch it in ten years, and it's going
to be the same. And I have to say, I
don't think you know, Will Ferrell doesn't make great comedies anymore.
There's a lot of reasons for that. You could say
that the industry doesn't make up. You could say that
he's moved on to different things. You could say he's
lost his fastball as well creative as speaking. I don't know.
He's so perfect in that movie, and you watch it
again and again, and every year I do just that,
and I noticed something new about his performance, about his
physical shtick, about the gags, about the way things are
presented to us. It just doesn't age. It just gets
better and richer and funnier and more sweet with every year.
And then I think about the scene when Elf buddy
the Elf goes into the bathroom. He doesn't realize his
coworker Jovi is there. She's singing baby it's cold outside
to harmonize with her. Again, it's a scene that wouldn't
be made today for two reasons. To be oh my gosh,
she's in her bathroom. That's appropriate, and also, you know,
now that song is problematic, but it's so true to
character because Buddy the Elf was just innocent. He just
was all full of goodness. And sure he had a
little bit of crush on Jovie, but he didn't. He
wasn't being inappropriate. He just stumbled into a scene. And
that's what makes it so magical and so innocent and
just one of many many reasons why that's such a
breat movie. And you know, me saying Elf is my
favorite Christmas movie is wildly unoriginal. A lot of people
think that way, but I can't. I can't make up
an obscure movie that I love in Christmas time. It's
just Elf.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, but he wasn't being a pervy Elfe
in that scene, which you know is good.
Speaker 3: By the way, that is.
Speaker 1: That was one of the most acted names for the
Santa's Team, Pervy Elf, among others. It went with Prancer
in instead. Now it's amazing to me. That movie Elf stands.
Speaker 3: Up for me.
Speaker 1: Now, there's a big dispute over that among my Federalist colleagues.
Some really love it, some really hate it, and for
reasons of their own. I am in the loved camp.
But I'm old school Christmas movie anyway. Other than you know,
I know it's now what nearly forty years old, but
Christmas Vacation still remains one of my favorite. But I'm
talking about my favorite of all time, and maybe I'm
in the dying breed because nobody in my family seems
to know what it is. But it's a wonderful life
Frank Capra classic. Of course, that wasn't such a classic,
and it's time, as I understand it. But why can't
they make movies like that any.
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 2: I mean you're asking for a lot. That's a movie
that transcends the generations, that's so perfect and magical and wonderful.
You know, Hollywood is such a complicated business that making
a great movie is almost like a series of accidents
that happened together. So there's that. I think the innocence
and the sweetness have gone out of style in Hollywood,
you know, I think Hollywood is about edge and cynicism
and darkness, and we're gonna make a Sanda movie, but
he's gonna be this killer. He's gonna be a serial
killer who's You're more likely to see things like that
than anything else. So there's no one quite like Frank
Kaeper anymore. And you know, the Christmas movies that we
see are they've got either an action comedy bent to them,
or there's some sort of gimmick or twist a gosh.
I don't know. It's a really hard question to ask,
but I just think the culture has changed, and I
don't think that's a I don't think that's a positive
thing to say, because that's just such a magical movie.
I'd also mentioned a Miracle on thirty fourth Street, which
is oh yeah as well and holds up beautifully.
Speaker 1: Again, those those old beautiful films. You know, whatever version
you want of Scrooge, Christmas Carol, even Bill Murray's Scrooged,
I enjoy too, my family's dismay. Final question for you, Christian,
do you think on this topic of Christmas films, do
you think Trump ought to issue an executive order demanding
that Hallmark stop peddling this crap?
Speaker 2: I think he's got bigger fish to fry. You know,
I'm not a Hallmark watcher, but it's scratching an itch
out there. And if people are enjoying those films, and
the budgets are low and probably keeps a lot of
people gainfully employed. So I can't get too up in
arms about that. It just when I go on Netflix
and I see the crush on your titles, I just
I almost get physically exhausted by it. But you know,
if people are enjoying them, but they get some pleasure
out of them, I can't get too high.
Speaker 1: Up on my high horse. It is the same movie
over and over again. You do about that, right, It's
just with a different cast, perhaps a different setting, but yes,
it's a different movie altogether. Well, as always, I appreciate
I'd love to check in with you because you know,
you're one of the best reviewers out there for my money,
and I make your page pretty much a constant read.
All kinds of great content on there. And then of
course you've got the podcast. What do you have coming
up on that?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Actually, you know, I dig into the Sydney Sweeney situation.
Oh can I compare her to another actress? Who said
something quite different, and how Hollywood is treating the two situations.
I think that's important. But that's what I do with
the Hollywood and Twitter podcast. I connect dots that I
think other people maybe aren't connecting. I give right of
center artists a chance to shine. I cover some media
stories that other outlets aren't really paying attention to but should,
and yeah do it every week. And then I also
have a show called Short on a Hollywood. It's a
short literally under a minute, and I covered latest Hollywood
headlines with a little bit of snark, a little bit
of silliness, and a little bit of a right of
center perspective. So I do hope people check that out
as well.
Speaker 1: All the reasons above why I continue and have for
a long time checked out Hollywood and Toto and all
the content that's available there. Push you a very merry
Christmas in a very happy and prosperous new year. My friend,
Thank you. I was enjoy our conversations. I do too,
thanks to my guest today, Christian Toto. Again, he is
the founder, a creator. He does it all Hollywood in
Toto hollywoodintoto dot com. You've been listening to another edition
of the Federalist Radio Hour. I'm at Kittle, Senior Elections
correspondent at the Federalist. We'll be back soon with more.
Till then, stay, lovers of freedom, anxious for the Thaya