Will Cain Country - When Megan Rapinoe Has It Wrong And Jonah Hill Has It Right

Episode Date: July 14, 2023

Story #1: I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm on the side of Jonah Hill. Story #2: I CAN believe I'm saying this, never be on the side of Megan Rapinoe. Story #3: The box office phenomenon, the movie about child sex trafficking: The Sound of Freedom.   Tell Will what you thought about this podcast by emailing [e-mail]   Follow Will on Twitter: @WillCain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For a limited time at McDonald's, enjoy the tasty breakfast trio. Your choice of chicken or sausage McMuffin or McGrittles with a hash brown and a small iced coffee for $5.5 plus tax. Available until 11 a.m. at participating McDonald's restaurants. Price excludes flavored iced coffee and delivery. One, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm a little. on the side of Jonah Hill. Two, I can believe I'm saying this. Never be on the side of Megan Rapino.

Three, the box office phenomenon. The movie about child sex trafficking. The Sound of Freedom. It's the Will Kane podcast on Fox News Podcast. What's up? And welcome to Friday. As always, I hope you will download, Ray, and review this conversation. This podcast, wherever you get your audio entertainment.

at Apple, Spotify, or at Fox News Podcasts. Story number one. Can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm on the side of Jonah Hill. Jonah Hill is the Hollywood actor who has made his brand self-help and being the nice guy. Interestingly, there are many people out there that think Jonah Hill's nice guy act is just that, an act. The actor who is famous for Super Bad, This Is the End, Moneyball, the Wolf of Wall Street, has been accused of being a fake nice guy. There's articles out there about fellow actor Jay Barrichelle, who has been in several movies along with Jonah Hill, and was part of that buddy flick, This is the End, with Seth Rogan and Danny McBride, and James Franco, Jay Baruchel, and Jonah Hill. And in that movie, the character, played by Jay Bear's show, hates Jonah Hill's character, thinks he's fake.

In interviews after the movie, it seems kind of apparent that Jay actually believed those things about Jonah and that they were just kind of mining personal feelings for the purpose of comedy. Pretty fascinating interviews out there about who it is and who it is he pretends to be Jonah Hill. But despite the fact that I don't think Jonah Hill would have ever been someone who should. anything that I would have co-signed, anything that I would have agreed, I am this time in this public controversy on the side of Jonah Hill. Former girlfriend of Hill, Sarah Brady was a semi-pro surfer late last week, started posting private text messages between her and Hill. They've since broken up, and Hill has moved on to a new partner with whom he has a child. But But during his relationship with Brady, she is accusing him of emotional abuse and manipulation.

She posted private text exchanges like this. He sends her a screenshot of one of her surfing photos wearing a swimsuit that is sort of Brazilian cut or even more extreme up the butt. He wrote, respect however you want to live your life. you only get one, but sort of done with explaining myself. She responded, three removed, implied photos from Instagram, not the video yet. It is my best surfing video. Would you feel better if the cover frame was different? Any more specific ones that bother you?

Yes, that one isn't of your ass in a thong. So Jonah Hill clearly feels some type of way about her showing her butt and revealing herself on Instagram my first lesson for Joan or anybody else is I don't know that you should be surprised that you're dating an Instagram girl when you pick up an Instagram girl Instagram girls who like to show off who they are but I do think there is a legitimate question as to if you have me why do you need the approval of everyone else out there in the world if what we have together is so fulfilling if we love one another why do you need you need the likes and why do you need the exposure to strangers on the internet he'll laid out his case

fairly coherently and i think rationally and dispassionately and kindly in a text to her that she also posted on instagram it reads like this plain and simple if you need colon surfing with men boundaryless inappropriate friendships with men to model to post pictures of yourself in a bathing suit to post sexual pictures, friendships with women who are in an unstable place or from your wild recent past beyond getting lunch or a coffee or something respectful, I'm not the right partner for you.

If these things bring you to a place of happiness, I support it, and there will be no hard feelings. These are my boundaries for a romantic partnership. My boundaries with you based on the way these actions have hurt are trust. He's laid out his back. boundaries. Hey, if this is important to you, you want to go surfing with other dudes, you want to have friendships with other dudes that he feels are inappropriate, if you want to model post pictures of yourself in a bathing suit on the internet, sexual pictures, and if you

want to hang out with your crazy friends who go, I presume, catting around at night to maybe clubs, I'm not the right dude for you. I'm not the right romantic partner. Now, in response to that he was accused of weaponizing therapy talk Jonah Hill has been big on therapy he's talked a lot I think in content about his relationship with his therapist and I will grant you there is such a thing as like in the society that's been such a race for victimization and victimhood that you know whoever can claim the mantle of of highest victimization of therapy talk kind of wins but But I don't know that that's what I see here in Hill. I also don't have to agree with him.

I'm not sure those are all boundaries I would place upon my romantic partner, but I would have questions. Hey, babe, why are you posting such revealing pictures all over the internet? What's not doing it for you here at home? It's coming from a dude that just posted himself, a picture of himself, and a speedo on the internet. I get the irony. But I wasn't looking for likes based upon my bod.

I just swam across the Hudson. I was looking for likes based upon my accomplishment. But I get it from his perspective. Even if I wouldn't share those same boundaries, I totally get it if those, and I think they're extremely reasonable for those to be his boundaries. He went on to say, as they kind of argued over the internet, I love how your therapist thinks I suck. I'm literally the best boyfriend on earth. He texted her. And not only is it not your business, as I'm.

only mentioned it to you out of respect and friendship, but I have not been flirting with you or sexting you in any way where it would be inappropriate this time to start dating someone. And if anything I have felt for your change and tried to be good and supportive friend as you transition to a scary new environment, she's moving to Hawaii. And to be crystal clear, I have not flirted or sexted with you in any way, shape, or form in months and went to say goodbye to you as a super kind gesture that you seem to have appreciated because it was kind. he's not afraid to pat himself on the back over how kind he is. Let us never forget.

We are dealing with narcissists on both sides of this coin, both sides of the ledger. The Hollywood narcissist in Jonah Hill, who's seeking validation through his therapist and learning very well how to echo that back to a narcissistic girlfriend who does, if not want to exhibit her body on the internet, certainly is happy to exhibit her personal business on the internet. Everything she has said, by the way, in exposing these texts, reveal her to be a shallow and insecure narcissist, her talking about, you know, I was dealing with this type of abusive behavior. I was dealing with this type of control. If you're in a similar situation, run ladies, and I always have an ear here for you. Please, you don't have an ear

there for anyone. You're trying to put your celebrity boyfriend on blast for more clout to go along with your bikini pictures. I am on the side of Jonah Hill. He conducts himself throughout this entire thing. Yes, maybe with schlocky, back patting therapy talk. But he's being responsible and totally reasonable in putting some boundaries on his relationship. That is not manipulative.

He's not gaslighting his woman. He's not trying to keep her locked up and make her life smaller of some people who have said. Relationships are about compromise and respect. He was telling her what he considers to be disrespect and respect and compromises he would like to see. And her response to that is the most immature, don't tell me what to do, bro. I can't believe it. But I'm on the side of Jonah Hill.

We'll be right back with more of the Will Kane podcast. This is Jimmy Fallop, inviting you to join me for Fox Across America, where we'll discuss every single one of the Democrats' dumb ideas. Just kidding. It's only a three-hour show. Listen live at noon Eastern or get the podcast at Fox Across America.com. It is time to take the quiz. It's five questions in less than five minutes. We ask people on the streets of New York City to play along.

Let's see how you do. Take the quiz every day at thequiz.com. Then come back here to see how you did. Thank you for taking the quiz. Story number two. Never find yourself on the side of Megan Rapino. Megan Rapino, the U.S. women's national team soccer star. has been on a tear.

She always believes she's on the side of virtue against the dark forces in our society. Now those dark forces are gender and objective reality. Rapino, just before the World Cup, has once again launched into politics. She said, and I quote, I don't want to mince words about it. Dave Chappelle making jokes about trans people directly leads to violence, whether it's verbal or otherwise against trans people. When Martina, referencing Martina Navratilova, women's tennis icon, or Sage, referencing ESPN Sage Steel, or whoever are talking about this, people aren't hearing it just in the context of elite sports.

They're saying, the rest of my life, this is how I'm going to treat trans people. She's accusing them and their opinions that a woman is a woman and a man and is a man of being incitement to violence. Megan Rapino is the dumbest person pulling off the pretense of intelligence going in popular culture. She is literally not right about almost anything. I know there are those that are probably listening to this subject as the U.S. Women's National Team was just awarded the author Ash Award for Courage for their lawsuit, for their demands for quote unquote equal pay at the espies, which aired on ABC, wondering what I might. might say, because a very deceptive, intentionally deceptive, edited clip used yours truly, me as though I were opposed to the concept of paying women their fair market value. In a clip that has gone mega viral out there in the real world, I explained why men and women,

the U.S. men's national team and the women's national team make vastly different pay. I explained the economic realities of gross revenue. And we'll talk about this more in depth in the future. But that was deceptively edited in a fashion to make me look like the villain. And I don't have much more to say about that at this time. I have a lot I can say, and that I will say, but not today. For now, let's address the fact that those women brought up once again that they believe women and men can be, conversely, men or women.

They stood on that stage, accepting that courage award, the U.S. Women's National Team, and said, the next frontier for women's sports is trans rights. That's something that Megan Rapino has championed. She said, quote, absolutely, you're taking a real woman's place. That's part of the argument that's still extremely transphobic. I see trans women as real women. What you're saying automatically in the argument,

you're sort of telling on yourself already, you don't believe these people are women. Therefore, they're taking the other spot. I don't feel that way. And of course, she's saying those that feel differently than her are literally inciting violence. You're absolutely right, Megan. A trans woman is not a woman. A trans woman is a man pretending to be a woman.

And if you continue to pretend that they are women, you are destroying women's sports. You are a complete collision, a chaotic mess of incoherent. statements, literally positions that cannot exist within one another, only within the mess of an extremely unintelligent human mind. I'm a champion for women's sports. I'm a champion for men invading women's sports. I fight for equal pay for women. I also fight for men to take the spots away for equal pay from women.

It's so incoherent that it should be laughable. it's a level of insanity that should require professional help but today it's a civil rights cause awarded trophies for courage i have yet to see the issue yet to see it where one should say you know who's right about this megan rapino we're going to step aside here for a moment stay tuned. Book club on Monday. Jim on Tuesday. Date night on Wednesday. Out on the town

on Thursday. Quiet night in on Friday. It's good to have a routine. And it's good for your eyes too. Because with regular comprehensive eye exams at Specsavers, you'll know just how healthy they are. Visit Spexavers.cavers.cai to book your next

i-exam. Iexams provided by Independent optometrists. Story number three. The movie that is absolutely on fire at the box office. The Sound of Freedom is an independent movie put together by Angel Films, a value-based film production company who is behind the television series The Chosen. They put together this movie about child sex trafficking starring Jim Caviesel, Bob Camp, surprisingly, didn't know that until the interview you're about to

here, Mira Sorvino. It's a good movie. It's a movie that I highly encourage you to see, and it's already beat on its opening day, Indiana Jones. I thought we'd get with the host of the Hollywood in Toto podcast, Christian Toto, to talk about the message in the movie and an honest conversation about the quality of the movie today here on the Will Cain podcast. Christian Toto, host of the Hollywood and Toto podcast. I'm so glad to have you on the Will Kane show today. We're here to talk about the movie that everyone is talking about, the sound of freedom. Let's start with this. Give me your review. It's good. It's often very good. You know, to me, this is one of those movies that feels like it could be eating your vegetables.

Like, it's a very important story. It's a subject we need to learn more about. And sometimes movies like that are quality, but they're not as engaging to watch. And I think this one really does two things. It does send the message. It does illuminate. But also, it's entertaining it's fun to watch some good performances here jim kivisel obviously bill camp maybe people don't know his name but you've seen his face before a great character actor he's wonderful in this movie very nuanced performance too so it's a solid movie i you know so i have some minor quibbles murisorvino's in it but she's barely in it you don't hire an oscar winner and give her so little to do but overall it's engaging it's thoughtful and i'm not surprised it's doing

so well and the word of mouth is so strong i don't know if you do thumbs up You know, one out of five donuts. I don't know if you give it a star rating at the Toto in the Hollywood and Toto podcast, but do you give ratings, numbers, number of thumbs up? How do you rate a movie? You know, I think Roger Ebert has the thumb down cold, so I don't want to get into any legal hassle with his estate. But, you know, if I give it a star rating, at least three at a four, for sure.

It's a solid film. And I think, you know, could people talk about it during award seasons? In theory, yes, but I think just the way that Hollywood works and the entertainment press works, not a chance. Okay, let's come back to the review. I saw the movie as well. I want to go over some of the movie with you here today. But I think it is as important as the movie itself and the quality of the movie itself is, what is as equally important is the place it is holding right now in popular culture. It is totally defied expectations.

It on the 4th of July release date beat Indiana Jones. Why is that? Why, in your estimation, has this movie broken through in a way that so many, as you mentioned, message-based movies have not broken through to popular culture? I think it's a lot of different things all put together. One is it's the perfect counter-programming to summer movies. You've got these big, glossy films, you know, special effects, superheroes. That's great. I love those movies. They're wonderful. But if you're looking for something

different, well, here you go. Couldn't be any more different. That starts it. Also, this is distributed by Angel Studios. They're new at the film business, but they've been doing TV-sized content for a while, including The Chosen. And they know what they're doing. They communicate regularly with their audience. It's a back-and-forth exchange. So they know how to communicate with them, what they want to see, how to spread the message, activate the base, as it were. And so that helps as well. Again, quality matters, word of mouth matters. And people love Jim Caviesel.

You know, he's a passionate fellow. He's an art and Christian. And they trust when he's in a project that it's not just a movie or TV show. There's something more to it. And I think that all those things together helped out. I don't know if there's some type of named theory that explains this, but I'm certainly a believer in this type of marketing theory. I feel like I have to be hit at least three times by word of mouth or advertising that resonates with me before I commit to consuming a piece of content.

You know, if somebody tells me, hey, you should watch, you know, the righteous gemstones, that's probably not going to work, just one person telling me so. But if I hear it three different ways, by the time I hear it the third time, I'm like, well, there must be something to this and I'm going to check it out. What happened here with me in The Sound of Freedom is I began to hear, it's first of all, it's all over Twitter, it's all over social media. Obviously, conservatives have taken up Sound of Freedom as a cause. So that counts as one punch. And then, you know, another is that I began to hear about the actual quality of the movie, that it is a good movie.

And then third, what got my attention, Christian, is actually the backlash to the movie as well. It's being described as Q&ON adjacent, CNN dismissing the movie. That actually served. It's interesting how that works in terms of marketing. For me, as a focus group of one, it served to draw my attention back to the movie. And if these people hate it, there's a chance that I may like it. And so that was the third punch for me, the way the rest of the mainstream media has reacted to the sound of freedom.

It's a great point. and the cartoonish attacks, and I think cartoonish is a kind word for what's been going on in the press against the film are ridiculous. They're absurd. I mean, they're almost ghoulish in a way because they're going so over the top against this and making things up out of whole cloth and connect the things that don't connect. You know, a QAnon movie that was sitting on the shelf for five years. There's a long backstory behind Sound of Freedom, but it was made and completed five years ago. Well, that means it was conceived maybe six, seven, eight years ago. You know, movies take a long time to go from the idea to the finished product.

Was anyone talking about Q&N at that point? Of course not. So, I mean, just on the surface, it's absurd. But when you think about it, why would the media rail against a movie that is exposing child sex trafficking, that has it, you know, wearing its heart in its sleeve, that is an indie film that is overperforming

and doing great box office? Those are all good positive stories, even if you don't like the movie, and that's, you know, you're perfectly fine to dislike it and to critique it. Why? What's going on? And I agree with you, once the media machine kicked in in such an absurd way, oh, I got to see this for myself or that can't be right.

That doesn't make any sense. So that, I think, is feeling it as well. Hey, Christian, were there any marketing tricks? You know, often when we hear about bestsellers, there's a lot of things that go into making something a bestseller. You can bulk buy books. I don't even know all the tricks because I've never written a book. And I've never been in that marketing arm of the media industry.

But I do know there are things that can be done, like bulk buying, selling books at your speeches. You know, I guess I heard something about churches buying bulk tickets for Sound of Freedom and helping that initial release. Was there anything, you know, out of the ordinary that boosted the buzz around Sound of Freedom? I think what you're just exploring has happened before, so it's not out of the ordinary. It's a little uncommon for sure. But Angel Studios also has a program where they call it pay it forward. where you can pay for someone else to see the movie if they can't afford it, they don't, whatever reason.

So that is kicked in and that's, you know, but I think at the bottom line is that it's not going to make the turnstiles go crazy. It's just maybe a small part of a larger effort. It's all the other things that we're talking about that's really driving the movie forward. So, yeah, the pay-it-forward technique is newish, and Angel Studios is often innovating and trying different things and different ways to excite and engage with the audience.

So, yeah, that's not, typical for sure. But maybe more studios should be looking at this and saying, yeah, maybe we should do this as well. You know, there are a lot of message movies out there. It's not just fluff. It could be more serious, sober topics. Could be political. It could be apolitical. So maybe this will be a trend center. Maybe we'll have to wait and see. But I don't, I don't think it causes the numbers to jump like they are right now. It's more than that. You brought up Angel Studios and you brought up The Chosen, by the way. That's a piece of content that's arriving at its third punch for me. I've been hit several times now with people talking about how good The Chosen is.

And it's arriving at that point where I'm like, I'm going to soon have to watch The Chosen. I've had it recommended too many times. Back to the reaction, the cartoonish reaction of the mainstream media. And I believe this has been illustrated in CNN. I'm not sure if I'm accurate in saying New York Times response. How do you explain it? How do you explain, look, it's antipathy. I mean, this is a real like, like, as you mentioned, fact, in that.

accurately, against the facts, calling it Q&N. How do you explain the reaction to something, as you pointed out, that should be so positive? Why? Why are they reacting this way? Several reasons. One, I think the appearance initially was that this was a right-of-center, faith-friendly, conservative-friendly movie. And I think that our press is very tribal, very left-of-center, almost across the board. And so they reacted in kind. They had a tribal reaction. At this is good for the right. We don't like it. We've got to poke holes in it. I think that's part of the problem. I think the press has an issue with Christianity. And once the Christian audiences were swarming around it and supporting it, that kicked in as well. That's part of it too. You know,

Jim Caviesel, another openly Christian actor, I don't think the press is salivating and giving him positive praise. I don't think that's going to be in play as well. So I think it's multiple factors here. And none of them speak well for the press. They should be more professional, more curious about the reasons for success, and more balanced in their approach. And the fact that they've gone off in these tangents speaks volumes. And I've seen reviews. I think Rolling Stone was maybe a primary one. They were mocking the audience.

Oh, they're older people in the theater. We can't have that. Well, you know, the pandemic scared a lot of older people away from theaters. Don't you want them back? Isn't that a good thing for Hollywood and the theatrical experience? Why is that bad? Why are we picking on old people? What about ageism?

I mean, it's absurd. It's like they're grasping at the flimsyest of straws. And again, it's telling. It's saying something about the writers as opposed to the people who are seeing the movie. So let's talk about the movie now in more detail. So the movie is based upon a true story, the life of Tim Ballard, who left his job at some point, catching pedophiles in the United States of America to go to the side of law enforcement to retrieving the children who are trapped in the human trafficking,

sex trafficking, dark holes of society in the movie's case throughout Central and South America. I was surprised just now when you told me Mira Sorvino was in the movie. Again, I've seen the movie. I don't remember a scene with Marisorvino. It was there. You blinked and you missed it, though. Listen, I'm sure in the cutting room floor, I bet you she's there. there are sequences they just thought maybe it's not who was she where was she in the movie

she was the wife she was the wife of tim ballard played by jim cabiesel oh really wow um i was stunned too and i was looking for you know when i first started seeing the movie i'm thinking well she's a pretty big actress she's an oscar winner she's good i'm curious what she's going to contribute you know and also as a as a as a critic i want to see his home life he was risking his life for these children who he does not know he's got kids at home he's got a wife at home a lot of kids interesting angle there exactly so you know why and again there are many reasons why roles are cut or diminished i'm sure there's nothing wrong with her or her performance but you know sometimes things have to happen to make a similar streamlined movie i think it was a mistake

i think you really want to see that at home component but yeah she was in there and but she's barely in there i mean you were you watched the movie and didn't even realize it no and to your point i i think that was attention that would have been healthy to reveal because this guy sacrificed a ton. He gave up his job that wouldn't support him in the movie, they say 10 months from his pension, wouldn't support him in doing this, in retrieving these kids from Columbia. But you're right. I mean, he's Mormon. And in the pictures, I don't know exactly, it looks like he's got six or seven kids. And that must have put a lot of pressure on his home life as he disappears down into Central and South America for long periods of the time. Yeah, that could have. And the movie itself actually,

I believe, Christian, the runtime was something like maybe two hours and 20 minutes. It's a long movie. It's long, and maybe that's factoring in. You don't want to make these movies too long. It's a very tough decision for sure. And by the way, you know, one of the criticisms against the movie was it was a white savior film. Now, I understand that in theory, and there have been maybe Hollywood goes to that well too often. But Tim Ballard is a Caucasian.

It's a true story. It's a Caucasian actor. I mean, again, I mentioned grasping as strong. is because they're grasping at straws. That's so indicative of what's happening that they need something to hang their hat on. And also another critic mentioned, oh, it's like a superhero movie. No. One of the things I liked about the movie is that Jim Caviesel's character is an ordinary guy.

He's not beating up six and a half sex traffickers. It's not an action movie. It doesn't go there. It doesn't make him like Bond. It doesn't make him like Jason Bourne. He's a regular person doing these extraordinary things and getting himself in trouble and putting his life in jeopardy to save these kids. And there's never a point where it becomes a Hollywood movie, again, to its credit.

So I want to talk about the quality of the movie now, and I'm going to separate it into message versus execution. First, I want to do execution. And I want to say at the outset, you know, I'm a supporter of this movie. I think people should see Sound of Freedom. And I think it is good. But I think that we should also understand anybody prepared to watch it because I went into this, like, people really hyping the movie up. And my job is to always be honest. and so I'm going to focus on execution first.

It's not the best movie you've ever seen in terms of execution. I mean, I think we've become conditioned to a level of Hollywood production that this will not necessarily meet. But to your point, it's probably closer than anyone I've ever seen that traffics in this message-based movie. It's high quality. The cinematography is beautiful. The shots are great. The acting is good. But I would say my complaint would be twofold or my criticism, you know, my being fair and honest movie critic hat.

It's a little bit flat noted, meaning it's the same note throughout. I think that there's, even in the choice of music and in the emotional tenor, it keeps, it's like it stays at a seven. You know what I mean? And it barely at times peaks on the action ride. You point out it's not an action movie. It never peaks up to a nine. And it never drops down to a three. It kind of stays at this like foreboding, melancholic level throughout its runtime.

That's one piece of criticism I would offer, Christian. I don't disagree. And I think two things. One, like I mentioned, the Murosurvino scenes that I'm assuming Rashad maybe pushed aside, that would have kind of shaken up that scene, that tension. It would have been a break in a way that we didn't get in the movie. And also, in the third act, there's a confrontation. and there's a sequence that goes on for a while that involves rescue elements.

I have to say, as a moviegoer, I would like a little bit more, maybe there, a little bit more danger, a little bit more excitement, just because it's, listen, it's not a documentary. It is a movie. And I think that even as a fact-based movie, you've got some wiggle room. You can have some creative license. And, you know, I'm sure Tim Ballard would say, yeah, this wasn't exactly right. That wasn't exactly right. Every fact-based movie does that. It's a different medium.

you've got to entertain, you've got to make it more dramatic. So that kind of license is okay. And by the way, we just saw a movie a few weeks ago called Flaming Hot. It's about the person who created the Flaming Hot Cheetos chip. No, it didn't happen. The whole movie tells you it happened. But in reality, the L.A. Times said, that guy didn't invent the chip. Yeah, that movie's out there.

We're the media attacks on it. I don't see any. Okay. And the other piece of criticism that I would offer, and I'm doing this as much out of curiosity as honesty with the audience. I want to hear your feedback. And maybe this is in the same genre of criticism. criticism. The pacing in the dialogue. It just at times, I think, and I'm not sure it's right or

wrong, we get conditioned to a certain level of pacing in dialogue. And there are a lot of moments throughout the movie where you're like, that feels like it could have been cut quicker, or that could have been not quite as drawn out. There's something about, and it's hard for me to actually put it into words, but like, as you watch it, you just, you get this little sense that, and it's just little, but it accumulates over a two-hour runtime. You're like, it just feels a tad bit off. Do you agree or disagree with that analysis? It didn't jump out at me, but I will say, you know, with modern movies, there is a different expectation. If you watch a movie from the 40s or 50s, the pace is almost glacial, and it's odd.

And I try to make my kids watch them sometimes. I want their attention spans to be a little bit better because they're on their phones a lot. But I think that may be what you're in. acting to you that a movie really has to be in your face sometimes to get you involved and i will say about the dialogue i thought there's some early scenes when he was realizing that you know catching predifiles isn't enough i really need to save these kids it felt a little like the old tv movies i grew up watching so i that's what my that's what honestly i watched it with my wife christian i watched my wife and she at one point goes it feels a little made for tv that was her like um but it's a little Now, I want to, now, I want to rehabilitate it because I don't want that to come off too critical because I truly do believe it's a good movie. In execution, like, it's high quality. The shots, the scenes, I mean, the drone shots of these cities, the lighting, it's like, it's visually compelling the movie is. And it's got an important story to tell that is well acted out. So that then gets to the best part of it is the message. And that's what everybody's praising. You know, it is where,

So many action movies either give you a really honestly meaningless purpose in the end or they give you a really distilled. And I thought about it. Could you have, and they did with the character Rosio, they did distill it into like, I remember the movie that I loved Man on Fire with Denzel Washington. And it's a revenge rescue flick, right? And in a way, so is Sound of Freedom, a revenge rescue flick. But it's got a bigger, deeper message.

and it's one you just don't see, which in and of itself makes it high quality. Not only that, I think they did a really nice job of balancing the message with the dramatic elements where they'd slip in a piece of dialogue that would share some statistics, but they didn't dwell in it. A character might do something that would reveal a larger sense of the story, but it didn't go there so much. It became like a lecture or a TED talk. I see so many movies, and they're often from the left, but even, Either way, left or right, where you could just tell, oh, this is what the screenwriter wanted to say. This is the moment.

This is the lecture. Sit back. You're not going to be entertained. You might be a little bored. But that's what they want to share with you. And I thought this movie did a really nice job of never going there, of just layering in what they wanted to say, but doing it in a way that kept the movie going forward and kept the characters on target. That's not easy. Very well said.

It never feels like a lecture. And you're absolutely right. What a turn off in a movie. Since I just praised Denzel Washington, I'll tell you, like, I was so turned off in Denzel's movie John Q, which is essentially about the health care system, because it felt like a lecture. This does not feel like a lecture, even though it's important. Okay, real quick, let's just stay on the message for a minute.

I think you go home as well thinking about it. I know my wife did. She woke up this morning. She's like, what are we going to do about this? And in shockingly, even though it's something people talk about, like there is a stat. at the end of the movie, and I hear people say this, like, there are more people in slavery today than at the height of, you know, 1800s American slavery. It's hard to wrap your mind around that, you know, and so much of it is attributable to the child's

sex trade, I guess because it lives in the dark corners, recesses, that I don't ever see with the light. And it's, it is a movie that leaves a mark kind of you thinking about this. You know, and I got into this business because I love movies. And it's more complicated now. I cover a lot of the cultural attachments involved with films and things like that. But at the end of the day, pop culture can do things that a lecture can't, that a white paper can't, that a presidential speech can't. It really does move us, grab us, make us think things, make us confront issues in ways that other mediums just can't touch.

And I think it's one of the best things about the film is that it has that impact. How do you look at your kid sleeping, you know, when you're going to bed at night and just open the door, say, good night, Johnny. and not think, what if that bed is empty? What if he or she got caught in this? I mean, or just thinking about the parents who go to bed at night and look at that bed and it's empty. You know, pop culture, movies, it's why it matters.

And for all the fluff we see and there's nothing wrong with fluff. I grew up watching Gilligan's Island, which never meant a single thing. You know, there are movies come along that do shake things up. I often point to an inconvenient truth. I have a lot of issues with Al Gore,

But that movie shook up the culture. We started talking about global warming in ways that maybe we didn't before or even the China syndrome going way back into like late 70s or the 80s. So sometimes movies do this. And I think we're on route to this movie doing it. And that's actually the coolest part. And I've had this conversation with my audience here on this podcast at times. Like I'm inherently an optimist and I'm inherently entrepreneurial. And so I want to look for positive things that can produce action.

And I started thinking about this most recently with the child. Even though I haven't seen it, I'd talk to a lot of people about The Chosen. Like, there is an audience, like a really big audience out there for you to produce high-quality content with a positive value-based message. They're not mutually exclusive. And I think this movie's a big step in that direction. These concepts. Now, look, man, I love to be entertained. I love Breaking Brad.

I love Game of Thrones. But these are anti-hero stories that can be pretty bleak on their outlook of humanity. And this, I just think there's such an exciting opportunity for content creators, entrepreneurs, to do something of high quality that has a right message and an audience waiting for this type of content. I agree. I think it's very challenging to get it right. I think there are a lot of movies that have their hearts in the right place, but it doesn't quite get there. I think back to, gosh, it's maybe 10, 12 years ago now is the King's Speech, which won best picture, but also made a lot of money, made over 100 million, which is very good for a dramatic movie. And it was aspirational. It showed this character coming, you know, beating the odds.

And I do think those stories will always register with us, but I think it takes maybe a great actor, maybe a wonderful script, maybe something that's different. I think Hollywood is very cynical, and I think often I understand why. And I think it's harder for Hollywood to write a Boy Scout movie. And you think about it, I always point to Superman is, you know, back in the day I grew up with Christopher Reeb and he was a Boy Scout, plain and simple. But when they did, Henry Cavill came back as Superman years ago, he was darker, he was brooding. His suit was darker. It was like a darker hue. Yes.

And I think Hollywood has trouble with a straight on hero, a pure white hat. It's not easy, and it can be dull. But I think the great actors and the great screenplays can make that character pop. I think it's harder. I think it's easier to be cynical, to be dark, to make the Sopranos. Great show, obviously. But it's harder. Christian, before I joined Fox, I worked at ESPN, and I did pieces with both outside the lines

and E60. And so I knew a little bit about storytelling and editing. And, you know, I have some experience with, okay, what's the pacing of this piece? But I'll never forget this conversation with a guy that was really, really knowledgeable about this stuff. He said, look, the bottom line is villains are better stories than heroes. He said, Draymond Green is more interesting than Steph Curry. Darth Vader is more interesting than Luke Skywalker.

And I think he's right about that. But I don't think that means that you have to tell a story that emboldens the villain, emboldens vice, and doesn't somehow uplift virtue. You can tell redemption stories. You can tell the complexities of humanity. You know, we can start with the anti-hero and show how. how actually he's striving to be a hero. I don't know. I think writers to your point, we just need good writers that share

these values. Yeah, and you know, Darth Vader is great, and he is a villain, and he is mesmerizing. But he doesn't really work without Luke. You know, you do need that balance as well. So I think it's perfectly fine. I mean, I think a lot of the great actors will gravitate toward the villainous roles, because it's engaging

and there's a lot to chew on there. But you do need that balance. And, you know, and I think, well, the breaking bad at the end of the day, here was a guy, who was trying to care for his family, but it went so incredibly off the rails. He became a monster. Who's the white hat in Breaking Bad?

To your point that you need a Luke Skywalker for every, every Darth Vader, who's the Luke Skywalker of Breaking Bad? Who's wearing the white hat? I don't know. I don't either. I don't know either. Yeah, I have to think about it.

Who wears it in Sopranos? Who's the good guy in the Sopranos? The therapist? Is she? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I think she was mostly pure of heart.

I need to have a refresher on the series, but she wasn't killing people with the volume that Tony Suprano was, so you take it a hero's where you can. But it's, listen, great storytelling is complicated, it's not easy. And the ones who do it well, the Stephen King's and then John Grishams, that's why they're super rich and famous, because we love them, we gravitate them, and not everyone can do it. Okay, before we go, I want to ask you about a movie that's set to come out. I know nothing about the movie. I know the title, I know the historical character,

and I know what looks like a really, really star-studied cast, and that's Oppenheimer. I don't know if you've had a chance yet to see Oppenheimer or what you know about it. Is this something that I should be excited about, Oppenheimer? I would think so. This is director Christopher Nolan, who did the Batman trilogy, of course, Interstellar.

He's one of our best. His movies are like events. They don't come around very often, and he doesn't make two or three a year. He's very cautious, super talented. He doesn't always hit the mark. I thought Tenet was a disaster in a way, just so cluttered. But the subject matter is so fascinating.

The Atomic Bomb World War II. The cast is, you know, Killian Murphy, Robert Denny Jr., a lot of big stars. The trailers were impressive. This is, you know, in a way, this should be a award season movie, an Oscar bait coming out in December or November. But Christopher Nolan is such a unique character that is coming out in the middle of summer. And the box office projections are pretty good. So it's the kind of movie. you should be excited about.

You should be curious about. I'm screening it next week, so I haven't, I can't give you any much more about the quality of it. But, boy, everyone is talking about Oppenheimer. I think it's good for movies that we still have directors that inspire that passion who occasionally make great works of art and get everyone talking about movies again and not just TV shows. Our last question, we've seen the reaction to the mainstream media. What will be the reaction of Hollywood to Sound of Freedom?

Will they ignore it? Will it be involved in award season? Will it inspire other movies like it? well i think it may inspire other movies like it outside of hollywood ink i you know i thought about this recently i watched a top gun maverick at an outdoor cinema a couple days ago where the copycats for that that was the biggest hit of last year you would think hollywood would be just dying to make more movies like that i'm not hearing about those projects it does take time so i don't see copycats of this at all but i think if you're angel studios you're thinking we just we just hit a bullseye

And we're going to keep talking to our audience, finding out why this is successful. And I think what Hollywood should do is listen more, really listen. Because Hollywood's in trouble on so many fronts, too big a conversation to get into. But they're struggling. And I think if they had a more direct conversation with the audience in a very heartfelt, open-minded way, they may learn what they're doing wrong and what they could be doing right. I just don't see that happening right now. All right, Christian Toto of the Hollywood and Toto podcast.

Great to talk to you so much. Thank you, Christian. There you go. I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Christian Toto. Again, it's the Hollywood and Toto podcast. If you enjoyed this conversation, I hope you will leave it a five-star review. I will see you again next time. Listen to ad-free with a Fox News podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. And Amazon Prime members, you can listen to this show, ad-free on the Amazon Music app. From the Fox News Podcasts Network. Hey there, it's me, Kennedy. Make sure to check out my podcast. Kennedy saves

the world. It is five days a week, every week. Download and listen at foxnewspodcast.com or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.