February 28, 2025 • 28 mins
In this episode, we dive into Jeff Bezos' embrace of personal liberties and free markets. On paper, his stance sounds admirable, but does it align with his actions as the owner of Amazon? We break down his track record and discuss whether Bezos truly practices what he preaches.
We have the receipts.
We’re also joined by Oscar-winning filmmaker Bill Guttentag, who shares the behind-the-scenes details of his new film Rule Breakers. This inspiring drama, from Angel Studios, tells the powerful true story of an all-female team of Afghan scholars who compete in a robotics competition. Bill discusses how he prepared for the movie and why this uplifting film will inspire girls and teens worldwide to break barriers and chase their dreams. Tune in for a thought-provoking conversation about business, personal freedom, and the impact of storytelling on young women everywhere.
Don't miss this episode – it’s one you’ll want to share with anyone who believes in the power of education, innovation and equality.
"Rule Breakers" - The Movie
https://www.angel.com/tickets/rule-breakers
Subscribe to HiT's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@HollywoodinToto
Read Hollywood in Toto - https://www.hollywoodintoto.com
Lend a hand: Leave a tip! https://hollywood-in-toto.ck.page/products/hollywood-in-toto-tip-jar
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto
Read: "Virtue Bombs: How Hollywood Got Woke and Lost Its Soul" https://www.amazon.com/Virtue-Bombs-Hollywood-Woke-Lost/dp/1637580991
We have the receipts.
We’re also joined by Oscar-winning filmmaker Bill Guttentag, who shares the behind-the-scenes details of his new film Rule Breakers. This inspiring drama, from Angel Studios, tells the powerful true story of an all-female team of Afghan scholars who compete in a robotics competition. Bill discusses how he prepared for the movie and why this uplifting film will inspire girls and teens worldwide to break barriers and chase their dreams. Tune in for a thought-provoking conversation about business, personal freedom, and the impact of storytelling on young women everywhere.
Don't miss this episode – it’s one you’ll want to share with anyone who believes in the power of education, innovation and equality.
"Rule Breakers" - The Movie
https://www.angel.com/tickets/rule-breakers
Subscribe to HiT's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@HollywoodinToto
Read Hollywood in Toto - https://www.hollywoodintoto.com
Lend a hand: Leave a tip! https://hollywood-in-toto.ck.page/products/hollywood-in-toto-tip-jar
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto
Read: "Virtue Bombs: How Hollywood Got Woke and Lost Its Soul" https://www.amazon.com/Virtue-Bombs-Hollywood-Woke-Lost/dp/1637580991
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This week on the Hollywood and Toto Podcast, Jeff Bezos
is all in on the First Amendment, So why did
he block so many right leaning movies at Amazon? And
we talked to filmmaker Bill Guten talk about his new
film Rule Breakers, and it's no surprise that it's inspiring
and based on a true story. It is an Angel
Studios production. That's what they do best.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Welcome to the Hollywood and Toto Podcast. Entertainment news and
reviews without the wook, Hollywood narrative. Free speech, free expression,
Now that's entertainment, and here's your host. Oh Lord, winning
film critic Christian Toto.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
A based Jeff Bezos has everyone in the ladder. The
Amazon founder and owner of The Washington Post came out
with a decree earlier this week that said that his
papers go to be focused on the editorial page with
personal responsibilities and free market principles, and many heads exploded
as a result, including those of his Washington Post employees.
(01:14):
One of them actually quit after hearing that decree. Imagine
that being so aghast at personal liberties and free markets
that you quit your job. Well, that's just what journalism
is today.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Just as you're.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Clearly aware that bias.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Journalism sells more magazines.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
I mean, when you think about it, what he said
was his American is apple pie, hot dog, Chevrolet. So
why the outrage? But more importantly, why am I talking
about it? That's a newspaper story. It's about journalism, it's
not about Hollywood. Right, Well, there is a Hollywood connection here.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Let me explain.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Amazon of course is home for lots and lots of
movies and documentaries. Of course books as well, But let's
focus on the movies first and foremost. Well, in the past,
Amazon hasn't been too kind to certain films, films that
have a right leaning perspective, maybe films that just don't
agree with the narrative on certain subjects. You can't say that,
(02:11):
like the death of Michael Brown. There was a movie
a few years ago called What Killed Michael Brown from
filmmaker Eli Steele, and it looked at that particular case,
the hullabloo around, at the protests, the race based arguments,
and it said, wait a minute, hold on, maybe the
facts don't exactly align with what we've been told about that.
(02:32):
It's a provocative film, no doubt, it's also very well
told movie, and for a while Amazon said, hey, wait
a minute, I don't think we can have that on
our platform. Why, well, it's not. The quality is just
not up to snuff. You know, we have a certain
standard we have to meet at Amazon before we put
a movie on our platform. We're liars. Yeah, of course,
(02:55):
that's completely absurd. You can see hundreds, if not thousands,
of absolutely terrible, awful movies on Amazon at any given time.
There's nothing wrong with that. It's room for everything. So
what were they talking about? Why did this movie not
meet the certain criteria as far as craftsmanship, Well, it's
a bogus charge. I've seen a couple of Eli Steele's
(03:16):
films and they're very good. They're well crafted, they're smart,
they're nuanced, they're thoughtful. This was just a complete lie.
And fortunately a few media outlets actually picked up a
story and an Amazon tel between its legs said, oh, okay,
well we'll have to put it back on our platform.
It's good. Sorry, I suppose I'm trying to backped a
(03:37):
little bit suspicious, right, no doubt. Another story about Amazon
involves a movie called Created Equal. Clarence Thomas, in his
own words, this was a documentary about Michael Pack came
out on PBS, certainly no fringe outlet, and then eventually
it made its way to Amazon. Seems pretty normal, except
(03:58):
Amazon decided at one moment to take it down, get
rid of it, remove it. You couldn't stream it on Amazon.
And they did that not only without warning, but during
Black History a month. Yeah, they took down the black
Conservative justice from the Supreme Court during Black History Month. Again,
no warning, no explanation, just gone, I feel by Clarence Thomas.
(04:21):
More recently, last year, Robbie Starbuck, who is sort of
the enemy of DEI and God bless him for that,
he put in a movie called A War on Children,
which looked at the sexual exploitation of kids in schools
across the country. It could be parents being hidden from
the fact that their children are changing genders. That that's
(04:42):
actually happening in California, I'm going to guess elsewhere as well.
Also really graphically sexual content that is included in school libraries,
things like that. Let's just say it was an inappropriate word.
It's an important subject, and you could agree or disagree
with what's going on. I can't imagine why you, but anyway,
that was an important film and Amazon said yeah, we're not.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Going to have it on our platform.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Not a chance, blocked it, just out now blocked it.
These are just a few of the examples where Amazon
has done the wrong thing, has blocked movies because they
didn't fit a certain criteria, a certain agenda. So which
is it, Jeff Bezos, Are you the man of the people,
you love the First Amendment? You want your paper to
(05:26):
Washington Post to be a beacon a guide for free
speech and free thought? Or is it your ownership of
Amazon where these things are happening. Now. I focus on
the movies, but there were other cases. There was a
book about sort of critical the trans community and the
trans agenda, and that book was just outright banned. They
said it was hate speech. And there are other examples
(05:47):
as well. There were some books about COVID nineteen vaccines
that were banned too, and that was at the behest
to the President Biden administration. Again, the administration could ask
that they could request it. But Amazon's a private company.
I mean they could say yes or they could say no.
And they said, yeah, we'll go along with it. So
(06:08):
color me skeptical. I'd love if Jeff Bezos is as
based as we think he is if he's had a
change of heart about the First Amendment. Have he wants
to really rally for free speech from the pages of
the Washington Post and hopefully that will trickle down to
Amazon itself. But until I see proof of it, I'm
not buying it. Jeff, I'm sorry. Until Amazon does the
(06:29):
right thing consistently, I'm gonna call BS on it. And
the same goes for the Washington Post. They've got to
get better. That's an awful newspaper and anything they can
do to change it is good. Let's hope that change happens.
(06:53):
My next guest's resume is so good, I'm thinking, what
is he doing on the show? The filmmaker in question
is Bill guten Tog and he has two oscars. Amazing.
He's a documentary filmmaker who bounces between fiction and nonfiction films.
Pretty impressive. You've got one skill set and the other
not bad at all?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Right.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
He created and executive produced the NBC series Crime and Punishment,
and he's also written some high profile books. Oh and
if his mantle wasn't stacked already with two oscars, he's
got three Emmys, a Peabody Award, and a Robert F.
Kennedy Journalism Award as well. This guy has pretty much
done it all, and now he's teaming with Angel Studios
for their new film Rule Breakers. It's the fact based
(07:35):
story of Afghanistan women who are competing in a robotics competition.
Now that might not sound extraordinary, but in Afghanistan culture
it certainly is. Women are not encouraged to pursue academic excellence,
to say the very least. So this story, which was
real and is remarkable, is absolutely inspiring and certainly worthy
(07:56):
of its big screen close up. The film Welcome Burst
ro Bites Worldwide Competition Afghanistan. The film is opening in
theaters March seventh, and who better than Bill Gutinog to
tell it to the public. Bill opens up about why
he decided to do the film and more importantly, the
(08:16):
cultural expectations that were placed upon both him and the project.
This is not easy content to tell. This is very tricky.
There are certain cultural nuances here that are in play.
You get it wrong, it's offensive to not just the
Afghanistan people, but just the audience in general. You've got
to get these details right, which is why our recent
(08:37):
podcast on Emilia Perez was so important, because boy, they
got a lot of those things wrong in that particular
Oscar nominated story. I think that is not the case here.
It sounds like they dotted all the eyes and crossed
all the t's. But that's what Bill Gutinog does. He
just gets it done, gets it done well. He's been
doing it for years. So I hope you enjoyed my
conversation with Bill. I've had a great time as one
of the more interesting and enjoyable chats I've had on
(09:00):
this show, and I think you'll learn a lot from
it and also realize why he's got all those trophies
on his mantle. He's just good. He's just good.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Bill.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Thanks for joining the show. You know, I always like
to start with the origin story, especially with a movie
like Rule Breakers, because how someone like yourself with your
pedigree finds a subject like this, how they come to
agree to bring it to the screen. It always intrigues me.
And I'm sure there's lots of different elements and kind
of behind the scenes maneuvering that goes on. So when
(09:30):
did you first hear about the subject and when did
the movie kind of come across your professional play?
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Well? Well, I heard about the subject at the end
of twenty nineteen, whereas one of my co writers, Jason Brown,
had written some articles on Roy and Mamoub who's the
center of the film, and he called me up and said,
I have this. I wrote these articles. I think they'd
be a good movie. Anyone in the entertainment industry hears
this line a lot. It's often not accurate. In this case,
(09:59):
it was extreme accurate. And then shortly after it struck
me as a good idea, then COVID hit and if
you remember, we were all like in our houses and
I was working on a TV series, but at night, I,
you know, Jason and I would just have these long,
long conversations with royat where she started telling us her
(10:20):
life story. And later we brought Roy's sister on to
help us write the script. But I remember thinking this
is a really powerful story and it should be a movie.
And at that point we wrote a script and then
we're very fortunate that people came on to fund the film,
to distribute the film actors. A lot of actors said
(10:41):
yes to us. I think that it's a story that
is a powerful story, and that's what's most important when
you're making a movie.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Yeah. Now, a lot of the work you've done in
the past deals with social issues, progress, a lot of
heavier material that stories of consequence. I imagine that is a
significant factor when you decide to devote a part of
your professional life to a movie like this.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Oh yeah, it takes years to make a film. And
look to be clear, I mean, you know you don't
do this by yourself. Anyone who goes from movie theater
and you know, looks at the credits sees how many
people contribute to a movie. An awful lot of people contribute.
But you know, I think this is an important subject
in some ways. You know, we're like a two r
ad for girls and stem, which is something I think
is important. But I also like to stress that we're
(11:28):
you know, first and foremost, we're a movie with all
the excitement and the drama of movies. In some ways,
we're like a sports movie. And you know, you don't
like you know, if you take a film like Miracle,
you don't have to really be into ice hockey to love,
you know, a movie about a hockey team or Rocky.
You know, it's like boxing to like a film about it.
(11:49):
You know, the boxer struggle I mean, you know, it's
an underdog story in some ways, and I think folks
like underdog stories, and you know, especially when they're true.
I mean, I think the beauty of the movie Miracle
was a true story, and I think part of it
is with us. We're a true story about this underdog
team that really triumphed over a lot of hardship, you know,
(12:11):
to to you know, make its mark on the world.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
It's always interesting when you see a fact based story,
and obviously there's creative license you have to make certain
dramatic changes just to make it more compelling. But often
in movies like this, there's an element or scene or
a movie or a moment that's seems, oh, that can't
be true. It can't and it is. Is there anything?
Is there any little elements of this movie?
Speaker 3 (12:33):
I mean maybe it doesen't, but there's lots of that
in this movie. I mean, in this movie, you know,
it's a fictional film, but based on a true story.
You know, when we have one scene where Roya, the
central character, was trying to start a girl's robotics team
in Afghanistan, there was a tremendous amount of resistance and
(12:53):
you know, she goes all over town trying to get
girls to show up and to be part of the
the team, and they're gonna have it at a girl's
high school. She shows up with the girls high school,
walks into the classroom where and finds the room to
be empty, like no one's there, and she's like heartbroken.
(13:13):
Then someone comes in and says, well, actually, can you
come down the hall, And they got out set of
stairs and she walks in and there's packed doudatory in
full girls. And because they didn't have enough room in
the classroom, well, when we did the scene, we used
about eighty extraists to fill the room. And the real
story there were like one hundred and fifty girls. So
(13:35):
I mean it's I think it was a powerful scene.
I hope audience members think it's a powerful scene, but
in reality it was even more girls wanted to do it.
There was just such a hunger to be part of this.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Yeah. You know. One of the things I think that
the recent movie Amelia Perez is running into is cultural sensitivity.
There are Mexican viewers who think certain elements didn't really work,
some pieces of dialogue or not authentic, and I think
the movie taking some legitimate heat for that, and I
when you're tackling this subject at Afghanistan, it's not your
(14:05):
culture per se. What are some of the things you
do in bringing in advisors? How do you kind of
make sure that the nuances are accurate because they're so
important to a story like this.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
I think, you know, it's a good question. I mean,
the fact of the matter is we you know, the
co writer on the script is born and raised in Afghanistan,
so we were constantly asking can you do this? Can
you do that? The actors are all the principal actors
in the film rall first generation American or Canadian, but
(14:37):
you know their families are from Afghanistan, so that they
knew the culture and we were very, very concerned to
getting the culture correct and it was something we asked
all the time. You know, So I surrounded on the
set by people from Afghanistan or Iran. You know, the
part of the story takes place in Herat, Afghanistan, which
(14:57):
is quite close to Iran. It's only about fifty months away.
So so yeah, So some of the actors who are
of Vranian descent, but again they're all American, and look,
we wanted to reach a large audience, you know, and
all of the cast spoke English like you or I
did to you know, we're you know, they're Americans, but
they also spoke the language of Afghanistan and uh. But
(15:21):
we decide to do the film in English because we're
trying to reach a large audience and to be an
accessible film. And I think the story is very accessible.
It's a movie about, you know, triumph over adversity, and
I think it's pretty exciting.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
As a storyteller. You mentioned like it just seemed like
this is a natural fit for the big screen. Certainly,
is is there sort of like it's almost too good
to be true? Is it undergo stock story, you know,
achieving against all odds, so many obstacles, perseverance. Is there
a little part of the cynics, Oh my gosh, I
got to make sure that I don't do this wrong.
(15:56):
Or is there an odd obstacle when you have a
movie that seems almost too good to be true? Well?
Speaker 3 (16:02):
I think that you know, when a story is really good,
and I found this in other movies too, it's your
job as a director not to mess it up, you know,
because you know you've been given, through circumstances, a great story,
and you know, the object is how do you tell
the story? And as I mentioned earlier, you know, you
(16:22):
do it through a collaboration team. You do it with
your actors, you do with your co writers, you do
it with the people or the cinematographers and the sound
folks and the music. And you know, we have like
two will I Am songs in here, and we have
you know, just great music throughout the film, and you
just try to combine those elements to make for the
(16:43):
most powerful movie that you can.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Yeah, that's what you mentioned the soundtrack. I really enjoyed
the sound of the film. It really is a kind
of a character unto itself, which is a bit of
a cliche, but it really did feel like way when
I was watching it. You know, when you think about
a movie like this, it's Angel Studios is bring it
to the four or they're a fairly new studio. It's
certainly you know, you've been in this industry for a while. Now,
(17:06):
what are your thoughts on Hollywood today? It seems very complex,
It's so much changing, you know. Stream you know Amelia
Pros you mentioned before, is a thirteen Oscar nominated film
that came from Netflix. There's so much, so much churn
in the industry. Do you feel hopeful? Are you a
bit reticent? You does every day you wake up here
maybe have a different feeling about where things are going
(17:27):
right now?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Well, you know, the industry isn't turmoil. I mean, I
think it's a you know, certainly empirical fact. But you know,
out of turmoil there can be a lot of really
good things that come out of that. And and I
think you know, Netflix has shaken up, as have the streamers.
I mean, the flip side of it is people still
like going to the movies. And if you you know,
(17:49):
if you look at you know, movies can break through
and there's less competition than there is in the past.
So if you have a film that people want to
see and you actually go into theater, you know, the
hope is that people will want to see it. I
don't think movies are disappearing anytime soon, as long as people,
you know, parents want to you know, get out on
(18:11):
a Friday or Saturday night. Kids want to have a date,
kids want to escape their parents. You know, as a parent,
you want to take your kid to a movie. I mean,
there's all these compelling reasons for for movies. So I think,
you know, movies are hurting in a lot of ways,
but I also think, you know, it's really baked in.
And I think it's important to remember too that there's
(18:32):
all these things that happen in moves where everyone says, oh,
movie's gonna be over, Like, you know, sound was going
to ruin movies, and was going to ruin movies, and
the VHS player was going to ruin movies, you know,
and streaming is going to ruin movies. Well, you know,
these folks have all taken a swing at the bat
and the movies are still here.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Yeah, you know when you think, I'm kind of put
you on the couch for a moment. You've been in Hollywood, obviously,
all the awards, you've won, all the nominations. What do
you think you've improved as a storyteller? Can you feel
when you're on the set today that maybe you weren't
able to do extra y back in the day, but
now because you've had all these experiences and all these collaborations,
(19:11):
you think, I can, I can do that. I can
I can tell this part of a story, maybe in
a more refined way, in a more sophisticated way. I'm
just kind of curious how you think you've grown as
an artist.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Well, I think that, you know, I'm always looking for
the emotional core of a story, like I mean, issues
are important, but people are a lot more important. So
I'm always looking and I've been doing this for a while.
To your point is what's going to make you connect
with a character? Like why do you care about a character?
You know? And I think that you know, we care
(19:42):
less about issues, we care about people. And you know
you can raise issues while caring about people. Is you know,
I don't think I'm saying that controversial things are really
terrible in Afghanistan, now, yeah, you know, And I think,
but we're highlighting what people have gone out and achieved.
I mean, I think that we're an advocacy film for
(20:04):
girls in stem. You know, I don't think that's particularly controversial,
but it's you know, it's important. It's important for our country,
it's important for the world that girls go into stem fields.
And I think you can say that as a statement.
You know, it's important that you know, we have girls
in STEM and I certainly one hundred percent agree with it.
But then you want people to feel it. You want
(20:25):
people to feel the emotion attached, Like why are they
attached to it? What does it mean to them to
have achievements in it? So I'm always looking for the
emotional core of a story.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
You mentioned before, the industry is in turmoil. It's a
tough word to say. I don't disagree, just given your
experience you of work, the stuff you've done over the past.
If you were talking to a studio executive or someone
who's in charge of making things happen or not happen,
what kind of advice would you give them as far
as moving forward? I mean, it's such a swirling landscape.
You have a unique skill set that maybe the average
(20:59):
producer would have or executive you've been in the field,
what would you tell them?
Speaker 3 (21:04):
I think originality counts. I mean there was a line
from you Know, the great you Know film critic Roger
Ebers said no executive was ever fired for green lighting
a sequel. I think there's a lot of really repetitive stuff,
and I think when things come along that you know,
can be inspiring or touching, then audiences will will go
(21:27):
and see it. I mean, I think there's a reason
that something's cut through the noise and that you know
other movies. You know, we're just tired of seeing the
same thing. I mean, look, I should ask you. You
see a lot of movies. I mean, are you tired
of the repetitiveness of what you see?
Speaker 1 (21:42):
You know, I am to a degree. It's funny. A
lot of people were down on Amelia Pariz and I
had a lot of issues with it, but it was
so fresh and so wild and such a swing that
part of me enjoyed that element of it that I
couldn't I couldn't deny the flaws, but I also I
haven't seen this before, so yeah, there is something about
that that it is refreshing. Given the work that you do,
(22:05):
it's a cliche to say, oh, you've done it all.
You kind of have done it all. What intrigues you
moving forward? What kind of excites you? Are there certain
kinds of project that you'd like to do that maybe
you haven't quite tackled this point in your career.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
You know, again, I feel like I want to do
films that have some impact on people's lives in a
positive way. And you know, look, I did a film
with the series of the director Richard Linkletter on animals
rescuing people and people rescuing animals, you know. I mean,
it's just it was just important, you know, to me
that we have, you know, a TV series to celebrate this.
(22:39):
So this is what I'm looking for. I'm looking for
something that can have some sort of positive impact on people,
and you know, makes for a compelling story. Look, I
know how hard it is. I mean, you're asking people
to give up two hours of their lives if they're
never going to see again, you know. And it's true
on TV series, you're asking people to give many more
than that of video game, vastly more than that. So
(23:01):
I believe it's the responsibility of like a filmmaker to
give people back something, you know, for their time. I
mean sometimes you know, I hear people filmmakers do interviews
and they say, well, I made this film you know
for me. Great, don't show it to me, you know.
I you know, if you're making I want a film
that you know that I can feel great about, you know,
(23:23):
showing it to my family, my friends. It's this compelling story,
and that's what drives me. I'm just looking for compelling
stories and putting together a team of people that you know,
hopefully you can tell it well as a group.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
One last question. There was a speech given recently by
Breaking Bad creator Van Scaligan about where he'd like to
see Hollywood go next, and he really he says, something
that I've thought about in the past is that, you know,
we have all these anti heroes, and some of them
are wonderful and complex and Tony Soprano and Walter Wyatt
and obviously attached to great shows. But he said, we
need more good guys, and I mean guys and coals obviously, yeah,
(23:57):
and he said that they're harder to write, but that
we need them as a culture. I was kind of
curious what your thoughts on that are on both front.
They do seem more complicated to write, but also I
do think they're necessary. You're a storyteller. What what was
your I don't know if you heard that speech or not,
but that.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
I didn't hear the speech. I think it's a great
line because one of the powerful things about movies are
and TV fat matter, is they're aspirational and people see themselves,
you know, in the characters, and it gives them some
sort of hope. And so you know, look, he's created,
you know, Vin's going amazing characters. But you know, you
(24:34):
hope people don't want to be Walter White. I mean,
but you know, there's plenty of people out there that
you really do like, hope you can you can be
like And I think that's one things that we're trying
to do in our film, that people you know, have
great adversity and they you know, they triumph. I mean,
I think this is the beauty of film and the
(24:55):
aspirational quality of it. And you know, film it's very powerful,
and you hope that you can marshal the power and
do some good with it.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Yeah, it's funny. In recent years, we had a new
Superman by Henry Cavill and they made him dark and brooding,
and I thought I grew up on Christopher Reeve and
he was like a boy scout, but he was three
dimensional and he was he was just a great character.
And I almost I don't know what the new Superman.
I know it's a sequel in the rebooter Cathy are
very you know, a scant at that kind of storytelling.
(25:26):
But I wouldn't mind if that if the old boy
Scout came back and showed us that that character can
still be compelling and wonderful and convincing.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Right.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
I mean, look, he was I thought Christopher is a
great Superman and he was apparently just a great guy too.
And you know, maybe there's a there's some positive bleedover.
He certainly lived a life of consequence even after the
tragic accident.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Yeah, of course that's a Superman document from last year.
But well, another movie of consequences, his Rule Breakers, is
coming out in theaters everywhere March seventh. Please do check
it out. Is inspirational.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
God.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
I have two boys, but I mean, and I want
them to see it too. But if you have a daughter,
I can't imagine a better movie for them to watch
and to come out of the theater and have some
great conversations. That's part of the fun of going to
the movies in the first place. But Bill, thank you
so much for joining the show. I appreciate your work
and it's a pleasure to speak to someone of your
your skills set. You've you really have made a consequence,
conscuential impact on film. It's it's a great achievement.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
Thank you for your very kind words, and thank you
for having me on. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Your character Actor of the Week is Luis Guzman and
by the way, if you've got a favorite character actor
you want to be spotlighted here, well let me know
in the comments section on YouTube. But rumble maybe he'll
maybe he or she will pop up sooner than later.
Well that's it for the show this week. Again, just
a reminder that Kidney Stone I've got is still floating
within me somewhere somehow doesn't want to come out, come.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
Out, come out.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
Wherever you are.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Just chilling, just hanging in there, And I really wish
we'd part ways, but not quite yet. But the show
must go on and there you go. So I'll give
you a posted on mister Stone's progress when he decides
to make his great escape. But for now he is
hanging tight and seems rather happy, and I'm not happy
with him. By the way, again, of course, thank you
to Radio America having me as part of the great
(27:14):
podcast lineup. I do hope you'll check out Hollywoodintoto dot com.
It is my website formed in twenty fourteen. It is
over ten years old now. It is like this show,
the Right Take and Entertainment updated daily. And by the way,
when you're watching this iprilll probably be on vacation. But
when you're an entrepreneur, a solopreneur. You really don't have
vacations per se. You still work, whether you're at the
(27:37):
beach or maybe even visiting spring training in Arizona, which
is where I'll be. But the show will go on.
Next week's episode will be a little bit late, but
we will have it for you, I promise, and again
I appreciate your time, your effort for checking out the show.
Now go out there and have the very best week possible.
Doctor's Orders
This week on the Hollywood and Toto Podcast, Jeff Bezos
is all in on the First Amendment, So why did
he block so many right leaning movies at Amazon? And
we talked to filmmaker Bill Guten talk about his new
film Rule Breakers, and it's no surprise that it's inspiring
and based on a true story. It is an Angel
Studios production. That's what they do best.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Welcome to the Hollywood and Toto Podcast. Entertainment news and
reviews without the wook, Hollywood narrative. Free speech, free expression,
Now that's entertainment, and here's your host. Oh Lord, winning
film critic Christian Toto.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
A based Jeff Bezos has everyone in the ladder. The
Amazon founder and owner of The Washington Post came out
with a decree earlier this week that said that his
papers go to be focused on the editorial page with
personal responsibilities and free market principles, and many heads exploded
as a result, including those of his Washington Post employees.
(01:14):
One of them actually quit after hearing that decree. Imagine
that being so aghast at personal liberties and free markets
that you quit your job. Well, that's just what journalism
is today.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Just as you're.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Clearly aware that bias.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Journalism sells more magazines.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
I mean, when you think about it, what he said
was his American is apple pie, hot dog, Chevrolet. So
why the outrage? But more importantly, why am I talking
about it? That's a newspaper story. It's about journalism, it's
not about Hollywood. Right, Well, there is a Hollywood connection here.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Let me explain.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Amazon of course is home for lots and lots of
movies and documentaries. Of course books as well, But let's
focus on the movies first and foremost. Well, in the past,
Amazon hasn't been too kind to certain films, films that
have a right leaning perspective, maybe films that just don't
agree with the narrative on certain subjects. You can't say that,
(02:11):
like the death of Michael Brown. There was a movie
a few years ago called What Killed Michael Brown from
filmmaker Eli Steele, and it looked at that particular case,
the hullabloo around, at the protests, the race based arguments,
and it said, wait a minute, hold on, maybe the
facts don't exactly align with what we've been told about that.
(02:32):
It's a provocative film, no doubt, it's also very well
told movie, and for a while Amazon said, hey, wait
a minute, I don't think we can have that on
our platform. Why, well, it's not. The quality is just
not up to snuff. You know, we have a certain
standard we have to meet at Amazon before we put
a movie on our platform. We're liars. Yeah, of course,
(02:55):
that's completely absurd. You can see hundreds, if not thousands,
of absolutely terrible, awful movies on Amazon at any given time.
There's nothing wrong with that. It's room for everything. So
what were they talking about? Why did this movie not
meet the certain criteria as far as craftsmanship, Well, it's
a bogus charge. I've seen a couple of Eli Steele's
(03:16):
films and they're very good. They're well crafted, they're smart,
they're nuanced, they're thoughtful. This was just a complete lie.
And fortunately a few media outlets actually picked up a
story and an Amazon tel between its legs said, oh, okay,
well we'll have to put it back on our platform.
It's good. Sorry, I suppose I'm trying to backped a
(03:37):
little bit suspicious, right, no doubt. Another story about Amazon
involves a movie called Created Equal. Clarence Thomas, in his
own words, this was a documentary about Michael Pack came
out on PBS, certainly no fringe outlet, and then eventually
it made its way to Amazon. Seems pretty normal, except
(03:58):
Amazon decided at one moment to take it down, get
rid of it, remove it. You couldn't stream it on Amazon.
And they did that not only without warning, but during
Black History a month. Yeah, they took down the black
Conservative justice from the Supreme Court during Black History Month. Again,
no warning, no explanation, just gone, I feel by Clarence Thomas.
(04:21):
More recently, last year, Robbie Starbuck, who is sort of
the enemy of DEI and God bless him for that,
he put in a movie called A War on Children,
which looked at the sexual exploitation of kids in schools
across the country. It could be parents being hidden from
the fact that their children are changing genders. That that's
(04:42):
actually happening in California, I'm going to guess elsewhere as well.
Also really graphically sexual content that is included in school libraries,
things like that. Let's just say it was an inappropriate word.
It's an important subject, and you could agree or disagree
with what's going on. I can't imagine why you, but anyway,
that was an important film and Amazon said yeah, we're not.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Going to have it on our platform.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Not a chance, blocked it, just out now blocked it.
These are just a few of the examples where Amazon
has done the wrong thing, has blocked movies because they
didn't fit a certain criteria, a certain agenda. So which
is it, Jeff Bezos, Are you the man of the people,
you love the First Amendment? You want your paper to
(05:26):
Washington Post to be a beacon a guide for free
speech and free thought? Or is it your ownership of
Amazon where these things are happening. Now. I focus on
the movies, but there were other cases. There was a
book about sort of critical the trans community and the
trans agenda, and that book was just outright banned. They
said it was hate speech. And there are other examples
(05:47):
as well. There were some books about COVID nineteen vaccines
that were banned too, and that was at the behest
to the President Biden administration. Again, the administration could ask
that they could request it. But Amazon's a private company.
I mean they could say yes or they could say no.
And they said, yeah, we'll go along with it. So
(06:08):
color me skeptical. I'd love if Jeff Bezos is as
based as we think he is if he's had a
change of heart about the First Amendment. Have he wants
to really rally for free speech from the pages of
the Washington Post and hopefully that will trickle down to
Amazon itself. But until I see proof of it, I'm
not buying it. Jeff, I'm sorry. Until Amazon does the
(06:29):
right thing consistently, I'm gonna call BS on it. And
the same goes for the Washington Post. They've got to
get better. That's an awful newspaper and anything they can
do to change it is good. Let's hope that change happens.
(06:53):
My next guest's resume is so good, I'm thinking, what
is he doing on the show? The filmmaker in question
is Bill guten Tog and he has two oscars. Amazing.
He's a documentary filmmaker who bounces between fiction and nonfiction films.
Pretty impressive. You've got one skill set and the other
not bad at all?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Right.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
He created and executive produced the NBC series Crime and Punishment,
and he's also written some high profile books. Oh and
if his mantle wasn't stacked already with two oscars, he's
got three Emmys, a Peabody Award, and a Robert F.
Kennedy Journalism Award as well. This guy has pretty much
done it all, and now he's teaming with Angel Studios
for their new film Rule Breakers. It's the fact based
(07:35):
story of Afghanistan women who are competing in a robotics competition.
Now that might not sound extraordinary, but in Afghanistan culture
it certainly is. Women are not encouraged to pursue academic excellence,
to say the very least. So this story, which was
real and is remarkable, is absolutely inspiring and certainly worthy
(07:56):
of its big screen close up. The film Welcome Burst
ro Bites Worldwide Competition Afghanistan. The film is opening in
theaters March seventh, and who better than Bill Gutinog to
tell it to the public. Bill opens up about why
he decided to do the film and more importantly, the
(08:16):
cultural expectations that were placed upon both him and the project.
This is not easy content to tell. This is very tricky.
There are certain cultural nuances here that are in play.
You get it wrong, it's offensive to not just the
Afghanistan people, but just the audience in general. You've got
to get these details right, which is why our recent
(08:37):
podcast on Emilia Perez was so important, because boy, they
got a lot of those things wrong in that particular
Oscar nominated story. I think that is not the case here.
It sounds like they dotted all the eyes and crossed
all the t's. But that's what Bill Gutinog does. He
just gets it done, gets it done well. He's been
doing it for years. So I hope you enjoyed my
conversation with Bill. I've had a great time as one
of the more interesting and enjoyable chats I've had on
(09:00):
this show, and I think you'll learn a lot from
it and also realize why he's got all those trophies
on his mantle. He's just good. He's just good.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Bill.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Thanks for joining the show. You know, I always like
to start with the origin story, especially with a movie
like Rule Breakers, because how someone like yourself with your
pedigree finds a subject like this, how they come to
agree to bring it to the screen. It always intrigues me.
And I'm sure there's lots of different elements and kind
of behind the scenes maneuvering that goes on. So when
(09:30):
did you first hear about the subject and when did
the movie kind of come across your professional play?
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Well? Well, I heard about the subject at the end
of twenty nineteen, whereas one of my co writers, Jason Brown,
had written some articles on Roy and Mamoub who's the
center of the film, and he called me up and said,
I have this. I wrote these articles. I think they'd
be a good movie. Anyone in the entertainment industry hears
this line a lot. It's often not accurate. In this case,
(09:59):
it was extreme accurate. And then shortly after it struck
me as a good idea, then COVID hit and if
you remember, we were all like in our houses and
I was working on a TV series, but at night, I,
you know, Jason and I would just have these long,
long conversations with royat where she started telling us her
(10:20):
life story. And later we brought Roy's sister on to
help us write the script. But I remember thinking this
is a really powerful story and it should be a movie.
And at that point we wrote a script and then
we're very fortunate that people came on to fund the film,
to distribute the film actors. A lot of actors said
(10:41):
yes to us. I think that it's a story that
is a powerful story, and that's what's most important when
you're making a movie.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Yeah. Now, a lot of the work you've done in
the past deals with social issues, progress, a lot of
heavier material that stories of consequence. I imagine that is a
significant factor when you decide to devote a part of
your professional life to a movie like this.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Oh yeah, it takes years to make a film. And
look to be clear, I mean, you know you don't
do this by yourself. Anyone who goes from movie theater
and you know, looks at the credits sees how many
people contribute to a movie. An awful lot of people contribute.
But you know, I think this is an important subject
in some ways. You know, we're like a two r
ad for girls and stem, which is something I think
is important. But I also like to stress that we're
(11:28):
you know, first and foremost, we're a movie with all
the excitement and the drama of movies. In some ways,
we're like a sports movie. And you know, you don't
like you know, if you take a film like Miracle,
you don't have to really be into ice hockey to love,
you know, a movie about a hockey team or Rocky.
You know, it's like boxing to like a film about it.
(11:49):
You know, the boxer struggle I mean, you know, it's
an underdog story in some ways, and I think folks
like underdog stories, and you know, especially when they're true.
I mean, I think the beauty of the movie Miracle
was a true story, and I think part of it
is with us. We're a true story about this underdog
team that really triumphed over a lot of hardship, you know,
(12:11):
to to you know, make its mark on the world.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
It's always interesting when you see a fact based story,
and obviously there's creative license you have to make certain
dramatic changes just to make it more compelling. But often
in movies like this, there's an element or scene or
a movie or a moment that's seems, oh, that can't
be true. It can't and it is. Is there anything?
Is there any little elements of this movie?
Speaker 3 (12:33):
I mean maybe it doesen't, but there's lots of that
in this movie. I mean, in this movie, you know,
it's a fictional film, but based on a true story.
You know, when we have one scene where Roya, the
central character, was trying to start a girl's robotics team
in Afghanistan, there was a tremendous amount of resistance and
(12:53):
you know, she goes all over town trying to get
girls to show up and to be part of the
the team, and they're gonna have it at a girl's
high school. She shows up with the girls high school,
walks into the classroom where and finds the room to
be empty, like no one's there, and she's like heartbroken.
(13:13):
Then someone comes in and says, well, actually, can you
come down the hall, And they got out set of
stairs and she walks in and there's packed doudatory in
full girls. And because they didn't have enough room in
the classroom, well, when we did the scene, we used
about eighty extraists to fill the room. And the real
story there were like one hundred and fifty girls. So
(13:35):
I mean it's I think it was a powerful scene.
I hope audience members think it's a powerful scene, but
in reality it was even more girls wanted to do it.
There was just such a hunger to be part of this.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Yeah. You know. One of the things I think that
the recent movie Amelia Perez is running into is cultural sensitivity.
There are Mexican viewers who think certain elements didn't really work,
some pieces of dialogue or not authentic, and I think
the movie taking some legitimate heat for that, and I
when you're tackling this subject at Afghanistan, it's not your
(14:05):
culture per se. What are some of the things you
do in bringing in advisors? How do you kind of
make sure that the nuances are accurate because they're so
important to a story like this.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
I think, you know, it's a good question. I mean,
the fact of the matter is we you know, the
co writer on the script is born and raised in Afghanistan,
so we were constantly asking can you do this? Can
you do that? The actors are all the principal actors
in the film rall first generation American or Canadian, but
(14:37):
you know their families are from Afghanistan, so that they
knew the culture and we were very, very concerned to
getting the culture correct and it was something we asked
all the time. You know, So I surrounded on the
set by people from Afghanistan or Iran. You know, the
part of the story takes place in Herat, Afghanistan, which
(14:57):
is quite close to Iran. It's only about fifty months away.
So so yeah, So some of the actors who are
of Vranian descent, but again they're all American, and look,
we wanted to reach a large audience, you know, and
all of the cast spoke English like you or I
did to you know, we're you know, they're Americans, but
they also spoke the language of Afghanistan and uh. But
(15:21):
we decide to do the film in English because we're
trying to reach a large audience and to be an
accessible film. And I think the story is very accessible.
It's a movie about, you know, triumph over adversity, and
I think it's pretty exciting.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
As a storyteller. You mentioned like it just seemed like
this is a natural fit for the big screen. Certainly,
is is there sort of like it's almost too good
to be true? Is it undergo stock story, you know,
achieving against all odds, so many obstacles, perseverance. Is there
a little part of the cynics, Oh my gosh, I
got to make sure that I don't do this wrong.
(15:56):
Or is there an odd obstacle when you have a
movie that seems almost too good to be true? Well?
Speaker 3 (16:02):
I think that you know, when a story is really good,
and I found this in other movies too, it's your
job as a director not to mess it up, you know,
because you know you've been given, through circumstances, a great story,
and you know, the object is how do you tell
the story? And as I mentioned earlier, you know, you
(16:22):
do it through a collaboration team. You do it with
your actors, you do with your co writers, you do
it with the people or the cinematographers and the sound
folks and the music. And you know, we have like
two will I Am songs in here, and we have
you know, just great music throughout the film, and you
just try to combine those elements to make for the
(16:43):
most powerful movie that you can.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Yeah, that's what you mentioned the soundtrack. I really enjoyed
the sound of the film. It really is a kind
of a character unto itself, which is a bit of
a cliche, but it really did feel like way when
I was watching it. You know, when you think about
a movie like this, it's Angel Studios is bring it
to the four or they're a fairly new studio. It's
certainly you know, you've been in this industry for a while. Now,
(17:06):
what are your thoughts on Hollywood today? It seems very complex,
It's so much changing, you know. Stream you know Amelia
Pros you mentioned before, is a thirteen Oscar nominated film
that came from Netflix. There's so much, so much churn
in the industry. Do you feel hopeful? Are you a
bit reticent? You does every day you wake up here
maybe have a different feeling about where things are going
(17:27):
right now?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Well, you know, the industry isn't turmoil. I mean, I
think it's a you know, certainly empirical fact. But you know,
out of turmoil there can be a lot of really
good things that come out of that. And and I
think you know, Netflix has shaken up, as have the streamers.
I mean, the flip side of it is people still
like going to the movies. And if you you know,
(17:49):
if you look at you know, movies can break through
and there's less competition than there is in the past.
So if you have a film that people want to
see and you actually go into theater, you know, the
hope is that people will want to see it. I
don't think movies are disappearing anytime soon, as long as people,
you know, parents want to you know, get out on
(18:11):
a Friday or Saturday night. Kids want to have a date,
kids want to escape their parents. You know, as a parent,
you want to take your kid to a movie. I mean,
there's all these compelling reasons for for movies. So I think,
you know, movies are hurting in a lot of ways,
but I also think, you know, it's really baked in.
And I think it's important to remember too that there's
(18:32):
all these things that happen in moves where everyone says, oh,
movie's gonna be over, Like, you know, sound was going
to ruin movies, and was going to ruin movies, and
the VHS player was going to ruin movies, you know,
and streaming is going to ruin movies. Well, you know,
these folks have all taken a swing at the bat
and the movies are still here.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Yeah, you know when you think, I'm kind of put
you on the couch for a moment. You've been in Hollywood, obviously,
all the awards, you've won, all the nominations. What do
you think you've improved as a storyteller? Can you feel
when you're on the set today that maybe you weren't
able to do extra y back in the day, but
now because you've had all these experiences and all these collaborations,
(19:11):
you think, I can, I can do that. I can
I can tell this part of a story, maybe in
a more refined way, in a more sophisticated way. I'm
just kind of curious how you think you've grown as
an artist.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Well, I think that, you know, I'm always looking for
the emotional core of a story, like I mean, issues
are important, but people are a lot more important. So
I'm always looking and I've been doing this for a while.
To your point is what's going to make you connect
with a character? Like why do you care about a character?
You know? And I think that you know, we care
(19:42):
less about issues, we care about people. And you know
you can raise issues while caring about people. Is you know,
I don't think I'm saying that controversial things are really
terrible in Afghanistan, now, yeah, you know, And I think,
but we're highlighting what people have gone out and achieved.
I mean, I think that we're an advocacy film for
(20:04):
girls in stem. You know, I don't think that's particularly controversial,
but it's you know, it's important. It's important for our country,
it's important for the world that girls go into stem fields.
And I think you can say that as a statement.
You know, it's important that you know, we have girls
in STEM and I certainly one hundred percent agree with it.
But then you want people to feel it. You want
(20:25):
people to feel the emotion attached, Like why are they
attached to it? What does it mean to them to
have achievements in it? So I'm always looking for the
emotional core of a story.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
You mentioned before, the industry is in turmoil. It's a
tough word to say. I don't disagree, just given your
experience you of work, the stuff you've done over the past.
If you were talking to a studio executive or someone
who's in charge of making things happen or not happen,
what kind of advice would you give them as far
as moving forward? I mean, it's such a swirling landscape.
You have a unique skill set that maybe the average
(20:59):
producer would have or executive you've been in the field,
what would you tell them?
Speaker 3 (21:04):
I think originality counts. I mean there was a line
from you Know, the great you Know film critic Roger
Ebers said no executive was ever fired for green lighting
a sequel. I think there's a lot of really repetitive stuff,
and I think when things come along that you know,
can be inspiring or touching, then audiences will will go
(21:27):
and see it. I mean, I think there's a reason
that something's cut through the noise and that you know
other movies. You know, we're just tired of seeing the
same thing. I mean, look, I should ask you. You
see a lot of movies. I mean, are you tired
of the repetitiveness of what you see?
Speaker 1 (21:42):
You know, I am to a degree. It's funny. A
lot of people were down on Amelia Pariz and I
had a lot of issues with it, but it was
so fresh and so wild and such a swing that
part of me enjoyed that element of it that I
couldn't I couldn't deny the flaws, but I also I
haven't seen this before, so yeah, there is something about
that that it is refreshing. Given the work that you do,
(22:05):
it's a cliche to say, oh, you've done it all.
You kind of have done it all. What intrigues you
moving forward? What kind of excites you? Are there certain
kinds of project that you'd like to do that maybe
you haven't quite tackled this point in your career.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
You know, again, I feel like I want to do
films that have some impact on people's lives in a
positive way. And you know, look, I did a film
with the series of the director Richard Linkletter on animals
rescuing people and people rescuing animals, you know. I mean,
it's just it was just important, you know, to me
that we have, you know, a TV series to celebrate this.
(22:39):
So this is what I'm looking for. I'm looking for
something that can have some sort of positive impact on people,
and you know, makes for a compelling story. Look, I
know how hard it is. I mean, you're asking people
to give up two hours of their lives if they're
never going to see again, you know. And it's true
on TV series, you're asking people to give many more
than that of video game, vastly more than that. So
(23:01):
I believe it's the responsibility of like a filmmaker to
give people back something, you know, for their time. I
mean sometimes you know, I hear people filmmakers do interviews
and they say, well, I made this film you know
for me. Great, don't show it to me, you know.
I you know, if you're making I want a film
that you know that I can feel great about, you know,
(23:23):
showing it to my family, my friends. It's this compelling story,
and that's what drives me. I'm just looking for compelling
stories and putting together a team of people that you know,
hopefully you can tell it well as a group.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
One last question. There was a speech given recently by
Breaking Bad creator Van Scaligan about where he'd like to
see Hollywood go next, and he really he says, something
that I've thought about in the past is that, you know,
we have all these anti heroes, and some of them
are wonderful and complex and Tony Soprano and Walter Wyatt
and obviously attached to great shows. But he said, we
need more good guys, and I mean guys and coals obviously, yeah,
(23:57):
and he said that they're harder to write, but that
we need them as a culture. I was kind of
curious what your thoughts on that are on both front.
They do seem more complicated to write, but also I
do think they're necessary. You're a storyteller. What what was
your I don't know if you heard that speech or not,
but that.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
I didn't hear the speech. I think it's a great
line because one of the powerful things about movies are
and TV fat matter, is they're aspirational and people see themselves,
you know, in the characters, and it gives them some
sort of hope. And so you know, look, he's created,
you know, Vin's going amazing characters. But you know, you
(24:34):
hope people don't want to be Walter White. I mean,
but you know, there's plenty of people out there that
you really do like, hope you can you can be
like And I think that's one things that we're trying
to do in our film, that people you know, have
great adversity and they you know, they triumph. I mean,
I think this is the beauty of film and the
(24:55):
aspirational quality of it. And you know, film it's very powerful,
and you hope that you can marshal the power and
do some good with it.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Yeah, it's funny. In recent years, we had a new
Superman by Henry Cavill and they made him dark and brooding,
and I thought I grew up on Christopher Reeve and
he was like a boy scout, but he was three
dimensional and he was he was just a great character.
And I almost I don't know what the new Superman.
I know it's a sequel in the rebooter Cathy are
very you know, a scant at that kind of storytelling.
(25:26):
But I wouldn't mind if that if the old boy
Scout came back and showed us that that character can
still be compelling and wonderful and convincing.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Right.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
I mean, look, he was I thought Christopher is a
great Superman and he was apparently just a great guy too.
And you know, maybe there's a there's some positive bleedover.
He certainly lived a life of consequence even after the
tragic accident.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Yeah, of course that's a Superman document from last year.
But well, another movie of consequences, his Rule Breakers, is
coming out in theaters everywhere March seventh. Please do check
it out. Is inspirational.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
God.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
I have two boys, but I mean, and I want
them to see it too. But if you have a daughter,
I can't imagine a better movie for them to watch
and to come out of the theater and have some
great conversations. That's part of the fun of going to
the movies in the first place. But Bill, thank you
so much for joining the show. I appreciate your work
and it's a pleasure to speak to someone of your
your skills set. You've you really have made a consequence,
conscuential impact on film. It's it's a great achievement.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
Thank you for your very kind words, and thank you
for having me on. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Your character Actor of the Week is Luis Guzman and
by the way, if you've got a favorite character actor
you want to be spotlighted here, well let me know
in the comments section on YouTube. But rumble maybe he'll
maybe he or she will pop up sooner than later.
Well that's it for the show this week. Again, just
a reminder that Kidney Stone I've got is still floating
within me somewhere somehow doesn't want to come out, come.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
Out, come out.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
Wherever you are.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Just chilling, just hanging in there, And I really wish
we'd part ways, but not quite yet. But the show
must go on and there you go. So I'll give
you a posted on mister Stone's progress when he decides
to make his great escape. But for now he is
hanging tight and seems rather happy, and I'm not happy
with him. By the way, again, of course, thank you
to Radio America having me as part of the great
(27:14):
podcast lineup. I do hope you'll check out Hollywoodintoto dot com.
It is my website formed in twenty fourteen. It is
over ten years old now. It is like this show,
the Right Take and Entertainment updated daily. And by the way,
when you're watching this iprilll probably be on vacation. But
when you're an entrepreneur, a solopreneur. You really don't have
vacations per se. You still work, whether you're at the
(27:37):
beach or maybe even visiting spring training in Arizona, which
is where I'll be. But the show will go on.
Next week's episode will be a little bit late, but
we will have it for you, I promise, and again
I appreciate your time, your effort for checking out the show.
Now go out there and have the very best week possible.
Doctor's Orders
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