'This is a hit to Hollywood's gatekeeping model': Faith-based producers of 'Sound of Freedom' laud conservative backers for movie about one man's quest to save children from sex-traffickers - as it beats Indiana Jones at box office

By Sophie Mann For Dailymail.Com

17:51 EDT 06 Jul 2023

The movie studio behind the distribution of surprise smash Sound of Freedom says its success repudiates the model of Hollywood gatekeeping, which has kept the low-budget thriller about the global child-trafficking trade out of theaters for nearly a decade. Angel Studios, a distribution company based in Provo, Utah, released Sound of Freedom on July 4th to a $14million theatrical debut - besting DisneyLucasfilm's most recent Indiana Jones release and forcing Hollywood to look twice at both the film and its distributor.

The film, which was once passed on by Disney, stars Jim Caviezel in a thriller about child sex trafficking.

Dailymail.com spoke to two of the Angel executives behind the successful release, which was in part crowdfunded by a group of studio loyalists. 'We're so excited about the box office success, but what that number actually represents is awareness,' said Jordan Harmon.

The film is based on the true story of former government agent Tim Ballard, who quits his job working for the feds in order to skirt the bureaucracy that comes along with going overseas to rescue children from human traffickers.

The studio had a goal of selling two million tickets in its opening week to represent the number of kidnapped children across the globe. On July 4, Sound of Freedom brought in $14million, while the newest Indiana Jones film earned only $11.5million, according to the Post Millennial.

The film, also starring Mira Sorvino, is playing at 2,600 theaters across the country, and has earned largely positive reviews, even from critics who are not fully on board with the studio's apparent cultural alignment. The movie currentlyholds an 88 percent fresh score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and 100 percent audience score.

'Let’s assume that, like me, you’re not a right-wing fundamentalist conspiracy theorist looking for a dark, faith-based suspense filmto see over the holiday weekend,' wrote Variety's Owen Gleiberman.

'Even then, you needn’t hold extreme beliefs to experience Sound of Freedomas a compelling movie that shines an authentic light on one of the crucial criminal horrors of our time, one that Hollywood has mostly shied away from.'

Part of the early success of the film is owed to the studio's proprietary pay-it-forward technology, which allows moviegoers to purchase tickets for others who may not otherwise be able to see the film. Sound of Freedom racked up more than $10million in presales, according to Variety….

It was alsoDisney that passed on the distribution of Sound of Freedom, leading the filmmaker to buy back the rights and approach Angel Studios.

The four Harmon brothers - Neal, Jeff, Jordan, and Daniel - co-founded the studio, which has had several major successes, including 'The Chosen..For this film, the studio raised $5million for its print and advertising budget. Harmon and Geesey, SVP of Global Distribution,agreed that the film's Tuesday performance 'exceeded expectations' but was not altogether a surprise precisely because of their crowdfunding model.

Comprised of small-dollar donors to previous projects, Angel Studios consulted a group of about 100,000 people, known as the Angel Guild, about the film before they decided to distribute it. Harmon and Geesey said they were bullish about the movie's chances not just because of its resonance, but because it had already been focus grouped - a strategy they plan to continuing employing where possible.

The movie's debut has also helped establish Angel Studios as a hub for not just faith-based content, but a wider variety of stories. The studio's projects will always be 'faith friendly,' Geesey told Dailymail.com.

He added it means 'any religion.' But the studio heads want to branch out to a number of other themes,so long as they 'amplify light,' the motto the team uses to select and guide their projects.

Angel's crowdfunding model is integral to what the company's leaders feel is their core mission - building a community around their content and establishing a committed base of fans who feel connected to the stories and the company. 'Every major studio wants an IP with a very passionate community - we know the power of community, and can also build one from the ground up. It's less to do with money and more to do with the community.

The studio does not have any plans to back away from the crowdfunding model anytime soon.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12271171/Producers-Sound-Freedom-say-success-film-inspire-faith-based-films.html

MEDIA Published July 7, 2023 2:32pm EDT

Human-trafficking film 'Sound of Freedom' trashed by liberal outlets as 'QAnon-adjacent'

Website Jezebel claimed, 'At last, QAnon’s camp appeal gets the cinematic exploration it demands'

Multiple liberal outlets have trashed the new film "Sound of Freedom" as "QAnon-adjacent" and "fit for QAnon" in recent days, descriptions that relegate the film about human trafficking to fodder for conspiracy theorists.

Both U.K. publication The Guardian and website Jezebel claimed that the film starring Jim Caviezel, which was based on the true story of a U.S. Homeland Security agent rescuing two young children from human traffickers in South America, was attached to QAnon, a right-wing community that has been accused of buying into fringe conspiracy theories.

Although the film, produced by Angel Studios and released over the July 4 holiday, never engages in such conspiracy theories while exposing the underbelly of the real underground sex slave trade, both outlets linked the film to fringe right-wing extremists in an attempt to discredit it and its box-office success.

The Guardian did not pull any punches in its review of the film. Its headline read, "Sound of Freedom: the QAnon-adjacent thriller seducing America" and the piece itself began by trying to rationalize why the film wasn’t as successful over the holiday as it was portrayed in the media, and then detailed its link to the conspiracy world.

It stated, "But for a fleeting moment this past Fourth of July, while the intended audience of Indy’s latest outing was presumably spending time with their families and friends at barbecues or in other social situations, an unoccupied fandom rallied by the star Jim Caviezel claimed the day with a $14.2m gross versus Dial of Destiny’s $11.7m."

The Guardian trashed the notion that this was a box office success, stating, "No matter that these figures require selective, almost willfully misleading framing to allow for the David-and-Goliath narrative trumpeted by supporters; as the copious tweets accusing Disney of being in cahoots with a global cabal of high-power pedophiles make clear, the truth doesn’t have too much purchase around these parts."

The author of the piece noted that the film doesn’t head into conspiracy territory, but only because the film supposedly "takes care to be the most anodyne version of itself, all while giving those in the know just enough to latch onto."

The author continued, "The trafficking follows no motivation more elaborate than the servicing of rich predators, eliding all talk of body-part black markets and the precious organic biochemical of adrenochrome harvested as a Satanic key to eternal life. The first rule of QAnon: you don’t talk about QAnonwhere the normals can hear you."

They also described the film as a "Crisis pregnancy center" in the way it gets "persuadables" to believe in its subject matter by giving them a more palatable version, echoing liberal claims that crisis pregnancy clinics propagandize against abortion.

The author wrote, "These zestier strains of scaremongering are absent in the text itself, but they lurk in the shadows around a film outwardly non-insane enough to lure in the persuadable; the disappointingly un-juicy Sound of Freedom pretends to be a real movie, like a ‘pregnancy crisis center’ masquerading as a bona fide health clinic."

Jezebel’s piece on the film called it "an Anti-Child Trafficking Fantasy Fit for QAnon" and claimed, "At last, QAnon’s camp appeal gets the cinematic exploration it demands."

Granted the article did acknowledge that "The exploitation of children is a real problem that no one (besides the exploiters) wants." It added that the real-life Tim Ballard, the DHS agent played by Caviezel, "has testified at a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee…

Like The Guardian,Jezebel made the QAnon link through associations outside the film, such as through some of Caviezel’s alleged beliefs he has espoused on media tours. The piece asked, "And really, how distant can Ballard (and by extension his organization) be from QAnon when the guy who’s playing him, with whom he’s been promotingSound of Freedom, has been using the press opportunity to peddle QAnon theories about adrenochrome and organ harvesting?"…

Like the Guardian article, Jezebel’s hit accused the movie of being more palatable than right-wing conspiracy theories as a way to get normal viewers initiated with fringe subject matter.

(“These people be scared”!)

https://www.foxnews.com/media/media-outlets-trash-human-trafficking-film-sound-freedom-qanon-adjacent-mock-films-july-4-success

>>19141419

Is that real because he looks a bit insane?

>>19141679

Its amazing the absolute hatred and anger they have for a movie that reveals child trafficking, both articles are out of the UK elite news, and the UK that loves child trafficking, they even allow muslims to groom and rape their children

7 Jul, 2023 21:02

Pentagon admits disappointment with Ukrainian counteroffensive

Top official acknowledges that Russia Is putting up a “successful” defense

Washington’s decision to supply Ukraine with controversial cluster munitions was partly influenced bydisappointment with lackluster results of Kiev’s much-vaunted summer counteroffensive,The US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl told reporters on Friday.

Speaking immediately after the White House announced that President Joe Biden had signed off on the delivery of dual-purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM) to Ukraine, Kahl said that the decision was influenced by “the urgency of the moment.”

“We want to make sure that the Ukrainians have sufficient artillery to keep them in the fight in the context of the current counteroffensive, and becausethings are going a little slower than some had hoped,” he said. (There hasn’t been a news article on any fighting on Ukraine for a week+, Ukraine won’t fight!)

Kahl admitted that “the Russians have been more successful digging in deeply, perhaps more than is appreciated.”

Kahl, the highest ranking civilian official in the Pentagon, also acknowledged that thecluster munitions would serve as a “bridge” until the US and its allies can increase productionof conventional 155mm artillery shells for Ukraine.

After months of postponements, Ukraine’s counteroffensive began on June 4 with a failed attack on Russian positions near Donetsk, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Outmatched by Russian artillery and lacking air support, Ukraine’s NATO-trained brigades advanced through Russian-laid minefields, suffering steep casualties. The Russian Defense Ministry estimated late last month that Ukraine lost around 13,000 troops and nearly 250 tanks between June 4 and June 21.

Despite these high losses, Kahl claimed on Friday thatKiev’s forces were still “probing for weak spots” in Russia’s multi-layered defensive network, and that the majority of Ukraine’s combat power “has not been brought to bear.” (Kek, probing!)

American officials have been disappointed with the lack of progress, according to multiple US media reports over the last three weeks. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials havealternated between claimingthat thetrue counteroffensive has yet to begin, andblaming the Westfor not providing enough weapons to guarantee success.

Cluster munitions are banned in more than 120 countries because when they detonate, they release many small ‘bomblets’ over a wide area, with these unexploded elements posing severe risks to civilians for years after fighting ends. The US is not a party to the ban, but maintains a prohibition on the export of munitions with a ‘dud’ rate of more than 1%.

Biden waived this ban to supply DPICM ammunition to Ukraine based on “unanimous”advice from his national security team, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Friday. According to Kahl, the DPICM rounds sent to Kiev will have a failure rate of up to 2.35%.

(Even their heroic propaganda is broken!)

https://www.rt.com/news/579361-cluster-bombs-ukraine-counteroffensive/

7 Jul, 2023 23:10

US preparing ‘Israel-style’ security guarantees for Ukraine – Biden

Kiev is not yet ready for NATO membership, the US leader told CNN

The US is willing to offer Kiev a sort of security arrangement currently offered to Israel instead of membership in NATO, President Joe Biden told CNN in an interview previewed on Friday.

“I don’t think it’s ready for membership in NATO,” Biden said of Ukraine. “I don’t think there is unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war.”

Membership in the US-led military bloc means the commitment to defend all of its territory, so “if the war is going on, then we’re all in a war. We’re at war with Russia, if that were the case,” Biden told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.

Ukraine has demanded an invitation from NATO, or at least an announcement of when it might be ready to bring it on board, at the upcoming summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. The octogenarian US president said it was “premature” to call for a vote right now and described NATO as “a process that takes some time” and involves reforms such as democratization. The US needs to present a “rational path” for Ukraine to qualify for membership, Biden said. (Is Bidan admitting Ukraine is not a democracy? Sure sounds like it.)

“And one of the things I indicated is, the United States would be ready to provide, while the process was going on, and that’s gonna take a while, to provide security a la the security we provide for Israel: providing the weaponry they need, the capacity to defend themselves,”Biden said, adding, “If there is an agreement, if there is a ceasefire, if there is a peace agreement.”

It was not clear what he meant by that, as Kiev has rejected any talk of a “frozen conflict” or ceasefire, the US has pledged not to negotiate about Ukraine without the Ukrainians, while Russia has said it will not deal with President Vladimir Zelensky, but only with his Western handlers.

The “Israel model” was first mentioned last month by the New York Times, which described it as a time-limited commitment to maintain the flow of Western weapons to Ukraine. The US and its allies have supplied Kiev with over $100 billion in weapons, ammunition and equipment in 2022 alone, according to Russian military estimates.

Biden told Zakaria that his priority was “holding NATO together” because it was his assessment and that of the US intelligence community that breaking the bloc was one of Russia’s policy objectives. He also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had asked for a US commitment that Ukraine would not join NATO at the summit in Geneva two years ago, but that Biden refused citing the bloc’s “open door policy.”

(It looks like the US and EU can’t figure out this quagmire they got themselves in.)

https://www.rt.com/news/579366-biden-ukraine-israel-style-security/

7 Jul, 2023 22:26

Supplying cluster bombs an act of ‘desperation’ by US – Moscow

The escalatory move is also an admission of Ukraine’s failure, a senior Russian diplomat has said

The US decision to include cluster munitions in its latest batch of military aid to Kiev is an admission of failure and a desperate attempt to stave off defeat, Russian ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, said on Friday.

“Cluster munitions are a gesture of desperation. Such a measure speaks of the awareness of the United States and its satellites of their impotence,” Antonov told reporters. “However, they do not want to admit their own setbacks and the failure of the Ukrainian military’s attempts to carry out an offensive against the Russian regions.Therefore, they commit new acts of madness.”

Washington continues to raise the stakes in the conflict “with tenacity worthy of a better use,” Antonov noted, calling the current level of US provocations “really off the scale, bringing humanity closer to a new world war.”

The White House and the Pentagon confirmed-on Friday that the US will be sending dual-purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM) to Ukraine. One of the reasons cited was that the West was running short of conventional 155mm artillery ammunition.

Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl told reporters at the Pentagon that the decision was driven by “the urgency of the moment” and the desire to keep the Ukrainians fighting. Kiev’s long-heralded offensive has delivered little to no gains in over a month of battles, in which Ukraine lost scores of Western-supplied tanks and other armored vehicles and more than 10,000 casualties, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Antonov pointed out that the US move ignored concerns coming from Washington’s allies – most of whom have ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions – as well as the misgivings of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

“What’s striking is the cruelty and cynicism with which Washington approached the issueof transferring deadly weapons to Kiev,” the ambassador said. “The administration completely ignored the arguments about the inhumanity of such a step voiced by experts, human rights activists and lawmakers, turning a blind eye to civilian casualties. Now, through the fault of the United States, for many years there will be a risk that innocent civilians will be blown up by malfunctioning submunitions.”

https://www.rt.com/russia/579365-cluster-bombs-ukraine-desperation/

(The Cabal is very skeered)

Biden Administration Appeals Court Ruling That Blocks Govt from Censoring Free Speech on Social Media

July 7, 2023 | Sundance |

(That was quick, the desperation is obvious)

In a previous ruling in the case of The State of Missouri v Joe Biden, Judge Terry Doughty agreed with the state position that evidence had clearly shown agencies of the U.S. government had infringed upon first amendment free speech in targeting social media companies with demands for content removal. [Ruling and Injunction pdf]

The social media companies outlined in the state lawsuit include Facebook, Instagram, Meta Platforms Inc, Twitter, Google and YouTube. Evidence provided by the states showed clear and convincing evidence the government was unlawfully monitoring social media and telling the platforms to remove content adverse to their interests.

The judge outlined an emergency injunction barring government agency such as the Department of Health and Human Services and the FBI from talking to social media companies for “the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech” under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The ruling provided narrow exceptions.

Obviously, given the scale of government involved censorship of speech within social media, the injunction was a major loss to the Biden regime, who operate -in part- with the benefit of controlling public opinion and information. The judicial ruling disrupts the ability of the Biden administration to censor the online speech of Americans.

As a result of the injunction theDOJ is now asking Judge Doughty to stay or pause his injunction while the government files a full appeal to the 5th circuit court of appeals.

(Reuters) – The Biden administration on Thursday asked a federal judge to put on hold his earlier order barring some government agencies and officials from meeting and communicating with social media companies about moderating their content.

In a filing before U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty in Monroe, Louisiana, the administration said the judge’s Tuesday ruling was “both sweeping in scope and vague in its terms,” and likely to be overturned on appeal. (So not vague at all! I read the whole thing, it was very precise.)

The administration appealed the order to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday. If Doughty refuses to pause his own order, the administration will likely ask the 5th Circuit to do so instead while it considers the appeal.

Doughty’s order came in a lawsuit brought by Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri and by several individuals. They alleged that U.S. government officials effectively coerced social media companies to censor posts over concerns they would fuel vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic or upend elections. (read more)

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/07/07/biden-administration-appeals-court-ruling-that-blocks-govt-from-censoring-free-speech-on-social-media/

Tucker Carlson Discusses President Trump, RFK Jr and American Politics with Russell Brand

July 7, 2023 | Sundance |

Former popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson appears for a lengthy interview with British pundit Russell Brand about current events. {Full Video Rumble Link} The interview is well over an hour and covers a wide range of topics [full video below fold]; the segment below is specifically about Donald Trump, RFK Jr and the state of DC politics. WATCH:

Shorter version on Conservative Treehouse

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/07/07/tucker-carlson-discusses-president-trump-rfk-jr-and-american-politics-with-russell-brand/

https://rumble.com/embed/v2w4cp4/?pub=4