Hit Factory

That Thing You Do! (Extended Cut) feat. Nick Miller

New York-based musician and America's Sweetheart Nick Miller joins to discuss the underseen 150-minute Extended Cut of Tom Hanks's directorial debut, 'That Thing You Do!'. It's a meandering, expansive version of the film that takes the original cut's effervescent (if slight) shot of pop nostalgia and, at its best, aims for comparisons to great surveyors of cinematic Americana like Robert Altman...

Escape From L.A. feat. Comrade Yui

Friend of show Comrade Yui returns to discuss John Carpenter's 'Escape From L.A.', his raucous and acidic sequel to 1981's 'Escape From New York'. Derided by both audiences and critics, we offer a defense of the film as a vital work of Carpenter's late period that manages to thrill as an action picture, while wryly thumbing its nose at the corrupt values of Hollywood and its own existence as a ...

I Shot Andy Warhol feat. A.A. de Levine

Fiction writer and editor A.A. de Levine joins to discuss Mary Harron's debut feature, 'I Shot Andy Warhol', featuring a seismic performace from Lili Taylor as the infamous feminist writer Valerie Solanas as well as Jared Harris as the late pop artist, and a moving turn from Stephen Dorff as trans icon Candy Darling. The film is a fascinating, frightening view into the life and experiences of S...

The Big Lebowski feat. Jake Tropila

Film writer, editor, and podcaster Jake Tropila joins from Los Angeles to discuss the Coen Brothers' 1998 comedy 'The Big Lebowski', starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Though middlingly received both critically and commercially upon release, the film has gone on to become a genuine cult classic, launching a cottage industry of fan screenings, conven...

Quiz Show feat. Jarrod Murray

Los Angeles-based literary manager Jarrod Murray returns to the show to discuss Robert Redford's 'Quiz Show', a true story of the massive 1950s scandal that revealed to the American public for the first time that the burgeoning television industry and the levers of power that control media were capable of profound deceit. 

We discuss the film's many iterations, possible directors, an...

Equinox feat. Jason Miller

New York-based film writer Jason Miller joins to discuss the strange, beautiful cinematic worlds of the unsung Alan Rudolph and his 1992 film 'Equinox' starring Matthew Modine as identical twin brothers separated at birth.

We begin with a discussion of Rudolph's career, beginning as an assistant director to the great Robert Altman before branching out and producing some of the most compe...

Green Snake feat. Nadine Smith

Writer and professional shit-talker Nadine Smith joins to discuss the mesmerizing wuxia masterpiece 'Green Snake'.

We explain the storied career of the film's remarkable director Tsui Hark, often referred to in the west as "the Spielberg of Hong Kong". Then, we talk about the transcendental beauty of Green Snake - its dreamlike and transfixing aesthetic, and it's tantalizing stars Joey Wo...

Primal Fear feat. Jesse Hawken

Jesse Hawken, host of Junk Filter Podcast, returns to the show to discuss 'Primal Fear'. The film is a taut piece of middlebrow entertainment which offers maximum reward as a cable classic.

We discuss the film's two standout performances - one from aging handsome guy Richard Gere as a hotshot attorney looking for his next big break, the other from then-newcomer Edward Norton who took aud...

Dick Tracy feat. Jake Isgar

San Francisco-based Drafthouse programmer Jake Isgar stops by to discuss 'Dick Tracy', Warren Beatty's dazzling passion project released during a brief, bygone moment in big-budget filmmaking when artistic liberty and studio buy-in were wed.

We discuss the byzantine journey the film took to the big screen, which included several iterations under different directors and actors in the titul...

Hit Factory's Third Birthday Bash

It's Hit Factory's third birthday, and you're invited to celebrate along with us! Join us as we count down our baker's Top Ten films from past episodes.

Links To Episodes Mentioned Here:

The Blair With Project

Ravenous fea...

Snake Eyes feat. Taylor Grimes & Hard Mike

Returning Hit Factory favorites and fellow Neptune High Class on 1980 Sea Dogs Taylor Grimes and Hard Mike join for a testosterone-heavy conversation about Brian De Palma's 'Snake Eyes'. It's a throwback thriller that satisfies as both sleazy genre exercise and one of the director's most stylish metacommentaries on the craft of filmmaking itself.

We discuss Brian De Palma as auteur, and h...

Crash feat. Edward Ongweso Jr.

Writer and co-host of This Machine Kills Podcast Edward Ongweso Jr. joins us to discuss David Cronenberg's 'Crash'. It's inarguably one of the prolific director's finest films and one of the best of the decade more broadly. 

We discuss the film's eroticism and the ways its depictions of sex also explore the conditions, afflictions, and casualties of post-modern existence. ...

Romance feat. Justine Peres Smith

Montreal-based film programmer, writer, and critic Justine Peres Smith joins us to discuss Catherine Breillat's 1999 film 'Romance'. It's a fascinating film that challenges patriarchal views of intimacy and desire, exploring the interiority of one woman's sexuality with a bracing level of nuance and honesty.

We discuss the film's graphic depictions of (purportedly unsimulated) sexual enc...

Twister feat. Jackson Boren

Cenephile and severe weather head Jackson Boren joins us to discuss 'Twister', one of the biggest hits of 1996. It's a film that takes several well-worn, sometimes quaint, and seemingly disparate cinematic tropes and combines them into a transcendent and irreplicable experience.

We discuss the rise and fall of filmmaker Jan de Bont, from his time as one of Paul Verhoeven and John McTiern...

Homicide feat. Logan Kenny

Film writer and podcast mercenary Logan Kenny joins to discuss David Mamet's 'Homicide', a film that begins as a straightforward police procedural and patiently shape-shifts into a devastating rumination on the self and the ways our appointed identities can be weaponized to destructive ends.

We discuss how 'Homicide' represents a bold step forward for Mamet as director. Utilizing the grea...

Eraser feat. Séamus Malekafzali

Journalist and writer Séamus Malekafzali joins us to discuss the 1996 Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle 'Eraser'. It's an above average & satisfyingly self-aware film that represents the waning impact of a once-dependable action formula.

We discuss the film's gleeful subversions of action movie tropes and the ways it challenges Arnold's well-cultivated action hero status, the star's lat...

A Few Good Men feat. @marisatomay

Aaron is joined by leading Internet Cruiseologist @marisatomay aka Amanda to discuss 'A Few Good Men'. It's a well-crafted middlebrow entertainment elevated by powerhouse performances from Hit Factory fave Tom Cruise & veteran star Jack Nicholson delivering some of screenwriter Aaron Sorkin's least-irksome dialogue.

Amanda & Aaron discuss Tom Cruise's star-power in the early 90s a...

The Limey feat. Matt Belenky

Matt Belenky returns for another Carlee-less episode to discuss Steven Soderbergh's technical tour-de-force 'The Limey'. It's both a whip-smart, crackling crime film showcasing Steven Soderbergh at the height of his power and a mesmerizing, patiently observed rumination on memory, loss, and legacy.

We discuss the metatextual significance of leads Terence Stamp and Peter Fonda as mutual e...

The Taking of Beverly Hills feat. Brandon Streussnig

It's real boys hours on the factory floor for the next few weeks while Carlee takes some time off. Crowd favorite, writer Brandon Streussnig, returns to talk with Aaron about the 1991 action movie 'The Taking of Beverly Hills'. 

The fellas discuss the brief rise and quick fall of star Ken Wahle, the film's transcendent Faith No More needle drop, and the simple pleasures of watching a...

Light Sleeper feat. Miles Klee

Rolling Stone writer Miles Klee joins us to discuss Paul Schrader's 'Light Sleeper', which offers one of the writer/director's best variations on his archetypal "God's Lonely Man" narrative and features a spellbinding Willem Dafoe performance as a Manhattan drug dealer (and recovering addict) reevaluating his life when his supplier (Susan Sarandon) decides to quit the business.

Miles rece...

The Heroic Trio

Hit Factory's heroic duo take on Johnnie To's 1993 Honk Kong action spectacular, 'The Heroic Trio'. It's a super hero origin story featuring three of Hong Kong cinema's most remarkable leading women - Anita Mui, Michelle Yeoh, & Maggie Cheung - and a wellspring of imagination & style unrivaled by western action movies of the era.

We discuss the dynamic burst of imagination at the...

Freeway feat. Ricky Camilleri & Chris Chafin

Hosts of the once-defunct, recently-resuscitated 30 Years Later podcast Ricky Camilleri & Chris Chafin return to the factory floor with another brash, offensive, & totally great movie selection: Matthew Bright's 1996 black comedy 'Freeway'. 

After some asides about Joanna Newsom and Joel Schumacher's 'Falling Down', we discuss Freeway and its gleefully sordid exploration of c...

GoldenEye feat. Kurt Schiller & Chris Woodward

Returning guests Kurt Schiller and Chris Woodward join us to discuss James Bond's first foray into a post-Cold War world, 'GoldenEye' featuring two notable "firsts": Pierce Brosnan's debut as the international super spy and the first Bond film helmed by director Martin Campbell (who would return to update Bond again for a post-9/11 audience with 'Casino Royale').

We discuss the troubled ...

Virtuosity

We venture into the near future of 1999 to take a look at the VR cyberpunk action spectacular 'Virtuosity' starring Denzel Washington and a then-unknown Russell Crowe in what Carlee argues is his best performance (with a few asterisks).

We discuss the film's early arrival at the forefront of virtual reality stories that would become a lynchpin of late 90s science-fiction cinema, its impr...

Deep Cover

We don our coveralls to cover Bill Duke's 1992 masterpiece 'Deep Cover'. It's a gorgeous, simmering piece of urban crime cinema deeply indebted to Golden Age film noir and a radically incisive exploration of the true toll of the war on drugs.

We discuss the inimitable Laurence Fishburne - credited here for the final time as "Larry" - and why he stands apart from his contemporaries, Bill D...

Boyz N The Hood feat. Ethan Embry

Actor Ethan Embry joins us to discuss 'Boyz N The Hood', John Singleton's sharply observed coming-of-age story that explores Black life in South Central Los Angeles with all its rich contours intact.

We have a wide-ranging conversation in which we discuss the film as one of the earliest mainstream successes of Black stories in Hollywood, the media controversies surrounding its theatrical...

Titanic feat. Emmy Potter

Just in time for its 25th Anniversary theatrical re-release, writer and actor Emmy Potter joins us to discuss James Cameron's period romance disaster epic 'Titanic'. At the time of its release in 1997, it was the most expensive cinematic undertaking of all time, and ended up one of cinema's great success stories, becoming the highest-grossing film ever and netting a record 11 Academy Awards on ...

Heavyweights feat. Matt Pais

Chicago-based critic and author of the new book "Talk 90s with Me: 23 Unpredictable Conversations with Stars of an Unforgettable Decade" Matt Pais joins us to discuss the kids cult classic 'Heavyweights'.

After a conversation about Matt's new book, we talk through the film's empathetic and nuanced portrayal of fatness (notably featuring an ensemble of actors of size), its place within th...

The Daytrippers feat. Jamie Arena

Freelance film writer Jamie Arena joins to discuss Greg Mottola's debut indie feature 'The Daytrippers'. It's an endearing depiction of quotidian society in a New York not yet completely alienated from itself and a sweet postscript on the strength of siblinghood above all bonds.

We discuss the film's immaculate cast including a never-better Liev Schreiber and Anne Meara, Mottola's patente...

The Game feat. Bilge Ebiri

Film critic Bilge Ebiri (Vulture, New York Magazine) joins us to discuss David Fincher's oft-diminished 1997 thriller, 'The Game'. It's a fascinating, intricate follow-up to the hit 'Se7en' that showcases Fincher at his most technically adept and stepping outside of his thematic comfort zone for the first time.

We discuss the star power of Michael Douglas and why he is the perfect match ...