Hit Factory

Director/Programmer of Drunken Film Fest Oakland and co-host of Wiseman Podcast Arlin Golden joins Aaron to discuss Chris Smith's 1999 documentary 'American Movie', a story of artistic determination, male friendship, and one man's struggle to achieve The American Dream amidst the industrial decay of the Rust Belt Midwest.

We discuss the fascinating once-in-a-lifetime dynamicism of Smith's subject Mark Borchardt, praise the film's brilliant examination the sociopolitical conditions of working class America, and investigate the ethical and artistic criticisms of the movie's construction.

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Read "American Movie at 20: why this portrait of a working-class Wisconsin auteur endures" by filmmaker Robert Greene.

Listen and Subscribe to Wiseman Podcast.

Check out Mike Ott's film 'Kid Icarus' on Tubi.

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Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish. 

Film writer, YouTuber, and quality poster Comrade Yui joins Aaron to discuss 'The Bridges of Madison County', Clint Eastwood's astonishing romantic drama that showcases the actor/director at his most sensuous, contemplative, and graceful.

We discuss the film's delicate moral ambiguity, our single issue with Meryl Streep as an actress, and Clint's place in the pantheon of Hollywood's great filmmakers.

Follow Comrade Yui on Twitter and Subscribe to their YouTube channel.

Get access to all of our premium episodes and bonus content by becoming a Hit Factory Patron for just $5/month.
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Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish. 

Writer, actor, and fellow vampire hunter Jamell Moses joins us to discuss 1998's 'Blade', a Marvel adaptation that succeeds where others have failed due to its vision, ingenuity, and an immaculate lead performance by Wesley Snipes.

We discuss the film's legacy as the first (and arguably best) of Marvel's ventures on the silver screen, the subversive political backbone that drives the film's interior world of elite vampires manipulating the levers of society, and why the sexlessness of modern superhero films spells trouble for any attempts to bring the raw carnality of a Blade story to life.

Follow Jamell Moses on Twitter.

Read Jamell's piece "What Made Tom Cruise Such a Great Vampire" at his blog Departures.

Get access to all of our premium episodes and bonus content by becoming a Hit Factory Patron for just $5/month.
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Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish. 

Vulture critic Roxana Hadadi returns to Hit Factory for her hat trick to discuss Robert Rodriguez's 'From Dusk Till Dawn', a rambunctious genre hybrid that blends elements of crime pictures, westerns, and gory exploitation horror to uproarious effect.

We discuss the ascendancy of Rodriguez and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino during the mid-90s, the undeniable magnetism of a tribal-tattooed George Clooney (in his big screen debut), and ponder the significance of that eye-popping final shot.

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Read Up "All Night with George Clooney: From Dusk Till Dawn at 25" by Roxana at Crooked Marquee. 

Get access to all of our premium episodes and bonus content by becoming a Hit Factory Patron for just $5/month.
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Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish. 

We're back after a brief hiatus with a very special Spooky Season™ pick: Guillermo del Toro's debut feature 'Cronos', a magnificent modern vampire fable as indebted to Universal monster stories as it is to Cronenbergian body horror.

We discuss the film's various interpretations of vampirism (both literal and figurative), the unapologetic earnestness of del Toro's work, and what the director's monsters can teach us about the complexities of postmodern existence.

Get access to all of our premium episodes and bonus content by becoming a Hit Factory Patron for just $5/month.
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Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish. 

Film Twitter personality and fellow Mel Gibson stalwart Hard Mike joins Aaron to discuss Mel's 1995 Best Picture winner 'Braveheart' a sweeping epic about the legendary Scottish freedom fighter William Wallace.

The fellas discuss the film's extremely loose adherence to historical accuracy, its celebration of 90s neoliberal orthodoxy & the myth of meritocratic ascendancy, and the rewards of exploring the complicated artisitic statements of "bad" people.

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Get access to all of our premium episodes and bonus content by becoming a Hit Factory Patron for just $5/month.
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Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish. 

David Parsons from Nostalgia Trap Podcast joins us for a deep dive int Oliver Stone's maximalist 1994 thriller 'Natural Born Killers' starring Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis. We discuss the movie's complicated and controversial legacy, how it (sometimes) trancsends its cartoonish pastiche to paint a portrait of American violence and media sensationalism, and how it fits into a broader conversation about problematic and difficult art that is still resonant today.

Listen to Nostalgia Trap and follow the show on Twitter.

Follow David Parsons on Twitter.

Get access to all of our premium episodes and bonus content by becoming a Hit Factory Patron for just $5/month.

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Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish.

Molly Lambert, creator of HeidiWorld: The Heidi Fleiss Story, joins us to talk the 1990 romantic comedy 'Pretty Woman'. We discuss the film's origins as a gritty tale of sex and drugs on the streets of Hollywood Boulevard, how the story both confronts and conforms to the sexual politics of the era, and the blinding star power of lead Julia Roberts.

Later, we discuss Heidi Fleiss, her relationship to Hollywood in the era of Pretty Woman, and the frustrating trend of anti-sex discourse in film and media.

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Listen to HeidiWorld: The Heidi Fleiss Story 
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Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish

Get access to this entire episode as well as all of our premium episodes and bonus content by becoming a Hit Factory Patron for just $5/month.

Film writer Veronica Phillips joins Aaron to discuss 'Trainspotting' Danny Boyle's restless adaptation of Irvine Welsh's tale of heroin addiction, reluctant camaraderie, and a generation's failure to reject the principles of a post-Thatcher UK.

We discuss the film's breakout performance from then-relative newcomer Ewan McCregor, explore the distinctly 90s evocation of addiction and its roots, and ponder the question of what makes a "good" drug movie.

Follow Veronica Phillips on Twitter.
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Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish.