Hit Factory

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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 late-90s twilight years before his next era as a politiician, and the seemingly long-abandoned notion of vertically integrated tie-in materials for big studio releases. Follow Séamus on Twitter. Read Séamus's Substack on Middle East politics. Read & Listen to Burnt Nitrate, Séamus's explorations of lesser-known and lesser-discussed films. Get access to all of our premium episodes and bonus content by becoming a Hit Factory Patron for just $5/month.....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.

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 elegies for the British New Wave and the American films of the New Hollywood era, the film's brilliantly evocative formal techniques, and Steven Soderbergh's singular position as a prolific auteur in our current era of haphazard regurgitation.Follow Matt Belenky on Twitter.Get access to all of our premium episodes and bonus content by becoming a Hit Factory Patron for just $5/month.....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.

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.

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 center of Hong Kong's Golden Era of action cinema that birthed the talents of To, Tsui Hark, John Woo and countless others, the film's nuanced and progressively feminine approach to its storytelling, the brilliant costume design...and the movie's commendable contempt toward children.  Get access to all of our premium episodes and bonus content by becoming a Hit Factory Patron for just $5/month.....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.

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 history of the series' 17th entry that saw the exit of previous two-time Bond Timothy Dalton, how Pierce Brosnan's take on the iconic character appeals to the 90s fetishization of the business class, and why the film's embrace of a post-Soviet setting- refreshingly- doesn't feel quite like a victory lap.Follow Kurt Schiller on Twitter. Follow Chris Woodward on Twitter.Listen to Podside Picnic.Read and support Blood Knife Magazine.Get access to all of our premium episodes and bonus content by becoming a Hit Factory Patron for just $5/month.....Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish. 

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 impressive mixture of practical and digital special effects, and why the decade's middleweight movies often reveal the most about the culture of the era.  Get access to all of our premium episodes and bonus content by becoming a Hit Factory Patron for just $5/month.....Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish.