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 lover and zine-er Katie Stebbins joins to discuss Alan J. Pakula's smart, understated legal thriller Presumed Innocent featuring Harrison Ford in one of his finest performances. Taut, richly detailed, and featuring a considerable bench of "that guy" character actors (including John Spencer, Joe Grifasi, and Brian Dennehy), the film rises above the usual theatrics of the Grisham-era Hollywood legal drama with a crackerjack, densely-packed script that rewards upon repeat viewings while never sacrificing its immediacy.We discuss Harrison Ford in the early 90s, his contemporaneous swings into dramatic territory, and the considered decisions to separate the film's protagonist Rusty Sabich from audience's familiarity with the Harrison Ford action-hero brand. Then, we look at the film's complex narrative features (adapted from a book by lawyer-turned-novelist Scott Turrow) and how the film weaves in its rich details with respect for its audience's ability to connect the dots. Finally, we discuss the Extended Presumiverse - sequel novels and television adaptations of the further works within the Scott Turrow canon, including the most recent AppleTV+ series by David E. Kelley starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard.Follow Katie Stebbins on Twitter.Check out Katie's Etsy for cool prints and film zines.....Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish

We sat down for a brief conversation with Alex Cox, the director of Repo Man, Sid & Nancy, Walker, and many more to talk about the state of filmmaking today, the sensations Alex hopes one feels when watching his films, and the sanctity of digital media and curation in an era of endless, decontextualized content streams. Alex is currently crowdfunding what may be his last movie, a Western version of Nicolai Gogol's book Dead Souls. Please consider contributing to “My Last Movie” on Kickstarter here:https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alexcoxfilms/my-last-movie....Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish.

Producer and filmmaker Chadd Harbold returns to the show to discuss Terrence Malick's awe-inspiring WWII epic The Thin Red Line. The film marked Malick's return to the director's chair after a 20 year absence from filmmaking and features an ensemble cast of dozens of recognizable faces, including many massive stars of the period reduced to mere minutes of screen time and a handful of lines of dialogue. Based on the James Jones novel of the same name, the movie is unlike any war film ever made and showcases Malick venturing deeper into his style of meandering camerawork, striking images of the natural world, and contemplative monologues delivered in voiceover (occasionally by actors we seldom see onscreen). We discuss the storied, decade-long journey of getting The Thin Red Line to screen, a process that involved Malick spending heaps of cash satisfying every one of his fleeting whims and every actor in Hollywood vying for a spot on the film's massive roster characters. Then, we discuss the film's juxtaposition of horrific war imagery with breathtaking shots of wildlife and nature - a visual contrast that enhances Malick's existential preoccupations with the nature of good and evil, darkness and light in the world. Finally, we praise Malick's working method, and how his decision to "shoot everything" allows his films to be born in the edit, often taking on thematic and visual nuances that were far from intentional on set, on the day. Chadd produced a new movie, Crumb Catcher, which is out in theaters TODAY 7/19/24. Check showtimes at your local Drafthouse or AMC. Follow Chadd Harbold on Twitter. ....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.Another solo Aaron & Carlee episode as we dig into an oft-forgotten erotic thriller of the early 90s, Nicholas Kazan's Dream Lover, starring James Spader and a post-Twin Peaks Mädchen Amick. A story of love, lust, and betrayal, the film exhibits a disorienting, fragmented editing style that adds fascinating dimensions to its characters' psyches and indicts the film's ostensible victim, Spader's Ray Reardon, in his own deception as more and more layers of Amick's (playing Spader's wife) carefully guarded true self are revealed.We discuss the film's script and its thoughtful probing of the male ego; how a woman might take advantage of a man because of his own refusal to know her deeply, and how the slow revelations of truth can feel like deceptions to someone willfully ignorant. Then, we discuss the superlative performances from Spade and Amick, particularly the latter's singular ability to remain an object of desire even as she steadily becomes an antagonizing force within the film. Finally, we discuss the movie's relationship to other films that explore the casually kept secrets within matrimony and the turmoil that erupts when the facade of domestic bliss is shattered, most notably David Fincher's excellent 2014 thriller Gone Girl.Own the documentary We Kill For Love, courtesy of Vinegar Syndrome or stream the film on the people's streamer, Tubi.....Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish.

Hit Factory's Chief Canadian Correspondent and host of Junk Filter Podcast Jesse Hawken is back to discuss the work of French genre provocateur Claude Chabrol and his 1995 thriller 'La Cérémonie' starring Sandrine Bonnaire and Isabelle Huppert. Inspired by the true story of Christine and Lea Papin - two French sisters who, as live-in maids, were convicted of murdering their employer's wife and daughter in 1933 - the film follows Sophie (Bonnaire) a housekeeper for a wealthy family in Brittany who befriends Jeanne (Huppert), the local postal clerk. Together, the two slowly begin to form a shared psychosis, sharing a collective fantasy of paranoia, resentment, and eventually explosive violence. One of Chabrol's most championed works, the film was a key influence and inspiration for Korean director Bong Joon-ho's Oscar-winning 2019 film 'Parasite'.We unpack Chabrol's prolific career as filmmaker, beginning with his origins in the Nouvelle Vague, before leaning into more commercial tendencies during his "Golden Era" of the late 60s through the 70s, and culminating in some of his most accomplished and acclaimed work in the 1990s. Then, we discuss La Cérémonie as genre exercise and how it yields further reward with repeat viewings. Finally, we attempt to make meaning of Chabrol's joke that the movie was "the last Marxist film" by unpacking its ideas about class resentment and the disaffected, uncaring attitudes of the rich toward working class anxieties. Follow Jesse Hawken on Twitter. Follow Junk Filter on TwitterListen & Subscribe to Junk Filter and support the podcast on Patreon. 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.We've reached the halfway point of 2024, which means it's time to sit down with the joint CEOs of Hit Factory LLC and discuss some of the best films of the year, recent finds, and new additions the CarleeCore™ Canon.Sit back as Carlee (the preeminent online authority on horny movies) shares her read on Luca Guadagnino''s 'Challengers', Aaron talks through a few international features topping his best of the year list, and we both explain why 'The People's Joker' director Vera Drew is the new Tony Scott.....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.Producer and co-host of Die Hard On A Blank Podcast and recovering Lars Von Trier superfan Liam Billingham joins to discuss enigmatic Danish provocateur Lars Von Trier and his breakout Cannes award-winning feature 'Breaking the Waves' starring then-newcomer Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgård, and the late Katrin Cartlidge. The film, set in a small comminuty in the Scottish Highlands in the 1970s, tells the story of Bess McNeill, a simply, godly woman who marries outsider oil rig worker Jan. When Jan is paralyzed after a work accident, he compels Bess to take other lovers in order to "keep him alive"...a task which she steadily comes to believe has divine connotations. Shot in 35mm 'scope with the great Robby Muller behind the camera, the film is a visually staggering work broaching difficult subject matter in the realms of faith, sexuality, and patriarchy all rendered in Von Trier's singular tenor, equal parts brutal, earnest, and cheekily playful.We discuss the career of Von Trier, his work as a founding member of the Dogme95 collective, and the later period evolution of his storytelling. Then, we wrestle with the film's themes and execution of its ideas. Does the movie hold up for a longtime devotee and a newcomer alike? Finally, we try to make sense of Von Trier's oeuvre, and what - if anything - could be considered the trademarks of his style.Follow Liam Billingham on Twitter.Listen and subscribe to Die Hard On A Blank Podcast.Read & Subscribe to Peter Raleigh's Newsletter 'Long Library'. ....Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish

Filmmaker, critic, video essayist and author Scout Tafoya joins the show to discuss the work of undersung journeyman Bruce Beresford and his brilliant 1991 film 'Black Robe', a story of faith, the frontier, and the church as a pernicious vestige of the European colonial project. Set amidst the 17th Century French conquests of North America in modern-day Quebec, the film follows the titular Black Robe, Father Laforgue, a Jesuit Missionary tasked with bringing Christianity to the indigenous populations of the region. As he ventures deep into Huron territory with his company of Algonquin guides, the limits of his faith and reason are tested, as it becomes clear that his beliefs and the promises they supposedly carry can find no purchase with a people who have no need for them. Greenlit in the wake of the success of 'Dances With Wolves' and cashing in on an exceptional amount of goodwill Beresford had accrued after directing the Academy Award-winning 'Driving Miss Daisy', the film is a brilliant study of self-deception, and the profoundly human impulses of one's perceptions of the divine. We discuss Beresford as filmmaker, his history as a contemporary of Australian greats Peter Weir and George Miller, and why his work deserves an immediate and vast reappraisal. Then, we discuss 'Black Robe', its exacting observations of faith and imperialism, and its unusually sensitive and well-researched portrayals of indigenous American tribes. Finally, we talk about other films in the canon of great portrayals of faith and the frontier, including Michael Mann's gorgeous 'The Last of the Mohicans' and Martin Scorsese's late-period masterpiece 'Silence'. Follow Scout Tafoya on Twitter. Support Scout's video essay work and criticism on Patreon.Buy Scout's book 'But God Made Him a Poet: Watching John Ford in the 21st Century".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. 

Filmmaker, producer, writer, and podcast guest extraordinaire Jared Bailey joins to discuss one of the iconic texts of 90s popular cinema, 'Forrest Gump' directed by Robert Zemeckis and winner of the 1994 Academy Award for Best Picture (among many others). For all its swings at grandeur, the film is a deceptively simple one in premise: An ordinary man reflects on his life, regaling passersby with his stories about coming of age in America from the 1950's onward and detailing the instances in which he became a passive observer of - or coincidental participant in - many of the generation's noteworthy events. One of the greatest box office successes of the decade, the movie is also one that perfectly encapsulates the deeply cynical politics (or the posited apoliticism) of The End of History. We discuss the film's curious flattening of the historical record, papering over the thornier details of post-war America for an audience seeking to make sense of the decades of conflict that preceded the 90s and its erasure of the material context for monumental touchstones such as the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement. Then, we explore filmmaker Robert Zemeckis and his seemingly pathological need to embed bizarre racial elements into his most popular features, often commenting in ways that become more problematic than the surface-level prejudices of his contemporaries. Finally, we discuss the long-gestating (and ultimately cancelled) sequel to the film, which would have seen Forrest involved in even more historically resonant instances such as the OJ Simpson Bronco chase and the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Follow Jared Bailey 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.Mad Max maestro George Miller has a new film in theaters, so writer/producer/co-creator of Fox's 'Sleepy Hollow' & co-host of Podcast Like It's... Phil Iscove joins to discuss the work of the visionary director and his brilliant, underseen sequel to everyone's favorite talking pig movie, 'Babe: Pig in the City'. Following the breakout success of 1995's 'Babe', Miller delivered a darker, more adventurous story that sees the titular pig braving a cold, indifferent Metropolis (featuring a fascinating assembly of familiar landmarks from cityscapes around the world) and winning the hearts of its embittered animal residents through his courage, cunning, and compassion. Gene Siskel's #1 film of 1998 and a favorite of musician and actor Tom Waits, the film has steadily found its faithful audience after an initially disappointing box office run, anticipating some of Miller's careerlong challenges with compelling audiences to gamble on his bold visions.We discuss the film's narrative and thematic swings, how Miller takes the story in fascinating new directions, and why the filmmaker's insistence on never repeating himself becomes both the film's greatest asset and its toughest barrier for entry. Then, we assess the movie's incredible technical achievements, and why making this film feels like it might have been just as challenging as Miller's work on any of the Mad Max films. We also praise the film's willingness to embrace difficult emotions and never shy away from challenging its target audience of young viewers with harrowing and heartrending scenes of animals in extrememly human experiences of distress, opression, and danger.Finally, we turn our eyes to George Miller's latest entry in his long-running action series, 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga'. Epic in scope, bold in vision, and featuring some of Miller's most ambitious storytelling, 'Furiosa' has been embraced critically, but is failing to find its audience, with disappointing box office returns and a near-guaruntee of a short theatrical run.On the back half of this episode, we make the case for 'Furiosa', praise its grandeur as well as its nuance, and offer up some readings of the film that challenge many of the common criticisms we've seen so far.Follow Phil Iscove on Twitter.Listen to and support Podcast Like It's... on Patreon and wherever you stream podcasts.....Our theme song is 'Mirror' by Chris Fish.