Hit Factory – Details, episodes & analysis

Writer, curator, and author of the upcoming book Revolutionary Desires: The Political Power of the Sex Scene, Xuanlin Tham joins us to discuss the work of Taiwanese New Wave director Tsai Ming-liang and his 1994 film Vive L'Amour. It's a quietly devastating exploration of longing, desire, and urban alienation about a trio of young Tapei residents who, unbeknownst to one another, all occupy the same luxury model apartment.

We discuss the context of early 90s Tapei, its status as a bustling center of rapid economic growth and a hub for global commerce, and how this unique urban setting coupled with Tsai's outsider status as a Malaysian-born transplant inform his cinema. Then we explore the distinctive formal components of Tsai's filmmaking, its radical underpinnings, and its rejection of commodifying language or labels. Finally, we look to Tsai's evolution across the decades since Vive L'Amour and how his self-referential and increasingly sparse approach has further liberated his cinema from the strictures of capitalist impulses.

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Pre-Order Revolutionary Desires: The Political Power of the Sex Scene from 404 Ink

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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.

We take a moment away from the 90s to share our thoughts on Coralie Fargeat's latest brash body-horror festival darling The Substance, starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley. It's a stylish, blunt provocation ostensibly targeting the oppressive brutality of patriarchal beauty standards that feels completely at odds with its own intentions, often reinforcing the very ideology it purports to be railing against. 

We discuss the film's formal elements, and how they so frequently contradict the film's messaging. Then, we talk about the the movie's many (empty) reference points and why they are indiciative of the diminishing returns of a generation of filmmakers interested in aesthetic homage to great filmmakers without seriously contending with their themes. Finally, we consider some troubling rhetoric around who the movie is for, who "genuinely" understands it, and who is excluded from this understanding. 

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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 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.

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Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish

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.

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.

It's our 100th episode of Hit Factory! To celebrate, we recruit New York-based filmmaker Donald Borenstein to discuss one of the undersung greatest films of the 1990s, Martin Scorsese's 'Bringing Out The Dead' written by the brilliant Paul Schrader. It's a frenzied, vividly-lensed story of death & salvation which also serves as a spotlight on the people pushed to soceity's margins by liberalism's rot.

We discuss the pitch-perfect Nic Cage in a role he was seemingly born to play, the film's sly indictment of Giuliani's broken windows crackdown on NY crime in the late 90s, and Schrader's virtuoso ability to blend stories of spiritual catharsis with profound examinations of institutions.

Later, we take a moment to reflect on 100 episodes of Hit Factory and share some messages of congratulations from friends of the show.

Follow Donald Borenstein on Twitter

Special Thanks to all our friends who sent messages of congratulations!

Listen to The Odd Podd. Follow The Odd Podd and hosts Trevor and Valerie on Twitter.

Listen to Pacino Pod. Follow Pacino Pod and hosts Jane and Kalie on Twitter.

Listen to Junk Filter. Follow Junk Filter and host Jesse Hawken on Twitter.

Listen to How Have You Not Seen. Follow How Have You Not Seen and host Caroline Thompson on Twitter.

Follow Lindsay Lee Wallace on Twitter.

Read The Pitch of Discontent and follow its creator Owen Morawitz on Twitter. 

Listen to Podside Picnic and Parents Just Don’t Understand.

Read and support Blood Knife digital magazine. 

Follow Karlo Yeager Rodriguez, Pete, Kurt Schiller, and Chris Woodward on Twitter.

Check out American Jank and follow its host Gus Lanzetta on Twitter. 

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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.

There's a new Predator movie getting dumped straight to Hulu this weekend. In anticipation of the franchise's dimishing returns, we revisit the overlooked sequel to the 1987 action classic, 'Predator 2' - a film that brilliantly turns the imperialist anxieties of its predecessor inward to explore early-90s reactionary crime wave narratives and the Bush-era fixation with gang violence & emboldened police response.

We discuss the proliferation of early 90s depictions of Los Angeles as a crime-ridden helscape, the deeper symbolism of the titular Predator (and what it's like to look at your reflection and see a monster), & why Danny Glover's Harrigan is the perfect choice to replace the musclebound macho action stars of the original film.

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

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.

UNLOCKED: Podcaster, writer, and Twitter's Most Wanted Man™ Aaron Thorpe joined us back in April to discuss Robert Zemeckis's 1997 science fiction masterpiece 'Contact' starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey. It's a thrilling, expansive film that explores Big Questions about science and faith while maintaining a profoundly moving sense of wonder throughout.

We discuss Contact's origins as both film treatement and eventual novel by the brilliant Carl Sagan and his wife Ann Druyan, explore the film's ideological opposition to the neoliberal hegemony of the mid-90s, and make a case for the necessity of a post-scarcity (perhaps even spiritual) perspective to the success of a humanist political project. 

Follow Aaron Thorpe on Twitter (while you can!).

Listen and Subscribe to Trillbilly Worker's Party and Support the show on Patreon.

Listen, Subscribe to, and Support Struggle Session.

Read Aaron Thorpe at his Substack Space + Light.

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Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish