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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.
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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.
Filmmaker, writer, and dude with an insanely high midi-chlorian count Neil Bahadur joins to discuss George Lucas's return to the Star Wars saga with the prequel trilogy kickoff 'Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace'. Met with ambivalence by most, genuine revulsion by others upon its initial release in the summer of 1999, the film (and the prequel trilogy more broadly) have seen a continued reappraisal, especially in the era of so many soulless Disney-era Star Wars productions. The Phantom Menace is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary with a recent limited re-release on IMAX screens. On this episode, we make a case for the film not just as comparatively good, but a genuinely excellent entry in the Star Wars canon.
We discuss the film's place within the the decade-spanning saga as well as its position within the film landscape of the era - how it pushed the boundaries of digital effects integration, and signaled (in non-alarmist terms) an evolving style of blockbuster filmmaking. Then, we talk about the film's narrative highs and lows, and share our thoughts on the critical points of 25 years of criticism: Midi-chlorians, Jar Jar Binks, Jake Lloyd, Watto and more. Finally, we praise the film's many incredible formal qualities - its relationship to Lucas's early student films visual experiements, The Phantom Menace's debt to classic cinema greats like Kurosawa and Douglas Sirk, and the brilliance of the film's multi-phase finale, cross-cutting between four different theaters of action seamlessly.
Follow Neil Bahadur on Twitter and Letterboxd
Watch 'The Beginning: Making Start Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace'
Watch '1:42:08 To Qualify', George Lucas's 1966 short film
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Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish.

Writer, critic, and Hit Factory Discord all-star Jason Miller returns to the show to discuss Hong Kong director Stanley Kwan's 'Center Stage', an experimental biopic exploring the life and work of Chinese silent film star Ruan Lingyu who achieved an unprecedented celebrity before tragically taking her own life at only 24. Ruan is played magnificently by Maggie Cheung in one of her first "serious" (and arguably one of her very best) performances. The film brilliantly forgoes a traditional biopic structure, intercutting the filmic recreations with real footage of Ruan's handful of enduring film performances. From there, the film offers an additional layer of complexity by frequently inserting black & white interstitials of director Stanley Kwan and Maggie Cheung (as herself) discussing the life of Ruan Lingyu and the production of the film. As the film goes on, these distinct layers begin to fracture and smear, both emphasizing the unreality of the recreations and eliciting a deeper sense of truth to the real Ruan Lingyu that the film understands it can never fully capture.
We discuss the way Kwan navigates his experimental form through the lens of classic melodrama (taking influence from the likes of Douglas Sirk) in order to create something that invites even as it antoginizes and provokes. Then, we consider the real Ruan Lingyu and some of her most well-known works (including 'The Goddess' directed by Wu Yonggang) and how the open construction of 'Center Stage' invites us to pursue further understanding rather than attempt to act as the final word on Ruan. Finally, we look at the state of the modern biopic and the furstrating lack on ingenuity and experiementation when approaching the titanic lives that these films consider.
Follow Jason Miller on Twitter and everywhere else.
Watch Wu Yonggang's 'The Goddess' starring Ruan Lingyu on YouTube.
Watch Cai Chusheng's 'New Women' starring Ruan Lingyu on YouTube.
Watch Maggie Cheung on her acting style alongside fellow Hong Kong actor Phillip Chan.
Read Jonathan Rosenbaum on 'Center Stage'.
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. 

Writer, comedian, and Lydia Tár's former publicist Daniella Mazzio joins to discuss Gus Van Sant's sharp, pitch-black satire of media, true crime, and a patently American brand of late 20th Century celebrity, 'To Die For'. The film is based on the Joyce Maynard novel of the same name, itself inspired by the true life trial of Pamela Smart, who seduced a teenage boy and coerced him and a friend to murder Smart's husband. The film features an excellent ensemble cast, including Joaquin Phoenix, Matt Dillon, Illeana Douglas, and a career-best Nicole Kidman.
We discuss 'To Die For' as a nexus of many careers at compelling inflection points: Nicole Kidman breaking into leading woman roles while married to Tom Cruise, Gus Van Sant on the eve of his career skyrocketing to new heights with the success of the following year's 'Good Will Hunting', and the chance casting of Casey Affleck and Joaquin Phoenix who would later become in-laws and artistic collaborators. Then, we examine the brilliant, kaleidoscopic script by 'The Graduate' screenwriter Buck Henry and how the film's patchwork construction foregrounds it thematically rich details. Finally, we discuss the real life inspiration for the film as well as the way the movie's indictment of the American media landscape anticipated elements of the OJ Simpson trial, which was playing out during the film's production and concluded just days before its release. (Editor's Note: This episode was recorded before OJ Simpson's death on April 10th, 2024 at the age of 76).
Follow Daniella Mazzio on Twitter. Read Daniella's Substack, 'Room Tone'.
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. 

In honor of its upcoming 25th anniversary (as well as a chance meeting between the director and guest Matt Belenky), we're unlocking our episode on Spike Lee's 'Summer of Sam'. 
Here's what we had to say about this monumental work back in the summer of 2022: 
Writer Matt Belenky joins us from New York in the midst of a heat wave to discuss Spike Lee's 'Summer of Sam', an exuberant survey of Outer Boroughs New York in the late 1970s as well as a chilling study of working class anxiety, paranoia, and scapegoating of the Other.
We discuss the many controversies surrounding the film's release (a common through line with Lee's films), the impeccable performances of the oft-undersung leads - including career-best work from John Leguizamo and Mira Sorvino, and the textured analysis of a politically tumultuos era that bears more than a few similarities to the Summer of 1999 in which the film was released. 
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.
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Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish