Hard Out

The Harvey and Bob Weinstein-directed 80's hodgepodge disaster PLAYING FOR KEEPS and Steve James' touching documentary tribute to Roger Ebert LIFE ITSELF are up to bat in this installment of Hard Out: Cinephiliacs, which inspired us to wax philosophical over not only Harvey's inhumanity but counterpoint Ebert's humanity.

Ridley Scott's sci-fi masterpiece BLADE RUNNER is the all-time favorite film of bestselling novelist Zoje Stage, author of acclaimed books Baby Teeth, Wonderland, and the upcoming (Aug 17th!) Getaway! We chop it up over her love of this film but also jump into her past as a filmmaker and screenwriter, the transition to prose, publishing triumphs and pitfalls, #metoo and the Patriarchy, cancel cult...

Martin Scorsese's Best Picture Academy Award-winning THE DEPARTED is the all-time favorite flick of Hollywood development exec-turned-screenwriter and host of the *fantastic* kindred spirit podcast "Movies I Love That No One Talks About" Dan Benamor. Featuring an amazing all-in, paranoia-fueled performance by Leonardo DiCaprio and stellar work by Matt Damon, Vera Farmiga, Mark Wahlberg, Martin She...

In what might constitute our most absurd, "what-in-the-everloving-FUCK WERE THEY THINKING??" double feature mash-up review yet, it's the Hulk Hogan holiday hot mess SANTA WITH MUSCLES paired with the deeply involving, understated, incredible A WAR by Danish master filmmaker Tobias Lindholm (see also his startlingly good A Hijacking if you want a tale like Captain Phillips without all the Hollywood...

We weren't planning to drop this for a couple more days but since we just found out TODAY is the **36th anniversary of THE LAST DRAGON** we had no choice but to release it! Screenwriter Michael J. Kospiah (of The Suicide Theory and the newly released RAGE—which is getting very good reviews and is currently available to rent or buy on all major digital platforms) stopped by to talk about this 80's-...

David Mackenzie kept it real in directing the Taylor Sheridan-scripted HELL OR HIGH WATER (starring a world-weary Chris Pine, tragic bad seed Ben Foster, and nobody-better Jeff Bridges)—and in doing so crafted the favorite movie of super cool veteran TV Writer Kristy Lowrey (Into the Badlands, 12 Monkeys, 911: Lonestar, Absentia, and now CBS' FBI). She stopped by to talk about it and the biz.

Nicolas Winding Refn's violent, stylish, Ryan Gosling-starring ode-to-electric-nights getaway driver *neon*-noir DRIVE is up to bat in this episode as we highlight the favorite flick of our buddy, the uber-talented artist and writer Mike Morin (creator of the viral webgame classic ALICE IS DEAD). Originally aired on YouTube on March 18, 2020.

The homie Adam Barker—a kindred spirit Black List screenwriter whose film WASH ME IN THE RIVER (starring Jack Huston, John Malkovich and Robert fucking De Niro!!) just wrapped production—stops by to talk his favorite film, Jeremy Saulnier's crowdfunded hail mary indie darling neo-noir revenge thriller BLUE RUIN starring Macon Blair. Originally aired on YouTube on March 16, 2021.

In an episode you could almost call RYAN & LARISSA, we forgo our usual in-house freakazoid double feature dives for a one-off discussion with powerhouses Larissa Thomas and Ryan Jackson on the subjective merits—and demerits—of Netflix's Sam Levinson-scripted and directed MALCOLM & MARIE (starring his fellow producers Zendaya and John David Washington). Check it out and share your thoughts on this...

Another WTF mash-up on this episode of Hard Out: Cinephiliacs! This time we're taking a look at Bobcat Goldthwait's bloodlusting satire supreme GOD BLESS AMERICA and Brandon Cronenberg's bravura body horror debut POSSESSOR. Look for more fucked up Cinephiliacs double features to come, along with retrospectives on filmmakers and their films, one-off reviews with guests—and of course subscribe to ge...

The truly fantastic, satirical, smart, funny, and bold as hell 1990 Sundance Grand Jury winner CHAMELEON STREET—by criminally underrated (and lost to the annals of time for who knows what reason) auteur Wendell B. Harris Jr—is the "Favorite Movie" of screenwriter and friend of the show Ryan Jackson. As always, indebted to him for turning us on to another fucking GEM of a movie—even if we seemed to...

DEAD POETS SOCIETY—arguably our own favorite film, most definitely our "sentimental" choice if under the gun—is the pick of our dear old friend Sean Hansen, who stopped by to discuss his love of the film... and had his MIND BLOWN about 12 minutes in when we revealed to him that we'd somehow managed to get three key members of the beloved cast (in the form of Gale Hansen, Allelon Ruggiero, and Dyla...

The unlikely pairing of Fenton Bailey's and Randy Barbato's lo-fi 2003 club kid murder movie PARTY MONSTER and Roland Joffe's epic 1986 period piece THE MISSION are the focus of this episode of Hard Out: Cinephiliacs! Look for more fucked up Cinephiliacs double features to come, along with retrospectives on filmmakers and their films, one-off reviews with guests— and of course subscribe to get all...

John Carpenter's slasher classic HALLOWEEN is the all-time favorite film of podcaster, filmmaker, and festival panel moderator extraordinaire Michael Viers (of the Shame List Picture Show podcast), so he stopped by to "chop it up," so to speak (thought Michael Myers might dig that turn of phrase) and unleash a mountain of knowledge on this film—indisputably so, since we put him on the spot with an...

Welcome to Them Thorntons' Hard Out: Cinephiliacs! In this episode Chris and Jay discuss Armando Iannucci's THE DEATH OF STALIN, starring Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Paddy Considine, Rupert Friend, Jason Isaacs, Michael Palin, Andrea Riseborough, Paul Whitehouse, and Jeffrey Tambor. You can check out this wickedly funny, subversive film currently streaming on Netflix—and we suggest you do!...

Jeff "The Loose Cannon of Comedy" Lampton stops by the podcast via remote live feed from his hotel room in Horse Cave, Kentucky and proceeds to conduct our entire geek-out of Netflix's Mötley Crüe biopic THE DIRT from his jacuzzi tub while chain smoking and swilling longnecks!! How do you not love this animal?! Originally aired on YouTube on February 12, 2021.

Welcome back to the HARD OUT "ALIEN SMACKDOWN," a massive serialized shittalking tournament in which we—along with recurring friends of the show Ian MacDonald and Juan "Johnny" Ortiz—draft, seed, and hash out which alien from the silver and small screen alike will be the last extra-terrestrial left standing. In this second episode we complete the bracket, finalize some ground rules, and brainstorm...

Actor, producer, director, hypnotist, mentalist, motivational speaker, podcaster, professor... there's not much Rex Sikes don't do. And he lists "dad" first and foremost among his occupations—what's not to love?! Rex was supposed to stop by to talk about his favorite film THE NITWITS, but thanks to the holidays our copy was stuck in the mail so we just did a general shit-shooting session. Keep you...

Welcome to the HARD OUT "ALIEN SMACKDOWN," a massive serialized shittalking tournament in which we—along with recurring friends of the show Ian MacDonald and Juan "Johnny" Ortiz—draft, seed, and hash out which alien from the silver and small screen alike will be the last extra-terrestrial left standing. In this first episode we try (and fail) to fill out the bracket and set some ground rules befor...

Former Editor-in-Chief of Script Magazine and current empress of Pipeline Artists and #scriptchat Jeanne Veillette Bowerman—and her jangling jewelry—stopped by the podcast to talk about their all-time favorite film SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR starring Alan Alda and the incomparable Ellen Burstyn. We *love* left field picks like this, and Jeanne is literally one of our favorite people so this shit was a j...

We're back after the release of our film CACTUS JACK (info below) to talk one of the best films of all-time—Milos Forman's Jack Nicholson-starring ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST—with Jay's old US Air Force partner-in-crime Butch Walker (who also made an appearance on our Covid Roundtable Episode). Hijinks ensue, Ken Kesey would be proud. Originally aired on YouTube on January 25, 2021.

He's a screenwriter, producer (on our own CACTUS JACK even), youtuber (check out his series RE-ENTRY, where he interviews pro screenwriters and publicly chronicles his process of trying to break back in as a Hollywood screenwriter after years away from the racket), and all around great gut: It's our good friend Nate Davis—who, like us, cannot nail down a "favorite movie."   So in addition to touch...

Film critic, Variety contributor, script consultant, producer, and consummate cinephile Nick Clement stops by to talk Martin Scorsese's mob masterpiece GOODFELLAS in this episode of the HARD OUT subseries "My Favorite Movie," a 60-minute ticking time bomb of a podcast in which we have one or more guests on to geek out on their all-time favorite flick. Originally aired on YouTube on January 3, 2021...

COVID and the COVID VACCINE are the subject of this roundtable discussion, which includes scientists Julio Gagne and Brett Saladino to shed some light on not only the Covid vaccines hitting the market but how vaccines work in general in order to dispel some of the myths surrounding them, our sister Sarah Wiley (who is a nurse and has been working in Covid hotspots from NYC near the beginning of th...

David Fincher's macho-masochistic masterpiece FIGHT CLUB is the focus of this episode of the HARD OUT subseries "My Favorite Movie," a 60-minute ticking time bomb of a podcast in which we have one or more guests on to geek out on their all-time favorite movie. Famed filmmaker Dylan Avery (LOOSE CHANGE and BLACK & BLUE documentaries, the upcoming narrative feature ASTEROID) makes a Pitt-stop to cho...