Random Acts of Cinema artwork

Random Acts of Cinema

257 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 days ago - ★★★★ - 13 ratings

Each week friends Mike and Charlie have Randy (the random number generator) select a film for them to watch from the Criterion Collection. Then they discuss and review it for your listening pleasure. It’s a podcast about the love of film, expanding horizons, painstakingly cataloging the duration of every long take, and friendship.

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Episodes

820 - Fantastic Planet (1973)

March 26, 2024 00:49 - 1 hour - 34.7 MB

René Lalou’s timeless (well, maybe not exactly) hand drawn science fiction epic turns a skeptical eye on human systems of power in an unimaginable world of inhuman blue giants (that are somehow even more human).  You know: it’s your basic Jack and the Beanstalk meets Avatar situation.  With better (by which I mean funkier) music. Join our  Patreon and support the podcast!  Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you lov...

879 - Taipei Story (1985)

March 18, 2024 22:55 - 1 hour - 51.2 MB

The good days are long past for Chan and Leung, a couple slowly drifting apart, and losing themselves in the oncoming wave of modernity consisting of unemployment, debt, loneliness, and alienation.  But since Edward Yang directed it, somehow it’s all beautiful. Join our  Patreon and support the podcast!  Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers...

042 - Fishing With John (1991)

March 11, 2024 17:51 - 1 hour - 30.6 MB

There was a time, believe it or not, when the channel Bravo was willing to pay for some “celebrities” and a camera crew to get out of their comfort zones, go on various excursions around the world, and watch the sparks fly as they bicker, backstab, and try to make “reality” look fun for the audiences back home. That time was 1991. Those celebrities were John Lurie, Jim Jarmusch, Tom Waits, Matt Dillon, Willem Dafoe, and Dennis Hopper. They made 6 episodes.  Bravo never explored this format f...

1192 - Moonage Daydream (2022)

March 04, 2024 15:38 - 1 hour - 61.9 MB

Brett Morgen's expressionistic documentary seeks to sidestep the question of "which is the real David Bowie?" and instead sees the creation of his personas as just one strategy used by the performer to craft a life of continuous artistic challenge and innovation.  "Reinvention" isn't so much a gimmick used to promote album and ticket sales as it is the inevitable path of a creative life.  Oh, and it's beautiful and the music is good.  Freak out! Join our  Patreon and support the podcast! ...

270 - Casque d'Or (1952)

February 26, 2024 18:34 - 1 hour - 35 MB

Director Jacques Becker's belle epoque period drama about gangsters sets their lives on such a delicate balance between honor death that the eponymous pretty blonde is all it takes to bring it crashing down.  Would you say a "love quadrangle" or a "love square"? Join our  Patreon and support the podcast!  Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, sticker...

1094 - Watermelon Man (1970)

February 19, 2024 18:08 - 1 hour - 51.2 MB

Indie director Melvin van Peebles’ one film for Columbia Pictures pointedly slams against the dictates and standards of studio filmmaking with his Godfrey Cambridge-starring vehicle about a white bigot who wakes up black and finds himself in a world that no longer tolerates his existence. Join our  Patreon and support the podcast!  Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shi...

LD183 - Dracula (1992)

February 12, 2024 17:10 - 1 hour - 41.2 MB

Just in time for February: it's... Random Acts of Cinema's Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula.  Take me away from all of these possessives. Join our  Patreon and support the podcast!  Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, and more! If you’d like to watch ahead for next week’s film, we will be discussing and reviewing Melvin van ...

113 - Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958)

February 05, 2024 16:14 - 1 hour - 51.7 MB

An all-star who’s-who of mid-century Italian comedy (we assume) unite for a picture of staggering proportions!  Our boys stumble and bumble their way through a meticulously planned robbery and end up stealing… our hearts.  Director Mario Monicelli gives the world one of the great prototypes of the comedic heist. Join our  Patreon and support the podcast!  Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at...

391 - If.... (1968)

January 29, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 39.9 MB

Content and Spoiler Warning:  This film dramatizes bullying, violence, against children, and a school shooting.  Those who may not want to listen to this episode should skip this one and join us next week. Can an all-boys boarding school serve as a microcosm of an entire nation's fractured state of values?  More importantly: should it?  Director Lindsay Anderson subverts the slice-of-life routines and indignities of British school life with deft surrealist touches and a Malcom MacDowell-st...

LD244 - David Holzman's Diary (1967)

January 22, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 44.7 MB

He lost his job.  He got his draft notice.  The only path forward for this cinefile is clear: alienate everyone in his life and fracture his sanity by filming a progressively more erratic week of his life.  Is he really searching for truth?  Is film even the right way to capture truth?  Does he really care about truth at all?  Director Jim McBride fake documentary is about how everything filmed is a lie. Join our  Patreon and support the podcast!  Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord ...

1033 - The Cameraman (1928)

January 15, 2024 16:47 - 1 hour - 35.2 MB

In the darkest of night, standing solitary vigil against the forces of evil: there stands the city’s only hope for justice, for vengeance, for truth. There stands… The Cameraman! Director Buster Keaton mines the depths of obsession and action in this late silent-era masterpiece   Join our  Patreon and support the podcast!  Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hood...

736 - It Happened One Night (1934)

January 08, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 49.5 MB

Director Frank Capra returns to the podcast with his Oscar-hording smash hit romantic comedy starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert.  A glamorous heiress is on the run from her father as she embarks on a cross-country trek to get back to her playboy husband.  But a hard on his luck newspaperman knows a good story when he sees one, and takes her under his wing.  And wouldn't you know it?  These two hate each other!  Which is to say: they desperately love each other and just don't know it ...

611 - Being John Malkovich

January 02, 2024 07:10 - 1 hour - 36.8 MB

Director Spike Jonze upends Hollywood conventions in this mind-bending Malkovich.  Can Malkovich Malkovich before Malkovich Malkovich?  Join our  Patreon and support the podcast!  Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, and more! If you’d like to watch ahead for next week’s film, we will be discussing and reviewing Frank Capra's It Happened...

489 - Monsoon Wedding (2001)

December 25, 2023 21:49 - 1 hour - 59.3 MB

This time, Mira Nair unleashes her penchant for a romance-set-among-a-sprawling-family-drama on the nation of India as a wedding is organized, threatened, and celebrated amidst the intensity of a rainy season that I guess is probably a metaphor for something. Join our  Patreon and support the podcast!  Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, ...

885 - The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)

December 18, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 42.7 MB

Hitch is back!  Or rather, here he is just as he’s starting to become THE Alfred Hitchcock.  His first thriller blurs the boundaries between guilt, loss, obsession, and paranoia as a bloodthirsty killer of women stalks the London streets… on Tuesdays. Join our  Patreon and support the podcast!  Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, and more...

272 - La Commare Secca (1962)

December 12, 2023 03:04 - 1 hour - 49 MB

In his first film, renowned director Bernardo Bertolucci prowls through the not-so-innocent lives of strangers who just happened to be in a park on the night of a murder.  Each have good reason to embellish and omit details as they recount their day leading up to the murder to the police interrogator, but the director unsparingly shows all of the petty choices and disastrous missteps of them all. Join our  Patreon and support the podcast!  Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server h...

38 - Branded to Kill (1967)

December 05, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 43.2 MB

It is neither a question of where Seijun Suzuki got his ideas from nor who got their ideas from him.  Rather it is simply the plain fact that there were the movies that came before his 1967 art/hitman freak-out masterpiece and then there were the movies that came after. Join our  Patreon and support the podcast!  Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs,...

1197 - My Lucky Stars - Jackie Chan: Emergence of a Superstar (1985)

November 27, 2023 15:35 - 1 hour - 50.7 MB

1985.  Sammo Hung.  Jackie Chan.  It sounds like we have all of the ingredients for the perfect action/comedy.  And we do.  We definitely have those ingredients.  Hung directs a rag tag group of orphanage buddies, now older, as they are recruited to travel to Japan and infiltrate (via slapstick) a notorious Yakuza gang. Join our  Patreon and support the podcast!  Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random...

1003 - All About Eve (1950)

November 20, 2023 16:18 - 1 hour - 61.3 MB

We got ourselves a Mank!  More importantly, we got ourselves a study in contrast between the brash but insecure broadway diva Margo (Bette Davis) and the ambitiously talented wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing Eve (Anne Baxter). Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy podcast. Join our  Patreon and support the podcast!  Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, sticke...

166 - Down By Law (1986)

November 13, 2023 17:14 - 1 hour - 34.2 MB

A classic odd couple picture, except… it’s a trio?! Hilarity and hijinks ensue when a couple of guys find themselves in the unlikeliest of situations: roommates! … Well, kind of.  Writer/director Jim Jarmusch jams John Lurie (as a pimp), Tom Waits (as a radio DJ), and Roberto Benigni (as a Roberto Benigni) into a Louisiana jail cell where tensions and unlikely loyalties form in this dryly funny, minimal masterpiece by one of America’s greatest directors. Join our Patreon and support t...

1060 - Amores Perros (2000)

November 06, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 60.3 MB

Three heartbreaking stories interweave through Alejandro González Iñárritu's frantic and abrasive entry onto the cinematic world stage.  A lovelorn brother who turns to the brutal but lucrative opportunities of back alley dog fighting, a model confined to a crumbling apartment following a life-altering accident, and a hitman with a past who walks the streets unseen. Join our Patreon and support the podcast!  Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast...

BONUS PATREON PREVIEW - Are you Friedkin Kidding Me? (The Exorcist, 1973)

October 31, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour - 54.3 MB

Come listen to a free preview of our upcoming Patreon podcast Are You Friedkin Kidding Me?, where Mike, Charlie, and Alexandra (celebrated returning guest host) watch a different film (or tv show or documentary) from the oeuvre of acclaimed director William Friedkin.  And we’re starting with his all-time genre-defining horror  masterpiece The Exorcist (1973). The first taste is free. Keep an eye out for more information on our upcoming Patreon and your chance to listen to more episodes o...

909 - Night of the Living Dead (1968)

October 30, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 39.6 MB

Ok, we don't say it in the episode, but I've just decided that this movie is nothing more than a shameless War of the Worlds rip-off.  And now that I've achieved my attention-grabbing hot take, I'll just come clean and say that we loved George A. Romero's all-time classic movie about zom... I mean ghouls that started it all. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodi...

LD309 - Diva (1981)

October 23, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 48.7 MB

Chic style and a confoundingly lithe ability to shift between classic-cool genres, director Jean-Jacques Beineix plots a Parisian escapade of crime, obsession, genius, whimsy, opera, sex, speed, and violence.  Get ready to be the only person in the theater with a single tear running down your face.  Because YOU get it. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, ...

653 - Gate of Hell (1953)

October 16, 2023 14:02 - 1 hour - 30.4 MB

Stubborn, single-minded obsession forms the icy heart of Teinosuke Kinugasa's sweeping Shakespearean action-drama set in the aftermath of the bloody Heiji Rebellion. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, and more!   If you’d like to watch ahead for next week’s film, we will be discussing and reviewing Jean-Jacques Beineix’ Diva (1981).

803 - The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

October 10, 2023 18:33 - 1 hour - 66.6 MB

Ol Blue Eyes is back!  Back from the Korean War and brainwashed by sinister communist agents, that is.  Director John Frankenheimer bends minds and our expectations in his stylishly paranoid thriller set in an era of Cold War paranoia, McCarthyism, and presidential assassination. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, and more!   If you’d l...

287 - Burden of Dreams (1982)

October 02, 2023 17:12 - 1 hour - 40.2 MB

Director Les Blank turns his unsparing eye on obsessive visionary director Werner Herzog as he trudges through a years-long journey to film Fitzcarraldo in the South American rainforest.  Everything that can go wrong does, and Herzog, the film, and the viewers are left to ponder: is all this worth it?  Maybe it is, but since this is the only Herzog-related film in the Collection, we’re thrilled for the chance to discuss one of the defining auteurs of the late 20th century. Join the Random ...

86 - Pygmalion (1938)

September 25, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 61.5 MB

A uproarious takedown of English class and gender constructions… or a staunch defender of them?  At least one of us thinks that this very ambiguity is the whole fun of Anthony Asquith and Leslie Howard’s adaptation of Bernard Shaw’s classic stage comedy. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, and more! If you’d like to watch ahead for next we...

420 - Le Bonheur (1965)

September 18, 2023 16:33 - 1 hour - 39 MB

Agnès Varda returns to the podcast with her charming little love story about a happy guy, his happy wife, and his happy mistress.  It’s all very nice and sweet.  No problems at all.  Nope.  It’s all good. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, and more! If you’d like to watch ahead for next week’s film, we will be discussing and reviewing Ant...

220 - Naked Lunch (1991)

September 11, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 61.3 MB

David Cronenberg just might be the only director capable of adapting William S. Burroughs’ drug-fueled descent into paranoia, isolation, murder, conspiracy, hallucination, depravity, and… self-actualization?  The director’s visionary deadpan perfectly places a stoney-faced Peter Weller into a world of beetle-like typewriters and narcotic-secreting, tough-talking mugwumps without it coming off as, you know: stupid. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podc...

810 - In A Lonely Place (1950)

September 04, 2023 20:10 - 1 hour - 40.5 MB

Things get dark this week, noir and otherwise in Nicholas Rey’s brooding and prescient look into a doomed and toxic relationship. Humphrey Bogart makes his first appearance on the podcast with one of his best. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, and more! If you’d like to watch ahead for next week’s film, we will be discussing and reviewin...

641 - Powaqqatsi (1988)

August 28, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 45.5 MB

Our first Cannon Group movie!!  And it’s the sequel to Godfrey Reggio’s 1983 art house documentary that cuts artfully shot footage to the pace of a rhythmic Philip Glass score.  But Chuck Norris or Charles Bronson are still going to show up at some point, right?  Right?!? Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, and more! If you’d like to watch...

445 - The Earrings of Madame de… (1953)

August 21, 2023 14:53 - 1 hour - 80.9 MB

The romantic misadventures of the continental European upper class of the nineteenth century?  Making use of expertly-machined narrative devices that play with pattern, coincidence, and repetition? Sounds to me like director Max Ophüls has gone and made another movie.  A pair of diamond earrings are sold to discreetly pay off a debt… and that should have been enough.  But sometimes, the earrings come back. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and ...

385 - Army of Shadows (1969)

August 14, 2023 11:30 - 1 hour - 52.6 MB

This week we are re-joined by filmmaker Scott Sawitz (Save State) to discuss Jean-Pierre Melville’s beautifully bleak WWII French resistance film.  Are we going to get a film drenched in that Melville cool or and old-man-war-movie?  Maybe both?  Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, and more! If you’d like to watch ahead for next week’s film...

898 - Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me

August 07, 2023 14:51 - 1 hour - 117 MB

Is it bad because it’s a theatrical follow-up to a television phenomenon that famously went of the rails, or does David Lynch’s prequel somehow manage to get everything back on track.  Opinions are divided.  We’re joined this week by Vincent and Craig of the Twin Peaks: Evangelion podcast to solve this debate once and for all. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoo...

118 - Sullivan’s Travels (1942)

July 31, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 62.2 MB

It’s time to hit the rails and Meridith and Michael from the Going Over Our Freds Podcast (@goofpodcast) are hear to take us on a ride to discover the real America.  We’re watching Preston Sturges’ high-minded and thoughtful ode to dumb slapstick.  With a little bit of sex. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, and more! If you’d like to wat...

1157 - Daisies (1966)

July 24, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 32.9 MB

Two girls rampage their way through an allegory-laden modern city steeped in its own hypocrisy and decadence, indulging in everything “bad” in a feature-length gesture of seeming nihilistic hedonism. But director Věra Chytilová has more than cheap laughs in mind as she tweaks the manners of polite society. Looks like Luis Buñuel has some competition. And it looks like we’re joined by return-guest Patrick O’Reilly of the Vintage Video Podcast who brings along this psychedelic Czech freak-out ...

846 - Heart of a Dog (2015)

July 17, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 49.7 MB

Kevin Allison of the podcast Risk!, The State, and so much more returns to the podcast with his selection of Laurie Anderson's atmospheric exploration of death, mourning, acceptance, dogs, mothers, the banal anxieties of a post-9/11 world.  Set to her own animation, music, home movies, and news footage, Anderson narrates the viewer through a hypnotic and meditative reflection on how we can let go of loss as an act of love. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support...

28 - Blood for Dracula (1974)

July 10, 2023 17:54 - 1 hour - 36.7 MB

Dracula needs… you guessed it. But specifically he needs the blood of a virgin. But where to find a virgin in the modern world? If you found this joke/premise both funny and erotic, have we got a film for you. Director Paul Morrissey and star Udo Kier either push the limits of or nearly approach the genre of horror/comedy in this vaguely Andy Warhol-affiliated romp.  Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a rando...

937 - Dragon Inn (1967)

July 03, 2023 11:30 - 1 hour - 61.5 MB

Acclaimed martial arts director King Hu’s tale of court intrigue, assassination, loyalty and betrayal is long-lauded as the seminal wuxia film.  As the English-speaking internet is oddly silent about this film other than by offering just such unsubstantiated platitudes, we decide to evaluate it on (gasp!) its internal merits alone.  Our unasked-for conclusion: it’s pretty damn good. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone ...

5th Annual Rando Awards

June 26, 2023 11:30 - 2 hours - 99.2 MB

And with the coming of another Rando Awards, so too passes another season of Random Acts of Cinema.  Join us as we look back and reflect on all the bests and the worsts of a solid year of Criterion films. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, and more! If you’d like to watch ahead for next week’s film, we will be discussing and reviewing Kin...

167 - The Complete Monterey Pop Festival (1968)

June 19, 2023 16:42 - 1 hour - 42.6 MB

D. A. Pennebaker and his documentary crew capture the scene of the century, as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Who, the Mamas and the Papas and a host of other rockers take the spotlight during and serve as backdrop to the summer of love. Oh, and we also take a look at the full sets of Hendrix and Otis Redding just to earn the “complete” on the spine. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our me...

382 - La Haine (1995)

June 12, 2023 20:44 - 1 hour - 61.7 MB

A young Vincent Cassel burns with a raw intensity in Mathieu Kassovitz‘s day-in-the-life account of three young men bristling against the cycle of poverty and violence that society has both trapped them in and assaults them with at every moment of their daily experiences. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, and more! If you’d like to watch...

40 - Armageddon (1998)

June 05, 2023 11:30 - 1 hour - 36.7 MB

But is it a Criterion film?  We drill deep into Michael Bay’s blockbuster to end all blockbusters. And you won’t want to miss a thing. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, and more! If you’d like to watch ahead for next week’s film, we will be discussing and reviewing Mathieu Kassovitz’s La Haine (1995).

586 - Island of Lost Souls (1932)

May 29, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 46.4 MB

Sci-fi/horror.  Bikini lady.  Pre-code.  A story that has been remade for every generation since the dawn of cinema.  Starring Quasimodo and Dracula.  Kind of.  Don’t pretend that you’re not interested. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, and more! If you’d like to watch ahead for next week’s film, we will be discussing and reviewing Micha...

LD75 - Ghostbusters (1984)

May 22, 2023 15:25 - 1 hour - 40.1 MB

Today we celebrate Mike’s birthday with the rebirth of Gozer (you know: the Gozerian?) Yep, we’re watching Ivan Reitman’s all-time action-comedy classic: Ghostbusters.  But can we disassociated the powerful weight of nostalgia and truly consider the legitimacy of this film as a valid entry in the Criterion Collection? Uh… no. But that’s ok, because it’s Ghostbusters.  Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a rand...

778 - A Special Day (1977)

May 15, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 64.7 MB

Sophia Loren and Marcelo Mastroinanni heat up the screen again in Ettore Scola’s period piece set on the day in 1938 when Hitler visited Mussolini in Rome.  Or at least, that’s what the first 20 minutes or so of the film would lead you to believe. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love a random gift at our merch store.  T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, and more! If you’d like to watch ahead for next week’s fi...

636 - Heaven’s Gate (1980)

May 08, 2023 17:07 - 1 hour - 42.3 MB

Michael Cimino’s sprawling anti-western is, quite famously, one of those films that questions the very legitimacy of auteur filmmaking.  We’re joined by recurring guest and friend of the podcast Max Rieger to wrestle with this very question.  And not all of us agree with one another.  Unless we’re talking about the casting of Isabelle Huppert; we all think she’s perfect in the film. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone ...

1124 - Chan is Missing (1982)

May 01, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 66.1 MB

Joe and Steve hit the pavement of San Francisco’s Chinatown and beyond, searching through a tapestry of Asian-American identities for a business partner who has run off with their money… or has he?  Wayne Wang’s stripped-bare noir is less of an homage and more of an exploration of what it means to be an immigrant in a society that demands assimilation and refuses to accept. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here! *Come support the podcast and get yourself or someone you love ...

814 - Lone Wolf and Cub (1972)

April 24, 2023 11:00 - 2 hours - 68.6 MB

Content Warning: The films covered in this episode depict various scenes of sexual assault. Listeners who would not like to engage with this kind of material are encouraged to skip this one   200 eps! So we’re doing 200 movies to celebrate! Actually, just 6 movies. But there’s enough good stuff in these 6 for 200 normal films. Get ready for…Kenji Misumi’s Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972), Kenji Misumi’s Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx (1972), Kenji Misumi’s Lone ...

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