Random Acts of Cinema

Director Lizzie Borden dares to imagine a world in which promised egalitarian reform is achieved, just not for women. Women from all backgrounds, walks of life, and lifestyles debate, struggle, and eventually unite to fight against male repression in this documentary-style dystopian action/drama. If that doesn't sell this movie to you, then how about this? 1980s, queer, punk, radical feminist, New York City.

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If you'd like to watch ahead for next week's film, we will be discussing and reviewing John Frankenheimer's Seconds (1966).

Our odd run of road movies continues with a classic from an American master. Terrence Mallick turns the couple-on-a-crime-spree sub genre into a deadpan fairy-tale with stirring visuals, iconic performances, and a meditative tone.

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If you'd like to watch ahead for next week's film, we will be discussing and reviewing Lizzie Borden's Born in Flames (1983).

We return to Monte Hellman's examination of American masculinity with a James Taylor and Dennis Wilson-starring road movie. Two nearly silent racers ramble across the American southwest, acquiring a disreputable father-figure, a notably underage girl, and a supporting cast of American weirdos. Vroom.

Also join us for a bonus follow-up discussion now that Mike has finally watched Highest To Lowest (2025)!

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If you'd like to watch ahead for next week's film, we will be discussing and reviewing Terrence Malick's Badlands (1973).

In honor of Spike Lee's… interesting… new adaptation, we return to the surprisingly satisfying sub genre of Akira-Kurosawa-crime-thriller with his two-movies-for-the-price-of-one kidnapping procedural. Join the Random Acts of Cinema Discord server here!

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If you'd like to watch ahead for next week's film, we will be discussing and reviewing Monte Hellman's Two-Lane Blacktop (1971).

Bertrand Tavernier builds a lushly realized foundation around which to topple the poisonous heart of European colonialism. Whether our hapless police chief chooses deliberate inaction, working towards everyone's best interests, or succumbing to his own selfish impulses, everything and everyone around him rots due to the fundamental moral corruption of racism. But, like, its a comedy.

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If you'd like to watch ahead for next week's film, we will be discussing and reviewing Akira Kurosawa's High and Low (1963).

Edo Japan. A town swarming with warring yakuza. And one detached, unstoppable blind swordsman caught in the middle. And Tate. Don't forget about Tate. The legend of Tate starts here.

Kenji Misumi brings Zatoichi to the screen, with beautiful staging, and soapy twists and turns. Long-time guest Max joins us to put it all into a historical perspective and to make an exciting podcast announcement!

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If you'd like to watch ahead for next week's film, we will be discussing and reviewing Bertrand Tavernier's Coup de Torchon (1981).

Hungarian director Marta Meszaros adds unprecedented depth, humanity, and a whole other meaning to the question asked in countless groan-worthy bumper stickers: "Who adopted who?"

A lonely middle-aged widow is picked by a teenage girl from a nearby state-run home for children as a kindred spirit and unlikely ally. Identities like mother, daughter, friend, sister, confident, and advocate are intentionally and unintentionally tried on for size as both struggle against the constrictive demands of the well-meaning, but institutionally-bound men in their lives.

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If you'd like to watch ahead for next week's film, we will be discussing and reviewing Kinjji Misumi's The Tale of Zatoichi (1962).

Poverty. Betrayal. Heroin. Death. But, like in a really funny and clever sort of way that's just a real pleasure to watch. Spend some time with some of your best Scottish friends! Director Danny Boyle fully inhabits, then redefines 90s cinema, in this groundbreaking international phenomenon.

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If you'd like to watch ahead for next week's film, we will be discussing and reviewing Marta Meszaros' Adoption (1975).

Kon Ichikawa sumptuous remake of an Edo-period revenge tale is magnified by lush camerawork, stirring performances, a jazzy soundtrack, and a fascinatingly unexpected exploration of gender, sexuality, and identity. The Kabuki actor Yukinojo performs and lives as a woman, breaks the hearts of all around him (men and women alike), and deftly schemes to enact vengeance on the men who destroyed her family.

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If you'd like to watch ahead for next week's film, we will be discussing and reviewing Danny Boyle's Trainspotting (1996).

How Kate got her groove back… could be an alternate title to David Lean's Katherine Hepburn-starring romance set in the canals of mid-century Venice. An aging single American lady, looking for a little bit of culture and beauty, discovers far more than just a bit of Murano glass in this visual stunner… By which I mean that she finds no-strings-attached sex with hot Italian dudes.

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If you'd like to watch ahead for next week's film, we will be discussing and reviewing Kon Ichikawa's An Actor's Revenge(1962).