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PODCAST

Random Acts of Cinema

Mike Noyes and Charles Peterson

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.

arts visual arts

All Episodes

01:41:51

663 - Shoah (1985)

Random Acts of Cinema ·

2020/08/24

Note: This episode’s discussion and the film we are discussing, explicitly recounts the brutal methods, unimaginable suffering, and lingering trauma of the Holocaust. Sensitive listeners may want to skip this one and join us next week. The hosts of Random Acts of Cinema shy away neither from films of exceptional length nor films with difficult subject matter. But the double impact of both in Claude Lanzmann’s Holocaust documentary Shoah would seem to really put our constitutions to the test. But

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01:16:55

333 - Fists in the Pocket (1965)

Random Acts of Cinema ·

2020/08/17

Dissatisfied youth, repressed sexuality, and nihilism running rampant in the dysfunctional Italian family unit is the theme of the week on Random Acts of Cinema. Director Marco Bellocchio’s cruel, bitter little film about Alessandro (played by Lou Castel) thinning out the ranks of his crumbling family through self-obsessed cruelty and murder is punctuated by brilliant photography, powerful acting, and a frantic score by Ennio Morricone. If you would like to watch ahead for next week’s film, we will

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01:23:33

066 - The Orphic Trilogy (1930, 1950, and 1959)

Random Acts of Cinema ·

2020/08/10

With his nearly 30-years-in-the-making thematic trilogy, director/poet Jean Cocteau uses innovative film techniques and diverse strategies steeped in personal and classical mythology to consider the needs, methods, obstacles, and curse of the creative mind and the creative life. First with his groundbreaking The Blood of a Poet (1930), non-narrative sequencing and "not surrealist" (but totally surrealist) imagery presents a groundbreaking experimental film. Orpheus (1950) is a dreamy retelling of

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01:29:45

453 - Chungking Express (1994)

Random Acts of Cinema ·

2020/08/03

We are joined by Michael Patrick Jann, film and television writer/director and member of The State to discuss his personal pick: Wong Kar-wai’s frenetic romantic masterpiece Chungking Express. Two stories, each with a lovesick cop (Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung) and a self-possessed woman (Brigitte Lin and Faye Wong) navigating Hong Kong and exploring themes of love, heartbreak, street food, and obsession. Funny, adorable, charming, tender, and sexy - our protagonists pursue meaningful if

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01:28:34

1014 - Roma (2018)

Random Acts of Cinema ·

2020/07/27

Alfonso Cuarón's drama-behind-the-drama has all of the trappings of a semi-autobiographical period piece. Meticulously recreated clothing, cars, furniture, street settings, and contemporaneous political turmoil are set largely in the eponymous neighborhood as a failing marriage takes its toll on a family. But of course the real protagonist is one of the maids, Cleo (played by Yalitza Aparicio) who faces her own obstacles of poverty, abandonment, unwanted pregnancy, and murderous rioters. Her

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01:14:00

1036 - The Big Boss (1971)

Random Acts of Cinema ·

2020/07/20

In the promotional material for Lo Wei’s The Big Boss (also known by a few other film titles) break-out star Bruce Lee is seen flying through the air, shirt half-torn from his body, contorted into a now-iconic running jump kick, certain to be delivered to the face of some punk to glorious effect. But does the movie pay-off with this acrobatic feat of violence, as promised on the poster? Yeah: it does. Because Bruce Lee is a movie star. If you’d like to watch ahead for next week’s film, we will be

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01:27:26

1007 - Until The End of the World (1991)

Random Acts of Cinema ·

2020/07/13

It's a miracle I even made it out of Longwood alive. This town full of men with big mouths and no guts. I mean if you can just picture it: Wim Wenders made a nearly 5 hour long, globetrotting movie in 1991 predicting the technology, geopolitical concerns, and digital addictions of the 21st century with remarkable foresight. Solveig Dommartin heads up a luminous cast, redressed in 90s future noir, that makes use of gorgeous settings and beautiful photography to explore a magnetic woman's

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01:19:07

569 - The Makioka Sisters (1983)

Random Acts of Cinema ·

2020/07/06

Director Kon Ichikawa's The Makioka Sisters, based on the book by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, catalogs the domestic dramas of the eponymous four women and their family circle in 1930s Japan. Matchmaking, marriage, and the juggling of suitors for the youngest two siblings become complicated by stubborn personalities, dwindling status in society, and the shame of past scandals. The demanding pressure of modernity and a changing Japan beleaguer the family into choices to either compromise or even abandoning

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01:23:46

165 - Man Bites Dog (1992) with Scott Sawitz

Random Acts of Cinema ·

2020/06/29

Content Disclaimer: This episode examines a film with extremely challenging subject matter. Exceptionally graphic depictions of violence, murder, racism, and brutal sexual assault are both celebrated and trivialized in Remy Belvaux's Man Bites Dog. Listeners who are sensitive to such content and the frank discussion of it are strongly encouraged not to listen to this episode. The hosts disliked the film and disliked talking about the film. Nevertheless, Man Bites Dog is a documentary-style film

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01:09:50

2nd Annual Rando Awards

Random Acts of Cinema ·

2020/06/22

After months of campaigning and hype, constant drama and re-selection of the hosts, and hours of red carpet interviews, it’s finally happening. Looking back of the year of randomly chosen (and a few guest-selected) films we select and discuss the best of the arbitrary best. Who goes home with their hearts and career-hopes crushed? And who walks away with the most coveted award for excellence for their work in a film? The Randy Award. If you’d like to watch ahead for next week’s film, we will be

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01:29:44

1034 - Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) with Briana...

Random Acts of Cinema ·

2020/06/15

We are joined this week by the hosts of the podcast Chapter One: Take Two - Briana McZant and Maddy McZant - to look deep into the eyes of Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire. This one has it all: portraits of ladies, ladies on fire, portraits of ladies on fire, portraits of ladies that are literally on fire, and even a painting titled Portrait of a Lady on Fire that really isn’t a portrait of a lady on fire. And I’m not just being flip; this movie dives headfirst, with puzzle box

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01:17:17

565 - The Great Dictator (1940) with Kevin Allison of...

Random Acts of Cinema ·

2020/06/08

This week we are joined by special-guest Kevin Allison (of Risk! The Podcast and The State) to talk about a powerful and hilarious film: Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator. So, you know when fed-up people call fascists on their practices and they respond by saying they aren’t “technically” fascists? So then they are pressured to walk back their language a little bit and the criticism gets all muddied on a point of semantics based on strict political definitions? Like when a leader who clearly

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01:21:40

1000 - Son of Godzilla (1967) with Angie

Random Acts of Cinema ·

2020/06/01

Following the random selection and then explicit demand of AJ from the Cult Popture podcast, we’re dipping back into the Showa-era Godzilla films, with Jun Fukuda’s Son of Godzilla. We’re joined by longtime friend and Godzilla-expert Angie to help us make sense of this eighth(!) entry into the franchise. This time, there’s a baby Godzilla, a remote weather experiment station on a pacific island, a lady who has been hiding in a cave for some reason, and zero stakes. So it’s a pretty distant echo

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01:15:26

301 - An Angel At My Table (1990) with AJ and Richard...

Random Acts of Cinema ·

2020/05/25

Jane Campion’s filmed adaptation of the memoirs of celebrated New Zealand poet and author Janet Frame offers a desperately poignant and often devastating account of childhood and womanhood in the twentieth century. Played by three different actors at three different periods of her life, Frame’s tender spirit and social anxieties make for a life of modestly monumental triumphs and gut-wrenching personal tragedies. We are joined by AJ and Richard of Cult Popture to help us understand the

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01:30:10

175 - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Random Acts of Cinema ·

2020/05/18

Terry Gilliam's adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's acclaimed memoir is a diatribe against Nixonian America, account of a motorcycle race, drug travelogue, and only now the kind of advertisement that the Las Vegas chamber of commerce could get behind. But it's really the story of Thompson's proxy Raoul Duke's (played by Johnny Depp channeling a sort of mumbly Jim Carrey) desperately trying to channel the destructive energy of his drug buddy/lawyer Dr. Gonzo (played by Benicio del Toro channeling

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01:17:34

806 - Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

Random Acts of Cinema ·

2020/05/11

Sometimes all you need is a little classic Hollywood glamour. Jean Arthur and Cary Grant put on some saucy hats and deliver just that it is this action/adventure story about the daring lives of... uh... postal service pilots and the women who love them. Don't worry: Howard Hawks figures out how to make this work with the combination of thrilling special effects, edge-of-your seat danger, and themes of courage, friendship, love, and self-sacrifice. And did I mention Jean Arthur and Cary Grant?

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01:08:31

671 - La Cage Aux Folles (1978)

Random Acts of Cinema ·

2020/05/04

You know what would just be wonderful right about now? A delightful and beloved French farce. Edouard Molinaro’s classic tale of two gay nightclub owners’ attempt to put on a show of conservative domesticity in order to trick a right-wing politician into allowing their son to marry his daughter isn’t exactly timeless - in that it is SO set in 1978 - but it’s charm and hilarious send-up of straight gender performance make it one for the ages. If you’d like to watch ahead for next week’s film, we

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01:15:31

616 - Shallow Grave (1994)

Random Acts of Cinema ·

2020/04/27

Danny Boyle is on the board! And in uncharacteristic fashion, we’re actually taking a look at the earlier film of a celebrated director rather than some weird, later period film. The randomness of our system was bound to get it right eventually. And the result is a gripping 90s thriller about three Scottish flat mates descending into madness, paranoia, and betrayal after the discovery of a bag full of a cash and their decision to dispose of the corpse of its former owner. And Ewan MacGregor’s

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01:14:07

012 - This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

Random Acts of Cinema ·

2020/04/20

On this week’s episode we turn the podcast up to eleve... Oh god. What am I doing? What have I become? With all of these quotable lines, super-clever improv, bad accents, hilarious songs, and tight, tight pants, will we be able to manage even a half-coherent conversation about Rob Reiner’s groundbreaking “rockumentary” parody This Is Spinal Tap? If you’d like to watch ahead for next week’s film, we will be discussing and reviewing Danny Boyle’s Shallow Grave (1994).

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01:14:06

555 - The Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Random Acts of Cinema ·

2020/04/13

The seedy, hand-to-mouth, day-to-day scramble in the life of a press agent in New York City seems an unlikely setup for a cruel and bitter piece of star-studded film noir. But Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster are up to the challenge in director Alexander Mackendrick’s take on the hustle and corruption here at the very heart of conservative America’s most nostalgic tent pole. If you’d like to watch ahead for next week’s film, we will be reviewing and discussing Rob Reiner’s This is Spinal

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