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Random Acts of Cinema: Daily Summaries Delivered
by 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.
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- 6 days ago1h 6m
1089 - After Life (1998)
Can you still call a film a Defending Your Life-situation if it doesn't involve Albert Brooks? This and more is debated on this week's episode covering Hirokazu Kore-Eda's imagined limbo, where slightly-sullen social workers/indie filmmakers help to transition their deceased clients into eternity. *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
- 1 weeks ago1h 18m
145 - The Firemen's Ball (1967)
Granted: the headline is the secret-not-secret anti-establishment themes cleverly-not-cleverly baked into a Czech new wave film made with state money while under communist control. But what if it's also just really really funny? Milos Forman's break-out film (that almost got him arrested) follows the events of a ball celebrating the achievements of an elderly chairman of a regional fire brigade. The bumbling firemen's community make every wrong move while trying to put together a dignified evening of pleasant entertainment for the townsfolk, putting the raw humanity and folly of modern life under an unflinching microscope. But again, what if it's just really really funny? *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 Hirokazu Kore-Eda's After Life (1998).
- 3 weeks ago1h 26m
495 - Bang the Drum Slowly - The Golden Age of TV (1956)
Paul Newman plays a literary baseball player who is the reluctant friend of a dying catcher. And he doesn't like paying taxes. And it's in a live made for tv movie from the 50s that was collected and presented by a PBS affiliate in the 80s before it was given the Criterion treatment. And it's named after a line in a country song. *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 Miloš Firemen's The Fireman's Ball (1967).
- Oct 6, 20261h 22m
722 - Tie Me Up! You Me Down! (1990)
Pedro Almodóvar returns to the podcast for his final (for now?) directorial entree (that we've reviewed) to the Criterion Collection. Is his foray into psycho-thriller a welcome maneuver away from his female cast-led, queer-gaze, sexy, soapy, campy, farcical roots? Or… did he somehow just manage to do it all at once! How can all of these even work? (That's a trick question. Of course it works. It's Almodóvar) *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 Pedro Almodóvar's Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990).
- Sep 29, 20261h 27m
376 - Great Expectations (1946)
A sumptuous period piece directed by David Lean and featuring noted star of stage and screen Alec Guinness? That must mean... Dickens? This is, apparently, one of the most beloved British films ever made. Well, let us be the judge! *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 Pedro Almodóvar's Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990).
- Sep 22, 20261h 21m
503 Lola Montès (1955)
Her beauty brought powerful men down to their knees. Her freedom brought down nations. But how long can a woman flaunt the proprieties of Victorian Europe before she herself becomes a morality tale for the age? Max Ophüls' lavish biopic of legendary dancer, mistress, and all-together provocative personality struggles with these very ideals... in gorgeous Cinemascope! *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 Pedro Almodóvar's Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990).
- Sep 15, 20261h 14m
901 - The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Ben Franklin. Rocky. Gritty. Tracy Lord. C.K. Dexter Haven. Macaulay Conner. Sounds like this story is set in Pittsburgh. *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 Max Ophüls' Lola Montès (1955).
- Sep 8, 20261h 30m
97 - Do The Right Thing (1989)
Two. White. Guys. Break. Down. Spike. Lee's. Do. The. Right. Thing. In. 2026. Did we just nail it? No. But we try our best. Oh, and we forgot to mention that Radio Raheem's LOVE/HATE monologue is an adaptation of Robert Mitchum's serial killer preacher sermon from Night of the Hunter. We're pathetic. *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 George Cukor's The Philadelphia Story (1940).
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About Random Acts of Cinema
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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