Spike Lee’s adaptation, Highest 2 Lowest, starring Denzel Washington arrives in August, so consider this catch-up with Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 original the best kind of homework. Based on a crime novel by Ed McBain, it stars Toshiro Mifune as a guy who mortgages the house to seize control of his company on the same day his young son is kidnapped for a ruinous ransom. There’s twists from there I won’t spoil: Just know this is about three different movies in one – detective procedural, morality play, class melodrama – all excellent. Screening as part of Austin Film Society’s ongoing Newly Restored Kurosawa series, you’re going to want to see this on the big screen. – Kimberley Jones
Aug. 6 & 9
