A
event
on Thursday 16th May. The event starts at 18:00.
Thursday 16 May 2024
6PM: SPEED (1994)
Dir: Jan de Bont | US | 116 mins | Cert. 15
Get ready for rush hour with a special 30th anniversary screening of ‘Speed’!
“There’s a bomb on a bus. Once the bus goes fifty miles an hour, the bomb is armed. If it drops below fifty, it blows up. What do you do? WHAT DO YOU DO?”
The directorial debut of legendary cinematographer Jan de Bont, Speed went from being an under-the-radar, mid-budget action film at 20th Century Fox to one of the biggest films of summer 1994, and continues to captivate audiences with its relentless pace and gripping suspense.
With its high-concept plot of a bus unable to go below 50 mph or it will explode, the action film propelled Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock onto the A-list with its seamless blend of heart-pounding action, witty dialogue, and exciting stunt work.
Now, 30 years later, Speed is regarded as one of the best action movies of its time, made during a period when practical and visual effects worked seamlessly hand-in-hand to keep audiences on the edge of their seats.
9PM: BLUE STEEL (1990)
Dir: Kathryn Bigelow | US | 102 mins | Cert. 18
For a rookie cop, there’s one thing more dangerous than uncovering a killer’s fantasy. Becoming it.
Produced between her western-inflected vampire movie Near Dark and the much-loved action-thriller Point Break, Kathryn Bigelow’s 1990 genre-defying neo-noir Blue Steel is less widely seen than those two modern classics, but has become increasingly discussed, and increasingly relevant, thanks to its unique exploration of violence and gender dynamics.
Festival favourite Jamie Lee Curtis plays Megan Turner, a rookie cop who shoots dead a convenience store robber on her first day of duty. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the robber’s gun is stolen by one of the customers, played by the late Ron Silver, who uses it to go on a crime spree of his own. Turner, now facing charges of killing an unarmed man, teams up with a detective (Clancy Brown of Highlander fame) to catch the psychopath and clear her name.
Anchored by Curtis’s subtle portrayal of vulnerability and strength, the film mixes psychological drama with gripping suspense while also allowing Bigelow to showcase her distinct visual style and deftly explore its themes of female agency within a male-dominated profession with a nuanced touch. A groundbreaking work, Blue Steel further cements its status as a modern great with each passing year.