Imbibe Cinema
Imbibe Cinema swaps stuffy movie reviews for genuine film appreciation with themed libations. Hosts Jonathan C. Legat and Tricia Legat — along with a variety of special guests — pick a particular film they love for each episode and break down why it’s noteworthy while enjoying a drink specially selected to complement the movie. Listeners are encouraged to watch the subject of discussion, grab a delicious libation, and imbibe great cinema with us!
Imbibe Cinema
Speed
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The Imbibe Cinema crew discuss Jan de Bont's Speed (1994), which is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2024 and features performances by Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Dennis Hopper, Joe Morton, Jeff Daniels, Alan Ruck, Beth Grant, Hawthorne James, and more.
The featured cocktail for this post-screening discussion is called High Speed.
Jack Traven, an LAPD cop on SWAT detail, and veteran SWAT officer Harry Temple thwart an extortionist-bomber’s scheme for a $3 million ransom. As they corner the bomber, he flees and detonates a bomb vest, seemingly killing himself. Weeks later, Jack witnesses a mass transit city bus explode and nearby a pay phone rings. On the phone is that same bomber looking for vengeance and the money he’s owed. He gives a personal challenge to Jack: a bomb is rigged on another city bus and if it slows down below 50 mph, it will explode.
In this episode, Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival Operations Director Jonathan C. Legat (co-host) is joined by Cinema Centennial Program Director Tricia Legat (co-host), and Executive Director Michael Noens (producer). Featuring "Bring Down the Money (Freedom)" by Soldier Story.
Remember to imbibe responsibly! If you haven't seen 'Speed,' watch the film before you listen to the episode.
Looking for more episode content? Read the Episode Recap, including links to episode references and the ingredients for this episode's featured cocktail.
To begin your Imbibe Cinema membership through the Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival, visit imb.watch/membership.
Featuring Music by Soldier Story: "Bring Down the Money (Freedom)"
I can stand my hair up on end. We can go troll on troll right now.
SPEAKER_00Okay, now it sounds really graphic.
SPEAKER_02Two trolls, one comment?
SPEAKER_00That makes any sense. Two trolls, one comment.
SPEAKER_05Trisha broke John.
unknownAgain.
SPEAKER_02The Imbibe Cinema Podcast is brought to you by the Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival, otherwise known as BWF. We are currently accepting submissions for our 2025 festival. We seek independent, character-driven films of all lengths, styles, and genres. To learn more, please visit us at BWIFF.com. I am Festival Operations Director as well as MC Jonathan C. Leggett, along with my co-host, Cinema Centelio Program Director.
SPEAKER_00Tresha Leggett.
SPEAKER_02Why did Gollum start whispering?
SPEAKER_00Oh. Ow. That was my that was my Ghost of Christmas fast voice.
SPEAKER_02Why are we ghost of Christmas anything?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, that's next week.
SPEAKER_02That's next week.
SPEAKER_00Too soon.
SPEAKER_02As well as producer and the executive director of the film festival. Michael Noens. In this episode, we are going to be discussing the 30th anniversary of the 1994 classic cinema film Speed. Yes. The cocktail we will be imbibing is a drink called the High Speed. It is gin, uh lemon rum, and uh quote unquote energy drink. Um we we we're we're too old and and it's too late and we don't want to not sleep.
SPEAKER_00So we can't have energy. We're too old.
SPEAKER_02I can't do Red Bull ever. Yeah. It's just I mean I can.
SPEAKER_00I feel like there are limited years ahead and I don't want to speed them up.
SPEAKER_02But this is called le speed.
SPEAKER_00I feel like I was drunk before I drank. Like that's how fast it worked.
SPEAKER_02Wow. Well, that is why it is called the high speed. Uh we we did essentially make a uh a a spritzer that that is meant to taste similar to an energy drink uh like Red Bull that we added to this because it did not contain caffeine um because we'll be up all night.
SPEAKER_00In addition to podcast, you're like, and I'm a minor to mix all thanks to Imbibe Cinema.
SPEAKER_02Practically have right.
SPEAKER_00Our bar is huge for all these things that you use once.
SPEAKER_02It is yeah, it is well stocked for but but we do have an entire uh uh you know recipe book uh for you know all these drinks that we could easily make at a a holiday gathering.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_00And that's why I was getting a holiday book.
SPEAKER_05That's why I was so like excited when I saw this one. I was like, oh hey, aviation gin. We can put that to work again.
SPEAKER_02Yep.
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, the two of you are just very excited to drink that again.
SPEAKER_02I mean, if we have to drink gin, it uh I think it's the time of year. To to go down on a Christmas tree. The recipe as well as all of the pictures for it are available on our website, imbibesinema.com and our mobile app. In addition to this podcast, we also offer a variety of short and feature-length independent films that you can enjoy for free. But when you become an Imbibe Cinema member, you can also get access to monthly limited releases and the WIF virtual experience for our week-long festival. To learn more and begin your membership, visit imbibesinema.com or download the Imbibe Cinema mobile app available on the App Store and Google Play. So L Speed. Les Speed. Pop Quiz. Ah see what you did there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. What was what is the Pop Quiz? What is the Pop Quiz?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, did you have a Pop Quiz? Or were you teasing it? What what do you what do you think about this movie?
SPEAKER_00Okay. Here's the thing. It's uh it's one of those movies that you're like, I remember Speed. It wasn't that long. Oh shit. It was 30 years ago.
SPEAKER_05Thirty years ago.
SPEAKER_00Oh my god, I don't want to admit that much time has passed. And then you watch it again and it holds up. Right? And there are so many that don't. And you're like, damn, this is a good movie.
SPEAKER_05Because there's really, I mean, you break it down, there's really nothing that special to it that's not that's different than like your average action movie. It's just like I guess lightning in a bottle is kind of the best way to put it. It's just the right combination of people, the right tone, the right um music, the right editing, the right, you know, you're just you're just in it the entire time.
SPEAKER_00It doesn't get and I forgot about the beginning.
SPEAKER_02I forgot the end.
SPEAKER_00Well, and so there was a point where I like uh we're we're watching it, and I'm like, oh god, no, not the elevator. Wait, how's it done? I don't want to know. Do they live?
SPEAKER_02I don't know. And then there's the end because you're like, oh, they're finally off the bus.
SPEAKER_00Wait, there's more. No, we have to get trained involved, obviously.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. But I mean, like, you know, it's just one of those things that like the the it kept you on the edge of your seat the entire time that you're watching it. Yeah. You you are absolutely riveted.
SPEAKER_00You know, it's it's high stakes and it's uh like heightened reality, but it's not so far gone ridiculous.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it's grounded in some sort of a reality, which is nice. Yes. Some sort of a reality thing. In reality, I should say. It is grounded in reality.
SPEAKER_00Like, I mean, I believe the crane held the elevator. I mean, there are lots of things where you're like, I don't believe that would have worked, but that didn't seem realistic.
SPEAKER_05I did enjoy, like, there's this like one little cable that it hits, and you're like, oh yeah, that'll hold it.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_05And then like the next shot, it's like it goes through an entire like metal thing, and you're like, Yeah, but that the cable, that one cable held it for for a pretty long time. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00That's suspense.
SPEAKER_02That's what's yes, quite literally.
SPEAKER_00Oh, and it's a whole save the cat thing, but it's a save the people from the elevator thing.
SPEAKER_05So the people in the elevator had cats?
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, because like the one of the uh what is the screenplay book where they talk about how like if you want to prove that the um hero is a good person and likable right away, you have to have them save a cat. Um, and then you're like, oh, they're a nice person because they've saved a cat. And in this case, you know, like when we meet our uh protagonist, like he's having a muffin. Wait, isn't that anything he's having a muffin? He everybody knows him. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's really laid back, he's doing great. And um, but then he has to save people from an elevator and you're like, okay, now this is a good person. He has to go when everybody else is like, no, it's not, it's too late, they're dead. He's like, no, I think I can figure this out.
SPEAKER_05Throws himself into the action uh all the time, regardless of how ridiculous the uh, for lack of a better word, stunt is. Yeah. Um and I think what also is really good about this movie is there really isn't another option. You know, like it in a l I feel like in a lot of movies where it's like, you could walk through the door, or we could somehow launch ourselves onto the the the roof and then somehow come in that way because it's the element of surprise. Whereas this he, you know, he turns to extreme measures because time is of the essence and they're running out of it, or like um, I mean, skipping kind of to later, like one of the more crazy stunts is um when he finally gets off the bus, he gets permission to get off the bus, and then um is on this like dolly type thing, I don't know what you would call it, um, and uh is going under the bus while it's going full speed. There really isn't a whole lot of other options that they can come up with at that moment. And so But it's insane.
SPEAKER_00The craziest thing, the thing where you're like, okay, we jump for the shark. Yes. That to me is okay, so we ran out of highway. Yes. You're gonna come a gap. How big is the gap?
SPEAKER_05But what makes it work is Joe Morton, uh, the who plays the uh the the chief in the way that he does that, where he's like, you gotta be fucking kidding me. It's finished, it's finished on the goddamn map. Everybody's fired, everybody's fucking fired. I feel like that was the the reaction of we've jumped the shark.
SPEAKER_00Right. And the fact that everybody, like the way he's delivering the news, it's like, okay, so there's just a little bit of a well, how big are we talking? Like, oh yeah, sure that would have happened. And mind you, if it was half the size, it's still not like, but no, we had to make it ridiculous.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00It's about 50 feet. It's like it's like ET on a bike.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Actually, ET on a bike is probably the most accurate description of that. To think that it is level to level and they make it? Okay, sure.
SPEAKER_00Not just that. The bomb doesn't go off.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, there's no ramp that yeah.
SPEAKER_00Oh, so good. But you know, the other thing that I like about this uh movie, uh, as far as like action heroes go, is uh the buddy relationship. Yes. Uh and the fact that uh it's Jack, right? Jack and Harry. Jack and Harry. Jack isn't this cool cat. He's not like this guy with a chip on his shoulder kind of thing. He's just an he's just a guy. He's a normal guy. And he wants to do the right thing.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_00And uh so there's very focused voices. Yeah, and he's he's a voice. Very focused. And he's not like this big, like there's this big backstory to him or anything like that. He's just you you kind of go along with that. And then you have Jeff Daniels character, Harry, who is kind of like the audience talking. Yeah, right. He's the he's the he's he's also, I guess, the the wise older wizard kind of character.
SPEAKER_02Yes. He's the which unfortunately means, like in Harry Potter, you gotta go.
SPEAKER_00You have to die to prove the situation is serious. Um, but at the same time, he says things that we're like, yeah, we were all thinking it. Thank you, Harry.
SPEAKER_05Um, since we're talking about uh, well, we've referenced uh Harry's demise. Oh my god, to kind of just jump into it.
SPEAKER_00I know.
SPEAKER_05No, no, it's sad.
SPEAKER_00Spoiler 30 minutes later 30 minutes, 30 years later, I've spoiled it all for the time. Yeah, if you haven't seen it.
SPEAKER_05You're not imbibing responsibly. Oh, well done.
SPEAKER_00It was one of those things where it's like he's so lovable. Yeah. He's so like it's and I know there's a s there's the stereotype or the the um the trope where you know if you kill off the best friend or the love interest or the dog or whatever to motivate the hero, but you just don't see it coming. Correct.
SPEAKER_05You don't, he's so and when it happens, you you feel like you should have seen it coming.
SPEAKER_00Right, and you're just traumatized.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, correct. And and I I think it's actually one of the the more interesting uh missing elements, I think, to uh a lot of cinema in general. And uh I feel that at the same time, if they added it, it would lose its effect. Yeah, but the the the the fact that when you kill off a main character that you don't anticipate can die, you immediately up the stakes of everything else that's going on. Right. And and and as much as I hate to say it at the same time that I love to say it, serenity. Yeah firefighting. Yeah, when they kill Wash, like they kill book, and you're like, oh, okay, you know, they're they're killing main characters. They kill Wash. It immediately became every single one of these characters could die right now.
SPEAKER_00And I'm gonna take it in a different direction because my brain immediately goes to not a favorite film, but it I do love how they played on it, how audiences um established beliefs. And it's um oh, is it is it deep water? What is no oh yeah, deep blue sea. Um because it's like Sam Jack's in the middle of a motivating speech, dead. Yeah, he's a big name in the middle of a motivating speech, dead. That is not something that happens, and then like they they they you think, oh, is it who is it that uh is the chef?
SPEAKER_05Oh, uh LL Cool J.
SPEAKER_00Yes, Cool J does an amazing job because like his video, he's like, he knows he's gonna die because he just knows. He's like, my character's gonna die. And he has this whole like, I'm gonna give like will and testament in a video, and I'm just gonna perfect omelet. Yep because he's a chef. He's like, let me just give you this because this is what I have to leave for the world, and you're like, Oh, but I want him to die. I like him. And then, like, there's like a love interest, and you're like, well, he isn't gonna die, and yet, no, the sidekick lives, and you're like, I did not see that.
SPEAKER_05They completely flipped everything on its side, they got rid of the main character or the people that you think are the are the leads, and then the side characters, right? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, and who else does that? Like, there are some great films that are played have played upon our um Cabin of the Woods? Yeah, Cabin of the Woods.
SPEAKER_05Oh, great movie.
SPEAKER_00Um frailty, frailty throws you uh for a loop, and that's that's a point of view. Oh we have to do that then. All right, dude. Add it to the list. It's dark, everyone. It's very dark. Well, I can't wait. Where were we? We're back to speed. And back to speed. And back to speed.
SPEAKER_02Yes, but we were talking about deaths and and and how that's part of you know the the surprise death. Again, we even when they kill uh Beth Grant's character, which uh she plays Helen, she's the you know Helen. Yeah, she she's freaking out and wants to get off.
SPEAKER_05And again, super grounded, super grounded in reality. Yeah, definitely that person that's just like I I I gotta get out of here.
SPEAKER_00I can't change a panic attack.
SPEAKER_02And yeah, and and exactly how Sandra Bullock's character is you know, is is relieved that they're not all dead. Um, but that you know, because when the the the tiny bomb that only kills Helen uh goes off, she literally thinks that was it.
SPEAKER_00And then she feels guilty for being relieved.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00When those are normal reactions with well, I mean, what we would anticipate would be normal. Right. Absolutely very grounded. Well, and then um, and this is so sad because I'm only thinking of him as Cameron. He's always Cameron in my head, no matter what I'm so good in this, and he's just keep calling. He's such a tourist. Yes.
SPEAKER_05This this what what does he say? It's it's also the delivery, it's the delivery. I've already said he's just in shock, you know, like like he's just completely out of it. But I just love it like got on the wrong bus. Nope, this can't be happening. Like this is this isn't real. I think that's the other thing is like you see movies like this where you have a group of people, it's like a an ensemble, but really it's all about like the main characters, right? And you walk away from this movie and you remember all the side characters. All the side characters that are just on this bus. Yes.
SPEAKER_00They make it they heighten the intensity and the fear because you care about these people on this bus. Right. And they do such an and and they do it not by making them all nice people.
SPEAKER_05No, they're not. They're just normal people, or even really giving them any any sort of a backstory, and it's a really good uh testament to their um their performances. They don't get a ton of lines, but like you you get who Helen is as a character.
SPEAKER_00Um God, who is the bus driver? Who's the bus driver?
SPEAKER_05Um Sam.
SPEAKER_00Sam, oh Sam Hawthorne James. And we're so worried about Sam the whole time he gets shot.
SPEAKER_05Right. You believe each and every character who they are without them having to give you all this exposition about their story.
SPEAKER_00Uh obviously, the um the chemistry between the two of them, and then you hear interviews years down the road afterwards, where it's like she's like, I was totally crushing on him, and he was like, I was totally crushing on her, and they never thought the other one had any interest, and it was so sweet.
SPEAKER_05Well, and I think that that that is a lot of the magic in the bottle, yeah, there, like that the lightning in the bottle, I should say. Um, because um I've heard that before. Like um the show friends, David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston, the two of them were very much so crushing on each other.
SPEAKER_03Really?
SPEAKER_05But you know, never addressed it. It really helped that like unspoken nervous energy that you can't quite put your finger on.
SPEAKER_00But you can take it another direction because famously an officer and a gentleman with Deborah Winger and uh Richard Gere, and the rumor was or the story was she hated him and he hated her, and yet the passion on screen, people had no idea that it was like disgust and hatred.
SPEAKER_05Strong feelings, yes. They could just use it that that intensity. Um, I mean it's not a I think I mean I really enjoyed this movie as a kid.
SPEAKER_00Um how old were you when you saw this movie?
SPEAKER_05Um, I mean, I must have been ten. I know it came out in the summer, and I believe by um by my birthday, which was the end of the year, um, this is what I wanted. I wanted to show this movie at my birthday party with my friends. Um, and uh that didn't happen thanks to a lady at the Blockbuster that talked my mother out of it. It was like, oh no. I hear that movie's very violent. I don't I don't know if you should do that. My mom's like, well, I look like a really bad parent if I just go, it's fine. So he's like, we'll get this another time.
SPEAKER_02Comedy being is I had told you guys when we went and saw this, um, I actively walked out of this film, and there was a television in the lobby of the the the theater that we were at, and we witnessed OJ's Bronco chase down the LA uh highways after leaving this film.
SPEAKER_00Oh, it's a different kind of speed.
SPEAKER_02It was a very different kind of speed, but like, you know, again, you're sitting there going like and and on a highway, and you're like, wait, wait, what is it? That highway was finished. Yeah, the highway was finished, uh, and you know it was a Ford Bronco. It was a Ford Bronco instead of a you know LA bus. But again, it was like, you know, just the times strange to believe that that that happened literally the same day I watched this film, and I was 13 and I went to the movie theater. But I don't think it's PG 13, I think it's R. Oh, yeah, this is definitely an R.
SPEAKER_00I I saw this because you were like, you have to see this movie, and that's when I saw it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's Did he tell you that when he was 10?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, like I think just like I mean, there are a lot of movies I think we pretty much were like, no, I will sit you down and you watch this movie.
SPEAKER_05And um and I don't remember any of them, I will say any of those movies when it was like you have to see this movie, where I was like, it was alright. Yeah, it's a very memorable movie. Right, I think it's usually a very like, yeah, it's a very memorable experience too. Because I was like, whoa.
SPEAKER_00Like you have to see the usual suspects. Yes, you have to see on this 13-inch screen TV while we're sitting on top of top of the refrigerator in the basement, and then or um uh Schindler's list, and you're like, it's in black and white. I'm like, trust me, I have to watch this. And you're like, but you just watch stuff in black and white, and I'm like, nope, this is not a road movie. I have to see this.
SPEAKER_05And then Fight Club.
SPEAKER_00Fight Club, oh my god, Fight Club was another one.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Um, what I uh I I do want to say, because you're talking about John, about how you know you saw this movie in the theater um as a kid. You said you were 13. So um, yeah, I saw this at home. I didn't I definitely didn't see it in the theater. So the first time that I got to see it in the theater was earlier this year when we all got to see it on the big screen for the first time. Yeah. Um which was I mean, it's such a cool space too. Um, Tivoli and Downers Grove. Yep.
SPEAKER_00That theater is insane.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. The screen, the the from a technical standpoint, from the uh sound standpoint, it was spot on.
SPEAKER_00That's the thing I like. They talk about magic, movie magic, and the uh the power of getting a bunch of people together in the dark and the reactions, and how like you'll go to a movie and you'll see something funny or scary and the reaction of the crowd together it m elevates and makes it something completely different. And I don't think I got that until we s until they put um they brought Star Wars back to the movie theaters in the 90s, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I had seen Star Wars growing up over and over again on television, and then I saw it in a theater and R2D2 falls over and everybody laughs, and I'm like, huh. I never thought about it. Like now, like there was just something different to it that that you have, and yet in a theater where there weren't that many people, I still had an incredible impression with this film.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_00And that is 30 years old, and I had seen before. It was still a powerful film. There are very few films. I've gone into a theater and I've had an impact when there's not a big crowd to impact me that would be different.
SPEAKER_05Yes.
SPEAKER_00I can really only think of kiss kiss bang bang. But that's it.
SPEAKER_05And that's another one of those movies that you were like you have to see this movie.
SPEAKER_04Yep.
SPEAKER_02So I might as well be a plant in any audience.
SPEAKER_00Your laughter is contagious, my love.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Uh because I'll I'll I'll laugh regardless. I don't I don't care if there's nobody else seated around me and I feel like I'm laughing into a void. I I will laugh stupidly. Um because something abuses. And that that, you know, usually can can soften even the the hardest of of souls uh into at least giving it a a chuckler or a turtle. So um, you know, I I I love being part of large theater experiences, even if the the theater is small in how many people are there, but uh, you know.
SPEAKER_00I like to influence the masses.
SPEAKER_02Well, yeah, but uh again, the I mean we we've talked about with the speed specifically that like the speed. The speed. The speed speed, come on.
SPEAKER_00Um that uh for those of you at home or wherever you are, um who are listening for whatever reason. Um we talk about the speed. We are talking about um comic legend.
SPEAKER_02Eddie is art.
SPEAKER_00Yes. And uh and uh Eddie's recapturing of recap of speed.
SPEAKER_02If it was done in France. Yes. Um but Le Speed the the the thing that we've we've we've pointed out, I feel a couple of times is I mean, we we obviously have not been watching this like every year or something to that effect. Uh and the amount of gap between watches, at least for for us, when we saw this in the theater, uh we were surprised by the beginning, we were surprised by the end. There was a number of things that I think each of us had forgotten. So I mean it was it was Was this a box office hit? Yes.
SPEAKER_00Yes. See what I'm thinking is I wonder, like, there are movies that like change and influence how other movies are afterwards, yeah, and then it becomes a trope. Like this amazing, incredible Oscar worthy but overlooked film called Airplane in 1980. That movie set the stage for all these silly movies afterwards. It like pretty much created a whole new kind of film. And looking back, people wouldn't think it more than it is because they've seen it so much already, it's almost numbing. But at the time it was surprising. And here we see a movie 30 years old that I'm sure there were things taken from it that became tropes and it was still fresh when we saw it, which is just crazy.
SPEAKER_05Speed grossed 121.3 million in the United States and Canada with an additional 229.2 million internationally for a total worldwide gross of 350 million. And that's far exceeded its production budget, which was estimated between only 30 million and 37 million. Wow. Right.
SPEAKER_00And it uh just for inflation, the kind of money that would make now. Today. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. It uh the film remained Sandra Bullock's highest grossing film until 2013 when Gravity surpassed it.
SPEAKER_00Seriously, gravity's what surpassed it?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, almost 20 years later.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_05And she had been in a lot of blockbuster movies.
SPEAKER_00A lot of blockbuster movies, and I am sad because Miss Congeniality is a classic.
SPEAKER_02Yes, it's so good. So good added to the list. Yep. We're gonna take a few moments to fill our glasses and get ready to imbibe more after this.
SPEAKER_01The Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival exhibits short and feature-length motion pictures that utilize story elements in a new and exciting way. Our official selections are a carefully assembled blend of imaginative, sophisticated, and full-bodied stories. This is what our name represents. Wiff audiences expect to experience character-driven independent cinema that is fueled by the filmmakers' passion for the art of visual storytelling. Filmmakers can expect an intimate festival experience where their personal story is valued as much as the one projected on the big screen.
SPEAKER_02I am Jonathan C. Leggett, and I'm here along with Michael Nowens.
SPEAKER_00And Trisha Leggett. See what it's like to be the middle person? Can't thank you.
SPEAKER_02Well played, yes. And we are discussing the 1994 classic film Speed. Lispid. Lispeed. Enjoying this podcast, please subscribe or follow us on all of your favorite podcast providers as well to get those new episodes as soon as we release them. Rate and leave us a review to help the show reach that larger audience. And you can also follow Imbibe Cinema on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Hey, guess what?
SPEAKER_03What?
SPEAKER_02You can also send us a text now.
SPEAKER_03What?
SPEAKER_00What?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, look for a link and you can text us on our show notes.
SPEAKER_00Welcoming the the trolls. That's all we are doing.
SPEAKER_02Well, yeah, but again, if you don't have to read their comments. Le June Saufée, the game is on. Oh boy.
SPEAKER_00Back to speed. Because it's a good movie.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, sure.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, sure. Who directed it, by the way?
SPEAKER_05Uh Jan DeBant. And um this may have been his first feature. Holy crap. He was the um director of photography on Die Hard.
SPEAKER_03Huh.
SPEAKER_05And so, yeah, if you really kind of think about it, this is Die Hard on well, planes, trains, and automobiles.
SPEAKER_02But in twist Twister. Yeah. We we we've now been brought it back to Bill.
SPEAKER_00Oh my god, this is so cool. So so is that Kevin Bacon affair, which we also referenced.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Another film that that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Although, I mean, that one, you know, the evil guys in the black SUVs, like there's there's a number of elements where you're just like, okay, you're really forcing a few things here that that don't completely make sense in the frame of this world. Um, but Twister, still fantastic movie. One of uh we one week, quote, frequently. Cow. Another cow. Actually, the same cow.
SPEAKER_03Same cow.
SPEAKER_02I'm sorry, I gotta call you back. We got cows.
SPEAKER_05Didn't you see my cows? No, no, no, I mean I didn't.
SPEAKER_02Um my god, Phil Seymourhoff. Philip Seymourhoff, yeah. Too young so good. Too young. But but then Speed 2, The Haunting, and Laura Croft Tomb Raider, the Cradle of Life. Last credit was 2003.
SPEAKER_05The way that I look at it is he directed two stellar movies. Right.
SPEAKER_00And there are so many that don't even get that.
SPEAKER_05Right. Right. And and maybe maybe he stepped away like, you know what, that's what I had in me. And you know what? I'm grateful for. I want to possibly.
SPEAKER_00I want to take this moment to say thank you.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_00Thank you for speed. Thank you for Twister. Those are some incredible movies. Amen. Thank you.
SPEAKER_02Thank you, Yonder Bond. All right, so I know Michael, you wanted to talk about the music. I really yeah, I really do.
SPEAKER_05The music in this movie, this is um the music is by Mark Mancina, um, who also did Twister. Um, and I have more to say on that. But um, on Twister?
SPEAKER_02On Twister.
SPEAKER_05Oh, but uh really, okay. My only comment is um that if you listen to the Smurf theme and then you listen to the main theme of Twister, yes, you'll go, huh. Yes. They're very similar.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_05And yet it works. Um, but anyway, um, back to speed. Mark Mancina's score to this is so great. I know um our last episode, uh, the commitments.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_05Um, I commented about how I have scores.
SPEAKER_00We talked about the scores and Mary was like, she's hardcore on scores.
SPEAKER_05Hardcore on movie music.
SPEAKER_00I was like, what?
SPEAKER_05But I commented about how I had 90s scores um in my car, and one of them is always speed. It's just uh like from beginning to end a great score. Um I I don't know how else to put it, but if you haven't heard it, um it is a it is a diff it's not one like you can find on like Apple Music or Spotify or anything like that. Um I think it you can only find it on physical media. Um, but it is truly great. If if I can um share it, um I will try and find it and then and then share it after this episode drops.
SPEAKER_00But it's so great.
SPEAKER_04Oh yeah, he would do a great job with this.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, he would, but it's like it's um dun dun dun dun dun dun. Yeah, but there's this it it it has this heartbeat element, this racing heart feel to it that's there and then but then there's the strings come in and it's yeah bump bump bump bump bump bump yeah, yeah, and then you know you match a bus going 50 miles an hour to it and you're there. I mean, they can't beneath it.
SPEAKER_02Probably would be a good idea to aim for 60. Did did my brain go to Back to the Future?
SPEAKER_00No, that's 88 miles per hour.
SPEAKER_02Thank you.
SPEAKER_00Oh my god, how do I know that? And you oh I'm old, never mind.
SPEAKER_05But yeah, I it's just a it's a beautiful score. Um because there is actually like well, it is you know, like like a lot of action movie scores, um, there's this wild sense of adventure to it. Yeah, you can feel that in the music, but there's also a lot of heart to it. It's it's just it's just a really great score. Yeah. It's it's it's one that I always remember. Like that, you know, you go see movies and you can appreciate like, oh, the music was really good, but I can't place how it went. I always have remembered how what this score sounds like. Right?
SPEAKER_00Well, and it's one of those, like if they were to play it or an orchestra was to play it, you'd be like, wait a minute, wait a minute, what is it? Oh, I know this. I know this one. Yeah. Um, yeah, you know what haunts me? Totally random. Sorry, here. Sure. But um, there's a movie I don't remember. The pl like I know the plot, but I don't really remember it. But the score still haunts me decades later. Uh or at least the main melody, and it's curly sue. Really?
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Wow. I gotta listen to that now.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, girl same.
SPEAKER_05No. No.
SPEAKER_02I I I'm Sue.
SPEAKER_05I mean, I remember the movie. I don't remember the game.
SPEAKER_02I don't remember the theme at all.
SPEAKER_05The main theme is the same.
SPEAKER_02But again, I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna out nerd myself here.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um because I believe I intimated uh uh about this uh previously, um, which is uh Aristotle's Elements of Drama.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, you did.
SPEAKER_02I I have I have mentioned this previously on the case.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, push your glasses up there. Okay, go ahead.
SPEAKER_02Yep. The so elemental uh Aristotle's elements of drama. This is what what he had determined are are needed for true drama to take place. Uh and it is six things, uh and it is uh number one scenery and costume. It's the spectacle uh of it, the visual portion of it.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_02Number two is the musical score, the organized sound, how that immediately the those two elements immediately start to play off of each other and and and take you to that next level. The libretto or the text and diction, so the words that are being used, all of these things in combination, as well as characterization, uh that's number four. Uh number five is thought and content, the themes and ideas of whatever it is, and then the last thing being plot. If all six of these are working in a symbiotic relationship, you have good drama.
SPEAKER_00But the way you have listed them out, it almost sounds like you're listing them out in importance. And if you list them out that way in importance, I go reality television, that's drama. I mean, seriously, costuming and sound, and then like finally you like plot is last.
SPEAKER_04What is what is what is the it is her percentage breakdown?
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah. 70% is how you look, 20% is how you sound, and 10% is what you say. Yep. So if you look good and you sound good, nobody really cares.
SPEAKER_04That also sounds like reality TV. Yes. Yeah. Sadly.
SPEAKER_00Where were we going?
SPEAKER_05Do we know? You were talking about Curly Sue's score. Yes. Oh, yeah. So you just remember the melody of that score. You found it. Um you found the score.
SPEAKER_00When did that movie come out?
SPEAKER_05Um, Curly Sue came out uh definitely in a 90s movie. 91? Same yeah. Shine. Same year as the commitments.
SPEAKER_00Now, mind you, I want to point out that I have not seen nor heard Curly Sue since that movie came out. And I think I was pretty close to that melody, right?
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, yeah. We we could we could actually do it side by side. We don't have to. Nobody really cares. Um she was in C minor.
SPEAKER_00Um I'm not a singer.
SPEAKER_05Oh, I like to hang out with folks. The only thing I remember about Curly Sue, um where um they staged the him getting hit by a car.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_05That's what I always remember.
SPEAKER_00See, and I remember her in the bathroom with the tights, and she's like, it bitches.
SPEAKER_05What I love about this podcast too is is the bizarre connections. Correct. Like speed to Twister makes sense. Yeah. Speed to Curly Sue, no sense at all, but I love it. Yeah, I love it because we get there through music.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and it's awesome. It's a weird one degree of Kevin not so bacon.
SPEAKER_00No, first thing, okay, so I love how you've romanticized this. You guys, it's so beautiful and it's so sweet, but this is alcohol connections. This is what this is.
SPEAKER_02Uh ruined this. Very good. Don't ruin this for me. It is called imbibe. Uh that's even funnier. Uh uh, Trisha and I have been watching um uh uh a new show.
SPEAKER_00Man inside Inside Man.
SPEAKER_02Oh, man on the inside with Ted Danson. Yes, so good. Ted Dancon and comedy, John Getz, who is the uh the boyfriend uh in Curly Sue.
SPEAKER_00Oh that's so funny.
SPEAKER_02Everything connects. It really does with alcohol.
SPEAKER_05All right, so um I got a few, a few um bearing poking the bearing.
SPEAKER_02Which one was written by the the Chicago Reader?
SPEAKER_00We got none from Chicago Readers. What?
SPEAKER_02They actually liked this one, or it was too old. Leave them alone. Sorry, sorry.
SPEAKER_00They just voted for best of fest.
SPEAKER_02Hashtag best of fest. Uh speaking of which, uh listeners, uh, please go on to Chicagoreader.com and r rate us for best of best fest of Chicago.
SPEAKER_00We talk about them a lot.
SPEAKER_05No, they actually really liked this movie. Oh, good. So that's good. It's fresh. Oh. According to them. Um Time Out, on the other hand, um says eventually, inevitably, it goes too far, too fast, and ends up off the rails.
SPEAKER_00Oh, they were like, how can I say things that involve speed? Right.
SPEAKER_05Like they're trying to be clever. It's like so clever.
SPEAKER_02Um I mean, it does go off the rails because it ends up in the subway and the subway.
SPEAKER_00Like literally, but it literally goes off the rails. Wait a minute in the mor Spoilers. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05I mean, you're right.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. They they they should know better. And and I guess I mean let's face it, it was the director's choice to have it do this, so it definitely went off the rails on porpoise.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Porpoise. And they were saying, Oh my god, this gym is dangerous.
SPEAKER_05Moving on. Um, the last two are both actually Washington Post. Oh, wow. First one from Washington Post says the plot becomes so overextended as Reeves and Hopper wage their endless public transportation battle, even the hardest diehards will consider leaping off way before the final stop.
SPEAKER_00Wow. That guy doesn't like action films. I'm sorry, I've been so sexist of me. That person doesn't like action films.
SPEAKER_02Dude. I I I feel like we've acknowledged that there was a literal jumping of a highway shark.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, you know, get on the ride. Get on the ride. You you bought the ticket, take the ride.
SPEAKER_00Was speed ever a ride? It should have been a universal ride.
SPEAKER_02Oh, it should be for now.
SPEAKER_00Why isn't it? Is it 20th Century Fox? It should be a Disney ride now. Oh my god, you get on the bus. This is so funny. And then the one part where you go over the highway is so cool.
SPEAKER_02You actually start on an elevator and then you end on the subway. The bus is just the middle part of it. It would make Tower of Terror look like it's a little bit more.
SPEAKER_00And then you would have these segments where like Jeff Daniels is talking to you.
SPEAKER_05And then just blows up in front of you. All right, last one, also from Washington Post. Uh, undeniably, the picture now and again supplies that edge of the seat sensation. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yup. Yeah, get your butt.
SPEAKER_00It's a butt.
SPEAKER_02That's a button to sky. You're a button disguise.
SPEAKER_05By action adventure standards, speed never seems to shift into overdrive and let fly.
SPEAKER_00I'm so glad that um one thing that all of these critics have in common is their love of the theosaurus.
SPEAKER_05Yes. Absolutely. Like, oh, I'm so clever.
SPEAKER_00And I am not against abusing a theosaurus. I love doing it. But I mean, seriously.
SPEAKER_02You like abusing theosauruses? I mean, what did that dinosaur ever do to you?
SPEAKER_04Theosauruses.
SPEAKER_02I enjoyed that. Oh, that makes a lot more sense. No, that's what you said. Theosaurus?
SPEAKER_04Thank you. You said theosauruses?
SPEAKER_00And I was like, are they dinosaurs?
SPEAKER_02Yes, they are.
SPEAKER_00And this is what unregulated gin can do. Although still better than our Oscar podcast.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm I'm not under the table yet.
SPEAKER_05You guys have such a treat coming for you in my own. It's gonna be so coherent. Maybe February. We'll see.
SPEAKER_02My personal favorite was it'll be an entire year after the actual Oscars with which we were discovering.
SPEAKER_05Absolutely. I mean, the hangover was a year long.
SPEAKER_02Oh God. I was I was under the table. All right. We greatly appreciate all of our listeners for choosing this podcast and for supporting independent films or really old, not so independent major motion picture feature films.
SPEAKER_05Keep an ear out for our really old movies like Speed.
SPEAKER_02And transplanted automobiles. Keep an ear out for our next episode. Next Wednesday, check out our show notes or drop us a note or uh message us. Visit imbibesinema.com. I'm Jonathan C. Leggett, and thanks for imbibing with us. Cheers.
SPEAKER_00Guys, you ever seen this really old movie with like this Star Wars?
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