Speed Freaks
Tuesday, June 10, 2014 at 7:33PM TFE is really into 10th, 25th, 50th, and 75th anniversaries and elsewhere you see mostly 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th business. I assume this is because recent stuff gets more traffic, but whatevs. I can only do me. So I didn't even consider Jan de Bont's Speed (1994) for celebrations here though I liked the movie quite a lot and Keanu Reeves was my (imaginary) boyfriend at the time. There's a lot of good stuff 'round the web on Speed today if you're so inclined. Crave has a road map tour of L.A. so that you can retrace the movie's drive and derailments (that seems dangerous!), In Contention has an indepth report with Keanu, Sandra and the director and Huffington Post interviews Joss Whedon who did uncredited writing on the movie. My point is this: There are a lot of Speed freaks celebrating today.
I have only one thing to share but it's the most important of things.
LITTLE REMEMBERED FACTOID
Speed (June 10th, 1994) followed Little Buddha (May 25th, 1994) into theaters. It was all Keanu all the time in the summer of 1994, with and without guyliner... with and without pop quizzes.
Have you seen both?
Reader Comments (11)
Keanu was also my boyfriend, lol. It seemed so dirty (at the time) for me to get my kicks watching him shirtless in Little Buddha since it was religious, oh well.
Whenever Little Buddha gets brought up, I always think of Charlie Sheen's quote from some interview: "How does Bertolucci see [Keanu's work] and say, 'That's my guy!'?" Speed remains the movie I've seen the most in theaters. My first job was at the local movie theatre and I just kept taking family and friends to see it.I would sometimes sneak in to the back just to hear theatre reactions at specific points and hear the audience roar, like the whole Glenn Plummer and his Jaguar scene. I still have the poster somewhere rolled up in my house of Keanu's serious face. I remember people were upset at his close-cropped hair and how I thought that was his best look. I loved when he pulled himself up from under the bus and there was an extended shot of his bicep. I basically loved everything about the film.
Mary - SAME
jtagliere - yeah and that buzz cut was HOT on him but it was a major change because his whole career had been the shaggy long hair
Oh yeah! I was so into Keanu. Surprisingly, my passion ceased just when The Matrix franchise.
happened
Off topic: When are we getting our Lupita has a leading role article?
Speed and Dirty Dancing were two films I would re-watch almost constantly way back when. Good times.
/3rtful - i'm working on something.
Yep, I've seen both. I'm a huge Bertolucci fan, so I've seen Little Buddha (only on DVD, though). Not a bad film, but Bertolucci has made others that are much better.
As for Keanu: I had never paid much attention to him before summer '94 - he had made a decent impression in Dangerous Liaisons, Bram Stoker's Dracula and Point Break, but nothing prepared me for the sheer hotness of him in Speed. For me, it's three things: the buzz cut, the white T-shirt, and the sheer good manners of his action hero. Jack Traven is such a humble guy - considerate, soft-spoken, courteous, patient and kind. All while attempting to defuse a bomb on a bus. In other words, perfect boyfriend. I sort of staggered out of the cinema.
Oh Keanu. Imminently datable. So goofy! Such biceps! And on top of everything that's already been mentioned, he's also adorable in Parenthood.
Keanu remains one of my favorite actors. He does not have greatest talent, but I actually enjoyed every film I've seen from him, like Constantine for example. I thought it was decent.