7.20PM FRIDAY NOVEMBER 21ST

PAUL VERHOEVEN'S

SHOWGIRLS

 4K REMASTER

 30TH ANNIVERSARY

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Let’s start here: Showgirls is, without question, the most fun you can possibly have in a cinema. But it’s also, let’s be honest, a masterpiece.

Directed by the legendary Dutch provocateur Paul Verhoeven — the man behind RoboCop, Total Recall, Starship Troopers, Basic Instinct, and more recently Elle and Benedetta — Verhoeven is no stranger to both criticism and controversy. Upon its 1995 release, Showgirls was almost universally panned by critics, dismissed as vulgar, exploitative, and downright terrible. But once the (frankly puritanical) outrage subsided, something fascinating happened: audiences started to reappraise it. What began as mockery evolved into cult worship. Viewers and critics alike began to suspect what, in hindsight, seems obvious given Verhoeven’s career — Showgirls isn’t just a really bad movie; it’s a really bad movie on purpose.

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Beneath its camp excess — the wooden dialogue, cringe-inducing performances, and spectacularly unsexy sex scenes — lies a razor-sharp satire of the American psyche. Just as RoboCop skewered corporate greed and automation, and Starship Troopers lampooned the U.S. military-industrial complex and it's imperialist desires, Showgirls turns its glittering knives on America’s obsession with commodification, objectification, and that ever-elusive ideal: the American Dream — which, of course, is simply to be rich.

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When Nomi (Elizabeth Berkley — yes, from Saved by the Bell) arrives in Las Vegas with nothing but a dream of stardom, she befriends Molly (Gina Ravera), who works at the “prestigious” Stardust Hotel. Nomi soon finds herself dancing in a seedy strip club, until a chance encounter with the Stardust’s reigning queen, Cristal (Gina Gershon, Bound), and her powerful, sleazy boyfriend Zack (Kyle MacLachlan, Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet), sets her on a path toward fame — and moral freefall.

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As the top review on Letterboxd perfectly puts it: “The people who think this is dumb are the same people who think Inception is smart.”

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A true, (deliberate) “disasterpiece” from one of cinema’s great satirists, Showgirls is both an unhinged, wildly enjoyable ride and a biting critique of American ambition. It’s a film that has to be seen to be believed — and even then, you might not quite believe it. Dismiss it as shallow trash at your peril. Showgirls is as adventurous, invigorating, important, and outrageously entertaining as American cinema gets — and as honest about America as any film ever made. Join us for this special 30th anniversary screening.

7.30PM TUESDAY NOVEMBER 25TH

JACQUES BECKER'S

CASQUE D'OR

 4K REMASTER

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Undoubtedly one of the greatest films in all of French cinema — and boasting a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes — Casque d’Or stands as a cornerstone of the work of the great French filmmaker Jacques Becker.

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The celebrated wave of American cinema now known as New Hollywood — Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, and so many others that reshaped modern filmmaking — was itself inspired by the French New Wave and figures like Jean-Luc Godard, Agnès Varda, and Jacques Demy. But where did they find their inspiration? Becker, belonging to the generation before them, was perhaps the director the New Wave revered most deeply. François Truffaut in particular held Becker’s work — and Casque d’Or above all — in the highest regard, and with good reason.

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Set during La Belle Époque and loosely based on a true story, Casque d’Or follows Marie (Simone Signoret), a Parisian prostitute and gangster’s moll, who falls in love with Manda (Serge Reggiani), a reformed criminal trying to start anew. Their passion, however, soon draws them into a violent clash with Marie’s former lover and his dangerous underworld syndicate.

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A loving recreation of its period, the film combines lyrical beauty with emotional depth and features wonderfully nuanced performances — most notably from Simone Signoret, whose radiant and defiant portrayal of Marie became so iconic that it even graced a French postage stamp. Casque d’Or remains one of cinema’s greatest tragic love stories and a landmark achievement from one of France’s finest directors at the height of his powers.

Elegant, romantic, and quietly devastating, this refined blend of crime and passion is an essential big screen viewing experience — especially in this spectacular new 4K restoration.

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As François Truffaut wrote:

“Casque d’Or, sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, finally proves that by a refined use of a shift in tone, one can surpass parody, look upon a picturesque and bloody past, and resurrect it with tenderness and violence.”