Blue Velvet18

Directed by David Lynch | USA | 1986 | 2h 1m | Starring Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern, Dean Stockwell

The discovery of a severed human ear leads a clean-cut amateur sleuth to uncover a nightmarish flipside to his sleepy hometown. As he investigates further, he becomes dangerously complicit in the perverse relationship between a tormented club singer and a deranged gangster. Following the big-budget failure of Dune, Lynch’s dazzlingly subversive melodrama earned him a second Oscar nomination and saw the first of the his many collaborations with composer Angelo Badalamenti.

Reviews

‘Erotic, neurotic, euphoric and at all times unutterably twisted and bizarre…The film releases a toxic narcosis of fear.’
★★★★★
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

‘Isabella Rossellini’s singer Dorothy is a heart-rending open wound, Dennis Hopper’s Frank Booth one of cinema’s great nutjobs, and Lynch’s control a thing of nightmarish beauty.’
★★★★★
Jamie Graham, Total Film

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed Blue Velvet between June 17, 2023 and June 19, 2023.

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What else is on?

Today (Friday 24th January)

20:45

Better Man 15
2h 15m
Pop icon Robbie Williams has experienced a fame-filled roller coaster like no other. Inventive and unexpectedly poignant retelling of his life exploring the highs and lows of stardom – with Robbie portrayed, intriguingly, as a chimpanzee.

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Tomorrow (Saturday 25th January)

14:00

Nickel Boys 12A
2h 20m
In 1960s America, two young Black men form a friendship while in a corrupt reform school. Director RaMell Ross adapts Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel as an immersive exploration of America’s buried history.

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17:00

We Live in Time 15
1h 47m
Almut and Tobias meet in an unexpected encounter that forever alters their lives. But a challenging truth emerges that threatens to upend everything they’ve built. Uniquely structured rom-com starring Oscar nominees Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield.

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19:30

Byrne's Night Double Feature PG
1h 29m + 1h 28m
It's Byrne’s Night! Join us for a celebration of musician and artist David Byrne with a screening of his directorial debut True Stories back-to-back with Jonathan Demme’s iconic Talking Heads concert-doc Stop Making Sense.

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19:30

True Stories PG
1h 29m
Directed and hosted by a cowboy-hatted David Byrne, the frontman of Talking Heads, True Stories draws inspiration from tabloid headlines to create a postmodern tribute to the extraordinary nature of everyday American life.

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21:15

Stop Making Sense PG
1h 28m
Big songs. Even bigger suit. Filmmaker Jonathan Demme captures the intoxicating experience of New York art-rockers Talking Heads performing live at the peak of their powers in 1983.

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Plan your visit

Our beautiful art deco inspired auditorium can be found just off East Oxford's Cowley Road. We are open 7 days a week. We open the cinema and box office 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of each film, and the Box Office then closes 10 minutes after the film starts. We don’t show adverts, just a couple of trailers, so don't be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!