Beaks here...
For three years, Los Angeles cinephiles have been clamoring for Edgar Wright to bring his periodic Wright Stuff screening series back to The New Beverly Cinema. This January, it returns. And it's pissed off.
From January 14th to the 31st, Wright will personally present some of his favorite movies, and it's likely that he'll once again have some special guests joining him. Not that you'll require any extra incentive to shell out a paltry $7.00 for a double bill of Don Siegel's classic DIRTY HARRY and Gordon Parks's underrated THE SUPER COPS. These movies are well worth watching on the big screen regardless of who's showing them. But Wright's enthusiastic intros, possible post-film Q&As, and well-selected trailers make the screenings feel like you're hanging out in a fellow film geek's living room. Trust me, you'll want to be there each evening Wright is in attendance.
Wright has posted the entire schedule on his website (with rationale on the pairings), but here's a quick list of what he'll be showing...
January 14th and 15th: SHAUN OF THE DEAD, HOT FUZZ and SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD
January 16th and 17th: BRAZIL and DELICATESSEN
January 18th and 19th: DIRTY HARRY and THE SUPER COPS
January 20th and 21st: AMERICAN GRAFFITI and ANIMAL HOUSE
January 22nd at Midnight: RUN LOLA RUN
January 22nd and 23rd: FRENZY and DRESSED TO KILL
January 24th and 25th: THE DRIVER and DUEL
January 26th and 27th: WILD AT HEART and TRUE ROMANCE
January 28th and 29th: THE WANDERERS and THE WARRIORS
January 30th and 31st: THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT and MIAMI BLUES
First off, I cannot possibly convey in words how freaking ecstatic I am that he'll be showing George Armitage's brilliant adaptation of Charles Willeford's MIAMI BLUES. It's a colorful, kinda nasty noir with top-notch performances from Alec Baldwin, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Fred Ward. If you've never seen it, go. If you have seen it, you are going. I'm also giddy about the late Hitchcock/prime De Palma double, the rare showing of Walter Hill's THE DRIVER, and the street gang duo of Philip Kaufman's THE WANDERER'S and Hill's THE WARRIORS.
According to The New Beverly Twitter, advance tickets for The Wright Stuff II will go on sale later this week. My advice: get on it - especially for the Wright triple feature (every time he's shown SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD in L.A., sellouts have been swift). All double features begin at 7:30 PM. As for special guests, none have been announced yet, but Wright will be providing updates via his Twitter and website. I'll be shocked if he doesn't get John Landis out for ANIMAL HOUSE; I'll be a most happy fella if he persuades Hill to come out for either THE DRIVER or THE WARRIORS.
Unrelated to The Wright Stuff, you best believe I'll be at The New Beverly on either the 9th or the 10th for the Charles Bronson double of THE MECHANIC and HARD TIMES (great month for Hill fans at the Bev).
