Edgar Wright struts his stuff at the New Beverly
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If you’re in Los Angeles over the next two weeks and have a penchant for Edgar Wright -- or just oddball cinematic pairings -- it may be worth checking out ‘The Wright Stuff 2,’ a series of Wright-curated double-bills that kicks off Friday evening.
The British writer-director three years ago did something similar at the repertory house after it reopened. This time around, he chose a group of even more colorful and eccentric double bills. It begins Friday with a triple bill -- his own ‘Shaun of the Dead,’ ‘Hot Fuzz’ and ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ -- and continues for two weeks with pairings of the likes of ‘Wild at Heart’ and ‘True Romance,’ or ‘Brazil’ and ‘Delicatessen.’ (Wright and other guests will also appear at some of the screenings.)
While some of the pairings seem to have only the most tenuous of connections, they might be more compatible than you’d think. Wright noted that while the couplet of ‘American Graffiti’ and ‘Animal House,’ for instance, may not strike you as a natural fit, ‘If you look at it, one film (‘Graffiti’) ends with somebody leaving for college and the other starts with someone leaving for college. And they’re both set in 1962.’
Putting together a double bill is tricky, Wright says; it’s actually possible to have a bad one.
‘To promote ‘Hot Fuzz,’ we showed two movies that Nick Frost’s character watches in the film, ‘Point Break’ followed by ‘Bad Boys 2.’ It seemed like a good idea but ‘Bad Boys 2’ is 2 1/2 hours. You really shouldn’t have it as the second movie of a double bill.’
--Steven Zeitchik
