The Wright Stuff III: That’s All Folks…

The Wright Stuff III / That's All Folks...

And lo, the ‘Movies Edgar Has Never Seen’ became the films I have seen.

In the last 8 days at the New Beverly Cinema, I saw 17 movies for the first time on the big screen with a great crowd. It was bliss and thanks to all who attended.

Anyone who attended can tell you what a blast it was to see these movies with an audience. It’s my perfect way to spend my time, in a darkened theatre with fellow movie fans. And to fill in my cultural gaps in front of a paying audience was a hugely fulfilling experience. There’s no shame in not having seen a great movie, especially if you can cross it off the list in such an spectacular manner.

The Wright Stuff III / That's All Folks...

So thanks to my amazing guests for this series who were (in order), Joe Dante, Allan Arkush, Eli Roth, Thomas Jane, Clifton Collins Jnr, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Michael Bacall, Greg Mottola, Bob Weide, Patton Oswalt, John Landis, Matthew Weiner, James Gunn, Richard Schickel, Rian Johnson, Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Carnahan, Leonard Maltin, Doug Benson, Larry Karaszewski, Walter Hill, Elvis Mitchell, Daniel Waters, Josh Olson, Richard Kelly and (in spirit) Kevin Smith.

I am truly spoilt by having these guests to introduce the films with me. It has been the best way to watch them, with enthusiastic and intelligent contributions from all.

Further thanks to those fine fellows who made written contributions for the night, (Stephen King & Joel Coen) and those who helped suggest the double bills themselves; Quentin Tarantino, Joe Dante, John Landis, Judd Apatow, Bill Hader, Joss Whedon, Guillermo Del Toro, Greg Mottola, Rian Johnson, Daniel Waters, Larry Karaszewski, Josh Olson, Jason Schwartzman, Doug Benson and Harry Knowles, not to mention all of you who frequent this blog and came up with a total of 1552 individual suggestions of what to screen in the season. And what a final 17 movies too!

The Marquees

I must also thank those without whom I could do none of this; Michael Torgan, Julia Marchese, Greg Longstreet, Marc Heuck, Leo Thompson, Lee Thomas, Brian Siberell, Rowena Arguelles, Michael Sugar, Adam Siegel, James Schamus, Devin Faraci, Jeremy Smith, Damon Houx, Phil Blankenship, Tim League, Stefanie Larson, Tamar Teifeld, Matthew Patterson, Jules McLean and Russell Walks.

Thoughts in closing.

  • Edmond O’Brien was the MVP of the festival with appearances in ‘The Girl Can’t Help’, ‘White Heat’ & ‘The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance’.
  • I’m glad Allan Arkush was present to witness the crowd eating up ‘Get Crazy’.
  • Comedies should always be seen with a large audience.
  • I will never un-see the Elevator Operator from ’5000 Fingers Of Dr T’.
  • ‘Umbrellas Of Cherbourg’ and ‘Chungking Express’ is a perfect double bill.
  • ‘White Heat’ and ‘Throne Of Blood’ have a spooky amount of similarities.
  • Joe Dante, Leonard Maltin, John Landis and Peter Bogdanovich are Human Cliff Notes. Having them introduce the movies with me was akin to Woody Allen pulling Marshall McLuhan into line in ‘Annie Hall’.
  • ‘Bad New Bears’ with kids smoking, kids drinking, kids saying racial slurs was a PG.
  • ‘Hickey And Boggs’ reminds us that Bill Cosby was a badass.
  • ‘Cutter’s Way’ is the dark cousin to ‘The Big Lebowski’, the Black Russian to its White.
  • ‘Buckaroo Banzai’ at 1am, hopped up on coffee and too many Junior Mints may be the best / worst way to see that movie. What an end credit sequence to go out with.
  • Oh and it’s worth pointing out, since I published my long list of ‘Movies I’ve Never Seen’ in October. I have also managed to watch these, some on the big screen too. My quest continues…

  • The Wright Stuff III / That's All Folks...

    So that really is all folks, don’t forget to sign Julia Marchese’s petition to save 35 mm and hopefully I will see you all at the movies very soon.

    To go out, a lovely montage edited by Marc Heuck, who also put together all the 35mm trailers for the season.

    Ta ta.

    • Dennis Cozzalio

      Edgar, congratulations on getting it all in! If I hadn’t been sick I would have made it from DR.T/KWAIDAN and WHITE HEAT/THRONE OF BLOOD and feel awful to have yet again missed a great moment in honor of Walter Hill. But my daughter and I did make it out for TO BE OR NOT TO BE and BAD NEWS BEARS, both of which she loved. We were just about to say hi afterward when you got mobbed, so we decided to just be satisfied with the great experience. Thanks again for showing such great doubles and shining a light on our little bit of heaven here in L.A., the New Beverly.

    • http://www.facebook.com/ron.ryans John Lyons

      Guys, it was a lot of fun reading about what were the biggest films out there that people simply haven’t seen yet. Admittedly, I’d never even heard about some of them, but I guess in a roundabout way that was kinda the whole point of all this (that and Edgar having an ingenious excuse to see some of them on the big screen for the first time). Even though the New Beverly is half a world away, I’m quite happy now that I have a long list of great titles to add to my list of movies to see. So thanks Edgar, and everybody else, for sharing some great films (hopefully) for myself and others to check out.

      Also,
      I’ve never seen Citizen Kane or 8½ even though I own both. But that’s okay, because that means I have one hell of a double bill ahead of me on a cold winters night very, very soon.

      Thanks Edgar.

    • http://twitter.com/ptmcniff P.T. McNiff

      Thanks for curating/hosting, sir. I can only hope that you mis-spoke when you said before White Heat that this was the last time you’d be guest-programming “for a while.” Because we are spoiled, we need the Wright Stuff to re-appear regularly.

    • flashgordonmovies

      Thank you so much for the last week, Edgar.  I made it to 6 out of 8 nights, and had more fun than I imagined possible.  The imagery and mood of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg continues to haunt me.  I’m buying The Girl Can’t Help It DVD for my Dad for Christmas.  I want to get a CD with California Dreaming even though I’ve never liked that song.  I want to learn how to be Walter Hill.  I want to buy an eye patch and get drunk.  Dammit, I want to do something  in my life as awesome as you’ve done for patrons of the New Beverly.  Eternal thanks, Merry Christmas, and all my best.

    • http://twitter.com/mandyratliff Mandy Ratliff

      Two things that made me happy from this post:
      1. The shout out to Edmond O’ Brien. As soon as he came on screen in WHITE HEAT, I thought, “Rock Around the Rock Pile!” 
      2. That you watched ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN. A sentimental favorite of mine.

      I was there for four nights and had a great time. Amazing guests and some fantastic movies (and in the case of  Dr. T, some scratching of my head). Thanks!  Is it weird that I left the theater each night wondering if there were apartments available in the area so I could be there more? 

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=30000361 Zuri Bella

      PS in terrible sins of omission…I haven’t seen Raising Arizona.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=30000361 Zuri Bella

      Thank you for kick starting my movie watching muscle! My favorite was White Heat. It would be so fun to play an exuberantly charming psychopath as well as James Cagney…and I am still scared of motionless ladies in Kimonos from Kwaiden. 

      I need to watch the rest of Throne of Blood, and so many other movies…the list would last the rest of my life If you ever have time watch Milos Forman’s Fireman’s Ball, it is fantastic! Hilarious, he uses non actors and they are brilliant.

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=30000361 Zuri Bella

        plus it’s a super subtle dig at communism made while he was in Czechoslovakia during the communist regime.

    • http://twitter.com/balsam giulio rasi

      oh! so you finally saw Jules et Jim! I was shocked when I first read that you had never seen it. Its such your sensibility… Can you give us (well… it’s me that is interested but maybe I’m not the only one) your impressions?

    • Miss McCrocodile

      Edgar, which version of “Gaslight” did you see? Please, please, please I hope it was the 1940 UK version starring Anton Walbrook.

      • http://www.edgarwrighthere.com Edgar Wright

        No! The later one. Curious to see the first one.

    • Totoroish

      So, you still haven’t seen MAUVAIS SANG or CHILLY SCENES OF WINTER? Check them out ASAP!

    • Andrew

      Even more fun than the Wright Stuff II, this time around gave me a glorious “Reasons Why I Live in LA” for December!

      Thanks for helping clear WHITE HEAT off my list. (I cleared the awesome YOJIMBO earlier this year when it screened with also awesome 13 ASSASSINS, thanks to the New Beverly)

      For Rian Johnson, pair BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS with POLTERGEIST so you can clear some 80′s goodness off of his list! 

      And in the spirit of the program, I STILL have to see:
      THE SEVENTH SEAL
      SINGING IN THE RAIN

      Now I think I need to organize a program called “I Liked It Better When It Was Called…” with:

      THE TERMINATOR & LEGION
      CASABLANCA & BARB WIRE
      and
      ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK & ESCAPE FROM L.A.

      Because the party is always still going…

      Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you!

    • http://twitter.com/thatsnogreg greg walker

      Any plans for a wright stuff in the UK? :)

    • Bobby Deerfield

      are you going to do a rundown Edgar?  favorite new discovery? 

    • Bob

      Thank you Edgar for this latest series of inspired big screen choices. I was able to make to the New Beverly for two nights (the opening & closing events as it turned out) and in between had my own double feature outing of “Shame” & “Young Adult” (closer thematically than you might think). And thank you for dragging the great Walter Hill out of his “cave”. So nice to hear him speak on “Hickey & Boggs” and so very nice to be there when the New Beverly crowd greeted him with a standing ovation. Here’s wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, sir!  

    • http://twitter.com/FilmCritHULK Film Crit HULK

      THE WHOLE THING A TOTAL JOY. SOME WERE HULK FAVES THAT HULK GOT SEE FIRST TIME ON BIG SCREEN WITH GREAT CROWD (UMBRELLAS, CHUNGKING, WHITE HEAT) AND SOME NOT ONLY FILLED IN HULK’S GAPS TOO BUT BECAME NEW FAVORITES (KWAIDAN, THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALENCE,  RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY, HICKEY & BOGGS) AND THEN THERE JUST THE SURREAL EXPERIENCES WHICH ENCAPSULATE THE MOST WONDERFUL WEIRDNESS IMAGINABLE (5000 FINGERS OF DR. T).

      HULK GOT TO SEE ABOUT 13 OF THEM AND IN TOTAL HONESTY HONESTY IT BEST MOVIE-WATCHING WEEK OF HULKS LIFE.

      … IT GOING FEEL STRANGE NOT EATING POPCORN FOR DINNER.

    • Allan arkush

      Watching all the clips only underscores what a great cinematic event The Wright Stuff 3 has been. For instance, in thinking about it (sadly I couldn’t attend) , White Heat & Throne of Blood have a LOT in common.
      Never thought anything I ever did would be in the same montage with Modern Times, Keaton, Kurosawa, & the Duke. 
      Thanks Edgar, 

      • http://www.edgarwrighthere.com Edgar Wright

        Thank you Allan!

      • Marc Heuck

        It felt great to put you in that company as well when I put the montage together!

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1488330008 Eric Stirpe

      It was a fantastic time Edgar - thank you so much for hosting and making such an awesome experience possible for film fans!