COOL STUFF

Edgar Wright Hosting Fun 'The World's End Is Nigh' Screenings in LA

by Alex Billington
August 6, 2013
Source: Edgar Wright

Who doesn't enjoy seeing great movies in the cinema? In theaters in a few weeks is Edgar Wright's Cornetto Trilogy finale The World's End. In connection with the upcoming release on August 23rd, Edgar is hosting a screening series at the New Beverly Cinema in LA. He's showing seven different pairings of double bills "to get you in the mood" for The World's End. He's selected 14 films to show. "The films are all great and all wildly diverse, but you will see some of the seeds of their influence in our new movie." Their line-up has been revealed and it looks can't-miss. "I can vouch that all of these doubles will be solid gold."

Here's the full line-up of films for Edgar Wright's "The World's End Is Nigh" series at the New Beverly:

"One Crazy Night" - Friday & Saturday, August 9th & 10th
After Hours (1985, directed by Martin Scorsese) + Into the Night (1985, directed by John Landis)
Edgar: "I'm especially fond of the all-in-one-night movie and here are two cult classics of the sub genre that were both released in 1985."

"Rock & Roll All Nite" - Sunday & Monday, August 11th & 12th
American Graffiti (1973, directed by George Lucas) + Dazed & Confused (1993, directed by Richard Linklater)
Edgar: "Two more all nighters in the form of George Lucas nostalgic look at '62 and Linklater's buzzy 70's time capsule. The 1990 opening of The World's End was designed as a potted version of such rites of passage movies, so I can't think of a better youthful double bill."

"We Are The Robots" - Tuesday & Wednesday, August 13th & 14th
Westworld (1973, directed by Michael Crichton) + The Terminator (1984, directed by James Cameron)
Edgar: "Two terrifying robotic performances in the unstoppable forms of Yul Brynner and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Michael Crichton's future nightmare still feels extremely plausible and James Cameron's breakthrough remains one of his very best films."

"They're Here Already!" - Thursday & Friday, August 15th & 16th
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978, directed by Philip Kaufman) + Dead & Buried (1981, directed by Gary Sherman)
Edgar: "The most paranoid double bill you'll see this year. Philip Kaufman's 1978 San Francisco masterpiece is one of the best remakes of them all and has been a massive influence on both Shaun & World's End."

"Friends Reunited" - Saturday, August 17th
It's Always Fair Weather (1955, directed by Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly) + The Big Chill (1983, directed by Lawrence Kasdan)
Edgar: "These two films are the only features we watched prior to writing the first draft of The World's End. One is the startlingly bittersweet Gene Kelly musical reuniting war time buddies in a New York bar ten years after WWII. The latter is the baby boomer classic by Lawrence Kasdan which brings old friends together after a friend's suicide. Simon Pegg and I would joke that our new film would be like ‘The Big Chill' if the dead pal was present at his own wake. Both are great, funny and sometimes dark movies."

"Happy End Of The World" - Sunday-Tuesday, August 18th-20th
Last Night (1998, directed by Don McKellar) + The Road Warrior (1981, directed by George Miller)
Edgar: "Two brilliant future shocks; one pre and one post apocalypse. Don McKellar's quiet masterpiece is a criminally under-seen film about the last night on Earth. It's been ripped off a whole lot, including by me. George Miller's incredible second Mad Max instalment is rightly one of the most sci fi genre's most influential design classics."

"Thrills, Pills & Bellyaches" - Wednesday & Thursday, August 21st & 22nd
Withnail & I (1987, directed by Bruce Robinson) + 24 Hour Party People (2002, directed by Michael Winterbottom)
Edgar: "To end the season a double whammy of British hedonism. Richard E Grant gives the finest drunk performance in all cinema (and from a tee totaller too) and Michael Winterbottom's Madchester opus chronicles the coke and ecstasy laden saga of Factory Records. The former influenced our film in it's whirlwind of a lead, so much so that some have called our new movie ‘Withnail And I-Robot'. And the music the latter is frequently at the heart of The World's End."

For more info or to book tickets, visit NewBevCinema.com. What an outstanding line-up of films to show right before The World's End arrives. Even if you're not in Los Angeles and can't make it to any of these, that doesn't mean you can't still queue up and watch every last one of them at home. Almost all of the films that Edgar has programmed are great, I would be happy watching every last one of these with a crowd in a theater. If anything, this is just a great list of films that inspired or are otherwise tangentially connected to The World's End and a perfect primer for that sci-fi comedy. This is why I love Edgar Wright - his passion and appreciation for cinema shows no bounds and he always wants to share that love with every cinephile.

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