Sgt. Angle Reporting for Duty!

Before today’s briefing, be sure you check out Semantink’s countdown to Wondercon here. This information is by no means top secret, so be sure to recruit some new readers on the double.

And now this:

Last week, the cinematic world was stricken with laughter by screenwriter J.D. Shapiro’s apology for the worst movie of the decade (Battlefield Earth). Is this the first time a writer/creator has apologized for putting pen to paper? Probably not, but I digress.

Also this past week, the trailer for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World premiered, and it’s quite a doozy. Such a doozy, in fact, that it fits right in time with today’s Film Creator Spotlight on the co-writer and director of the comic adaptation, EDGAR WRIGHT.

How must one begin? To start with, you can get your own brief summary here, suffice it to say that Wright has been making home movies since he was a child in Somerset and/or Dorset, England (isn’t that how it always starts?). Just before he met his collaborators for most of the next decade, Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes nee Stevenson, Wright directed an indie feature spoofing Spaghetti Westerns called A Fistful of Fingers.

Wright then went on to direct a couple of British TV series, including “Asylum” which co-starred and was co-written by Jessica Hynes nee Stevenson and Simon Pegg. Pegg and Hynes would then become the creative force behind “Spaced,” the television series which launched Edgar onto the international stage, and solidified his style as well as his contribution to the genre. Wright uses quick cuts, wiping edits, and cinematic techniques that are still fresh to television comedies. His shows and films contain multiple homages to movies past and present, so much so that he often includes an “homage-o-meter” track to his DVD releases.

“Spaced” revolved around two twentysomethings in England struggling to pay rent, find work and love, and resist growing out of their childish ways. Pegg plays an artist just dumped by his girlfriend, works in a comic-book store and who has an extensive love of obscure films, paintball, and nights out drinking. Hynes plays a freelance writer moving out of a squatters’ flat. They find each other and move in together, in a building with a drunk landlady and an eccentric artist. And here’s where Nick Frost enters, playing Pegg’s best friend Mike who was kicked out of the territorial army and is essentially a cuddly die-hard soldier.

The series often involves slick references to pop culture and overly profound discussions of events (Star Wars plays a rather large role in many an episode) that usually stemmed from, or led to, drug or drink induced sleep or laughter. The show also references, either in words or style, everything from Robocop to Pulp Fiction, Dawn of the Dead to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. (*if you get the chance and money to purchase the entire series on DVD, there are two commentary tracks, one from years ago with Wright, Pegg, Hynes and Frost, and a new track with contributions from Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino, Patton Oswalt and Diablo Cody).

After the success of “Spaced,” Wright and Pegg co-wrote Shaun of the Dead, their rom-com meets zombies film, paying homage to Romero and Raimi while capturing that sense of loss in twentysomethings that the team has become known for. Dead reached $30 million worldwide, and did fairly well on DVD. It furthered Wright’s reliance on editing to induce laughs as well as scares, and catapulted him into the friend circle of Tarantino, Kevin Smith, and Eli Roth, thus allowing Wright to contribute to Grindhouse with the faux trailer to Don’t.

Next came Hot Fuzz (a personal favorite of mine) wherein, once again, Pegg and Wright wrote the script, and Nick Frost played the reliable best friend to real life best friend Simon Pegg. This time around, Wright tackled the buddy cop and action movie genre, referencing over 120 films, and reading Roger Ebert’s book of Hollywood cliches, to be sure to hit all the familiar cliches.

Wright’s love of all genres of music and his respect for the history of filmmaking bring a lively, personal touch to his films’ music and scene structure. His website features, among the obligatory self and movie news, a daily photo update from the set of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, introducing cast and crew members and revealing a little at a time of the set and the world of the story.

SPVTW trailer (linked at the top) debuted to a fury of love last week, and is now something more to look forward to this year after April’s release of Kick-Ass. Michael Cera plays Scott Pilgrim, a young guy who falls for the girl of his dreams, and must fight her seven evil ex-boyfriends in order to be able to date her. (For more on the Scott Pilgrim adaptation, read this article at Chud.) This movie also indicates Wright’s shift away from constant collaboration with Simon Pegg after a decade, so it’ll be interesting to see if the style remains strictly in the footage, or if Wright’s scripting abilities are the constant more than anything else.

Following that, Wright has been rumored to be covering the Ant-Man adaptation, as well as The World’s End, the final film in the ‘Blood and Ice Cream trilogy’ started with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. This time around, the team will cover disaster movies.

Edgar Wright has been the director to watch over the last decade, and one can only assume a positive direction for his career after Scott Pilgrim, arguably his highest-profile project yet. By the end of the year, he should become more than a niche attraction at the movies, much the same way Tarantino exploded after Pulp Fiction.

I had the pleasure of attending two “Edgar Wright related events” in Los Angeles, one was a fun Q & A for the Hot Fuzz sneak peak, and the other was a double-feature at the New Beverly Cinema during his “The Wright Stuff” festival (occasionally, the New Beverly will allow guest filmmakers to curate two weeks of films, hopefully bringing in special guests). The night I attended, he screened An American Werewolf in London. John Landis was there for a Q & A, and in the audience were Eli Roth and Quentin Tarantino, who at one point stopped in the middle of the aisle after grabbing some popcorn to watch a particularly fun scene in the film.

Edgar Wright certainly knows the right movies and scenes that trigger a moviegoers sense of enjoyment. As a director, he certainly does have the Wright Stuff (awkward pun hit!).

If you enjoy comedy, watch an Edgar Wright movie. If you enjoy feel good film and/or television, watch an Edgar Wright production.

Oh, and here’s a Pizza Hut commercial he directed during a brief brush with commercialism.

You are now dismissed!

Sgt. Angle