New Beverly Cinema

Quentin Tarantino programs the New Beverly as a nightly ritual: two films, linked by theme, projected only from real celluloid. The prints are chiefly 35mm and 16mm, and many come from Tarantino’s own private collection, which gives the calendar the feeling of a personal shelf being opened rather than a standard repertory schedule.

The pleasure is in the whole analogue performance. Before the feature, screenings routinely run vintage trailers, cartoons and shorts, so the evening has the texture of an older cinema-going habit rather than a clean digital start time. The projection booth still supports the formats it champions, including 16mm and 4-track mag capability, so the films are shown in the medium they were made to travel through.

Friday programmes carry Tarantino’s curatorial hand particularly clearly, while strands such as Grindhouse Tuesdays keep the cinema rooted in cult, genre and revival film. Go for the double bill; stay for the rare feeling that the projector matters as much as the screen.