Join us every week for a trip into the weird and wonderful world of trailers. Whether it’s the first teaser for the latest instalment in your favourite franchise, an obscure preview for a strange indie darling, whether it’s good, bad, ugly or just plain weird – your favourite pop culture baristas are there to tell you what they think.
Sam: In a world where loving Woody Allen movies has become something to constantly apologise for, it’s a special guilty pleasure to see his newest, Rifkin’s Festival, come out. Especially since the movie is set in one of my favourite cities in the world, San Sebastià n, the location of one of Europe’s most prolific film festivals. Woody seems to spin a familiar yarn of an elderly cynic (latest Woody stand-in: Wallace Shawn) discovering his wife (Gina Gershon) more interested in a dashing Spanish movie director (Louis Garrel) while rediscovering his own lost passions. The quirky combo of neurotic comedy and Spanish locations has worked marvelously before (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), and after a string of weaker entries since his last great one (arguably Blue Jasmine in 2013) one can be hopeful that Allen has returned to form once more. With the controversy around his frankly entertaining memoir (Apropos of Nothing) somewhat eclipsed by more important news, I’m nostalgically giving this great giver of American cinema (under recent European sponsorship) another shot! Let his Festival commence!
Julie: Earlier this week, my partner came home toting a large box which held an elderly second-hand Xbox console. Now, I’m no gamer, but he purchased the one-month game pass and urged me to pick out some games to try out. I wanted something where I was reasonably familiar with the gameplay and so decided on the two Ori games by Moon Studios: Ori and the Blind Forest and the more recent Ori and the Will of the Wisps. They are gorgeous. Beautiful animation, full of storytelling, with a stunning soundtrack and plenty challenging – well, for me at least. And while I do not expect to finish them within the designated month: I have had wonderful fun trying them out. Highly recommended.
Mege: The excellent Regina King’s directorial feature debut One Night in Miami is about Cassius Clay, Malcolm X, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke in a motel room, discussing their different views on civil rights and social justice. It’s not strictly a trailer, but Cassius’ grandstanding and Malcolm X’s reality check give you an idea about where this might be going. I am interested. And now if only there were a movie theatre around here open to show me this.
Matt: Roy Andersson is a truly unique director. While there are others who blend the laconic and the surreal, Andersson’s films would never be mistaken for the work of anyone else. To those who have been following the director’s films, at least since his so-called Living Trilogy, it may not come as much of a surprise, though, that being Roy Andersson isn’t always very easy. Documentary maker Fred Scott has accompanied Andersson on what may have been his last film, About Endlessness; here’s hoping that The Guardian‘s description of the film as “unexpectedly moving” is accurate.
A Damn Fine Cup of Culture 