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.
Remember when every year seemed to see the release of half a dozen adaptations of YA novels, with bonus points if you were 1) starting a trilogy, 2) the final film of that trilogy was to be split into two films and 3) there were still people interested enough to watch the final instalment? For last Friday’s Six Damn Fine Degrees post, Mege took a look back at the YA franchise that probably fared best, apart from the media behemoth that was Harry Potter, and that in no small way because of a cast to die – or kill – for: The Hunger Games.
Matt followed on Saturday with his thoughts on returning to a modern classic of indie gaming, Journey, nine years after it first came out – and experiencing the kind of solitude that wasn’t originally intended, at least not to that degree, by the game’s creators. If your avatar sings in the desert and there’s no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?
But Sundays aren’t just for looking back at the week – they’re also there to look forward at things we’ve yet to watch or play!
Sam: I’ve recently had a chance to see this new miniseries by Queer As Folk creator Russell T Davies, It’s a Sin and have been absolutely shattered and mesmerized by it: What starts off as a fluffy and hopeful tale of six friends living the (gay) life in London in the early 1980s, soon turns into something that is both utterly shocking and heartwrenchingly human: With the arrival of AIDS rumours and infections start spreading rapidly and soon, our six friends are between survival and death, panic and politics and devastation and deep love and friendship. An absolute must-see for its ingenious mix of lifting you up and smashing you down all in five exquisite hours!
Matt: Remember Guy Pearce when he just on the cusp of becoming a star? Now: what was the last good thing you saw him in? Pearce is still a highly effective actor and well worth watching in good material, but somehow he didn’t quite become the star I was expecting him to be – and while he’s been in some very good films over the years, and some very strange ones too (remember Ravenous?), much of what he’s appeared in has been forgettable. One of the things Pearce did that I very much enjoyed, though, was the HBO adaptation of James M. Cain’s Mildred Pierce, written and directed by Todd Haynes. Mildred Pierce was a great vehicle for Kate Winslet, so I was more than happy to hear that Winslet and Pearce were reuniting for another HBO series, Mare of Easttown. Add Jean Smart (of HBO’s Watchmen) and Julianne Nicholson (who appeared in the fantastic Monos) and I’ll definitely be there come April to check out Mare of Easttown.
A Damn Fine Cup of Culture 