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.
Sometimes a director can be on a wavelength too different from your own, and such differences may be irreconcilable. Will Matt ever learn to love Olivier Assayas, or will Irma Vep (1996) be as good as it gets for him?
Matt continued on Friday, wondering just how many virtual murders he’s committed in his time as a video gamer, and whether it’d be worth talking to the monsters instead – so here’s a video game trailer that’s entirely about not killing the monsters. Whatever will they think of next?
Finally, on Saturday our latest podcast espresso went up, in which Sam and Matt (yet again! doesn’t he have anywhere to go?) talked about Ennio, a 2021 documentary about the late, great Ennio Morricone, and Summer of Soul (2021), Questlove’s Oscar-winning film about the Harlem Cultural Festival.
But enough about music – here are some regular trailers to end the week on.
Matt: Just in time to go with my Criterion Corner post on Irma Vep, HBO has been showing a TV series reimagining of Irma Vep, again by Olivier Assayas, this time starring Swedish superstar Alicia Vikander instead of Maggie Cheung. I liked Irma Vep, possibly more than what I’d previously seen of Assayas, but I didn’t love it. Will a longer running time make a difference? Or Lars Eidinger (apparently a favourite of Assayas since Clouds of Sils Maria)? Or is HBO likely to do the trick if Criterion didn’t?
Mege: Methinks we might be somewhere near Stepford. Directed by Olivia Wilde and starring Florence Pugh, Don’t Worry Darling shows you that you can have all you want, and you are still trapped. Your brilliant, secretive men might pull the rug from under you without you noticing. It’s The Truman Show with a twist.
A Damn Fine Cup of Culture 