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.
Matt is almost done with his extended trip through Ingmar Bergman’s films, and before the final double-whammy of Fanny and Alexander in its TV and cinematic versions, he watched Autumn Sonata – undoubtedly a good, well-acted film, but not necessarily one that brings anything new to the director’s oeuvre… other than a certain iconic actress with a very familiar surname.
Matt also contributed this week’s Six Damn Fine Degrees, sticking with the theme of Shakespeare – and a whole lotta Richard.
And that takes us to our regular trailer programming for today.
Mege: There is a lot that can hold you inside your country’s borders – including fictitious bears or a careless photograph. Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, mostly the star of his own movies and not allowed to leave the country, tries for the crossing anyway.
Matt: David Lynch is a fascinating artist and filmmaker, and there’s undoubtedly rich material in looking at what inspired Lynch – but this trailer for Lynch/Oz? It makes the documentary look really, really trite. If it is anything to go by, I think I’ll just stick with watching Lynch’s films, rather than listen to people pointing out the blatantly obvious.
Matt: The full trailer for Lars von Trier’s The Kingdom Exodus, however, looks like the real thing: weird, unsettling, funny. Quite possibly it’s immensely silly, but it’s often underestimated how much impish fun von Trier can be when he’s being silly. And I love the idea of Mikael Persbrandt as an arrogant Swedish doctor flown in for his brilliance but going mad with frustration at having to work with… well… Danish people. Judging from the trailer, I might hate this if in the wrong mood – but in the right mood, this could be an absolute hoot.
A Damn Fine Cup of Culture 