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.
While the chronological approach that Criterion took in their Essential Fellini box set meant that the start was less than smooth, Matt’s definitely finding that the films improve a lot over time – and after I Vitelloni, La Strada is a worthy addition to any film collection, not least because of Giulietta Masina’s wonderful performance as Gelsomina.
Meanwhile, Alan brought the Beautiful Game to our weekly Six Damn Fine Degrees feature – though he wrote about a less-than-beautiful time in international football: the 1982 World Cup.
And what else has there been recently in the world of trailers?
Mege: Finally, Sofia Boutella gets the screen time she should have. I loved her in Climax, and she got a shit role in the abysmal Kingsman movie. The teenager in me has fallen for her since Star Trek, and now she gets to play her vengeful manic pixie Amazon in space. Fantastic. I’ll be there.
Matt: I’ve not been a big fan of James Cameron’s Avatar films, but like so many film fans of my generation I grew up with Cameron’s ’80s and ’90s blockbusters – and as a teen who was very much into cutting-edge special effects, I remember being wowed by the water effects in The Abyss. I also remember the great cast, including Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Michael Biehn looking like Aliens‘ Corporal Hicks cosplaying ’80s-era Stacy Keach. I don’t particularly remember liking the additions in the film’s Special Edition, which felt tacky, like Cameron trying and failing to be Steven Spielberg – but, who knows? Perhaps the remastered release coming out later this year will be a good opportunity to give that particular version of The Abyss a second chance… if only to see how well that water tentacle forming Mastrantonio’s face holds up.
A Damn Fine Cup of Culture 