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.
Getting into a series, a franchise, a fictional world: it requires time – and, yes, even energy. And sometimes it’s better to decide early on that it’s not worth it, as Mege writes in this week’s Six Damn Fine Degrees. Though sometimes, just sometimes, we have the choice between a long series of book and a series of film’s that isn’t quite as long.
What is definitely worth it, even if its beauty tends towards the bitter and the sour, is Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, and for much, much more than Anita Ekberg in the Fontana di Trevi.
But what else do we have in store for you this week?
Mege: Why would anyone turn to AI in order to get better physically and/or mentally? What does AI know about an individual‘s feelings? Can it replicate pain? Can it interpret body language so that it becomes a meaningful part of the diagnosis? Isn‘t it logical that such a take on AI ends in a spooky horror movie?
Matt The multifaceted Mister Ripley has popped up a number of times on this site: I wrote about the uncanny similarities between All About Eve and The Talented Mister Ripley, we had an entire podcast episode dedicated to the various versions of Highsmith’s first Tom Ripley story, and last December Sam and I talked about the other films based on the Ripley novels. At the time we mentioned the long-delayed series starring Andrew Scott – and now it looks like it’s just a couple of weeks away. Since I’ve soured somewhat on Anthony Minghella’s version and its revisionist take, I’m happy to see that the new series – which has found a home at Netflix – seems to have the sharp edges that Highsmith’s novels have. Also, I liked writer-director Steven Zaillian’s The Night Of a lot, and I hope that series was indicative of Zaillian’s aptitude for the TV format.
A Damn Fine Cup of Culture 