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.
One of the filmmakers we, like so many cinephiles, keep circling back to is Alfred Hitchcock – most recently in our latest Six Damn Fine Degrees, in which Sam wrote about his love for Rear Window.
We also released our August espresso podcast, in which Matt talked to the Swiss film critic Alan Mattli (no relation to either Matt or Alan) about being a critic in 2024 and about the critics and reviewers to look out for these days.
And what is there to watch out for in the world of trailers?
Mege: I don‘t know if Gary Oldman being an insensitive, cranky old geezer is enough to sustain a fourth season of this cynical spy noir series, but in the moment, the black humour always works. The books at least made me laugh out loud more than once, even if the stories are so twisted that I sometimes lost track of who is two-timing whom.
Matt: This is one of those trailers that makes me think I already know the overall shape of the film: a woman faced with the reality of her death learns to accept the inevitable, with some magic realism (or whatever the sci-fi equivalent is) sprinkled on top. At the same time, even if this turns out to be true, I don’t care: I like Mary-Louise Parker, who we don’t get to see in films nearly enough, and I’ve heard great things about Ayo Edebiri (and yes, I know that I should really check out The Bear). And, who knows? Perhaps I’m wrong about the plot – and perhaps the plot matters much less than how the film goes about telling it.
A Damn Fine Cup of Culture 