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.
We at A Damn Fine Cup of Culture hope that you’ve all had happy holidays so far! On Wednesday, we did our part by releasing the Christmas Special 2025 – in which this thoroughly modern Maria got a shout-out.
Meanwhile, Alan explored the spookier dimensions of the festivities, writing about the British tradition of ghost stories for Christmas, focusing in particular on the 1979 ITV adaptation of M.R. James’ “Casting the Runes”.
And what other horrors do we have in store for you to end this week on?
Mege: Yeah, well, I am really not a purist who insists that novels have to be transferred to the screen as truthfully as possible – some movies play fast and loose with their literary source material, and the results can be highly successful. Just look at what Paul Thomas Anderson did with his two Pynchon adaptations. I just think that Ferrari-in-a-pool jokes are not really in the spirit of Orwell and his cautionary tale. It‘s like 1984 contains scenes from Parks & Recreation.
Matt: While I find Nolan somewhat hit-and-miss, I am nonetheless curious to find out how he turned Homer’s classic into a big Hollywood movie, in particular the more mythological parts. What’s Nolan’s take on the sirens, the cyclops and Circe? And, as always, Nolan knows how to put together an interesting cast.
Matt: It’s been a while since I saw my last new Almodóvar film, simply because I somehow haven’t got around to watching any of them since… bloody hell… The Skin I Live In, which came out in 2011. Judging from this teaser trailer, Bitter Christmas looks like the writer-director is right in his wheelhouse, with many a shot that could be straight out of All About My Mother (which I saw at the cinema earlier this year – and it’s still a great movie) – or indeed one of the classic melodramas that form one of Almodóvar’s main points of reference. Perhaps I should make a point of catching up with Mr A!
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