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.
This week, Matt came back from outer space, briefly, to report on his Virtual Reality adventures in No Man’s Sky, a game that boasts a universe with (checks notes) 18 quintillion possible planetary systems?! No wonder some people say that video games have become too big.
Meanwhile, Melanie turned to the fantasy novels of Katherine Addison, in particular her Mélusine, published under the pseudonym of Sarah Monette. Which, as so often with books, leaves us with something of a challenge as to what trailer to post to go with Melanie’s Six Damn Fine Degrees – though, Melusine being a female water spirit… hmm… (Here’s hoping that Melusine, and Melanie, will be okay with me jumping to an entirely different female water spirit.)
And what else do we have for you this week?
Mege: … aaaand here is Javier Bardem, again scaring the living daylights out of people, although this time with a much better haircut. I think it‘s a first that Scorsese and Spielberg are producing side by side. Amy Adams? I‘m in. And does Patrick Wilson do horror the same way that Liam Neeson does action?
Matt: I’m not really a fan of the Punisher as a character, but I like Jon Bernthal’s take on the character, and I think he brings something interesting to the Daredevil series. Having said that: I’m not sure I have much faith in them bringing something very new to a Punisher-only one-off special: the whole revenge shtick has been done a zillion times. Will they at least try to tell a new story, or will it be an ultra-violent take on the old? And how will this version of the Punisher gel with the one in the upcoming Spider-Man film? But while we’re on the subject of spin-offs: I’m curious to find out what they plan to do with Star City, the Soviet Union-based spin-off of For All Mankind. Again, there’s a risk that we’ll just get more of what we’ve already seen – but they have an interesting cast, including Rhys Ifans, Anna Maxwell Martin, Alice Englert, and Adam Nagaitis, who was utterly fascinating as the antagonist in the first season of The Terror.
A Damn Fine Cup of Culture 