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.
Also this week, we released our Shortcuts for the month of May, ranging from ’70s Spanish drama (the trailer below for Cría Cuervos is in Spanish, but YouTube offers captions in English) via Netflix series to James Bond’s latest adventures – in the video game First Light (more on which later).
Then, on Friday, Julie steered our Six Damn Fine Degrees feature towards one of the most iconic film stars ever: Elizabeth Taylor.
And what else do we have for you this week?
Sam: It’s certainly a first in Bond history having both a full trailer and a title song for a new release within a month’s span. But then to have added to and attached to that a complete title sequence for the latest 007 adventure in video game format, First Light, is simply an unparalleled pleasure for any ardent fan! Much in the style of title designers Daniel Kleinman and Maurice Binder (but with a noticeable absence of scantily-clad female figures), Lana del Rey’s smashing song has been elevated by evocative imagery and intricate hints at the game’s plotline and themes.
There are more than a few references to Skyfall‘s opening titles, but the exploding gigantic chess pieces reminded me just as much of Kleinman’s GoldenEye sequence, in which the symbols of the Soviet empire had similarly collapsed on screen. There are many outstanding moments in this, including blinding explosions on top of a volcanic island and the new Bond, Patrick Gibson, sneaking down an elegant set of stairs, flare in hand. The most stunning moment, however, comes when a gigantic chandelier falls from a ceiling and the individual diamonds explode onto the screen. It was reminiscent of other indelible moments in title sequence history, when Roger Moore’s Union Jack parachute is gently caught by a set of female hands in The Spy Who Loved Me, or when during Sheryl Crow’s Tomorrow Never Dies, a figure jumps off a gigantic diamond into the digital abyss. As digitally crafted as First Light‘s sequence seems to be, as spectacularly talented do its creators seem at employing these visual means!
Matt: I greatly enjoyed Polish director Paweł Pawlikowski’s Ida (2013) and especially his Cold War (2018), two beautifully told, achingly intimate historical dramas. His latest film, Fatherland, won him the Award for Best Director at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. It looks like another tour de force, both for Pawlikowski and for his female lead, Sandra Hüller, who once again looks to prove that she’s one of the best screen actors of our time. And yes, having Cold War‘s female lead Joanna Kulig cameo as a jazz singer doesn’t hurt either!
A Damn Fine Cup of Culture 