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, Alan arrived in 1942 with his series of One Best Picture After Another: who still remembers Mrs. Miniver? And, perhaps as importantly, should the film be remembered better than it is?
From 1942 to 2026: our October Shortcuts post featured some of this year’s releases, in settings from the Golden Age of Hollywood to the resentments, familial and otherwise, of postwar Germany.
Then, on Friday, Matt took our Six Damn Fine Degrees to strange, unearthly places.
And what else do we have for you on this first of November?
Mege: If you think long and hard about Slow Horses, all those rejects have one thing in common: they all think they are spies. I am not so sure if Bethy, the protagonist, sees herself as that. It starts out as a fish-out-of-water story, but as the waters get deeper, it‘s sink or swim. And apparently she is a world-class athlete disguised as an absolute loser. Somewhere out there, in a neighbouring universe, River Cartwright looks on her in envious admiration.
Matt: Alan, Julie and our frequent guest and friend of the show Dan Thron liked Dune Part 2 a lot. I was more ambivalent: it’s an achievement, certainly, and a stunningly beautiful film to look at – but in addressing some of the concerns that Frank Herbert’s intentions were too difficult to parse for some of the novels’ fans, I think Villeneuve went overboard in hitting home many of his messages (and yes, I do think his Dune is one that tries to have a message). The film felt so eager to be understood as a critique of messianic leaders and the abuse of religion as a tool for authoritarianism, it spelled things out to such an extent that it started to feel didactic to me. Judging from the final trailer, this is something that Dune Part 3 continues – though perhaps it is necessary, especially in this day and age: there are too many people nowadays who think that powerful leader figures are entitled to reshaping the world in their image, so maybe Villeneuve has a point when he makes his characters say the Arrakis equivalent of “Uh… no?”
