Author: The Barista Collective

I’ll be in my trailer… watching trailers: It takes two

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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.

Ridley Scott’s career has been uneven, and arguably he made most of his best films in the first decade or two of working as a director – but it still comes as a surprise that he’s only just made his first appearance in the Criterion Collection, with Thelma & Louise. Matt revisited the film and was not only bowled over by how good it looks in 4K, but also surprised by how well it holds up thirty years later. Though the original trailer definitely misrepresents this one to a large degree.

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I’ll be in my trailer… watching trailers: War (What is it good for?)

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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 began at A Damn Fine Cup with a guest post, courtesy of Henrik Hermans, on the filmography of the Man in Black himself: Johnny Cash. Make sure to check out Henke’s thoughts on films such as A Gunfight, Murder in Coweta County (featuring Andy “Griffith” Matlock in a rare villainous part) and the wonderfully named Ridin’ the Rails – The Great American Train Story!

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I’ll be in my trailer… watching trailers: You don’t want to sit in that chair

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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.

During World War II, Jean-Pierre Melville was a member of the Résistance, and his experiences left their mark on his films – not least his grim masterpiece Army of Shadows, which Matt revisited in his latest Criterion Corner.

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A Damn Fine Espresso: July 2023

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As promised, one month after our espresso episode on the Indiana Jones series prior to the release of Dial of Destiny, we’re returning with another podcast that belongs in a museum! Join Sam, Alan and Matt as they talk about the fifth, and likely the final, film in the franchise. What did they think of Dial of Destiny? Is it another disappointment, a worthy continuation, or somewhere in between? What worked for them, what didn’t, what was surprising? And where do they stand on some of the film’s controversial elements: the nostalgia fodder, the de-aging, and that final act?

And if you enjoy our discussion of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, make sure to stay tuned for a future episode of our Summer of Collaborations, in which it’s likely that John Williams’ iconic “Raiders March” will be one topic of conversation!

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I’ll be in my trailer… watching trailers: On the road again

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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.

Matt likes exploration in video games, and that’s something that Sable offers plenty of. Check out his post on the world and feel of Sable.

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I’ll be in my trailer… watching trailers: The 2023 Assembly of the Toshiro Mifune Appreciation Society

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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.

Some love them… but Matt’s more ambivalent about cult TV and cult movies. Check out this week’s Six Damn Fine Degrees to find out why – or you can also just stay here and watch this trailer for the cult classic The Prisoner. Because, after all, you are not a number, right?

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A Damn Fine Cup of Culture Podcast #70: Summer of Collaborations – Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune

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After the inaugural episode of our Summer of Collaborations (starting with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn), we’ve arrived at the second instalment of our summer series, this time focusing on a collaboration that gave us iconic performances and classic films across a range of genres – though the one that perhaps comes to mind first is that of Jidaigeki (Japanese period drama), and more specifically, the samurai film. We are, of course, talking about the films resulting from the collaboration between Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune. Join Alan, Julie and Matt as they discuss Rashomon (1950), a film that mixes genre to such an extent that Wikipedia describes it, inadequately, as a “Jidaigeki psychological thriller-crime film”; Yojimbo (1961), the action-packed samurai film that Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars stole from liberally; and High and Low (1963), a police procedural crime drama about a botched kidnapping. What made the collaboration between Kurosawa and Mifune work so well? How does it develop over these three films? And just how does Mifune manage to look so damn cool wearing a threadbare kimono and stroking his chin?

For last year’s summer series of podcasts, check this link:

A Damn Fine Cup of Culture: Summer of Directors (2022)

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I’ll be in my trailer… watching trailers: The silent treatment

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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.

Jean-Pierre Melville is mainly known for making films that could be described stylish gangster existentialism. Le silence de la mer however is very different from Le samouraï or The Red Circle – but no less compelling, provided you can get into its much more internalised drama about a different kind of resistance from what we’re used to at the movies, as Matt argued in his post.

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I’ll be in my trailer… watching trailers: “Confess, Communist!” Said the Sexy Priest

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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.

A priest, a Communist and a (former) member of the Résistance walk into a confessional: while Matt’s currently enjoying a series of films by Jean-Pierre Melville, he especially enjoyed that Léon Morin, Priest was something of an odd one out, seeing how it focuses on a female protagonist.

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A Damn Fine Espresso: June 2023

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It’s June, and one of the year’s biggest blockbusters is just weeks away: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will be released on 30/6/2023. Will Harrison Ford, complete with hat and whip and iconic half-grin, deliver once again, as he did with Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? Will Old Man Jones stumble, as he arguably did with Temple of Doom? Or will he sit in a jeep or a boat floating unthreatened through setpieces, as some might say he did in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? Join Alan, Sam and Matt as they talk all things Doctor Jones in this month’s espresso podcast episode. Which are their favourite films in the franchise? What are their expectations of Dial of Destiny, in spite of the absence of Steven Spielberg at the helm? And will Alan really go and see the new film wearing a t-shirt slagging off everyone’s favourite dwarf from Moria?

P.S.: For anyone who appreciates John Williams’ contributions to the Indiana Jones movies, watch this space over the summer months!

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