Author: The Barista Collective

I’ll be in my trailer… watching trailers: Attica! Attica!

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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.

It’s only rarely that we get to show off the fact that one of our baristas is a Doctor Who fan of many, and I mean many, years. This week offered one such opportunity, as Alan got to talk about season 23 of the original run of Doctor Who, also known as “The Trial of a Time Lord”.

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I’ll be in my trailer… watching trailers: No animal, but definitely mineral and vegetable

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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.

In this week’s Six Damn Fine Degrees, Sam stopped by to check out the storied, colourful career of Roger Corman: producer, director, writer, actor, and the man who boosted the careers of the likes of Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, Joe Dante and James Cameron.

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I’ll be in my trailer… watching trailers: Mean, green, and from Outer Space

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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.

In this week’s Six Damn Fine Degrees, Melanie found joy in introducing a group of teens to the Frank Oz-directed musical Little Shop of Horrors for Halloween. Definitely one to revisit as well!

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A Damn Fine Espresso: November 2025

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Over the year, we’ve dedicated a number of episodes to the sadly departed David Lynch, his films, and his iconic TV series Twin Peaks. For our November espresso, Alan and Sam return to 2017 and to the third season of Twin Peaks that Lynch and his collaborator Mark Frost sprung on the world 26 years after we first tasted that cherry pie. For Sam, this was the first time he watched these 18 episodes, while for Alan it was an opportunity to revisit the entire series in one go. What are their thoughts on one of David Lynch’s last great works? How does it feel to return to Twin Peaks, Washington, the site of Laura Palmer’s murder, the focus of supernatural and surreal goings-on, after our loss of the man himself?

For more Lynch listening, don’t forget to check out these podcast episodes and posts:

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I’ll be in my trailer… watching trailers: Picture, if you will, a movie preview

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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.

Submitted for your approval: this week’s Six Damn Fine Degrees post saw the return of Mege, with a post on The Twilight Zone – or, more accurately, the Mystery of the Vanishing Box Set. Which calls not for a trailer but for this.

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I’ll be in my trailer… watching trailers: This’ll blow your mind

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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.

In the blink of an eye, Halloween has been and gone… leaving behind a bunch of carved pumpkins that will look more and more ghoulish over time, and so many blog posts, including this week’s Six Damn Fine Degrees post, written by Alan, Julie and Sam, which focused on all things scary from a range of different perspectives.

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A Damn Fine Cup of Culture Podcast #98: Alien: Earth

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When Alien came out in cinemas back in 1979, did anyone think at the time that this would turn into a franchise that is alive and kicking 46 years later, much like that Chestburster in Spaceballs? Last year brought us Alien: Romulus, arguably too much of a retread of the film that originally made us scream silently in space – but 2025 saw the release of Alien: Earth, a nine-part series created by Noah Hawley of Legion and Fargo fame. How does the xenomorph survive its transfer onto a new host: the streaming services? What do Hawley’s sensitivities and quirks as a storyteller bring to the table? Is this a necessary shot in the franchise’s arm, or is it more like a spurt of acid eating its way through the audience’s goodwill? Join Matt and Alan as they discuss these questions, provided that they’re not distracted by some leathery, slimy egg that just begs to be looked at up close.

P.S.: If this episode has whetted your appetite for all things xenomorph, make sure to also check out these episodes:

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Six Damn Fine Degrees #258: Halloween Trio

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Welcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness!

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I’ll be in my trailer… watching trailers: Shivering with antici…

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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.

… pation. Made you wait, huh?

Anyway, what’s been going on chez A Damn Fine Cup of Culture this week? Our schedule was a bit wobbly, due to a post that wasn’t scheduled properly, which means we had two posts going up on Saturday, starting with Matt’s Six Damn Fine Degrees about adaptations into different media, and the ways that film and TV adaptations don’t necessarily restrict our imagination. Case in point: the BBC’s Wolf Hall.

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I’ll be in my trailer… watching trailers: Oh, okay, pass if you like

The Barista CollectiveLeave a comment

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’s Six Damn Fine Degrees saw Alan continue his own Lord of the Rings trilogy, which started in May, this time writing about the choices made in creating the 1981 BBC radio adaptation. Alan’s a big fan of this version of Tolkien’s epic tale, and his post may just convince you to seek out the BBC’s take on The Lord of the Rings. But as there are no trailers for ’80s radio series, or at least none we could find, here’s a trailer for Ralph Bakshi’s animated Lord of the Rings instead.

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