Trailer Talk: Archive 81, Sundown, and more!

Archive 81

This is a pretty solid trailer. I had no idea that this series is based on a podcast, but I suppose it makes sense in retrospect. I can’t say I’m super pumped for this or anything, but I am intrigued, there’s some good directors tackling these episodes like Haifaa Al-Mansour and Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. Plus, I really dig  Mamoudou Athie, he’s got a very distinctive presence as a performer, and this looks like it will be a solid vehicle for him. If the word-of-mouth on this is good, I’ll be sure to check it out.

Archive 81 will be released on Netflix on January 14th.

Sundown

I hadn’t heard of this film before seeing this trailer, and even after watching it, I still have no idea what it’s supposed to be about, but I am 100% sold. This is, I believe, the English language debut for Mexican filmmaker, Michel Franco. Sadly, I haven’t seen his stuff, though I have been meaning to for a while. This looks tense, mystifying, and weird, and I have no idea what to expect, and that’s exciting. Plus, Tim Roth and Charlotte Gainsbourg are super reliable performers, so I’m definitely looking forward to this one.

Sundown opens in select theaters on January 28th.

A Taste Of Hunger

I can see how this could end up feeling melodramatic, and not in the right way, but how am I supposed to turn down a movie by a director that’s apparently referred to as “Mr. Boe?” Jokes aside, I think Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has what it takes to be a star, but since we’re no longer in the age of movie stars, he hasn’t quite hit the stratosphere with the few projects he’s gotten post-Game Of Thrones, which I think it a bit unfortunate, I like him a lot. And this trailer, while it can feel a bit over-the-top at times, does present a compelling story to me, and it’s one I’ll keep an eye out for.

A Taste Of Hunger hits select theaters and VOD platforms on January 28th.

Sex Appeal

Looks OK. I’ve mentioned before how comedy trailers rarely do it for me because the nature of editing a trailer often requires you to ruin the pacing of a joke, so it’s hard to tell whether I would find any of this funny in the movie just based on what I see here. That said, I feel like I could predict this whole thing from start to finish, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it will require the performances and jokes to be on point. However, I will say, I am really curious about these “sex scenes” that take a very fantastical approach. I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite like this, at least not this extreme, so if that’s a recurring thing in the film, I’m very curious to see how they topping themselves with each fantasy.

Sex Appeal hits Hulu on January 14th.

The Woman In The House Across The Street From The Girl In The Window

This is such a fun idea for a parody premise, and Kristen Bell is such a perfect choice to lead something like this, and it’s awesome to see Michael Lehmann, director of Heathers and Hudson Hawk, bringing some visual flair to the otherwise dull Netflix look. Unfortunately, I think making this a series instead of a film is a big mistake, and it’s just going to force the writers to possible run some otherwise good jokes into the ground after a while. I mean, the reference point for this story have largely been movies, so I don’t get why they felt the need to extend it to 8 episodes, even this trailer feels like it could easily work for a feature as opposed to a show. It’s honestly making me hesitant to check it out, but I do think it looks good from what I see here.

The Woman In The House Across The Street From The Girl In The Window premieres on Netflix on January 28th.

Thoughts on any of the trailers? Feel free to discuss in the comments!