This Week In Trailers: Sky Sharks, 10,000 Km, Tu Dors Nicole, Fresh Dressed, Craft: The California Craft Beer Documentary

Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they're seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? This week we spend our summer vacation in France, jump over to Spain to get our heart broken, resurrect the Third Reich for funsies, glow in the saintly aura of Kid 'n Play, and wash it down with some brew compliments of the state that's lovingly pronounced by its ex-governor as: CAHL E FOUR KNEE UHHH.Sky Sharks Trailer

This is a good way to start the column.

In the grand tradition of Iron Sky, Iron Sky 2 comes a film about the friendly skies, sharks, zombies, and Nazis. I don't want to hyper-examine director Marc Fehse's work as I think this defies any modern heuristical technique to explain exactly why, short of a common case of arrested development, how you would even come to such a combo but I kind of love it. It's all over the ice with regard to tone, pacing (a little languid for my liking), and narrative but hats off to anyone involved in this production. And, add another 2 points on the board for appropriating the old Cannon Films logo. I'd be remiss if I didn't say that if you would like to see this travesty fly even higher, cruise over to their Kickstarter to give 'em a bump: http://po.st/SkySharks

10,000 km Trailer

Quiet.

There's something to director Carlos Marques-Marcet's story that simply resonates with anyone who has had to endure a long-distance anything with another human being. This trailer is so fluid that you don't notice the accolades, the pull-quotes, the shifts of perspective because you're so engrossed with what's happening on the screen. It feels more real than not and in the span of two minutes you understand and feel what is happening here. It's the story of a long-distance relationship. That's it. But, what's unique here, is how gingerly we're taken around this well-worn narrative neighborhood. It's sweet without being dopey and eventually takes us to a place where we have no choice but to wonder where things go from here. The trailer is able to take us on a journey without ever veering too far into melodrama. Even keel, right before this ship runs aground.

Fresh Dressed Trailer

Come for the Kid 'n Play, stay for everything else.

Fact: In high school I was really into R&B and hip-hop. I remember one sartorial du jour of choice was a pair of black Nike wrestling shoes, black jeans, a 50/50 poly and silk collared shirt that looked like a Picasso drawing gone horribly wrong, LA Kings hat, and a sweet black, hooded cotton duster that went down to my knees. I was begging to be harassed. What Sacha Jenkins has captured here in this trailer is that drive to look fresh. What that meant, why that was important, all of that makes its way to the screen. It's an homage to the ideas behind why appearance means everything in some circles. What we get here is a who's who of music fashion while talking to those who are relentless about perpetuating the notion of what fresh means in today's culture.

Tu Dors Nicole Trailer

I could not get this one out of my mind.

Director Stéphane Lafleur has hypnotized me and I like that. It's not your usual summer vacation fare and because it's so damn different in its style, execution, in its funky characters, I am in love with everything about it. Sure, it's a fling and it might be fleeting but that's the real charm here. You've got weirdness, a color palette that's non existent, and a story that's wildly ambiguous. I couldn't tell you anything about its narrative but I found these people to be transfixing in their stilted movements and odd moments. The music underneath it all is unsettling but that just adds to the entire package of a movie that probably could be my song of the summer.

Craft: The California Craft Beer Documentary Trailer

Beer.

There's just something so basic about delving into subjects like this. Director Jeff Smith has a laid back approach to something that, honestly, looks genuinely interesting. There's not a single thing that's dazzling, eye-opening, mouth dropping or any other body part affecting about this trailer but it just feels like a doc you could put on in the middle of the afternoon and enjoy the hell out of.

Nota bene: If you have any suggestions of trailers to possibly be included in this column, even have a trailer of your own to pitch, please let me know by sending me a note at Christopher_Stipp@yahoo.com or look me up via Twitter at @Stipp

In case you missed them, here are the other trailers we covered at /Film this week: