This Week In Trailers: The Delinquent Season, United Skates, Puzzle, Filmworker, The Breaker Upperers

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 cheat on our spouses, get a behind-the-scenes look at Stanley Kubrick's process, solve a puzzle with Kelly Macdonald, go old school roller skating, and then pay someone to break up with our significant others.

The Delinquent Season

First, a show of hands, who has seen Intermission? It's a 2003 movie starring Colin Farrell, Cillian Murphy, Kelly Macdonald, Colm Meaney? It was a fantastic ride, and writer Mark O'Rowe has worked with Murphy many times over the last 14 years mostly as a screenwriter. With The Delinquent Season, O'Rowe gets behind the camera to tell the story of a man who cheats on his wife with his friend's wife. While the premise doesn't break any new dramatic ground, the trailer here is emotionally gripping. It showcases Murphy quite well while also digging deep into the notion that an explosion of lust like this can not only destroy you but also those you love.

Puzzle

I recently rewatched No Country for Old Men, and apart from marveling how solid that movie is from beginning to end, I was mesmerized by Kelly Macdonald. Her role is slight but powerful, and with this outing, director Marc Turtletaub lets Macdonald shine brightly. While the whole controlling husband motif is a little played out, and it is tiresome here, Macdonald and her co-star Irrfan Khan are a delight in this trailer.  I appreciate how smooth the transitions are from one moment to the next, and even though it seems like a movie destined for the Hallmark Channel, overall it looks sincere and sweet.

Filmworker

Here's what you need to know about Leon Vitali, the subject of this documentary:

Leon Vitali was a rising British television actor when Stanley Kubrick picked him for the role of Lord Bullingdon in Barry Lyndon. That first encounter with the famed auteur proved decisive — he swiftly resolved to devote the rest of his life working for the director, this time behind the scenes, and took on just about every job available: casting director, acting coach, location scouter, sound engineer, color corrector, A.D., promoter, and eventually restorer of Kubrick's films.

Tony Zierra provides a breathtaking look at someone who had insights into a filmmaker many would consider elusive and obsessive. The trailer truly does the heavy lifting in not only establishing who Vitali is and what he did for Kubrick, but it also elegantly provides quick examples of how this one man was integral to the process. It may be too inside baseball for some, but for me, this is insightful.

United Skates

I have never been able to stand on roller skates without doing a weird Frankenstein-like leg thing, but I'm all in on this. Directors Tina Brown and Dyana Winkler focus on this small group of people who keep roller skating alive and vibrant, but the film's description offers some more insight that piques our curiosity:

When America's last standing roller rinks are threatened with closure, a community of thousands battle in a racially charged environment to save an underground subculture– one that has remained undiscovered by the mainstream for generations, yet has given rise to some of the world's greatest musical talent.

The energy that exudes from the trailer is infectious, and in less than one minute, they make a solid case why this deserves some attention.

The Breaker Upperers

I wouldn't normally be interested in who executive produced a movie, but when it's Taika Waititi, that grabs my attention.

New Zealand directors Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek each have impressive and respective resumes. Sami is an accomplished actress who has directed some television and is making her feature-length film debut. Meanwhile, van Beek was seen in What We Do in the Shadows, has already directed a film of her own, and teamed up with Sami to co-direct this comedy. While the comedy hijinks appear to be broad in nature and, at times, wanders into some tonal territory, I might have otherwise passed. But it's getting some fantastic reviews, and this is a solid trailer.

Nota bene: If you have any suggestions of trailers for possible inclusion 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:

  • Hotel Artemis Trailer – This is so high concept that all it needs to be is straight up fun
  • Hereditary Trailer - Cannot wait to settle in and watch this
  • Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Trailer – Was made for theater viewing in the summer
  • GLOW Season 2 Trailer – OK
  • Equalizer 2 Trailer – Knows what it is and leans hard into it
  • Deadpool 2 Trailer – Peter. Hell yeah.
  • Life of the Party Trailer - I am not the target demo
  • Blindspotting Trailer – Riveting