Cinematical

Coming off his well-deserved lifetime achievement Oscar and the warm, positive reaction his A Prairie Home Companion received at Berlin last month, the media buzz surrounding Robert Altman is higher than it's been in years (and years and years). It's no surprise, then, that Picturehouse chose this moment to officially launch its marketing campaign for his new film, which opens this June.

In addition to a reassuringly old-school poster, A Prairie Home Companion's new website features a trailer which, finally, give most of us our first look at the movie. As both an Altman fan and (this is really, really embarrassing to admit) a listener to the Garrison Keillor radio show on which the movie is based, I'm this movie's target audience, and the trailer had me eating out of its damn hand. While the film's ability to appeal to people unfamiliar with the radio show (meaning, probably, everyone under 60 who isn't me) is very much in question - that's what Lindsay Lohan is for - everything about the trailer struck me as perfect. The combination of Keillor's distinctive voice and the familiar faces of Altman's all-star cast create a very familiar, comforting atmosphere that is rare in American film these days. The trailer isn't trying to shock or challenge us, or even win us over - instead, it has the very unusual effect of welcoming us home, to a place where everything is just as we left it.

Wow, I can't believe I just wrote something that sappy. Such, apparently, is the power of the damn trailer, for those of us either mentally or physically over 60. Seriously. I just want to sit here and watch it all day (and then maybe take a nap, do some knitting, and watch Wheel of Fortune).

[via JoBlo]