Trailer Watch: 12/04/11

Stake Land

Director: Jim Mickle
Cast: Connor Paolo, Nick Damici, Kelly McGillis, Danielle Harris, Sean Nelson

This has been getting a lot of buzz on the festival circuit and this trailer looks vaguely promising, but didn't blow me away. It's more of an elongated clip with a couple of flashes of action at the end. The clip draws out the tension nicely and is quite effective although I felt it looked a bit cheap and what we saw of the performances seemed a bit weak. The brief glimpses of carnage at the end looked like they were from a totally different film, but looked exciting enough to get my attention. Time will tell whether the whole film is worth watching, but I'm interested.

Midnight in Paris

Director: Woody Allen
Cast: Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, Carla Bruni, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Michael Sheen, Owen Wilson

I had a bit of a turnaround watching this trailer for Woody Allen's latest. It started off looking like a faded facsimile of his previous work, mainly his straight-up relationship 'dramedies' which I've grown pretty tired of, but at the half way mark it looks to actually be one of his more fantastical films such as The Purple Rose of Cairo, which I tend to prefer. Owen Wilson is channeling his inner Woody here which seems like a reasonable fit, although you can see him trying a little too hard at times.

I've avoided the last few Allen movies, but I might give this one a go.

13 Assassins

Director: Takashi Miike
Cast: Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yusuke Iseya Koyata, Goro Inagaki, Masachika Ichimura, Mikijiro Hira

I'm extremely biased as I instantly give anything with a samurai in it an extra couple of stars, but this looks awesome. I know a couple of people who have seen it and it's supposedly a little slow for the first two thirds but then unleashes hell for the last 45 minutes. So yes, I'm sold. Just try and stop me catching this in May.

The Perfect Host

Director: Nick Tomnay
Cast: David Hyde Pierce, Clayne Crawford, Nathaniel Parker

This could go either way. I'm not sure about the goofier elements shown, but I think David Hyde Pierce is an interesting choice for a psychopath. The trailer doesn't convince that it's a great choice, but I'm still interested. I'm not sure about all the dancing bits though and don't they spoil the film at the end of the trailer with the revelation that the dinner party guests are imaginary? I guess that would have to be revealed early on anyway.