Trailer for 'The Host 2' Emerges from the Deep

South Korea's The Host was one of the best movies of 2007, a real turning point in monster movies. It's got more going for it than Cloverfield, in my opinion, even though it didn't get the hype and it doesn't use the hand-held camera technique. Now there's a sequel on the way, and that could be a good thing or a bad thing, I suppose. I've found that especially with a movie that has no inroads for you, like a director you really admire or stars you grew up with, they can become these terrific discoveries and they can lose some of their luster if you start seeing t-shirts for it everywhere or they do a big budget remake. Sequels can fall in that category. On the other hand, if the first one was so good, there's a natural tendency to believe that returning to that story armed with a little more cash and a little more confidence should make a worthwhile follow-up. It doesn't always happen that way. But I'm holding out hope for The Host 2, even though director Joon-ho Bong is not back behind the camera. Here's the 30-second teaser, courtesy of Ropes of Silicon. Expect to see The Host 2 in theaters next year, and if you haven't checked out the first film, do yourself a favor and rent it this weekend.

Sequels, Sequels Everywhere!

Alex Billington at First Showing, who is typically half-full in my half-empty glass, has gone to the trouble of rounding up a bunch of news about sequels. Contrary to what you may think, I really don't have it in for sequels as long as you can a perfectly good reason for them. I just don't happen to think money is that reason. And the films in question are all quite good in their original forms, so while I wouldn't necessarily mind a return visit to those worlds, I do still need some convincing on a couple of them.

300 Collider has learned from producer Gianni Nunnari that a sequel is brewing, and that Zack Snyder and Frank Miller are in discussions with the producers about what that will be. I have a hunch they'll regret this. I don't have any idea who the hero will be (Lena Headey?) unless they do a prequel. Still, I'd say easily half of the film's draw was the visual style and fight footage. Another 35% or so was probably the novelty. Exactly how is more of that same thing going to be just as interesting? Even if it's a good sequel, that's all it will ever be, I'm afraid. I think they could be painting themselves into a corner here. The Host This is one of the best movies we saw in 2007. It nearly made our top ten of the year (it was number 12 on our list) and unlike 300, a sequel makes narrative sense. There are ways to make this work, to move things around, where it can be good and original. They don't even have to use the monster this time. I wish it had a slightly bigger budget ($12 million is the reported figure in Variety) but I'm not nearly as concerned about the other things with this as I am 301 or 300: II or whatever it'll be.

Click to read more ...