Opening in theaters on February 3rd is the new horror film from director Ti West (The House of the Devil) called The Innkeepers. Set in a haunted inn on its final weekend before going out of business, the movie stars Sara Paxton (Shark NIght 3D), Pat Healy (Dirty Girl), Lena Dunham (Tiny Furniture), and Kelly McGillis (Top Gun). 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had an opportunity to sit down and speak with director Ti West, as well as actress Sara Paxton about The Inkeepers. The duo spoke openly about the new movie, West's goal to make a "charming ghost story," casting Paxton in her role, what it was like for the actress to play a nerdy character for a change, "going Costanza," and what it was like for both of them to shoot a haunted house movie in an actual real-life haunted house. 

Synopsis:  After over one hundred years of service, The Yankee Pedlar Inn is shutting its doors for good. The last remaining employees -Claire and Luke - are determined to uncover proof of what many believe to be one of New England's most haunted hotels. As the Inn's final days draw near, odd guests check in as the pair of minimum wage "ghost hunters" begin to experience strange and alarming events that may ultimately cause them to be mere footnotes in the hotel's long unexplained history.

A sequel to Top Gun is one of those ideas that just keeps coming up, even twenty-five years after the first film set a new standard for swaggering, jingoistic action and thinly-veiled, possibly accidental homoeroticism.  Last year, it actually seemed like it could maybe potentially possibly happen when original director Tony Scott and Oscar-winning screenwriter started talking about a new aerial adventure for Maverick to again star Tom Cruise.  That sort of talk quieted down pretty quickly, but it looks like Paramount is still looking to fly again, as frequent blockbuster writers Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz have been hired to write a new Top Gun 2 screenplay.

It looks like the first half of 2012 will be a real proving ground for the viability of 3D theatrical re-releases for familiar properties.  In February, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace will be the first Star Wars movie to hit screens in 3D, followed by a yearly re-release of the remaining five movies in the series.  James Cameron, who took the format to new commercial heights with Avatar, brings his second-biggest movie back with a 3D reissue of Titanic scheduled for April.  Now, it looks like jingoistic, swaggering 80's action will have its moment in 2012, too, as Top Gun is apparently being converted into three dimensions and is tentatively set for early 2012.

Opening in theaters in Los Angeles on April 29th is the new Post-Apocalyptic vampire/zombie movie by director Jim Mickle called Stake Land. The film boasts a stellar cast that includes Connor Paolo (Gossip Girl), Nick Damici (The Black Donnellys), Danielle Harris (Halloween), Michael Cerveris (Fringe), Sean Nelson (American Buffalo), and Kelly McGillis (Top Gun, Witness). We recently had a chance to sit down with actress Danielle Harris to discuss the new film, her role, and her experience working with director Jim Mickle.

At this point, vampires have completely saturated the pop-culture marketplace, and postapocalyptic tales are ever more common in the mainstream as well, but that doesn't mean that either can't still be fodder for good movies.  Stake Land, the new independent feature from director Jim Mickle, received very strong reviews at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, and from the look of this trailer, the film is about as far from Twilight as you can possibly get.  Mickle's post apocalyptic America recalls John Hillcoat's in The Road, and his vampires look enthusiastically vicious.  Forget about sparkly bloodsuckers with the Stake Land trailer.