Playing catch-up with a few recently-released trailers: STRANGE MAGIC, WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, & KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER

Three fun new films saw recent trailer releases

While surfing the cinemascape for fun and worthwhile news and previews, sometimes the occasional trailer gets buried in my “future posts” file and is unintentionally set on the backburner. That’s the case with the first trailers for a few fun upcoming features that were worth sharing before the end of the year, so here’s a quick trailer trio catch-up post for Strange Magic, What We Do in the Shadows, and Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter. Each looks like an enjoyable theater romp in their own right, and they’re all due for release in the near future.

Watch the trailers for Strange Magic, What We Do in the Shadows, and Kimiko, the Treasure Hunter after the jump.

LucasFilm’s Strange Magic teases Shakespeare adaptation

The story for Strange Magic comes from the imagination of George Lucas (as an adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream), so it should be no surprise that the trailer teases an animated adventure featuring forces of good and evil that’s aimed at kids. The movie looks gorgeous, but it’s clearly meant for younger viewers. The latest from Disney could be a great way to kick off the new year if you’ve got kids who love going to the movies.

Here’s the Strange Magic plot synopsis:

Strange Magic is a madcap fairy tale musical inspired by “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Popular songs from the past six decades help tell the tale of a colorful cast of goblins, elves, fairies and imps, and their hilarious misadventures sparked by the battle over a powerful potion.

Strange Magic boasts a voice cast that includes Alan Cumming, Evan Rachel Wood, Kristin Chenoweth, Maya Rudolph, Sam Palladio, Meredeth Anne Bull, Alfred Molina, Elijah Kelley, Bob Einstein, and Peter Stormare. The movie opens in theaters on January 23, 2014.

What We Do in the Shadows follows vampire roommates

Someone pointed out that there’s a very apparent tonal difference in the New Zealand trailer (above; released in April 2014) and the recently-released American-cut trailer for the film (click to watch) for What We Do in the Shadows. Coming from the minds of Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Concords) and Taika Waititi (Eagle vs Shark), the movie should be a comical romp through the ins and outs of surviving as modern-day vampires.

Here’s a plot synopsis for What We Do in the Shadows to fill us in on the comical details:

What We Do in the Shadows chronicles the adventures of four vampire roommates trying to get by in a modern world that’s not always hospitable to the undead. Clement and Waititi, creators of the HBO hit series “Flight of the Conchords,” co-wrote, co-directed, and co-star in this hilarious send-up in which an endearingly unhip quartet of friends reveal to us or, rather, to the documentary crew that’s filming them, the details of their daily-make that nightly-routine. Ranging in age from 183 to 8,000, and in appearance from adorably youthful to Nosferatu-crusty, they squabble over household chores, struggle to keep up with the latest trends in technology and fashion, antagonize the local werewolves, cruise clubs for lovely ladies, and deal with the rigors of living on a very, very strict diet.

What We Do in the Shadows stars Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Rhys Darby, Jonathan Brugh, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Stu Rutherford, and Jackie Van Beck. It’s scheduled for theatrical release on February 13, 2015.

Debunked story of Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter gets trailer

For a while the story that sparked Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter was believed to be a true story until the urban legend was disproven, but that didn’t stop the strange tale from being told on the big screen. The tone of the first trailer is almost as surreal as you’d expect the true story to be, which centers on a woman from Tokyo who goes searching for the buried treasure from the film Fargo, so here’s hoping for an exceptional piece of strange cinema.

Here’s the plot synopsis for Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter for those unfamiliar with the myth:

Kumiko is a frustrated “office lady” whose imagination transcends the confines of her mundane life. Kumiko becomes obsessed with a mysterious, battered VHS tape of a popular film she’s mistaken for a documentary, fixating on a scene where a suitcase of stolen cash is buried in the desolate, frozen landscape of North Dakota. Believing this treasure to be real, she leaves behind Tokyo and her beloved rabbit Bunzo to recover it – and finds herself on a dangerous adventure unlike anything she’s seen in the movies

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter stars Rinko Kikucki as its protagonist as well as the film’s director and writers David and Nathan Zellner. The movie makes its way to theaters on February 27, 2015.