Some interesting new info on The Perfect Host in this new review from The Hollywood Reporter!
Black humor turns comically darker in twisty quasi-suspenser The Perfect Host. Although late revelations skew earlier thrills, co-writer/director Nick Tomnay’s feature debut should find suitable opportunities to entertain on both cable and DVD.
Read the rest of this entry »
Nick Tomnay did an interesting interview with The Hollywood Reporter, and accompanying the piece was this new still of David and Clayne Crawford. Cool!
Here’s another review in praise of David’s performance, from Daemon’s Movies.
The Perfect Host, written and directed by first time director Nick Tomnay, is a movie that follows John Taylor (Clayne Crawford, who appears in the new season of 24), a bank robber on the run after a botched bank job, who, using subterfuge, gains entry into the home of Warwick Wilson (David Hyde Pierce – Frasier). Warwick, who is preparing to host a dinner party, starts out the evening being a gracious host but as events start to unwind and identities get revealed, things go from bad to worse.
Read the rest of this entry »
According to Screen Daily, Cinema Management Group has bought the international sales rights to The Perfect Host. CMG boss Ed Noeltner said of his Sundance acquisitions:
“Thanks to CMG’s new partners, the Cleveland Family Trust, and the hands-on involvement in Sundance of Jason and Brian Cleveland, who were very passionate about both titles, we were able to find the right balance between the acquisitions price and the guaranteed marketing spend CMG will be putting behind the films going forward. Both Gasland and The Perfect Host have strong international appeal and we are excited to be introducing them internationally in Berlin next week.”
Sounds like the movie will be at the Berlin Film Festival! Great to hear it will get a wider audience.
Here’s a new interview from Film Slate in which David discusses how he got the Perfect Host role and also his criteria for picking projects.
Now that Sundance 2010 is over, David Hyde Pierce has the chance to rest — if only momentarily – before he embarks on his next acting job. Pierce was at Sundance this year in dual roles — he was starring in The Perfect Host, which premiered at the festival, and closed out the event as host of the awards show on Sunday night.
Read the rest of this entry »
The Guardian Film Blog has an interesting piece about horror/thriller movies at Sundance, which includes a little snippet on The Perfect Host …
David Hyde Pierce has never struck me as a sinister presence – he’s Dr Niles Crane for crying out loud! – but if you look closely there’s something of the night in those piercing eyes and I’ve always found high foreheads to be not entirely trustworthy. Pierce uses his visage and considerable acting chops to good effect in The Perfect Host, an effective psychological thriller in the vein of Sleuth that’s a lot of fun.
Here’s some photos of David’s antics at the Sundance Awards on Saturday! First, rapping solo …
Read the rest of this entry »
Here’s a new, positive review of The Perfect Host from the formidable Variety.
A familiar horror/suspense trope – criminals choose the wrong hideout, discover twisted residents more dangerous than cops – gets entertainingly respun in The Perfect Host. Expanding his 2002 short, Aussie writer-director Nick Tomnay’s US first feature finds David Hyde Pierce and Clayne Crawford playing violent cat-and-mouse captivity games. Unmemorable but diverting, the pic’s slickness, modest scale and TV names are perfect for cable sale.
John (Crawford) has barely left a $300,000 bank robbery when the radio broadcasts that he and his car have already been identified. Needing shelter fast, he bluffs his way into the sleek Hollywood Hills abode of older bachelor Warwick (Pierce), who’s preparing for a dinner party. At first John’s fibs maintain cordiality, but when the truth comes out, he easily overpowers the terrified host. However, Warwick isn’t quite so helpless as he seems. Tables are soon turned, John drugged, bound and at the mercy of an apparent madman. Just when the pic seems to be settling into torture-porn, it begins pulling a series of clever twists – although they lose some punch when you realize the script depends on one whopping coincidence. Perfs are expert, packaging pro if undistinguished.
Thought he was through after the therapy rap? Oh dear god no. David began his hosting duties at Saturday’s Sundance Awards with a version of ‘Boom Boom Pow’ by the Black Eyed Peas, being joined by festival director John Cooper in name-checking many of this year’s prominent movies and performers.
At the Grammys tonight, the award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children went to Buck Howdy for Aaaaah! Spooky, Scary Stories & Songs. David had been nominated for The Phantom Tollbooth.
Congrats, Buck, and hard luck David – and fellow nominees Dean Pitchford (Captain Nobody), Ed Asner (Scat), Harlan Ellison (Through the Looking Glass) and, err, Various Artists (Nelson Mandela’s Favourite African Folktales).
