Fans of Takashi Miike and Woody Allen have long shared much in common. An appreciation of the funny things in life, a fondness for the clever use of subtitles, and a hardened love of unremitting violence.

So both legions of cinemagoers will be excited to see the new trailers for each of their latest features. The main thing they have in common? They're both rather awesome.

13 Assassins (to all intents and purposes an extreme remake of Seven Samurai) is an odd direction for Woody Allen to take. Certainly, there's a man fighting out of his depth against the current of society, but the screenplay seems to replace witty one-liners with the bloody severing of limbs.

It's not an unwelcome decision, but it is unexpected. After hitting Barcelona and London, he probably just came up with the idea to get a free trip to Japan. Here's hoping for a blood-splattered Annie Hall. At least he hasn't cast himself as one of the samurai - that would be embarrassing, especially with the glasses and everything.

Verdict Better than Cassandra's Dream.

Even more surprising than Woody Allen's 13 Assassins is Takashi Miike's Midnight in Paris.

A tale of romance and awkward neuroses, it's a blend of old-school Jewish humour and intellectual buffoonery - in other words, nothing like anything the Audition director has done before. And that includes family-friendly superhero flick Zebraman.

Owen Wilson is a great choice for the lead, but after all the accordion music pumped over the top, you do wonder when exactly he'll get a sword out and start hacking French people to bits. Or at least get down to some solid rape. Although Carla Bruni's way too classy for that.

Verdict Needs more violence.