What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Dave Boy]

The mighty Mothra heads to New Kirk City to rescue two fairies that have been taken from Infant Island.
Enjoyable classic Japanese monster movie (1961)

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Screaming Skull (1958)

A recently married woman begins to lose her grip on sanity when she and her husband move into their home. She soon comes to believe the ghost of her husband's previous wife has come back to haunt her in the form of a terrifying apparition of a skull.

Although largely unheralded by the majority of critics and seemingly little love in fan circles, to me it's one of the great horror films from fifties America. It has a simple yet highly effective storyline with a twist you probably won't see coming and some decent skull effects and scares.

The director goes for creepy thrills such as banging windows rather than outright crash bang wallop, which together with some nice atmospheric, crisp, black and white photography, propel the film along and make it a worthy addition to any classic horror collector.

This film was part of a Horror Movies 4 You set from Timeless / Shout. It's accompanied by The Vampire, The Bat People and The Vampire Lovers. The Screaming Skull was the reason i bought the set as it uses the original print from Orion Pictures and looks superb for the very first time.

[sjconstable]

X-Men: Days of Future Past - 9/10

Well done Bryan Singer for managing to bridge the gap between his films and the continuity hellhole that was First Class, now we just need to send him back in time to convince his younger self not to make that shitty Superman film, and to make X-Men 3 instead as originally planned!

Roll on X-Men: Apocalypse

[gag]

Originally Posted by gasteropod

X-Men: Days of Future Past - 9/10

Well done Bryan Singer for managing to bridge the gap between his films and the continuity hellhole that was First Class, now we just need to send him back in time to convince his younger self not to make that shitty Superman film, and to make X-Men 3 instead as originally planned!

Roll on X-Men: Apocalypse

Not a fan one bit of these type of film. Didnt see point of restarting Spiderman film, was ok ish but nowt special. never been into Batman and Original Superman films will always be the best to me havent watch any Superman films since. kinda feel they dont make films like they did in day with original Superman feel most films these days are just interested in loads of loud crash bang wallop action with tonnes of special effects and offer nothing else.

[sjconstable]

Originally Posted by gag

Not a fan one bit of these type of film. Didnt see point of restarting Spiderman film, was ok ish but nowt special. never been into Batman and Original Superman films will always be the best to me havent watch any Superman films since. kinda feel they dont make films like they did in day with original Superman feel most films these days are just interested in loads of loud crash bang wallop action with tonnes of special effects and offer nothing else.

In all honesty, Bryan Singer's X-Men films totally aren't that at all, they're complex, multi-layered, plot-driven and have subtext (the reason he made X-Men in the first place was because of him relating to the mutants being ostracised by society, because he is homosexual). I highly recommend you watch X-Men, X2: X-Men United, and X-Men: Days of Future Past.

[Make Them Die Slowly]

Originally Posted by gag

Not a fan one bit of these type of film. Didnt see point of restarting Spiderman film, was ok ish but nowt special. never been into Batman and Original Superman films will always be the best to me havent watch any Superman films since. kinda feel they dont make films like they did in day with original Superman feel most films these days are just interested in loads of loud crash bang wallop action with tonnes of special effects and offer nothing else.

I have recently been converted to the glory of the special effects heavy, plotless mayhem of the modern blockbuster. Shit blows up! What's not to like. Just watched BATTLESHIP in all it's flag waving, chest beating, blowing up of shit idiocy. Though you do have to wonder at the level of damage done to the American psyche in all these post 9/11 blow the shit up films with the USA constantly defending itself against alien attack...

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Make Them Die Slowly

I have recently been converted to the glory of the special effects heavy, plotless mayhem of the modern blockbuster. Shit blows up! What's not to like. Just watched BATTLESHIP in all it's flag waving, chest beating, blowing up of shit idiocy. Though you do have to wonder at the level of damage done to the American psyche in all these post 9/11 blow the shit up films with the USA constantly defending itself against alien attack...

Battleship was great. it seemed as though a seven year old pitched a film to a studio and they ran with it.

"I want giant aliens, and soldiers, and lots of guns, and tanks, and can we have it in the sea cos' i really want boats in it."

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Battleship was great. it seemed as though a seven year old pitched a film to a studio and they ran with it.

"I want giant aliens, and soldiers, and lots of guns, and tanks, and can we have it in the sea cos' i really want boats in it."

Never had any interest in Battleship until just now. You need to work in advertising you could see me anything with talk like that

[Heisenberg]

Got to jump on the Battleship bandwagon as well. Went to the cinema blind to watch it not expecting anything special and came out smiling like a cheshire cat. Was one of those films where you just switch off and enjoy the over the top spectacle. Plus there were a couple of ac/dc songs in there. Think it was the first blu-ray film i bought as well.

Saw Godzilla on Friday as well and although it was a good film, to me it just didnt have the same feeling as some of the old japanese godzilla films. Not saying it was a 'bad' film as i did enjoy it and would say its worth a watch if you are a fan of the genre.

Last film i watched, well just finished watching Bitch Slap. In all honesty i enjoyed it for what it was but the dirty old man in me wishes there was more boobage going on. I mean it was a trashy sort of film but to me it could have been trashier if that makes sense.

Next film on my list is Ms 45 but will be a while as looking for somewhere to buy the least censored version (if anyone is selling it or knows where i can get it from, please feel free to help a new guy to this wonderful world of cult cinema out and send me a pm to advise and ill be very grateful, will even try to write a small review and try to get some screen caps if its not been done already).

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Wrath of the Titans (2012)

The sequel to the remake of The Clash of the Titans, this is more of the same. Fast and furious action intercut with a few scenes of exposition. Don't modern day film makers know what made the original film and its ilk so special? You just want to shout "Whoa boy...Slow down, take a breather, let's have a look around."

It is such a joy to gaze upon the stop motion creatures Ray Harryhausen so lovingly created for his mythical adventures, you could appreciate them for the care taken. With today's non-stop CGI everything passes by so fast. Are they ashamed of their work? Who knows? To me the film works better when it allows it's actors to breathe. It boasts a fine cast. Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Rosamund Pike and Bill Nighy, but they all seem unable or unwilling to take the film by the scruff of it's neck due to whatever blue screen creation is round the corner.

Unfortunately this doesn't hold a candle to the original film or indeed any of the other films Harryhausen worked on. Having said that, Wrath of the Titans is enjoyable for what it is, it's just a shame what it isn't.