….The twenty-first century received a Jaws echo, in the form of Discovery Channel’s annual Shark Week and SyFy’s original monster movies, most of which take Jaws as their template. The monster is usually aquatic, so the film can feature lots of beach footage and bathing suits. As in Jaws, the protagonists usually must face both the monster and corrupt officials. To that SyFy adds terrible CGI and has-been actors. While Sharktopus may be the most well-known (with an opening that directly references the start of Jaws), the best of a bad lot is probably 2011’s Swamp Shark. It stars the original Buffy, who has switched from vampires to another toothy foe.

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Last week a remake of Total Recall, starring Colin Farrell, came out. The film dumps the “Get Your Ass To Mars” aspect of things in favor of a more topical political theme. Consequently, the film has also gotten mixed reviews.

Have you seen it? Give your thoughts in the comments.

The team of Nolan, Goyer and Bale have assembled the final chapter in their Batman saga. It’s got pretty stiff competition from superhero films this summer, as well as competing with the legacy from the first two chapters. Does it make the cut?

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Godzilla had a message about the atomic age; Rodan featured creatures out of their time, and it raised concerns about what developments in science and exploitation of the earth might unleash. Mothra, well…

“We promise you no one will ever disturb you or your island again.”

— Shin’ichi Chûjô (Hiroshi Koizumi)

Although not as well-loved as the first two¹ kaiju monsters, Mothra, in many ways, receives a cinematographically superior debut, and is arguably the best-directed of the original Japanese giant monster movies. Even its nationalist (and some argue, racist) elements bear thoughtful consideration, if one views the film from Japan’s point-of-view in ’61.

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Spider-man swings back into the theaters, with new actors, a new director, a mutated origin, and brand-new webs of continuity.

Given how recent the Raimi/Maguire franchise is, I won’t even try to avoid occasional comparisons. Better questions remain, however: does this film hold up on its own, and will it appeal to the fans?

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Just as the Marvel films built broader recognition for their characters and developed a continuity that would come to fruition in The Avengers so, perhaps, did SyFy plan this film. Years of low-budget creature features like Sharktopus and Jersey Shore Shark Attack established their reputation for really bad monster movies. Then, they announce this thing, a low-rent, tabloid-influenced Kong knock-off starring Barry “Greg Brady” Williams, Danny “Partridge” Bonaduce, and featuring Alice Cooper.

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Two very different fantasy films open this weekend. Here’s the place to discuss either, both, or the imaginary crossover.

Summertime in the Northern Hemisphere, and many big-budget genre flicks hit the big screen and get reviewed on the small one. Summer also presents opportunities for kicking back, and some of our weekend reviews will harken to drive-in and creature feature classics of the past. Today, we return to 1956, and Japan’s third kaiju film: the first to feature someone other than the Big G.

The American release of Rodan makes fewer changes than were wreaked upon Gojira, but the U.S. still managed to cheese-up an already cheesy film, draining much of the tension from it. The original Japanese film should be sought out where possible.

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Joe Cornish of Attack the Block fame will write and direct an adaptation of Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash for Paramount.

Casting suggestions? Who would be the ideal Hiro Protagonist? Y.T.?