WATCH: Man Of Steel [2013]

Straight off the bat Man of Steel informs you in such an awe-inspiring manner that it is a science-fiction action film. It also holds no punches in keeping you aware that Clark Kent, the lone wanderer who has taken the form of Henry Cavill under Hugh Jackman's style tutelage, is a man not of our world destined to become DC Comics' other famous superhero. The tingles that Han Zimmer's soundtrack sent down millions of spines when the third international trailer aired earlier this year resonates once more as every single note spells hope for the race that the Man of Steel is trying to save.

WATCH: The Last Supper [1995]

 It's a shame that Stacy Title's macabre tale of homicide gone awry is not up there on everyone's viewing list. It is also a shame that this seems to be the director's only prevalent work. It oozes with originality and asks that question 'If you could prevent Hitler from killing millions by killing him before he became evil, would you?'.

The Last Supper features several familiar faces, the fresh-faced Cameron Diaz, Annabeth Gish, Sleepers' Ron Eldard, Courtney B Vance and Jonathan Penner as five post-grad friends who live together in a quiet part of Iowa finishing their Masters studies. As tradition, every Sunday one of the housemates invites a guest over for dinner with the prime focus being a discussion on belief encompassing all sociological branches.

WATCH: World War Z [2013]

Difficult is the task of ridding yourself of previous knowledge of a printed novel before venturing into its screen adaptation. Not as taxing, however, with Marc Forster's adaptation of the best-selling Max Brooks novel of the same name. Stranger Than Fiction [2006] is one of my favourite films of the past ten years and I was interested to see how this zombie horror would translate onto the big screen. I had a lot of unrealised faith in Forster before I had started, having thoroughly enjoyed Finding Neverland [2004] and Quantum Of Solace [2008] - a Bond flick that I found emotionally taxing on our spy hero compared to most reviewers' opinions on it being a weak entry in the series.

After a harrowing look at the current nihilistic state of the world interspersed with ravenous animals in the opening credits we are invited to the home of the Lanes (Brad Pitt and Mireille Enos). Brad Pitt takes the lead role of Gerry Lane, a former UN employee - his exact job description never revealed but hinted at as being in the field in some manner - who is now a stay-at-home father to watch his children grow up. The casting here distracted me from paying attention to the story, Brad Pitt just doesn't look like he has aged. Maybe a little tired around the eyes, but Mireille's casting makes him look a lot younger than he is depicted. That's not a negative remark on Mireille's age whatsoever, but Pitt does look somewhat of a toyboy.

LISTEN: Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks [2013]

With sprawling electro-fist pumpers strewn across an eclectic eighth album, Nine Inch Nails have returned with Hesitation Marks on the latter eve of first single Come Back Haunted. A taster, if you will, back then of what to expect from Trent Reznor's industrial tour-de-force. It would be naive to suggest that Reznor is the only driving member of the band but here again, as made evident from 2008's The Slip, each individual has a part to play. This album is meant to be played loud. Nine Inch Nails, similar to Tool, want you to not just listen, but feel the very strength behind their works.

WATCH: Carrie [1976]

To get myself in the mood for its impending horror remake, I took to a viewing of Brian De Palma's Carrie starring Sissy Spacek in the titular role, featuring a delightfully terrifying turn from Piper Laurie as Margeret, Carrie's hyper-religious mother. A definite theme here then, what with Mrs Carmody from The Mist, with Stephen King and his employment of fanatics throughout his work. One thing is certainly clear to me, this is not a horror - at least, not by today's standards. It is definitely a psychological thriller with lashings of the paranormal. However, these lashings are infrequent opposite to how the paraphenalia attributing to the film's cult status would suggest.

It reminds one of the unnerving feeling that The Shining (another King) delivered. Whereas that movie orbited around isolation, hauntings and mental breakdowns, here we see a girl who, timid and bullied, deservedly gains the telekinetic powers she uses to wreak havoc in the film's savage finale.

WATCH: Snowtown [2011]

I seldom approach films with the subtitle 'Based On A True Story' or 'Inspired By Real Events'. However, there was something about Justin Kurzel's debut Australian feature-length, based on the 1999 Barrel Murders of Snowtown, Adelaide wherein eight bodies were found dismembered in barrels. Snowtown is bleak, depressing and has a colour palette that blurs between faded candy coatings to dirty tapwater. The actors are sweaty and their hair greasy. But these aren't bad points, these are a gloriously rendered series images from Lucas Pittaway's introductory monologue as Jamie, right through to this hard story's bitter end. It branches from an ambiguous sexual abuse incident involving Jamie, his younger brothers and a male neighbour. While his mother Elizabeth (Louise Harris) is out on a date, the neighbour photographs the boys naked. Ambiguity hangs in the air during this scene, as any molestation is only hinted at when we see the neighbour sit down at the kitchen table naked in the aftermath.

WATCH: The Mist [2007]

Frank Darabont and Stephen King have a definite rapport with onscreen pairings, similar to Danny Boyle and Alex Garland, they just work well. So much so that King, who is said to be difficult to please when it comes to film adaptations of his work, thoroughly enjoyed the devastatingly bleak ending that The Mist delivers. Darabont's interpretation, while the CGI looks comparatively dated, hits all the right notes when it comes to human struggle, survival and desperation. Touching on familiar tones like xenophobia, religious extremism and suicide in a world that has lost control without any explanation as to how or why before the body count starts racking up.

Using familiar faces to those who have seen the Darabont-produced The Walking Dead, and an excellent star-making turn with Thomas Jane, the delivery of this tale of survival in enclosed spaces is perilous and harrowing to endure. But that's what makes it a powerful watch. David Drayton (Thomas Jane) is a successful graphic artist who lives with his wife and son in familiar King-territory Maine. A violent thunderstorm uproots a large tree in the garden and the boathouse. Drayton, who is on previously unfriendly terms with his neighbour, Brent (Andre Braugher), set aside their differences as a means to help each other out by taking a trip to the local store now that Brent's car is completely destroyed.