Important historical events have been grist to Hollywood’s mill for literally thousands of years. But the same old boring battles and speeches by kings are used as plot-fodder time and again. Here are some suggestions for amazing films based on less heralded moments in history.

Godzilla vs. MicroBudgetGodzilla!

Ten years of film all neatly rolled into one awesomely epic list of greats! Feast your eyes on the Top 30 Films of the Decade.

Regular visitors to Best For Film will know that we’re a little bit sceptical when it comes to films that rely primarily on CGI effects to impress. Add to that we’re not exactly smitten with the oeuvre of serial planet-abuser Roland Emmerich (seriously, the guy’s destroyed the planet so many times he makes Galactus looks like a sulky toddler in a sand pit) and 2012 isn’t exactly the kind of film we usually look forward to

So it turns out that, contrary to common belief, the world wasn’t entirely obliterated by alien attacks fourteen years ago. If the rumours emanating from Hollywood are believed to be true, it looks like Will Smith will be reprising the role of Captain Steven Hiller not once, but twice, as 20th Century Fox prepare to announce the sequels to 1996’s Independence Day.

It’s been reported that Legendary Pictures – the company behind The Dark Knight and 300 -will be creating a new Godzilla flick, having reached a deal with rights owners Toho. The last time the scaly beast raised its infamous head was in 1998, in a fairly horrendous film by Roland Emmerich. However, it could be that the guys behind The Dark Knight have a bit more to offer. They’re certainly no strangers to creepy city shots and shadowy midnight battles.

On December 11th, The Lovely Bones gets a limited release Stateside, with the full shebang rolling out a whole month later on the 15th. Over in the land of Blightly, we’ll get our fill of Peter Jackson’s latest a full six weeks later on January 29th, pretty much last in the world release queue. Not that we should feel maligned – the release date has been endlessly shunted about (it was originally slated for March 2008), ostensibly to ensure The Lovely Bones a spot on the Oscars shortlist.

The Mayans have spoken, and what they say is that we’re screwed. Cue the effects budget (and sideline sense – if the Mayans knew that much about the future they wouldn’t have got slaughtered by the Conquistadors now, would they?)

Consummate landscape smasher Roland Emmerich isn’t happy, or so it seems, with killing us all off with global warming, Godzilla or Mayan predictive chicanery. No. He wants us to suffer more and more pain, to constantly jack up the glitzy blitz of our apocalypses, trumping our destruction each time with yet another continent-melting conceit. You might even begin to think he’s some sort of sadist. This, to be honest, would explain his palpable delight in noisily offing humanity every other film.

The viral marketing campaign for Roland Emmerich’s big budget disaster movie 2012 has caused real global panic, with thousands inundating NASA with concerned phone calls and emails in the build-up to the film’s release.