Lars von Trier

CHICAGO – Mark your calendars for Thursday, April 12th at 7pm as Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com participates in “Cinema Slapdown,” presented by the Film & Video Department at Columbia College in Chicago. Screening at the event is the film “Melancholia,” directed by Lars von Trier, followed by a “debate” between McDonald and Penelope Steiner of Peneflix.com. The exchange will be “refereed” by Film & Video Associate Professor and “Talk Cinema” host Ron Falzone.

CHICAGO – Lars Von Trier’s incredible “Melancholia” gets better both in memory and on repeat viewing, especially with a pristine, jaw-dropping transfer like the one granted it by Magnolia on their recently-released Blu-ray. It may have been left out of all Academy Award categories but this was easily one of the best movies of last year. And the few before that as well. Most people missed it in theaters. Catch up on Blu-ray.

CHICAGO – Lars Von Trier’s “Melancholia” is a mesmerizing, haunting portrayal of the world-shattering force of depression from a filmmaker who has first-hand knowledge of the debilitating disease. With career-best work by Kirsten Dunst and some of the most confident filmmaking from its controversial director, this is one of the best films of 2011, a stunningly original examination of that which is completely out of our control.

CHICAGO – One of the most reliable scenarios in the horror movie playbook is the satanic possession of a human character. “Antichrist” is about a woman who isn’t possessed, but is nevertheless absolutely convinced that she is an instrument of the devil. This is a much scarier premise, since the greatest horrors externalized in the film are spawned entirely from the woman’s unstable psyche, deranged by guilt.

CHICAGO – Daniel Stamm makes films that, to quote a character from his first drama, “Play with the boundaries of what is comfortable to document.” His first work was a dark character piece called “A Necessary Death” about a filmmaker’s efforts to film an actual suicide.

CHICAGO – The legendary Willem Dafoe, star of modern classics like “Platoon” and “Shadow of the Vampire,” is still one of the hardest working men in Hollywood. He has two films opening this week, a cameo role in “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant” and a lead in the controversial “Antichrist,” which he brought to the 45th Chicago International Film Festival and took time for an interview with HollywoodChicago.com.

CHICAGO – Willem Dafoe, the intense and excitable actor in so many classic films, walked the red carpet at the Chicago International Film Festival October 12th, representing the premiere of his new film with director Lars von Trier, “Antichrist.”

CHICAGO – Lars von Trier opens his brilliant “Europa” by literally trying to hypnotize his audience. A barely lit train track moves slowly across the screen as Max von Sydow calmly incants a hypnotizing speech and countdown. “On the count of ten, you will be in Europa.” Is he speaking to the audience or to the man who just appeared on the screen when he says, “You are in Germany. The year is 1945.”?