Brutal Antichrist a Torture-Porn Nightmare

Controversial film drew gasps, boos

(NEWSER) - Lars von Trier’s Antichrist quickly became the most talked-about film at Cannes, eliciting audience reactions that ran the gamut from laughter to applause to boos at its screening last night, Reuters reports. The film, which one critic called “offensive,” features graphic sexual mutilation and a talking fox, among other questionable elements. Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg star as a couple who go to a remote cabin to wrestle with the grief of losing their only child. More»

It either breaks the vamp-flick mold, or is another sorry entry

(NEWSER) - Critics agree that Daybreakers is visually inventive, but the B-movie charms of this vampire/oil allegory don't snare everyone. Some opinions:

• Willem Dafoe "and his Southern drawl goose things up," Joe Neumaier writes for the New York Daily News , and Ethan Hawke "has a greasy romanticism." But directors the Spierig brothers "seem to lose interest in what they've created, a feeling that's infectious."

(NEWSER) - Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon took the top prize at Cannes today, while Lars Von Triers’ controversial Antichrist was vindicated with a Best Actress award for Charlotte Gainsbourg, the AP reports. French film A Prophet won second place, with Fish Tank and Thirst tying for third. Christoph Waltz took Best Actor for his portrayal of a Nazi in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds. More»

(NEWSER) - The Cannes Film Festival unveiled this year’s roster today, and it’s packed with regulars like Ang Lee, Pedro Almodovar, and Terry Gilliam, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Among the most buzzed-about selections is Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino’s violent World War II pic. Anticipation is also high for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus; Heath Ledger’s last film, directed by Gilliam, will screen out of competition. More»

Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones return for alien flick

(NEWSER) - Sure, no one was that desperate for a Men in Black 3—but it's actually a pretty good summer movie. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are back defending the planet from aliens, and this time, Josh Brolin's along for the ride as a young Jones.

• The movie "turns out to be so much fun," writes AO Scott in the New York Times . While it "carefully fulfills its blockbuster imperatives—with chases and explosions and elaborately contrived plot twists—it swerves into some marvelously silly, unexpectedly witty, and genuinely fresh territory."