
Lars von Trier’s latest descent into hell -- Antichrist -- is just the latest in a long line of stomach-wrenching shockers.
By
Ed Gibbs on Thursday, Nov. 26 2009, 06:19 PM
88 Comments Death, despair and genital mutilation: only a great Dane could fuse all three into one brilliantly bleak, guaranteed nausea-inducing piece of cinema... which seems to blame all the evil in the world on women, though Lars von Trier begs to differ.
Antichrist is definitely out there, but shock and awe in cinema are hardly anything new. Think back to Luis Buñuel's queasy, eyeball-slicing Un Chien Andalou (1929) -- arguably the birth of the movie 'shocker' -- Tod Browning's grotesque Freaks (1933), or any number of early films whose now-tame titilations terrified the censors of the time. Since then, movies have been an ongoing magnet for controversy, from Deep Throat (1972) to The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) to Kids (1995), while some -- such as Cannibal Holocaust (1980) -- resulted in the trial of their directors before the courts. Here, then, are 10 of the most controversial....

Exclusive: We tap the cast for hints on what to expect - could there be 5 films?
By
Rosamund Witcher on Thursday, Nov. 26 2009, 03:31 AM
76 CommentsThe Twilight Saga: New Moon has been in cinemas for almost a week. So, depending on your feelings towards sparkly vampires and extremely buff werewolves, you will either have seen it three times already (ZOMG RPattz!) or avoided it altogether. Either way, the fandemonium has subsided enough for us to look to the future. It's just seven months until Eclipse, the third instalment of Stephanie Meyer's popular book series, hits the big screen. RT caught up with the cast in LA's Four Seasons hotel during their manic New Moon press tour to get the latest on the eagerly anticipated film. We learned that Robert Pattinson hates pranks, Nikki Reed loves werewolves and got the strongest indication yet that there may well be a fifth film. Read on to find out more...

The man behind this year's hit horror-comedy reveals the films behind the man
By
Luke Goodsell on Tuesday, Nov. 24 2009, 09:09 PM
24 CommentsFilmmaker Ruben Fleischer is having a very good 2009. The former music video director has seen his debut feature, Zombieland, open at number one at the US box office and take in nearly $75 million domestically, while earning an impressive 89% Fresh rating from critics -- not bad for a horror-comedy road movie revolving around the undead. With the film about to open in Australia, we got the chance to catch up with Ruben and ask him his five favorite films. And a fine list it is, too.

The notorious director discusses 2009's most controversial film, horror, what scares him the most... and talking foxes
By
Luke Goodsell on Monday, Nov. 23 2009, 08:03 PM
34 CommentsDanish auteur Lars von Trier is used to controversy following his films; some of his critics have even accused him of courting it for sensationalism and reaction. Yet even with a career that contains the likes of The Idiots (rich kids mocking the handicapped), Dancer in the Dark (which drove star Bjork to never act again) and Dogville (leveled with charges of misogyny and anti-Americanism), the director's latest may be his crowning achievement in outrage. When it debuted at Cannes earlier this year, Antichrist -- starring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg as a grieving couple who retreat to idyllic woodland where all Hell breaks loose -- was so appalling to some in its graphic, sexual violence that it prompted uproar (and even a special "anti-humanitarian" prize from the jury). But are the critics really getting what von Trier is playing at? And does he even know himself? Moreover, who's got the better talking fox -- he or Wes Anderson?

On why he's such a petrol head.
By
Joe Utichi on Monday, Nov. 16 2009, 04:21 PM
11 CommentsNot a lot of people know that actor Eric Bana, familiar to most from roles in the likes of Star Trek, Munich and Ang Lee's Hulk, is a massive petrol head. With the release of Love the Beast, Bana aims to change that. It's a love letter to his pride and joy, a Ford GT Falcon Coupe which he's owned since he was 15, a documentary about his obsession with it and with racing, and the mourning attached to his crash during the Targa rally in 2007. Along the way Bana interviews the likes of Jeremy Clarkson, Jay Leno and Dr. Phil as he attempts to understand his passion better. In London to promote the UK release -- it's out on DVD now -- Bana sat down with RT to talk more about his pride and joy.