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Some people complain about their life unraveling, but it's rarely as pronounced as in this whimsical, bizarre short from a young Colombian visualist already on par with mighty artists like Michel Gondry. Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for information on registering to watch films and to learn whether your computer meets the hardware and bandwidth requirements .
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Brief Summary: Set in one night in a seedy hotel, cult Novelist Eric Shapiro’s debut feature intertwines two stories of sexual encounters gone horribly awry. Full Description: US Premiere Winner, best actor, Ben Siegler, Fantasia Film Festival 2008 "This is refreshing, exciting indie cinema, and the rule here is to see it when you get the chance." - Ryan Levey, Fangoria “Shapiro’s transition from novelist to feature filmmaker delivers on every promise with a rare and engrossing work whose qualities can perhaps best be likened to a darker PT Anderson or Steven Soderbergh” – Mitch Davis, Fantasia Film Festival Twenty-something Lo (Rhoda Jordan), checks into a roadside motel with her boyfriend for a bit of innocent sexual exploration. In the same hotel, a dowdy middle-aged businessman is planning for his own romantic rendezvous, a first sexual encounter with a co-worker that he feels might turn out better if Rohipnol is in the mix. Neither encounter works out according to plan, and as the stories cleverly intertwine, the tension swirls to a gut-punch climax. Novelist/ essayist Eric Shapiro directs his debut feature with a sure hand and stretches his budget by cleverly limiting the action to the claustrophobic interior of one seedy hotel. Instead of a large budget, Shipiro substitutes exceptional writing to move the story briskly forward and keep the audience fully engaged. His cast of relative newcomers execute the naturalistic dialogue flawlessly, in particular Ben Siegler (THE WEST WING) as Lo’s anxious father and Rodney Eastman (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM ST. 3 & 4) as a particularly loathsome drug dealer. RULE OF THREE is exactly the type of film we are seeking in the Next Wave competition, a young first-time director storming out of the gate with a sack full of talent, a mature understanding of cinema and a strong story to tell. (Tim League) Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for information on registering to watch films and to learn whether your computer meets the hardware and bandwidth requirements .
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Chaos Reigns in Austin this Weekend!

Lars von Trier’s ANTICHRIST may be the most provocative and controversial film of the last 30 years. It is explicit, it is challenging, it is grotesque, it has been called offensive, misogynistic and dangerous…but it has also been called a masterpiece and perhaps the Danish auteur’s finest work.

Charlotte Gainsbourg (who won best Actress for the role at Cannes) and Willem Defoe star as an unnamed couple seeking comfort in their country home after the sudden death of their child. While in their forest retreat, as summed up by the unofficial slogan of Fantastic Fest ‘09, “chaos reigns.”

See this movie.

It opens at the Alamo Ritz this weekend. For those who can’t wait, we have added a midnight screening on Thursday, Nov 19. Tickets and info for all shows available here.

Praise for Antichrist:

“This is von Trier’s biggest accomplishment. He has created a world that is true to its own ghastly, shifting logic.” -Sukhdev Sandhu, Times [UK]

“Sure to shock, offend and astound in equal portions while proving hugely divisive over the nature of its content, ANTICHRIST is arguably the most visually striking of his career, certainly the most transgressive, and ample proof that cinema is still more than capable of shocking.” -Todd Brown, Twitch

“WHAT IS CERTAIN IS THAT SERIOUS FILM PEOPLE ON SEVERAL CONTINENTS WILL BE TALKING ABOUT VON TRIER’S LATEST AFFRONT, DEFENDING OR DERIDING IT, FINDING IT HARD TO IGNORE. SHORT OF A FLAT-OUT MASTERPIECE, WHAT MORE CAN MOVIES OFFER?” – Richard & Mary Corliss, Time Magazine

“A MUST SEE…SOME KIND OF MANIACAL MASTERWORK. SOME OF THE IMAGES CREATED BY VON TRIER CAN NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.” – Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

“I Don’t think I breathed for the last half – out of shock, out of stress, out of disbelief. This is to say that von Trier had us all.”  – Wesley Morris, The Boston Globe

“…I would be lying if I didn’t admit that this impossible movie kept me hooked from start to finish.”  – Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

“Whether this is a bad, good or great film is entirely beside the point. It is an audacious spit in the eye of society. It says we harbor an undreamed-of capacity for evil. It transforms a psychological treatment into torture undreamed of in the dungeons of history. Torturers might have been capable of such actions, but they would have lacked the imagination. Von Trier is not so much making a film about violence as making a film to inflict violence upon us, perhaps as a salutary experience…
ANTICHRIST is powerfully made film. The performances by Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg are heroic and fearless. Von Trier’s visual command is striking. And if you can think beyond what he shows to what he implies, its depths are frightening. IT IS A REAL FILM. Von Trier has reached me and shaken me.” – Roger Ebert ,Chicago Sun-Times

Fantastic Fest fav BRONSON opens in Austin!

bronson-blogNo, it’s not a movie about the late, great asskicker Charles Bronson.  It’s a movie about the notorious British inmate Michael Peterson, whose self-chosen alias Charles Bronson only skims the surface of how much ass he kicks.  This movie is the real deal and it took Fantastic Fest by storm.  And now it opens for a full theatrical run in Austin!  OK, it’s not at the Alamo, it’s at the Arbor cinema, but whatever, we don’t care.  This movie is too good not to hype.

Tom Hardy plays Peterson with so much vengeful humor, you can’t take your eyes off him.  So good, in fact, he’ll be stepping into Mel Gibson’s shoes as the new Mad Max in George Miller’s sequel FURY ROAD!

But Hardy’s not the only one to watch- best keep your eyes on director Nicolas Winding Refn too.  He creates in this film such a unique vision, so vaudevillian violent, we can’t wait to see what he serves up next.

Fantastic Fest programmer Blake Etheridge spoke with Refn recently and recorded a video ‘hello’ to the Fantastic Fest audience.  Check it out here! He couldn’t make it to the fest this year because he and his wife just had a new baby, but plan on seeing him at Fantastic Fests to come.

If you were lucky enough to catch BRONSON at Fantastic Fest, then tell your friends to go see it.  And you should go see it again.

When it reigns, it pours

antichrist-web

Two simple if nihilistic words uttered by one self-disemboweling fox in Lars von Trier’s ANTICHRIST have the cultural momentum to become THE catchphrase of the decade and, God willing, one hell of a self-fulfilling revelation.

Vulture, New York Magazine’s culture blog, picked up on the story, and once again our beloved Fantastic Fest and Mondo Tees have been inextricably tied to the phenomenon.

Read the whole article here.

CHAOS REIGNS!!

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