Lars von Trier, the man behind DogVille, is a moviemaker who hates movies. Why else would he shoot a film on a soundstage with only black (for night) and white (for day) backdrops, chalk drawings for houses and minimal props? And why would he make this whole damnable mess about a girl victimized by smalltown ignorance and cruelty three f***ing hours long? DogVille should not be reviewed in FiRST but in some high art magazine; we smalltown Pasir Ris philistines are simple not up to the task of contemplating the giant mind of the great Lars von Trier.
- review of Dogville in FiRST magazine (Feb 2004 issue), which garnered a one-star rating when even Jerry Yen and Sammi Cheng's Magic Kitchen got a 2.5 star rating in the same issue

I don't know what irks me more: that they had to explain explicitly that black backdrops are for day and white for night; or that they are "simple not up to the task of contemplating the giant mind of the great Lars von Trier" (and SIMPLY not up to the task of being grammatically correct either). Or their claim that Lars von Trier hates movies, or their sheer ignorance which made them give the film a one-star rating, much worse than even Magic Kitchen.

I've tried to support local film publications but you know what, I'm going to hang onto my hard-earned money.