It am curious about the critical reception Melancholia will get when released in the US. The only von Trier film American critics have liked since the undeniable Breaking the Waves in 1997 is The Boss of it All (metacritic 71). I defended him when both Dogville (meta. 59) and Manderlay (46) were grossly underrated in our country. However, Antichrist was a big disappointment for me and felt it deserved the harsh criticism it received from a number of well-known critics (meta. 49). Trier will always be a "director to follow" for me. He's always...interesting, I'd say. But, after what I consider his second interesting failure in a row, I figure his best period may have passed. Antichrist and Melancholia, which I just watched, are indicative of a filmmaker who has run out of things to say, one shackled by a worldview that is too narrow, schematic and constricting. One major problem for me is that Trier has lost any interest in characterization, seems to have lost interest in human beings in all their nuance and complexity. There are always interesting moments in these films and images of awesome power but not nearly enough to sustain this viewer for the duration of the films. Predicted Metacritic score for Melancholia? 50.