Southland Tales (2007)

I think the producers' idea with this movie was that if you have an artsy sci fi basic plot, add a well known director in Richard Kelly and add in a host of recognisable actors, people will flock to see your movie. Whether people were actually sucked in by this and went and saw it in theatres, I don't know, but I just saw it on cable and it sure did suck, big time.The plot, if you can call it that, is random at best and generally quite boring and pretentious. The actors are mostly 80s/90s has-beens, eg Christopher Lambert, John Larroquette, or B-grade idols of teens, eg Justin Timberlake, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar.And then, the crowning glory - the movie is 2 hrs 24 minutes long! No marks for editing either.Only thing preventing this from being a 1/2-star movie is the Justin Timberlake dream sequence in the middle, involving JT lip-synching The Killers' "All these things that I've done", with an army of nurses. Very cool.

For those of you that don't know, 'Southland Tales' is the second film from (Donnie Darko-acclaimed) writer/director Richard Kelly. After the success of Darko, he was given a much bigger budget to play with for his next feature and the stars queued up to be in it. How could it possibly fail? It did.And I was quite saddened by the reaction from viewers and critics alike (because I really loved it!). Yes, if you're thinking of watching Southland Tales, know that most people absolutely loathed it. They described it as unwatchable, too complicated and not making any sense.And they're probably right. But I still love it anyway. For a start, it's set in the same 'Darko' universe and, like its predecessor, is a mixture of genres. Ultimately, it's an 'end-of-the-world' film, but it encompasses comedy, romance, action, musical, thriller, science fiction and even political satire on the constant 'war' on terrorism.It has numerous characters, all of which are playing their part in the overall story. However, this is where the 'haters' start to build their argument. There are so many characters that none of them (bar Dwayne Johnson possibly) are really afforded the screen time they deserve. Hence we never really know an awful lot about them and then suddenly they're killed off and we're left none the wiser to what they were really about.Then you have the narration. There's an old saying in the writing world: 'Show, don't tell.' Here, Southland Tales simply tells half of the important plot points through a narrator and various fictional shots from the internet. Again, this does give off the feeling of being a bit rushed.But, if you can get over the many minus points, you'll find that Southland Tales is actually quite a novel story, told in a very slick and stylish way. Some of the scenes are almost visually hypnotic and the soundtrack (courtesy of Moby) certainly adds to the mood.If you've seen Donnie Darko, you may know what to expect. Don't think you're going to get any quick answers to what's going on. You may find you're looking up answers on the internet as to what Southland Tales is all about. That prospect may not appeal to everyone, so, if you're one of them, don't bother watching this. However, I'll just sit back and enjoy the experience. I don't claim to understand everything and I'll never say it's a perfect film. However, I found it perfect for me.

On July 4, 2005, nuclear explosions devastate Texas. It's the start of WWIII. America turns militaristic. Three years later, California is the key to the presidential race. Republicans are generally winning politics. There is a leftist neo-Marxist movement. There is a new government force USIDent which controls cyberspace and surveillance. Middle east oil is cut off and scientists have developed a new power source Fluid Karma using quantum entanglement. Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson) is a key republican who goes missing and returns with amnesia. He has info with Krysta Kapowski (Sarah Michelle Gellar) who is reality porn star Krysta Now. Roland Taverner (Seann William Scott) is a cop or a copy of the cop who is giving Santaros a ride-along.This is an ambitious movie from Richard Kelly who made Donnie Darko. He's allowed to be let loose and that is its major problem. It has so much that it becomes quite a mess. It has way too much. It is unexplainable and illogical. It's a conspiracy nut's wet dream. Somebody needs to hold him back. There are bits and pieces that I really like. I love SWS watching his delayed reflection. I like some of the silly humor. Generally, I don't like the cinematography or directing style or the overly complicated world. It looks like a cheap compromise. I appreciate the ambition but this is not a good movie in most sense. It is a mishmash of weird ideas.

I saw this opening day in a NYC AMC, on 19th st if I remember correctly. Mid day showing, quarter full theater and only a handful of people were left when the Written and Directed by Richard Kelly credit came on. Southland Tales never had it easy. An infamous bomb in Cannes that can never shed that toxic reputation, it must have been a sobering experience for Kelly. The man gave it his all, with a messy, throw everything including the kitchen sink attitude into this film - but the result is a bloated fiasco that seems to stroke Kelly's ego, which must have deflated quickly after the screening. The film is complete nonsense, yet there is something about this footage which seems piece-mealed together by an editor with a vendetta against Kelly, that is actually watchable. The large cast full of pop culture A, B and C listers, are on board 100% with this thing and they go down swinging and are all committed to this material. They go down alright, but they give it their damnedest and it's kind of infectious. Southland Tales isn't a worthless film, there's enough ambition to fuel a few movies in here, but it is a failure.