Southland Tales
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Movie Reviews of Southland Tales
Movie Review: Almost there, but not quite. (2.5 stars)
Summary: 3 Stars
My introduction to Richard Kelly was with the fantastic "Donnie Darko". In my opinion, this was just a perfect movie. The dialogue, the story, the twists and turns, the characters, the special effects, the music, all of these things make it hands down one of my favorite movies ever. So naturally I was looking forward to "Southland Tales". Slightly discouraged by some of the merciless negative reviews I was hearing, I still had to see it for myself.
Well, while I don't quite agree with the aforementioned negative reviews, I can't say that I was terribly pleased with this one either. The concept is initially compelling, the look at a post-apocalyptic future in which World War 3 is in full swing, and society in general has descended into chaos. America is divided between extremists on the left-wing and right-wing sides, and both are so voracious and corrupt that they don't even seem to be at odds for any reason other than the pure sake of it. In short, things just aren't really going too well.
Unfortunately, the problem here is that the concept never really takes a particularly interesting form. In fact, it's so incredibly all over the place that it pretty much just breaks down into a total mess. The huge ensemble cast, consisting of The Rock, Sean William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and countless others makes for a hugely complex storyline that in my opinion ultimately lacks focus. There's not enough concentration on any one character to really get behind them, and many of the characters are fairly stupid and uninteresting, which makes it sort of hard to care too much about them.
Another big problem here is that the movie seems to recycle many components from "Donnie Darko" (I won't go into it, but you'll see what I mean), as well as many other movies for no apparent reason. Chief among them is the weird musical number with Justin Timberlake lip-synching to the Killers, which looks like some sort of pointless nod to "Across the Universe". Then there's the cameo appearance from Rebekah Del Rio, who you may remember as the woman who sang in "Mulholland Drive", who is again singing in almost the same sort of surreal fashion. Now granted it is pretty cool, and she's an amazing singer, but hey, David Lynch got there first.
Then there's the hilariously cheesy plot twist of spacesuit wearing evildoers (one of which is fortunately a cool cameo from Kevin Smith, complete with long gray beard)who have come up with the ingenious plan of slowing down the earth's rotation to drive everyone crazy, which looks and sounds like something straight out of an Ed Wood movie. If by this point you still haven't figured out that this movie is trying to do way too many things at once, this will definitely cap it.
I really hate to sound so harsh here. This isn't really terrible by any means, but considering that Kelly is obviously a really talented guy, my expectations were much higher than this. Maybe if I watch this a few more times, I may appreciate it a little more, but this definitely lacks the focus and flawless execution of "Donnie Darko". Not to mention compared to other gritty apocalyptic sci-fi future-type movies that have come out recently ("A Scanner Darkly", "Children of Men"), this one definitely falls short.
Check it out if you're interested, but definitely don't expect too much. Here's hoping Richard Kelly won't turn out to be a one-film wonder. I think he's still got it in him to do something great, but this ain't it.
Movie Review: Flawed, but pretty entertaining.
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm pretty sure this film was intended in the light I viewed it in, sort of a wacky scatterbrained vision of this alternate future, and in that respect, I found it to be a throughly enjoyable film.
The final line of the film (which I wont reveal)for example and its previous utterances earlier on, seems to have rubbed a lot of people the wrong way because they seem to think it was written to be delivered in earnest rather than a goofy cockeyed mockery, to me was pure comic gold.
The cast as well, was amazing, and being filled with people cast into really weird roles for them set the tone for the whole movie in a brilliant manner I thought.
I did however seem to deviate from the feel of the prequel which was much more serious, but then again, if we are viewing the movie as its own separate entity that doesn't really matter.
Yeah you'll probably understand whats going on far better if you read the prequel, and yeah it does seem like he was trying to cram 10 pounds of movie in an 8 pound bag, but all in all I think it was worth my money.
I'm glad I made the purchase. Just remember going in, that this is a comedic film, and I think it will provide you with some good entertainment. Taking it too seriously will undoubtedly change your perception.
Movie Review: Got under my skin
Summary: 2 Stars
I rented this movie and couldn't make it all the way through...The tone seemed all over the place, the plot hard to follow. But I loved the sincerity of Boxer Santeros, Krysta Now and Ronald/Roland Tavener. I loved the crazy neo-marxists, the goofy violence. In the end, I went back and rewatched, and suddenly pieces fell into place. There really is so much here, so many small details that are amusing, thought-provoking, or both. There are also so many cameos (where the heck did the idea of casting Christopher Lambert come from? Loved seeing him). I was reminded of some of David Lynch's films. (Was Rebekah Del Rio singing the national anthem an homage to her similar scene in Mulholland Drive? A nice touch.) But whereas Lynch often seems to have some singular focus/theme, this film is all over the place.
How do you really sum up in one sentence what this film is about? It's a wake-up call that we're stupid and on a course for certain disaster if we don't do something about it. That's all well and fine, but there's so much here, criticized in so many directions, it's hard to know what to do about any of it. In the end, some people may shrug at the too-muchness of Southland Tales. For others, they may find a thought-provoking kernal or two and start to really wonder what they think. And if, Kelly gets you to think, then perhaps he's accomplished all he set out to do in the first place.
Movie Review: It sure ain't Donnie Darko.
Summary: 2 Stars
This was a disjointed, senseless, waste of 2 hours. I did have advance warning from reading reviews here, but I just didn't expect it would be this bad.
I can't really think of one thing I liked about the movie. Maybe the Pixies and Moby? The overall feel is like some weird combination of B-moviedom, soap opera and late night infomercials. Combined with a little too much inhaling on the part of the script writer who thought he was being clever with his visual puns and creative with his "plot".
We have the oh-so-daring mockery of the Republicans. Others have been there, done that. When the Dixie Chicks did it, it was courageous, edgy and well-deserved. Here it's just opportunistic and cliche. The closest it came to being funny was the elephant scene, but it was all downhill from there.
We have the dystopian commercials and news overlays. They were already there, in slightly more accomplished form, in Robocop. The car commercial was more tasteless than interesting. Sex sells - what an insight.
We have the nigh-incomprehensible plot. Now, if you are the type of viewer who delights in stories that don't make sense, you'll love this. It's like, so deep, man. No way I'll submit myself to this tripe twice, because I really don't think it has much to say at all. The politics have nothing to do with it, it's just baaaad.
Lessee, Kelly also wrote the screenplay for Domino ("I am a bounty hunter"), another stinker of a movie. No surprise then. Guess I won't be getting another Donnie Darko from him anytime soon.
Movie Review: OMNI-GENRE - I Loved It Others Won't
Summary: 3 Stars
"Normal" people will not like this movie. If they like "normal" movies with linear plots, good guys, bad guys rising action, falling action, resolution i don't know if you're going to get that here.
I'm not a "Normal" person and I love it.
When the movie ended, I had this non-stop laugh that lasted about 2 minutes. It was uncontrollable.
This movie is an "omni-genre" film. A drama, comedy, musical, love story, murder mystery, kidnapping, amnesia, sci-fi and others.
I love movies that have an all-star cast - every person in the movie is famous. I love movies with famous people where they are doing things that are the opposite of their public persona. (The Rock, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mandy Moore, Justin Timberlake, Jon Lovitz, Stifler, Kevin Smith, Booger from Revenge of the Nerds, the girl from Upright Citizens Brigade and many others etc.) It's like John Goodman's character in The Big Lebowski.
There is references to alternative energy in the film.
This movie has everything thrown into it. And its just that - it's all thrown into it. No order, totally freestyled movie. If you want to see something different, this is it.
I mean cmon people .... aren't you tired of the same old movie all the time? If you want a movie going experience where you have absolutely no idea what you are going to see next, this is the movie.
This is the perfect balance of being different without being completely "what the heck did I just watch" like you might have felt after seeing "THE FOUNTAIN" by Aronofsky. I thought that movie sucked but I did like PI, and I could see how others liked Requiem.
So don't worry, this isn't THE FOUNTAIN, its more on The Big Lebowski or Pulp Fiction tip but the dialogue isn't as good.
But i enjoyed it and all of my "non-normal" friends did.
And if you have seen this movie and you're reading this review remember this: "I'm a pimp, and pimps don't commit suicide."
We look for new movie going experiences, and this provided it.