Southland Tales
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Movie Reviews of Southland Tales
Movie Review: Worst. Film. Ever!
Summary: 1 Stars
Please, please, don't watch this film. If I can stop just one person I'll feel better. A vile, incomprehensible script puts disgusting dialogue in formerly likeable actors' mouths. Endless and pointless narration by some weird character who is never properly explained. Scene after scene of flat, painfully unfunny "jokes". A script that was apparently never examined by anyone with an iota of good taste. A stupid musical number that has no clear meaning. Ideas rehashed from the excellent Donnie Darko, and put to no good use. An actionless part for an action star. A main character whose manner and actions remain unexplained. Constant shots of a room full of widescreen TVs which is both annoying and unhelpful. And an ending that fails to deliver any clear (much less satisfying) resolution. How does a director go from Nights of Cabiria to Fellini Satyricon in just two films? this film has no redeeming qualities whatsoever- I'm not kidding. Go rent The Conformist.Movie Review: messy but fun
Summary: 5 Stars
i picked this movie up at the movie store with no idea that it had been done by Kelly, but i could definitely feel the same sort of overall tone to this movie as i did with Donnie Darko, although i was remarkably overly confused for the majority of the film, sort of like when i saw fight club for the first time. by the time the movie was over, i couldn't believe 2 1/2 hours had passed because even though i didn't know what was going on, the pace of the movie and random surprises kept me going, such as the commerical where the cars were humping.
i was shocked at how many movie stars were included. it was like they were doing an MTV awards show and this was an extremely long skit (and they even included what seemed to be a music video in the middle of the movie). The rock was by far the most interesting character out of them all.
since i had picked this movie up because it looked interesting, just as i did years ago with Donnie Darko, i had no expectations going in and i was perplexed by trying to figure out what is going on, and that usually grabs my attention more then anything. not for most, but some will love this movie as i did.
Movie Review: Kelly tells too many Tales in followup to Donnie Darko
Summary: 4 Stars
Writer/Director Richard Kelly tackles a lot of hot topics in his followup to Donnie Darko. Among the subjects commented on are: civil liberties, need for an alternative fuel, the invasiveness of the media, celebrity culture, how Hollywood and politics interact and many others. This approach caused Kelly to have many detractors who hated the film. It is not a perfect film by any means and he doesn't tackle all these issues in a way that always makes sense but the film is still some kind of masterpiece even if it is a flawed masterpiece. The performances are not great and the character names are ridiculous but yet the look of the film and the music choices and performances from the sprawling and eccentric supporting cast make up for some of these inconsistencies. The main story is: Texas has been nuked resulting in World War 3. An exhausted military has re instated the draft sending soldiers over to Irag many of whom are coming back horribly scarred and disillusioned and ready to speak out. One such soldier is Abilene (Justin Timberlake) who serves as the film's narrator. A renegade scientist (Wallace Shawn) has come up with an alternative fuel called Fluid Karma. Others are not as quick to embrace this alternative fuel for what it might mean to their business. Election is nearing and the presidential candidate Frost (Holmes Osborne) and his family including wife Nana Mae (Miranda Richardson) and their daughter (Mandy Moore) are trying to avoid a scandal. Unfortunately for them that is just what they get in the form of a son in law who has gone missing. That is action film star Boxer Santaros (The Rock). He has been missing for days with no word of his whereabouts. He woke up in the desert and is currently living with an ex porn star Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar). He has amnesia and can't remember how he came to be in the desert. Boxer and Krysta are pitching a screenplay they wrote entitled the Power which details the end of the world. It is in doing research for his role of a cop that he meets up with Roland Taverner (Sean William Scott). Roland has been recruited by some underground Marxists who set up shop in surf shops on the boardwalk in California. They have his twin brother Ronald tied up and are going to use Roland to bring down the Frost's and their corrupt presidency. At least I think that's what the Marxists want. Indeed there are so many new characters and plot twists being introduced for the film's nearly three hour run time that it is hard to keep it all under control. The supporting cast is one of the better ones assembled for a film lately. Bai Ling, Zelda Rubinstein, Beth Grant, Jon Lovitz, Amy Poehler, Cheri Oteri, Curtis Armstrong, Will Sasso, Christopher Lambert,John Larroquette, and even an unrecognizable Kevin Smith as a scientist of some sort. There are many sequences here most notably the film's final act aboard a zeppelin that are the perfect mixture of apocalyptic doom that is perfectly contrasted by all hell breaking loose in the streets below and a lavish end of the world party being thrown on a zeppelin circling the sky. The Rock overacts terribly by constantly twiddling his thumbs whenever he is nervous which is to say every second, Scott did very well playing the two roles, Gellar provides many laughs as a porn star who is trying to go legit while at the same time making music videos about teen horniness. The funnest performance is certainly Mandy Moore. She has never been better than in the scene in which she is confronting her husband's new lover by reading off the title of some of her films. Moore takes it a step further by dancing with Gellar in the film's final act aboard the zeppelin which is set to the wonderful score of Moby. People were disappointed that this film wasn't more like Donnie Darko which is certainly a better film but this one still has the excitement of ideas that Kelly first introduced in Darko. Comparisons to David Lynch's Mulholland Drive are made easier by having the singer in that Rebekkah Del Rio showing up for a cameo here singing the Star Spangled Banner. It reminds me of Lynch's recent three hour Inland Empire. Both are experimental films that cram a lot of ideas and odd star cameos and a sense of doom and gloom throughout set to some great music. Empire is the better film of the bunch as critics agreed but I think the same spirit can be found in this one. It deserves a look on DVD where hopefully more people will appreciate what Kelly tried to do. The extras are light but good. There is a half hour making of in which nearly all the cast say they don't know what the movie is about and that interested them. There is also an animated scene with two fish detailing how the world ends. This is keeping with the apocalyptic tone of the film and quite interesting. A commentary certainly would have been appreciated but as it is this movie at nearly three hours speaks for itself.Movie Review: "This Is the Way the World Ends: 'Not with a Whimper, but with a Bang'"
Summary: 3 Stars
Part dystopian tale of near future events and part trail-blazing satire, `Southland Tales' keeps it funny enough without losing its cool. Going into the introduction, you don't think it's possible when Abilene, TX is attacked along with other Texas cities by nuclear bombs on the Fourth of July.
The fallout of this horror is that the draft has been reinstated with America officially at war with Iraq, Iran, Syria, and North Korea. In the process of all this terror is an election campaign. Bobby Frost is the Republican candidate for President who spends a good deal of time winning back California in the election for the first time in two decades. (To give you a flavor of the writing, the Southern senator is often quoting Robert Frost's famous poems "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" and "The Road Not Taken," saying he has traveled the road less traveled by and "that has made all the difference".)
Under his command is Boxer Santeros (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), a man whose memory is erased by terrorist kidnappers during the nuclear nightmare but manages to get to Los Angeles from near the Nevada border.
If you think this country is divided now, it's nothing like in the movie. Homeland Security has expanded into a complete surveillance system ("ID-it"--or nearly IDIOT) that has everyone identified on the Internet. L.A. is the heart and center of the domestic front as Neo-Marxists stationed underground in beachfront town, Venice, try and infiltrate the intelligence agency. On the ballot is Proposition 69, which Senator Frost vehemently opposes for allegedly compromising national security. (It doesn't take much extrapolation to know that it would repeal an advanced version of the Patriot Act.)
Forgetting his true identity as well as his wife's (Mandy Moore), Boxer takes refuge with an occult astrologer Krista Now/Kapowski (Sarah Michelle Gellar) who is known for sweeping forecasts of the future as well as her advocacy for sexual freedom on a Malibu cable channel. Completely vulnerable, Boxer also comes under the wing of UPU3 police officer, Roland Tavener (Seann William Scott), an extension of Homeland Security. Both men have been cloned (into Jericho Cane and Ronald Tavener respectively and must come to terms with their alter egos).
The plot, all strings of it, involves finding Boxer Santeros, while fighting surveillance underground, and trying to be reconciled with one's alter ego and survive all the fighting.
You can understand that 'Southland Tales' has a lot to figure out. At the same time, they keep the mood and pace light enough, so you know not watching a 'Children of Men' imitator. Interestingly enough you don't have to keep track of everything; it's casual enough to be enjoyed. (It's not quite a musical, either, although songs played along the way enhance the mood and message.) The portrayal of feminist Marxist, Cindy Pinzucki, and her cohorts is so delightfully loopy that the movie often lost any of the initial tension it provided in the fallout scenes. (No one could outdo Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis in `Thelma and Louise,` but these girls are less serious and, if anything, more fun.) This is deliberate, but I was impressed at how much this satire made me laugh. Of course its inane and happy to be that way, but you may end up being as confused as Boxer Santeros, figuring out what's going on. (And "The Rock" has proven himself a decent Arnold Schwartenegger successor by adding some disciplined screen presence to the scenes.)
My main objection to the film is not its many plot points (which for the first 2/3rd`s they juggle well), but its resolution. Instead of continuing with a funny, satiric ending, they try to get serious again and end with mutations trying to catch up with their alter identities. Trying to build suspense in the ending chase scenes, the film becomes a protracted affair that muddles its message and momentum in the process. In a way the movie loses its own identity. Once the movie figures out what it wants to be, it should stick to its guns, instead of shifting focus unnecessarily.
Movie Review: Exceeded Expectations
Summary: 4 Stars
The sophomore work of Richard Kelly far exceeded my expectations. I had been awaiting the release of this film for years, but was a little hesitant with the cast, but i must say that the cast was perfect amazing job done. Kelly's direction is amazing, i've already watched this film half a dozen times in the 2 weeks since i received it. It's really good, i've come to the conclusion that i may enjoy this movie even more than Kelly's first work Donnie Darko. The incredible storytelling and camera work is absolutely stunning, i knew this would be a worthwhile film the first time i saw Sean William Scott in the bathroom with a delay in his reflection. amazing. I Highly recommend this movie.