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 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A82ciNC7jk Released 2007 Directed by Richard Kelly Running time: 144 minutes Southland Tales is a 2006 drama-thriller-comedy-satire-political rant... thing? written and directed by Richard Kelly, his sophomore effort after his debut film Donnie Darko. The movie had a disastrous showing at the Cannes Film Festival that neutered its chances on the major stage, opening in only 63 theaters nationwide and grossing only $117k between them. Your first clue that something is up with this movie is how stacked its cast and production values are relative to this performance. It stars Dwayne Johnson (in the years where he was still trying to prove himself as more than just a wrestler, but still,) Justin Timberlake, several SNL alumni including Amy Poehler and Cheri Oteri, Wallace Shawn, and Kevin Smith, with an original score by Moby, which was more impressive in 2006 when he was more famous and we didn't know he was a creep yet. Kelly's first film, Donnie Darko, was a movie marred by studio interference that seemingly botched its critical and public reception, but a small cult fanbase grew around the film, demanding a director's cut. When the final product was delivered three years later, most remarked it was a vast improvement turning the film into a compelling sci-fi mystery, securing its legacy for decades to come. This doesn't feel like it fully explains how Southland Tales got made, but it's the best explanation we have. For those of you who are expecting a similar redemption story as Donnie Darko's will happen with Kelly's next film - I have bad news. I don't know how to put this other than bluntly - your first watch of Southland Tales is insane. There are multiple levels on which you can enjoy this movie, and the first is as an archetypical "bad movie night" slugfest where you and your friends all get to pretend you're MST3K, which is fine as long as you're not recording it and posting it on the internet, please. If this is how you plan on watching Southland Tales, that is valid - you go have fun, kids. But you should probably stop reading here because to dive any deeper requires spoilers that would sully that whole experience.  Alright, now that you're done. Holy poo poo, that was nuts, right? Dwayne Johnson starts doing a weird thing with his hands a third of the way into the movie and then never stops. Justin Timberlake stops the entire film to sing The Killers karaoke at you for a full two minutes. The incredible line "I'm a pimp, and pimps don't commit suicide" is said with twenty minutes left in the film and then repeated thrice as if they forgot to add a motif and crammed it in at the last minute. "If you don't let me suck your dick right now, I'm gonna kill myself!" How could any of this ever hit the silver screen? Your first answer is that Southland Tales is only part of a bigger, more ambitious project that was already botched before it even hit production. Kelly planned Southland Tales as a story with nine chapters, pared it down to six, and then released the latter three as the film - and the first three are a series of comic books that have long since gone out of print. I'd be astonished if they ever got more than one run. When asked to explain the overall structure of the film, Kelly routinely told interviewers to read the comics or described the comics as if they were a core component of the film-going experience. With the levity these books are given, you may be lead to believe that the comics are a decoder ring that will interpret the film wholesale for you. Reader, I have read the Southland Tales comics.  No such luck. The comics do provide some helpful context to the film, it's not all bunk. Knowing the relationship of Tavernor and Abilene - and the incident that ended it - adds a note of tragedy to their tenuous, distant relationship in the film. There's a little bit about the motivations of Krysta Now, and some elaboration on what exactly Liquid Karma is. But in general, the comics will not get you to instantly understand all the madness happening on screen. The mythical "Cannes Cut" won't even do that for you, now that it's publicly available. With some parts of this multimedia project still leaving baffling questions, you have to wonder if maybe Kelly had the wrong idea paring it down to six chapters, or if he was persuaded to by outside interests without the best in mind. Southland Tales is at first difficult to engage with because of its markedly more comedic tone than its predecessor Donnie Darko, but setting aside these expectations can reveal a film that's surprisingly cutting in its depictions of late-stage American culture. Some smaller things Southland Tales predicts include, intentionally or not: - A character lists off all the countries America currently has military presence in its fictional universe. This list includes Syria, which we did not invade until 2014. - Former adult stars becoming thought leaders on daytime talk shows. - Advertising campaigns that are just about wanting to have sex with the (otherwise non-sexual) product. But in a broader sense, Southland Tales captures a broader sense of madness inherent to American culture. Critics roasted Southland Tales for being garish, exaggerated, and crude, but America is all of these things - and while I don't believe that just predicting events 1:1 is what makes for good satire, the sheer amount of what Southland Tales was able to capture about America past, present, and future feels vindicating. Liquid Karma's increasing prevalence feels like a nod to the incoming opioid epidemic that currently riddles the Midwest with despair. Corporations co-opt the words of Karl Marx himself in an effort to sell products, much how Netflix allowed its employees to post on verified, official Netflix accounts about staging walkouts over its own transphobic content. The "resistance" to the current tyrannical government comes in the form of a crew of middle-aged wine moms playing at revolutionaries, more concerned with leaking sex tapes than influencing public policy. And military installations are now set up to deliver death from a distance, ensuring public disturbances can be shut down lethally from miles away. It's easy to get lost in the details on these - obviously modern liberals are no fans of Karl Marx, let alone dethroning capitalism; and the military installations in the film are manned, mounted .50 cals instead of remote-controlled drones. When you're not nitpicking details, though, it's hard to deny that Kelly got a lot right about future America by following a pretty basic line of logic - the lines between progress and gratification will continue to blur, to eventually catastrophic results. A recent popular Twitter post (since deleted) commented upon a video of emergency nurses taking time out of their busy schedule treating the victims of the Covid-19 pandemic to dance and perform Christmas carols at the White House by noting that “we live in Southland Tales.” Maybe that Killers song wasn't so gratuitous.  Ripped from the airwaves and smacked into the middle of our film, the timeline between "All These Things That I Have Done" and the release of the film is so short that it's very likely that Richard Kelly heard this song on the radio and, like most white boys heavily into alt-rock at the time, immediately thought "this is the most beautiful song I've ever heard, I must make arte." I'm not mocking him - I was that guy once too. We arguably all were in the mid-2000s. It was a heavy-handed, unsubtle moment in culture, where every band on Earth felt the need to put out their "anti-Bush" album. Radiohead decided they would follow up one of the greatest reinventions in modern music with an album that was just sour about Bush and Blair. Trent Reznor used it as the push he needed to get sober and save his own life. I'm sure you're expecting me to acknowledge Green Day here, but I refuse. In the Trump years, backlash came fully formed against a cottage industry of liberals who sold media whose main appeal was being mad at the president - because it already had time to develop with the last conservative administration. One of the first big rebellious acts against Trump from a celebrity came from Meryl Streep, delivering a speech easily readable as being about him as she accepted a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Golden Globes - as everyone ignored that just a few years earlier she happily played the protagonist of a Margaret Thatcher biopic. As The Daily Show and The Colbert Report overtook more serious news publications in the mindshare of the young and politically-active, most of them didn't realize they were beginning to partake in the same culture Southland Tales had its sights on, wearing their priority of comedy about the news over the news itself as an ironic badge of honor. A decade later, they would become the people who found it genuinely touching when an SNL sketch depicted Hillary Clinton covering Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," or when Colbert spent a significant amount of his late night talk show program in tears about the state of America. The closest things you can call the "winners" of Southland Tales' story are the wealthy who co-opt revolutionary and progressive aesthetics for their own personal, consumerist needs. There are activists doing their best, of course, but they've been so tainted by the well of American culture that the best rebellion they can imagine is sensationalist gossip that ultimately accomplishes nothing. They are playing a game that was rigged from the start, and where everyone loses in the end. T.S. Eliot's famous line "this is the way the world ends" is inverted in the film, ending with "not with a whisper, but with a bang" instead, repeated throughout. If your cynicism reigns supreme, you can read this as an ignorant mistake - but it is accurate to say that Southland Tales depicts an America where our boisterous, stupid culture leads to a loud, fast apocalypse rather than the slow, drawn-out one that awaits us in real life. You can even pair Southland Tales in a double feature with previous Movie of the Month Children of Men - Southland Tales depicting the former, Children of Men depicting the latter. It may be fatalistic to watch a movie about how the end is inevitable and we cannot change it, but both contain a small note of hope in making your own paradise despite the world around, in the ability for us to still make our own shelters. The line "I'm a pimp, and pimps don't commit suicide" is confounding, but what it loses in an unfortunate kind of "tough-love" tactic it gains in sentiment. The final scene of Southland Tales depicts a veteran of the Iraq War, who forces himself to forgive his past of harming his own friend in a war-induced stupor - even if this means the end of the world. It perfectly bookends the film in how oddly touching it is. By all means, no matter what, he will learn to love himself again. In a land of absurdity, maybe accomplishing justice through sheer force of will is the only answer left. If there's one thing we can be certain about, though, it's this: Nobody rocks the cock like Krysta Now. And I mean NOBODY!  Southland Tales is currently available on Blu-Ray through Arrow Video in a two-disc edition that includes the theatrical cut and the original cut screened at Cannes, to much dismay. For what it's worth, Kelly also agrees the theatrical cut is better. It's also available on a digital rental platform of your choosing. Movie of the Month list Previous Movie of the Month Pirate Jet fucked around with this message at 11:33 on Jan 8, 2022 |
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Jan 8, 2022 06:37
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I love this movie, it’s like a weird movie from a universe where anime plot sensibilities leaked onto American action star live action movies.
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Jan 8, 2022 18:10
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This movie is such a piece of poo poo I love it!
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Jan 12, 2022 21:46
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I really legitimately like that this movie couldn't keep straight what the generator was or what it was doing. It feels so dreamlike. Like you have a complete comprehensible movie plot that green energy tide capture thing is slowing the rotation of the earth and that is going to turn off gravity. (which doesn't make physical sense but fits in movie logic pretty easy) Then you have a totally split concept that the generator is bad because it's using quantum entanglement. that is dragging things in from other universes. and is being exploited to make some sort of final fantasy 7 life stream drug. And both things just are true scene to scene. Some parts of the movie make sense if the threat is a tide generator that is slowing the earth's rotation. some scenes make sense if the threat is some sort of abstract quantum collapse from drawing energy from other universes or using the juice it produces to power stuff up, but which is happening seems to switch scene to scene, and it being a quantum position of what the actual conflict in the movie is itself fits the theme of the movie to the point it's hard to tell if it's intentional weirdness or muddled writing.
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Jan 13, 2022 17:05
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Great OP. I haven't watched this movie in a while and was thinking the Cannes cut might be a good excuse to go back to it. I've always enjoyed it - it's a bit of a disaster but there's something deeply compelling about it.
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Jan 14, 2022 01:56
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Yeah great OP! I personally really liked the Cannes cut. I prefer the opening of the theatrical but otherwise I think the Cannes cut is great. I think my favorite moment of this movie, of which there is many is Amy Poehler in facial prosthetics and a wedding dress doing Lin Manuel Miranda spoken word poetry at a platinum blonde Jon Lovitz playing a cop named Bart Bookman who shoots her for real right right before her fake squib goes off just as Pixies Waves of Mutilation kicks in. What other movies is going to give you that?
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Jan 14, 2022 13:06
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There's a quote, attributed to Napoleon (so there's like a 40% chance it's fake), that goes like this: to understand someone, you must know the state of the world when they were about 20. That was... not the best use of 160 minutes, but it was unique, and GOD it brings me back to that era, I'll say that. There were moments I really loved, like the cops (and Jerry Cocaine) passing through the jungle, or the dance sequence towards the end. Have you seen Under the Silver Lake? Because I kinda got a similar vibe out of that movie. Powerlessness against the great evil of the world, conspiracy upon conspiracy, horniness. Also they're both sophomore movies (and are both on the long side). I'd say Silver Lake was halfway between Southland Tales and like a normal narrative.
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Jan 15, 2022 10:34
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Thanks everyone.Jack Bandit posted:I think my favorite moment of this movie, of which there is many is Amy Poehler in facial prosthetics and a wedding dress doing Lin Manuel Miranda spoken word poetry at a platinum blonde Jon Lovitz playing a cop named Bart Bookman who shoots her for real right right before her fake squib goes off just as Pixies Waves of Mutilation kicks in. The comics, as I noted in the OP, will not explain the plot fully but one thing they are very good at is setting the tone, and something that was much clearer to me on my second viewing after reading them was how much more intentional everything was. The little squibs going *piff* after Dream and Dion have already been blown away is incredible dark comedy. It’s an example of the film at its best. Kazzah posted:Have you seen Under the Silver Lake? Because I kinda got a similar vibe out of that movie. Powerlessness against the great evil of the world, conspiracy upon conspiracy, horniness. Also they're both sophomore movies (and are both on the long side). I'd say Silver Lake was halfway between Southland Tales and like a normal narrative. Man, I have been begging my buddy to check it out with me, it’s weird he keeps passing it up considering how much he loved It Follows. He’s actually the one who introduced Southland Tales to me. He lived in Germany for a few years and one of the few frivolities he brought with him was a copy of this movie because he felt like he needed to understand it. It’s like the Navidson Record. He is Zampano, I am Johnny Truant, and this thread is House of Leaves.
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Jan 15, 2022 11:51
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Anybody seen the new directors cut yet? I sprung for the blu-ray when I heard about it but I’ve only re-watched the original version so far.
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Jan 17, 2022 00:26
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I've been meaning to watch this and I DVRd it a few months ago. I remember when it came out I was intrigued but never ended up seeing it. I guess I got the theatrical cut. It took about 4 nights to get through, I would say I generally liked it a lot - the mise en scene, the cast, the comedy but played in a deadly serious style. The janky extremely near future sci fi. Where it didnt really connect for me was the christian stuff, and just the trainwreck of the ending. I dont mind the sense of the film being part of a larger narrative, but I read that Kelly felt that this aspect of it - starting in the middle, having a very long movie that is still supported by graphic novels and etc, did hurt the film. I am a little confused on what Baron's plan/goal was with Boxer. The ending reminded me a lot of Repo Man, but I feel like when that Malibu went up in the sky I knew what it meant, but with this ice cream truck Im left confused. Its fine to have a confusing ending, but this film seemed to want such an epic, operatic or Revelatory ending but then couldnt quite land it.
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Jan 18, 2022 07:30
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Cafe Barbarian posted:
Rich billionaire finds anime power source that is also a drug. overuse of anime power source starts to rip a hole in the sky over lake mead. Rich billionare goes "huh, whats this hole, send some guys through", the guys are roland and boxer. it's a portal to an identical universe (where no one poops?). they come back with their mirror universe twins. regular earth boxer dies in a regular unrelated car accident and they write a new book of the bible but as a sleezy movie. Roland and other earth roland touch hands. Gravity shuts off in the icecream truck (because the tide generators are slowing the earth's rotation and that will end gravity). Then the evangelion ending happens and everyone touched by fluid karma become one and the universe ends in some weird spiritual singularity. or something Owlofcreamcheese fucked around with this message at 14:35 on Jan 18, 2022 |
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Jan 18, 2022 14:31
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Reminder that there is a "Canne" version, which you can watch if you buy the Blu-Ray.
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Jan 18, 2022 20:04
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Owlofcreamcheese posted:Rich billionaire finds anime power source that is also a drug.... Then the evangelion ending happens and everyone touched by fluid karma become one and the universe ends in some weird spiritual singularity. yeah, I get that. But what was Baron trying to do? Is what happened with the rocket launcher destroying the megazeppelin Baron's plan or not? On the one hand, Baron secretly backs the neo-marxists in their scheme to I guess brainwash and disgrace Boxer in an attempt to blackmail Senator Frost and cause the Republicans to lose the election and pass measure 69, ending USIdent's surveillance and censorship. This fits with Baron and the neo-marxist's stated goal to end capitalism. Mung showing up with Taverner in an ice cream truck with a rocket launcher and killing Baron, Frost, Boxer and everyone else doesnt seem like part of this plan, Mung is never employed by Baron that I saw. (it seems like Baron is behind almost everything else in the story). But on the other hand, Baron has access to drug fluid karma, so he can probably see the future. His mother is a fortune teller, and Treer identified Krysta Now as a psychic and had her write The Power. I suspect that the fluid karma sea station was built not to provide power, but rather to open the dimensional rift, since Baron immediately found the rift and started sending monkeys through it. Baron sent Boxer through and had Boxer(a) killed, ensuring that only post-rift Boxer existed. But the neo marxists, backed by Baron, captured both Taverners so Baron also knew two Taverners were existing. Basically I wonder if Baron was trying to bring about the apocalypse then why did he care about measure 69 passing or not? And vice versa. What was Baron trying to have happen with the dance number with Boxer, Krysta, Sheena Deena and Shoshana?
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Jan 18, 2022 22:06
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I found this article that puts together a lot of bits from the graphic novels, deleted scenes, screenplay etc https://italkyoubored.wordpress.com/2014/08/03/richard-kellys-southland-tales-a-maze-of-death/amp/ and it has a quote from an interview with Kelly where he answers my question about Baron: quote:Who in the movie wants to bring about the end of the world? So from this quote and the rest of this article and other reading it seems to me that the entire finale all occurs exactly as prophesied, but Baron has been misled by serpentine and his mother, does not know that the Taverners are put in position to shake hands, and believes he will rule the apocalypse instead of the world ending. Fair enough I suppose, too bad the actual film leaves that so muddy and like I say I don't really care for the christian stuff.
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Jan 19, 2022 11:43
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Southland Tales is kind of like a rambling anecdote from one of your grandparents- the facts aren't all going to add up and whatever message they're trying to convey will be nonsensical and/or irrelevant, but you still enjoy the telling and the effort they put into it.
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Jan 19, 2022 22:31
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As a narrative story Southland Tales doesn't make much sense, but as an expression of the uncanniness of Californian politics and culture it's right on the money. Krista Now is such an interesting character now that political social media influencers are all over the place. The idea of all these people who really do seem earnestly politically left, but are just as committed to selling you something (if not more so) feels super relevant. It's also a corrective to the comparatively safe Don't Look Up. Adam McKay would never convey the supremacy of the Republican Party by showing stock footage of elephant humping.
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Jan 20, 2022 19:49
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this is one million per cent sincerely one of my top 5 movies. to me it has the same kind of energy as Citizen Kane, something that covers a vast amount of ground and switches back and forth between different genres but in a fast and snappy way with a lot of momentum... its so good
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Jan 24, 2022 20:30
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This was a pretty good ride. What a star-studded cast this film had. "The soul of a monkey can't survive the dimensional threshold."  Jack Bandit posted:What other movies is going to give you that? This one vibes pretty well with A Scanner Darkly: e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bliFkRnN6e4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J5FWEre07w The scene with the two cars having sex felt like it'd fit right in with Holy Motors. Also, has a similar pageantry to The Hunger Games series. Cafe Barbarian posted:What was Baron trying to have happen with the dance number with Boxer, Krysta, Sheena Deena and Shoshana? IDK for sure but the choreography reminded me of iconic dance sequences found in Dirty Dancing and Once Bitten. Zogo fucked around with this message at 07:09 on Jan 28, 2022 |
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Jan 28, 2022 06:59
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I don't have much to contribute other than I loved this movie when it came out and I could never find anyone that enjoyed it. It's good to know other people in this universe appreciate it.
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Jan 29, 2022 01:03
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Super late in the month but I'm starting this up!
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Jan 31, 2022 19:56
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MacheteZombie posted:Super late in the month but I'm starting this up! The thread was a week late so really you've got seven days left, imo.
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Jan 31, 2022 20:07
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This movie is nuts E: really enjoyed this in all of its messy glory. I watched the theatrical cut. 4/5 MacheteZombie fucked around with this message at 22:30 on Jan 31, 2022 |
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Jan 31, 2022 20:29
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| # ? May 9, 2024 09:40 |
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Thanks for having me for January, everyone. If you didn't catch it this month, there will be a stream of the movie on the CineD Discord this weekend.
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Feb 3, 2022 09:20
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