5. Southland Tales (2006) Directed by Richard Kelley
Why I wanted to like it:
To be honest I was not a major fan of Donnie Darko when it was first released. I knew all my friends loved it but after I watched it I thought it was ok, nothing special. Then when they re-released it 2004 I went to see it again and everything just worked and I was in love with the film. It could have been seeing it on a big screen or just having more of an open mind but I loved the film. Needless to say I was very stoked to see Mr. Kelley's long awaited follow up Southland Tales. The cast seem interesting enough...you have Stifler (Seann William Scott), The Rock (The Rock), Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), and Justin Timberlake amongst others. There was also a series off spin of comic books that I kept trying to order from my work at the time as well as a cameo by my, at the time hero, Kevin Smith who kept telling all his fanboys that the movie was going to rule.
Why I didn't like it:
The movie was a mess! I seriously felt like walking out (to see a further list of movies I wanted to walk out on, click HERE!) because I frankly had no idea what was going on during the movie. I remember it was hard enough to find a movie theater that was actually playing Southland Tales and me and two friends of mine went on a Friday night, I think we made up the majority of the crowd at the movie that night. Kelley seemed like he made a movie that really just made sense to him. I have heard the movie went through many edits and re-cuts, but the movie they released was nowhere as good as I was hoping for. The only scene I enjoyed (that I can recall) was when Justin Timberlake covered The Killers song. Anyway I really was looking forward to seeing what Kelley could do after Donnie Darko, and five years later came this. Since Southland Tales Kelley has made The Box which I have still yet to see but haven't found anyone who has yet to recommend it.
3 comments:
Yeah, Southland Tales was a mess. It had fleeting moments of promise, but I struggled to get through it. It's too many ideas without a clear vision melding them together.
It's funny, I liked Donnie Darko when I first saw it on DVD but didn't care that much for the theatrical cut in 2004 as I felt it spelled too many things out.
The Box starts off promising, but goes downhill in the second half. I think the story by Richard Matheson was only like 20 pages, so I am guessing all the stuff he added was whatt made it nosedive. Definitely better than Southland Tales though.
I think Kelly should just do a straight adaptation of someone else's screenplay or story and just direct his next project, because I think he's a skilled visual filmmaker.
I could see why someone who liked Darko at the start would not like the further explanations they added to the re-release. I think I was just expecting it to be so amazing since my friends were telling me it was so good. Both cuts of the movie are great IMO.
I never even heard of this movie... I don't want to see it now.
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