sep 20
2007
Southland Tales
Finally! The trailer to Southland Tales is out. (It's Richard Kelly's follow-up to Donnie Darko, which I've been frothing over for over a year.) It looks different than the earlier clips though. [via]
5 comments
I'm excited about this. I really liked Donnie Darko. Usually when everybody talks about how great an indy movie is, I end up hating it (see: Garden State, Clerks, Blair Witch Project, etc.). But Donnie Darko was really good.
posted by Kurtis at 7:20 PM on September 20, 2007 
I loved Donnie Darko, but this looks horrible, horrible, horrible. The bizarre casting of wince-inducing actors like the Rock, Sean William Scott, etc. seems like an attempt at Verhoven-type satire (e.g. Denise Richards in Starship Troopers) - but you just can't do that with your whole cast. The phrase "long-delayed" rarely portends good things when it comes to movies and this looks like no exception. But I'd love to be proved wrong...
posted by josephchilders at 10:44 PM on September 20, 2007
I thought Verhoeven did do that with the entire cast of ST.
Still, I have to agree. The casting makes me nervous.
posted by mokin at 7:55 PM on September 21, 2007
ugh.
posted by julian at 3:12 PM on September 22, 2007
I saw it at Fantastic Fest in Austin on Saturday.
From my informal poll of folks afterwards, it definitely seemed to divide the audience, with Harry's review on AICN representing one end of the spectrum, but the majority of people I talked to congregating on the other side. I'd have to say both points of view are valid.
It is definitely a film that demands repeat viewing... but I think it's questionable whether it earns the right to make that demand. Some may say yes, most will probably say no (which, come to think of it, is probably true of most movies, but I think it's a bigger problem for this movie.) I'm glad I saw the film, but have no intention of ever giving it another two-and-a-half hours of my life (nor am I particularly motivated to read the three graphic novel prequels).
Summarily, I would call it a fascinating but flawed cinematic curiosity. It's a really weird, inventive, stylishly crafted movie that has no right to exist in a rational universe, and while I'm kind of tickled that it does, it may just be too ambitious and disjointed for its own good. There's just so much going on in so many directions, it feels like several movies* thrown in a blender set on "Liquify". (If you like that sort of thing, Merry Christmas.)
The film is populated by a who's who of actors cast radically against type to the point of perpetual distraction. It sort of takes you out of the movie. (Over and over again, though it did crack me the heck up to see Christopher Lambert appear out of nowhere as an arms dealer operating out of an ice cream truck.)
And yes, btw, I am a fan of DONNIE DARKO (particularly the superior Director's Cut).
(*Strange Days and Wild Palms come to mind.)
posted by Robogeek at 2:56 PM on September 25, 2007
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