Southland Tales (2006)

Southland Tales is an ensemble piece set in the futuristic landscape of Los Angeles on July 4, 2008, as it stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental disaster. Boxer Santaros... See full summary »

Director:

Richard Kelly

Writer:

Richard Kelly

Stars:

Carlos Amezcua, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Dwayne Johnson

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Carlos Amezcua	...	Himself
Curtis Armstrong	...	Dr. Soberin Exx
Robert Benz	...	Tab Taverner
Todd Berger	...	Bing Zinneman
Dave Carlin	...	News Reporter
Joe Campana	...	Brandt Huntington
Chris Andrew Ciulla	...	UPU 4 Officer 3 (as Chris Ciulla)
Rebekah Del Rio	...	Vanessa Vera Cruz
Aaron Dillar	...	Jimmy Hermosa
Nora Dunn	...	Cyndi Pinziki
Shari Dunn	...	USI Dent Reporter
Michele Durrett	...	Starla Von Luft
Jon Falcone	...	Soldier Falcon
Leila Feinstein	...	Herself
Jaret Gardiner	...	Shane Laverne

Storyline

Southland Tales is an ensemble piece set in the futuristic landscape of Los Angeles on July 4, 2008, as it stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental disaster. Boxer Santaros is an action star who's stricken with amnesia. His life intertwines with Krysta Now, an adult film star developing her own reality television project, and Ronald Taverner, a Hermosa Beach police officer who holds the key to a vast conspiracy.

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Plot Keywords:

boxer | amnesia | dystopia | chaos | nuclear attack | 

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Taglines:

The future Is just like you imagined.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, violence, sexual material and some drug content

Details

Official Sites:

DVD site [jp] MySpace page

Country:

Germany USA France

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 December 2007 (Ireland)

Also Known As:

A káosz birodalma

Filming Locations:

Hermosa Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$123,428 (USA) (16 November 2007)

Gross:

$273,420 (USA) (14 December 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Cherry Road Films, Darko Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

145 min 160 min

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Scored the lowest reviews for the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, averaging 1.1 out of 5 in all the dailies.

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Goofs

In the scene when they are stealing the ATM the tires on the SUV change from both spinning, to only the right one spinning, and then back to both spinning.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Private Pilot Abilene: [narration] In the aftermath of nuclear attacks in Texas, America found itself on the brink of anarchy.
[overlapping news reports]
Private Pilot Abilene: World War III had begun.
Private Pilot Abilene: The accelerated conflict in the Middle East placed significant restrictions on American access to oil. Alternative fuel sources became a lucrative commodity. Americans were transfixed by the terrorist's threat, and were willing to prevent another attack by any means necessary. Military checkpoints were erected at each State line. ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

After the credits, a logo appears of a thumbprint over an American flag with the words: "DON'T TOUCH ME"

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Connections

Referenced in Atop the Fourth Wall: Battle for Bludhaven #3-4 (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Look Back In"
Written and Performed by Moby
Courtesy of V2 Records/Mute Ltd.

User Reviews

Disappointing

The real failure of this film isn't that it's overcomplicated in terms of plot. It is definitely overloaded with plots and subplots, characters, and various allusions to the arts. Its downfall is that it uses its central theme of media criticism as an excuse not to present its ideas coherently -- it critiques an incoherent form in an incoherent way. Pot Kettle Black.

The primary thing that keeps the film from succeeding as a whole is its constant shifts in tone. While the filmmakers might argue that they are aping/satirizing the way we get information through the media, it makes for a rotten experience at the cinema. Some scenes are sketch comedy, some are ponderous (in a good sense), there is a bit of action and bit of fun with setting of the film. Without a truly riveting lead character or other weighted focus point it falls apart -- really by the conclusion of the film it's just white noise.

The casting is meant to be part of the media critique, but it's works against the film to keep thinking, 'hey -- that's the guy from Revenge of the Nerds and Moonlighting again', and keeps you distracted from the plot and characters' relationship to the plot. When thinking of this aspect of the film AFTER viewing it's a straightforward idea -- hey the filmmakers are saying that the government is using entertainment to keep us from following the real news, man! But during the actual experience of watching the film, the casting starts one thinking of Mars Attacks or dare I say it, Cannonball Run......

The lighting was very flat, which I assume again is part of the 'fast food media' critique - but ugly is still ugly. Especially considering Donnie Darko I was expecting something worth looking at visually. There are some big IDEAS presented visually, but they are not visually interesting in a formal sense. There has to be SOMETHING for the audience to hang its hat on beyond an idea. Cinema is a sensate experience, not merely an intellectual one.

I look forward to reading about this someday in Scott Tobias's "My Year Of Flops - Redux" on the Onion AV Club....