During a three day heat wave just before a huge 4th of July celebration, an action star stricken with amnesia meets up with a porn star who is developing her own reality TV project, and a policeman who holds the key to a vast conspiracy.
A small wooden box arrives on the doorstep of a married couple, who know that opening it will grant them a million dollars and kill someone they don't know.
Director:
Richard Kelly
Stars:
Cameron Diaz,
James Marsden,
Frank Langella
A recounting of Domino Harvey's life story. The daughter of actor Laurence Harvey turned away from her career as a Ford model to become a bounty hunter.
Director:
Tony Scott
Stars:
Keira Knightley,
Mickey Rourke,
Edgar Ramírez
A drama based on an ancient Chinese proverb that breaks life down into four emotional cornerstones: happiness, pleasure, sorrow and love. A businessman bets his life on a horse race; a gangster sees the future; a pop star falls prey to a crime boss; a doctor must save the love of his life.
Director:
Jieho Lee
Stars:
Brendan Fraser,
Sarah Michelle Gellar,
Andy Garcia
A troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes, after he narrowly escapes a bizarre accident.
Director:
Richard Kelly
Stars:
Jake Gyllenhaal,
Jena Malone,
Mary McDonnell
Donnie Darko's little sister Samantha and her best friend Corey are on a cross-country road trip, but soon find themselves entangled in a dangerous glitch in the time-space continuum.
Director:
Chris Fisher
Stars:
Daveigh Chase,
Briana Evigan,
James Lafferty
Joanna Mills, a traveling business woman, begins having nightmares of a murder that occurred 15 years ago. Soon she is drawn to an old farmhouse, where the murder took place.
Director:
Asif Kapadia
Stars:
Sarah Michelle Gellar,
Sam Shepard,
Peter O'Brien
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.Written by
TheGuyInThePj's
A scene that never even made it into the Cannes cut involves Boxer, right after Starla gets shot, 'bleeding' back in time to the 1920s and meeting Inga von Westphalen as a young fortune teller. Pilot Abilene's cryptic reference to black umbrellas is an orphaned reference to this. See more »
Goofs
When the ATM is dragged behind the car, the white sparks can be clearly seen coming from inside it and not from the bottom as from the friction with the asphalt road. See more »
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. ...
[...] See more »
Crazy Credits
After the credits, a logo appears of a thumbprint over an American flag with the words: "DON'T TOUCH ME" See more »
Alternate Versions
Originally running for 160 minutes, Southland Tales premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006 to a disastrous reception. Because of this, it was re-edited and shortened in length as part of the distribution deal. Since the shortened version was shown theatrically and released on DVD, the Cannes cut has been shown on Cable TV and DVD releases in Europe. Some of the changes between the theatrical cut and the Cannes cut are as follows:
Opens the same as theatrical cut, with home video in Abilene, except with music ('Water Pistol' by Moby) and runs longer. Video is also shown in its original aspect ratio, instead of cropped for 2.35:1.
Doomsday Scenario Interface is not present in the original cut, it was added to provide background information present in the graphic novels. Instead we have narration from Pilot Abilene explaining the present situation and Treer Corporation.
The meeting between the Baron and Hideo Takehashi takes place much earlier in the film, Pilot explains the Baron dislikes Takehashi.
The character of General Teena MacArthur is more fleshed out in original cut, she mainly communicates with General Simon Theory and the Baron.
Many scenes with dialog between main characters have been extended i.e. scenes with Boxer & Roland, Krysta & Cyndi, Boxer & Starla, Cyndi & Vaughn Smallhouse etc.
Pilot explains that Bart Bookman is an 'angry man' with a willingness to die.
Some events that take place are better explained in original cut e.g. Boxer ringing Fortunio before meeting him, Serpentine explaining her actions at the end.
Features additional effects of the blimp not in theatrical version.
Features music by Moby not present in theatrical version i.e. 'Ceanograph' is heard in scene giving information on the rift, 'Hotel Intro' is heard as characters visit different sections on the blimp.
Very few modern movies are original, especially ones coming out of Hollywood. And considering we live in a sort of post-consumer media culture it's not really surprising that the system , so to speak, is desperate to protect it's bottom line.
This movie, well, it's not really interested in any of that.
After the bizarre first 10 minutes you should know whether or not the movie is for you; it was for me.
If you like things like Cronenberg, give this a shot... yes the ending is a bit, "now what do I do," but overall it's extremely entertaining, and out there in a "They Live" kind of way.
And if you like it, it has the power to stick with you, and make you want to recommend it to people, until you start trying to explain what it's actually all about.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
Very few modern movies are original, especially ones coming out of Hollywood. And considering we live in a sort of post-consumer media culture it's not really surprising that the system , so to speak, is desperate to protect it's bottom line.
This movie, well, it's not really interested in any of that.
After the bizarre first 10 minutes you should know whether or not the movie is for you; it was for me.
If you like things like Cronenberg, give this a shot... yes the ending is a bit, "now what do I do," but overall it's extremely entertaining, and out there in a "They Live" kind of way.
And if you like it, it has the power to stick with you, and make you want to recommend it to people, until you start trying to explain what it's actually all about.