Southland Tales (2007)

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

I really need look into the backstory about how and why this humongous piece of cr&p came to be. It has a handful of major stars for the time as well as a budget of ....17 million dollars? Something isn't adding up. The actors must have refused a paycheck after seeing the completed product.

Never let it be said that Dwayne Johnson never appeared in a crap movie, when in fact he did. SOUTHLAND TALES has to be one of the worst films I've ever seen him in and not just him. There's a whole list of familiar faces with likes of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Sean William Scott, Justin Timberlake, Jon Lovitz and many more.You would think you'd have the makings of a fun film but instead it's a complete mess of a movie, and the actors are either underused or cast in lousy parts. I mean if the extent of an excellent actor's role in the film is to drive a van and smoke a cigarette as is really the case with Christopher Lambert, then your film really does suck.Although Dwayne Johnson's output of films has ranged from excellent to decent to okay, this one is a turkey not worth recommending.

For those of you that don't know, 'Southland Tales' is the second film from (Donnie Darko-acclaimed) writer/director Richard Kelly. After the success of Darko, he was given a much bigger budget to play with for his next feature and the stars queued up to be in it. How could it possibly fail? It did.And I was quite saddened by the reaction from viewers and critics alike (because I really loved it!). Yes, if you're thinking of watching Southland Tales, know that most people absolutely loathed it. They described it as unwatchable, too complicated and not making any sense.And they're probably right. But I still love it anyway. For a start, it's set in the same 'Darko' universe and, like its predecessor, is a mixture of genres. Ultimately, it's an 'end-of-the-world' film, but it encompasses comedy, romance, action, musical, thriller, science fiction and even political satire on the constant 'war' on terrorism.It has numerous characters, all of which are playing their part in the overall story. However, this is where the 'haters' start to build their argument. There are so many characters that none of them (bar Dwayne Johnson possibly) are really afforded the screen time they deserve. Hence we never really know an awful lot about them and then suddenly they're killed off and we're left none the wiser to what they were really about.Then you have the narration. There's an old saying in the writing world: 'Show, don't tell.' Here, Southland Tales simply tells half of the important plot points through a narrator and various fictional shots from the internet. Again, this does give off the feeling of being a bit rushed.But, if you can get over the many minus points, you'll find that Southland Tales is actually quite a novel story, told in a very slick and stylish way. Some of the scenes are almost visually hypnotic and the soundtrack (courtesy of Moby) certainly adds to the mood.If you've seen Donnie Darko, you may know what to expect. Don't think you're going to get any quick answers to what's going on. You may find you're looking up answers on the internet as to what Southland Tales is all about. That prospect may not appeal to everyone, so, if you're one of them, don't bother watching this. However, I'll just sit back and enjoy the experience. I don't claim to understand everything and I'll never say it's a perfect film. However, I found it perfect for me.

On July 4, 2005, nuclear explosions devastate Texas. It's the start of WWIII. America turns militaristic. Three years later, California is the key to the presidential race. Republicans are generally winning politics. There is a leftist neo-Marxist movement. There is a new government force USIDent which controls cyberspace and surveillance. Middle east oil is cut off and scientists have developed a new power source Fluid Karma using quantum entanglement. Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson) is a key republican who goes missing and returns with amnesia. He has info with Krysta Kapowski (Sarah Michelle Gellar) who is reality porn star Krysta Now. Roland Taverner (Seann William Scott) is a cop or a copy of the cop who is giving Santaros a ride-along.This is an ambitious movie from Richard Kelly who made Donnie Darko. He's allowed to be let loose and that is its major problem. It has so much that it becomes quite a mess. It has way too much. It is unexplainable and illogical. It's a conspiracy nut's wet dream. Somebody needs to hold him back. There are bits and pieces that I really like. I love SWS watching his delayed reflection. I like some of the silly humor. Generally, I don't like the cinematography or directing style or the overly complicated world. It looks like a cheap compromise. I appreciate the ambition but this is not a good movie in most sense. It is a mishmash of weird ideas.