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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Southland Tales

  
  

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FinderWolf
19:09 / 10.05.04
OK, this is listed as simply "Coming soon" -- from the writer/director of our beloved DONNIE DARKO!!

here's some info. about it:

Southland Tales is a musical-comedy-thriller from writer-director Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko). The film is set in Los Angeles 2008 during a three-day heatwave leading up to a big July 4th celebration. The film will incorporate singing and dancing as well as dream sequences. Sarah Michelle Gellar and Sean William Scott lead the cast while Moby might contribute new music.

Ali Larter (Actor)

Janeane Garofalo (Actor)

Jason Lee (Actor)

Kevin Smith (Actor)

Sarah Michelle Gellar (Actor)

Seann William Scott (Actor)

Tim Blake Nelson (Actor)

------

Strange cryptic website for the film.
 
 
Tamayyurt
19:16 / 10.05.04
Hey, I know his other "Time" movie is called Knowing but from that site you linked to I get an alternate future vibe from it. Are you sure it's not the same movie with a different title? Well, you probably wouldn't know cause like you said it's all very cryptic.
 
 
eddie thirteen
20:57 / 10.05.04
I, um, I have to admit, from the description, vague as it is, this sounds like a really lame film. From the casting to the premise (the senses-shattering future world of, what...four years from now? Uh...) to its being a musical, once again back to the casting, it's almost as if Richard Kelly has reached into my very psyche and created the one film that in no way would appeal to me on any level, a kind of incredible anti-grail of modern cinema. And yet...well, I dunno, maybe it's a joke.
 
 
eddie thirteen
21:05 / 10.05.04
Well...wait. I mean, if it's an alternative future, I...guess that could be cool. I retract my earlier vehemence. I think it was just a visceral reaction to the words "Kevin Smith" and "musical." Separately, either is enough to make me hate a film; together, I think I'd rather eat a hand grenade.
 
 
eddie thirteen
21:12 / 10.05.04
No. Wait. No. No, this really does sound like the worst movie of all time. The more I think about it, the more awful it becomes. I hereby retract my retraction.
 
 
Phex: Dorset Doom
21:51 / 10.05.04
I got to the part on the site that said 'the Internet is the future' (okay, maybe, in the past the Internet was the future, now we have a blog for every grain of sand on Brighton beach and WhatWasSheLike.com)I got stuck in the flash animation after I chose 'left' and I couldn't get out. nE1 hAvE nE chEAts or wArEzzz?????? (urrgh, typing that made my flesh crawl.)
 
 
FinderWolf
12:59 / 11.05.04
Imp: They could be the same film, I dunno.

Ali Larter is not someone I'd ever categorize as an "actor," really. But that's just me. Wasn't she hot Doritos chips brunette? Even if she's in fact a blonde I'm confusing her with who I'm thinking of, not a stellar actor. But everyone else in the cast is a good actor.

The site only seems to let you choose the left, not the right. "Do you bleed?" Does the title imply a Civil War South thing? JFK, George Washington and Marilyn Monroe? What the hell is going on here? I'm clueless, that's for sure...
 
 
FinderWolf
13:03 / 11.05.04
I just realized who I'm confusing Ali Larter (blonde, has actually had some acting roles, but not great ones) and Ali Landry (brunette hot Doritos chips girl). Not that it really matters. We just have to hope Richard Kelly knows what he's doing.
 
 
Tamayyurt
14:47 / 11.05.04
I got to the part on the site that said 'the Internet is the future' (okay, maybe, in the past the Internet was the future, now we have a blog for every grain of sand on Brighton beach and WhatWasSheLike.com)

You see, if this is about some sort of time capsule a clairvoyant kid set in the ground then a statment like "the Internet is the future" would fit... I'm still thinking this is Knowing under a new name.
 
 
PatrickMM
21:22 / 11.05.04
Maybe I'm the only one, but I think the movie sounds great. The cast is eclectic, but I've liked almost all of them in one project or another. Unlike most people here on the board, I'm a big fan of Moby's stuff, and his music on the website is suitably moody. Plus, a well done musical is one of the greatest pleasures to watch, and there just haven't been enough of them. Plus, in a lot of respects, Donnie Darko is a musical, just without the characters actually singing. I'm pretty psyched for this, the Kelly project that scares me is the Donnie Darko "director's cut."
 
 
Tamayyurt
02:59 / 12.05.04
Oh no, you're not the only one... I also think this is great.
 
 
eddie thirteen
03:44 / 12.05.04
I love Donnie Darko, but I can't think of anything about this that sounds too great. It sounds like the kind of self-indulgent movie that is sometimes made by a very young filmmaker in the wake of an early success (which Donnie Darko was, even if it, y'know, kinda took a while). I.e., "Dude, this is so awesome! I know BUFFY now! And I can get her in a movie, and...stuff...and they can all sing! Yeah! And Kevin Smith can be in it! With Jason Lee! Mallrats was the BOMB when I was in ninth grade, man! And..." Bah. It'll probably be ungodly long, too. I hope to be proven wrong, but even if I'm not, Donnie Darko was much too good to have been a fluke. If this is as bad as I fear, his third film will probably make up for it.
 
 
Krug
13:21 / 12.05.04
I'm with you Eddiethirteen, Donnie Darko is in top 3 films but I can't find anything to like about this. I'm not even excited, I've been checking Kelly's IMDB info on a monthly basis since I saw Donnie Darko for more info on his next film.

I hate musicals and most of the anounced cast.
 
 
_Boboss
13:34 / 12.05.04
hide the pies gang, kevin smith's trying to act again. he should stay behind the camera. there is only limited room on a cinema screen after all.
 
 
Phex: Dorset Doom
14:33 / 12.05.04
Dude, cheap shot.
 
 
PatrickMM
16:04 / 12.05.04
I feel like it's kind of a tradition for a filmmaker who makes a breakthrough with a smaller film to come back with a huge, multi-character, very long film. You can see it in Paul Thomas Anderson making Magnolia after Boogie Nights (which while long and multi-character wasn't on the scale of Magnolia), Wes Anderson making The Royal Tenenbaums after Rushmore, even Orson Welles doing The Magnificent Ambersons after Citizen Kane.

So, I think he's probably doing the project he's wanted to do for a long time, but wasn't able to until now.

And, Kevin Smith being in the movie really confuses me. It's one thing to play Silent Bob, but to play a role in another director's movie? Anyone know if someone on his boards has asked about it?
 
 
FinderWolf
19:11 / 28.09.04
just read this on Cinescape.com - a movie Richard Kelly is writing but not directing:

>> AMERICAN BEAUTY actress Mena Suvari has landed a plum role in DOMINO, the New Line Cinema action/biography film about to start filming next week. Suvari will star alongside Keira Knightly in the film and play a producer's assistant; Knightly's role is that of Domino Harvey, the real life model-turned-bounty hunter. Tony Scott (MAN ON FIRE) is directing the project from a script by Richard Kelly (DONNIE DARKO).
 
 
eddie thirteen
17:11 / 30.09.04
Did that just say "real-life-model-turned..."?

Okay, you know what, maybe Donnie Darko *was* a fluke.
 
 
FinderWolf
17:32 / 30.09.04
I think the paragraph means the film is based on a true story -- apparently there really was a model who then became a bodyguard/spy/whatever the hell...?
 
 
eddie thirteen
17:57 / 30.09.04
Just because a story is true doesn't mean it's not...goofy. Maybe if it was like a Charlie Kaufman script I wouldn't be wincing, but when you've got Tony Scott directing...man, that doesn't bode well for satirical treatment. Guess we'll see...
 
 
PatrickMM
02:40 / 04.10.04
'Domino' might be a sort of Joss Whedon case, where Kelly does a cash in, with a work that isn't as important to him, and doesn't turn out great, like Waterworld or Alien 4. Whereas, Southland Tales will be more like his Buffy the series, where it's a personal work, that he spends a lot of time and effort on. Of course, Keira and Mena are two of the best young actresses out there, and I certainly wouldn't mind spending two hours watching them, so it could be worth checking out.
 
 
FinderWolf
17:25 / 04.10.04
WHEDON WAS INVOLVED WITH WATERWORLD??!?! I thought that animated space/sci-fi (Titan A.E.?) thing was his other big crapfest besides Alien 4.
 
 
PatrickMM
20:37 / 04.10.04
He did an uncredited rewrite on Waterworld, as well as on Speed and Twister. So, he did some serious shit before making it to the Buffy series. Or, he had some seriously shitty directors before making it to the Buffy series.
 
 
Imaginary Mongoose Solutions
05:48 / 12.10.04
If you select "right" on the website, the question asked is : "Do you have sex?"
 
 
FinderWolf
14:38 / 21.04.05
from aint it cool news and then variety or whatever...

-----

Hey folks, Harry here... when's the last time you saw a studio press release that stated that The Rock, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Seann William Scott were making a film with a strange hybrid of Andy Warhol and Phillip K. Dick's sensibilities? This project is easily unlike anything you've ever seen. This script just never takes any of the expected turns - and from the 3 announced actors through all the others you'll hear about - they are all radically playing way against their established personalities and types. It is a shake the pillars of heaven cool.

----

JOHNSON HEADS TO “TALES”

UNIVERSAL PICTURES INTERNATIONAL HOLDS MOST FOREIGN RIGHTS; CHERRY ROAD FILMS AND DARKO ENTERTAINMENT TO PRODUCE

Los Angeles, CA (April 20, 2005) – Cherry Road Films and Darko Entertainment announced today that Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock) will star opposite Seann William Scott (American Pie, The Dukes of Hazzard) and Sarah Michelle Gellar (The Grudge) in the science-fiction thriller Southland Tales for writer-director Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko). Sean McKittrick will produce under the Darko Entertainment banner he co-founded with Kelly. Cherry Road principals Bo Hyde and Kendall Morgan will produce. Executive producers are Matthew Rhodes and Judd Payne of Persistent Entertainment, Bill Johnson and Jim Seibel of Inferno Distribution, and Oliver Hengst of Academy Film Gmbh.

Principal photography is slated to begin on August 1 in Los Angeles. Cherry Road Films had officially greenlit the picture with co-financing from Universal Pictures International, Inferno Distribution and Wild Bunch, with Universal distributing in most foreign territories through the UIP banner, and Wild Bunch distributing in France, Benelux, Spain and Switzerland . Richard Klubeck of UTA is representing on the domestic front.

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. Johnson will star as Boxer Santaros, an action star stricken with amnesia whose life intertwines with Krysta Now (Gellar), an adult film star developing her own reality television project, and David Clark (Scott), a Hermosa Beach police officer who holds the key to a vast conspiracy.

“Dwayne, Seann and Sarah each have an adventurous spirit and I am honored that they have put their faith in me,” said Kelly. “ The film is going to be a strange hybrid of the sensibilities of Andy Warhol and Philip K. Dick. ”

Also joining the project are most of the key crew from Donnie Darko , including director of photography Steven Poster ASC , production designer Alexander Hammond, costume designer April Ferry and editor Sam Bauer. Critically acclaimed artist and producer Moby will compose the music for the film.

In addition to the feature film, an expanded version of Southland Tales will be presented as a nine-part interactive experience with the prequel saga to be published as six separate 100 page graphic novels, each written by Kelly. The graphic novels will be released over a six month period early next year leading up to the film's release with the feature film comprised of the story's final three chapters. In addition, the film's official website will be one of the largest and most elaborate ever designed for a feature film. “The graphic novels will work in tandem with the website, creating a more epic multimedia experience for those interested in taking the plunge," added Kelly.

UTA helped package the project. Glenn Feig of Reder & Feig is production counsel.
 
 
Spaniel
15:12 / 21.04.05
DD worked - at least for me - because all the blanks weren't filled in. I hear that the extended edition does away with any ambiguity and sets the film up as straight-forward sci-fi.
I worry that Kelly is at his best when he's reigned in - when he doesn't get to join up all dots with 600 pages of comicbook and an extra twenty minutes of deleted scenes.

I mean, his plan's for ST sound like control freakery, if you ask me.

However, I DO so want to like this film.
 
 
matthew.
16:04 / 21.04.05
This whole graphic novel / website sounds so masturbatory. Maybe I end up sounding like an old grump, but whatever happened to the film speaking for itself? While the Internet and other mediums help promote the movie, I don't think they should be in tandem with the movie.

Maybe in another twenty years we'll watch a two hour movie and before the climax, it'll say "To Be Continued at http://www.MINDLESS-HOLLYWOOD-BLOCKBUSTER.com" Great. Then, when we get to the website to eagerly watch the climax, but we'll get a cheesy flash intro and some cryptic quotes from the movie. The website will takes us to the official store where we can grab the video game, the novel adaptation and the original novel (I'm not kidding, see The Manchurian Candidate), and the shirts and stickers and sweaters and posters. All of which add to the storyline.

Angry tirade aside, I loved Donnie Darko, but I never bothered to "unlock" the website to figure out more clues to the mystery. Why bother? Why can I not intrepret the movie on my own? Richard Kelly needs to be reigned in, as someone else put it. He needs a leash. Imagine how many versions of the DVD he's going to put out; I found the Director's Cut of Donnie Darko to be, in a word, superfluous. It was unecessary.

Here's a hypothetical for film geeks out there: what is Lynch told us what happened in Mulholland Drive? What if he explained the movie in clear and consise terms on the DVD's commentary? Would it not detract from the overall movie? I did not much care for Mulholland Drive, but at least it had its mystery. I think Richard Kelly plans to out-Lynch Lynch with this Southland Tales.

Hopefully the cynic in me will be proved wrong. Maybe not.
 
 
grant
19:16 / 21.04.05
I'd actually argue the other way, based on the *other* big website/movie tie-in of the last couple years -- The Blair Witch Project.

The movie was kinda take-it-or-leave-it for me, but the backstory in the website made it a lot creepier (like, you knew what the documentary the kids were shooting was actually about), and the comic that came out with (or after) was done by Bernie Mireault, and a fun addition. It could be read without knowing the web or film material, but it was a lot better if you knew the continuity. More fun.

I was just reading someone's thesis the other day on something he called "fiction networks." It was the fellow who did the annotations for Flex Mentallo... ah. Here it is. Worth checking out, if you're at all interested in "proprietary, persistent, large-scale popular fictions."

Like the DC Universe, or various iterations of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
 
 
PatrickMM
20:09 / 21.04.05
On the one hand, the film itself sounds ambitious and has a high potential for greatness. I'm not so sure about having a 600 page comic book tie in. I think the Matrix sequels showed that, no matter what the 'multi-media experience' is like, it's the film itself that really matters. The Donnie Darko website did a great job of giving you additional information on the film's world, adding to the theatrical experience, but 600 pages of graphic novel is different than an ambiguous website. Still, I'm a sucker for multi-character epics, and The Rock was the one good thing in Be Cool, so I've got high hopes.
 
 
eddie thirteen
00:14 / 24.04.05
Yeah, um, that does sound like a wankfest of the highest order (the grandiosity of the project), but on the other hand, there is something insanely compelling about the sheer OCD ambition involved in producing an epic film with a supplemental comic the size of From Hell, an interactive website, a book of related haikus and God alone knows what else. One hopes that at least a little attention was lavished on the film itself, and that the film is accessible to the 95% of its audience that will never see the other materials. Possibly including me, since I'm not sure how I feel about dropping $150 on comics just so I can follow a movie. I don't suppose artists have been announced?

Oh, FYI, as far as I can tell, all the stuff on the Donnie Darko website is also on the DVD. The first one, I mean. Haven't seen the new version.
 
 
XXII:X:II = XXX
07:36 / 03.05.05
So, uh, did Kelly set this in 2008 because that's when it'll finally see the light of day? Anyone have a solid ETA on this?

/+,
 
 
PatrickMM
15:10 / 03.05.05
I think it's supposed to be released in 2006, to be set in the near future. Though it very well could be delayed.
 
 
Jack Fear
16:48 / 24.03.06
Film is now scheduled to premiere at Cannes and open wide(ish) in October.

New infomation on how the graphic novels tie in to the film, along with a few (very trippy) preview images, at The Beat.
 
 
Jack Fear
16:30 / 25.03.06
More GN images, and an interview with Kelly, at Comic Book Resources.
 
 
FinderWolf
18:35 / 25.03.06
I really have no idea what to expect from this. 6 GN's is a bit excessive, and after reports that Kelly's directors cut of Donnie Darko took a lot of the mystery and magic out of the movie, I'm a bit wary.
 
  

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