Southland Tales: Difference between revisions
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[[File:southland-tales-poster-0_2605.jpg|frame|[[Mood Dissonance|Have A Nice]] [[The End of the World as We Know It|Apocalypse]]]]
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''[[Southland Tales]]'' is a 2007 [[Science Fiction]]/[[Black Comedy]] film from director Richard Kelly, the follow-up to his 2001 cult hit ''[[Donnie Darko]]''. While planned as a mainstream breakthrough, things didn't really pan out that way. The combination of a large budget and Sony's decision to shelve the film after lackluster showings in a handful of cities means that it's not likely to show profit for years to come. Nonetheless, ST did make some critics' year's best lists and has found a modest [[Cult Classic|cult following]] on DVD.
The plot is difficult to summarize, and considered intensely nonsensical by many, but here's a thumbnail version. After a nuclear attack in Texas, the government has taken a more authoritarian role. There are several interlaced conspiracies for and against it, with the constantly infighting Neo-Marxists being the most notable opposition group. A dandyish scientist (Wallace Shawn) who has developed a way of deriving energy from ocean current seems to have a hand in everything. And oh yeah, all of time and space seem to be on the edge of self-destruction. It really, really helps if you are at least passingly familiar with the [[Book of Revelation]].
Imagine if you will ''[[Mulholland Drive]]'' mixed with ''[[Armageddon]]''. Or an American ''[[Akira]]'' that manages to match the imagination and multiply the
The cast is led by Sarah Michelle Gellar, Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott and narrator [[Justin Timberlake]]. Many of the secondary roles are filled by comedians, and specifically ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' veterans.
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* [[Loads and Loads of Characters]]: The movie goes out of it's way to introduce dozens of characters exceedingly often. Unfortunately, it can't quite seem to decide which ones are supposed to be important...
* '''[[Mind Screw]]'''
* [[My God, What Have I Done?]]: Ronald Taverner, stemming from his tour in [[My Greatest Failure|Fallujah.]]
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* {{spoiler|[[Never the Selves Shall Meet]]: This is the way the world ends.}}
* [[Noodle Incident]]: The film never explains what happened between Tavener and Pilot in Fallujah. {{spoiler|It's revealed in the comic and passingly hinted at in the film that while under the influence of fluid karma Roland accidentally scarred Pilot's face with a grenade.}}
* [[Playing Against Type]]: The cast. See [[What the Hell Casting Agency]] below for more information.
* [[Playing with Syringes]]: The secret tests done on U.S. soldiers using Fluid Karma. Covered mostly in the graphic novels, but movie shows what happens when these syringes get out into the general populace.
* [[Psychic Link]]: One of the many effects of Fluid Karma.
* [[Read the Fine Print]]: Baron von Westphalen says this to the Prime Minister of Japan after {{spoiler|cutting off his left hand.}}
* [[Rule of Symbolism]]: Boxer's tattoos are symbolic representations of all the major world religions, and [[Word of God]] says that the tattoo that bleeds is the religion that "wins." {{spoiler|The tattoo of Jesus bleeds just before the Megazeppelin explodes.}}
* [[Show Within a Show]]: Krysta Now's script, "The Power".
* [[Shout-Out]]:
** [[Philip K. Dick|"Flow my tears, the policeman said."]]
** Almost all the chapters are allusions: ''Two Roads Diverge'' is an allusion to [[Robert Frost]], ''Fingerprints'' likely to Leonard Cohen, ''Temptation Waits'' to [[Garbage]] and ''Memory Gospel'' to [[Moby]]. The final chapter is called [[Pixies|Wave of Mutilation]]. ''The Mechanicals'' is named after an improv group that Kelly took a liking
** The corrupt senator and his running mate are named [[Robert Frost|Frost]] and [[T. S. Eliot|Eliot]].
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** Possible parody of ''[[Left Behind]]'': The character of Fortunio Balducci, the Baron's [[The Mole|Mole]]. [[Word of God]] confirms that, following the Book of Revelation, Fortunio is the False Prophet. His counterpart's name in ''Left Behind''? Leon Fortunato.
* [[Tag-Along Actor]]: Boxer with Taverner.
* [[This Is for Emphasis, Bitch]]: "The fourth dimension will collapse upon itself... you stupid bitch."
* [[We ARE Struggling Together!]]: The Neo-Marxists.
* [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic]]: As it is a Richard Kelly film, everything IS symbolic.
* [[
:This was actually done quite intentionally, although (like a lot of the film) the intended effect is not really that clear. In other words, the setup is there but the punchline isn't. Excerpted from an Internet-based article: "The biggest disappointment of ''Southland Tales'' resides in its most promising conceit, a cast populated by B-to-D-list celebrities ranging from Wallace Shawn to Zelda Rubenstein to Christopher Lambert. There's a wealth of satirical material to be found in [this] generation's curious veneration of kitsch, and I'd hoped Kelly's cast list indicated a deeper explanation of the connection between pop culture and regression touched upon in ''Donnie Darko''..." (Full article [http://cinevistaramascope.blogspot.com/2008/04/pimps-dont-commit-suicide.html here.])
** Also done in-universe, as the Neo-Marxists inform Boxer he was cast as a racist cop for a "movie" (in truth, an attempt to convince him their plans are [[All Part of the Show]]).
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Films of the 2000s]]
[[Category:Southland Tales]]
[[Category:Film]]
[[Category:Cult Classic]]
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