Southland Tales (2006)

[Kurug3n]

In Los Angeles, a city on the brink of chaos overshadowed by the growth of the underground Neo-Marxist movement, we follow the criss-crossed destinies of Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson), an action film actor stricken with amnesia; Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar), ex-porn star in the midst of creating a reality tv show; and twin brothers Roland and Ronald Taverner (both played by Seann William Scott), whose destinies – on one evening – become intertwined with that of all mankind.

Heres The Trailer:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtp14ikRvxo

The movie is just so strange and bizarre.Its a science fiction film about the end of the world.It felt as though it was like a modern version of Dr.Strangelove when i was watching it. I thought it was a great and I need to rewatch it to get some stuff that i missed.

Probably the best scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dajn9Bk24CY

[mr. mouse]

Southland Tales is one of the most darndest movies I have ever seen, I love it to pieces but I have a hard time explaining my fascination with it.
It's a deeply flawed in movie in 'more ways than one' as one of its main characters might put it, but mostly in the way that it is simply trying to cover too many topics in one movie (alternative fuels, the war on terror, big brother, time travel, the space-time continuum and of course the end of the world.)
The storyline is a gigantic sprawling mess that doesn't make a whole lotta sense and there are so many characters that I wouldn't be surprised if Richard Kelly himself lost count of 'em, but that is exactly why I like it so much, this over-ambition and insistence on doing something different, it's a mess to be sure but it's a highly ambitious mess and that's more than I can say about most movies.

All the characters in this overpopulated movie have very strange names like Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson), Cindy Pinziki (Nora Dunn), Baron von Westphalen (Wallace Shawn), Pilot Abilene (Justin Timberlake), Zora Carmichaels (Cheri Oteri), Simon Theory (Kevin Smith) et cetera....
The two most normal names in the movie is probably the names of twin brothers Roland and Ronald Taverner (played by Sean William Scott)

The casting in this movie is one of its greatest strenghts, The Rock plays the schizophrenic hollywood star Boxer Santaros and actually delivers a very convincing comic performance, this is a role that probably can't be played well in technical terms, but Dwayne Johnson plays it badly better than anybody else could have. Sean William Scott plays the part of the twin brothers who suddenly find themselves as pawns in dangerous game planned by a bunch of neo-marxists very convincingly, not once does he put on that silly Stifler grin. Sarah Michelle Gellar is perfect as the psychic porn star with a topical-chat-reality show.

Southland Tales is scattered with obsessive detail throughout, for example: Nana Mae Frost, the head of US-Ident, a big brother-like agency, wears a dress very similar to the one worn by the queen in Snow White, and if you look closely you see that Nana Mae Frost has seven dwarves working for her.
There are a lot of toilets throughout the movie, a huge one can be seen in the neo marxist compund, wich blends pretty well with all the talk about bowel movements throughout the film. The Neo Marxist compund also has a wide collection of bowling pins with ex-president's heads on 'em.
Justin Timberlake, under the effect of a drug called fluid karma that is fueled by the ocean, does a musical sequence in wich he lip synchs All These Things I've Done by The Killers in a bowling alley for soldiers, surrounded by dancing girls dressed like Marilyn Monroe.
The final act of the movie involves most of the characters going on a zeppelin, named after Karl Marx's widow, Jenny von Westphalen. Rebekah Del Rio does a wonderful rendition of the national anthem, strangely though the first two lines are sung in spanish. The two Sean William Scotts are on board a levitating ice truck that is flying over the streets of LA and suddenly everybody seems kind of aware of the roles they play in this feverish apocalyptic thriller.

Like I said, this is the darndest film.
Kurug3n mentioned Dr. Strangelove, that movie was one of Richard Kelly's main influences for this movie. Richard Kelly also mentioned Pulp Fiction, Brazil and Kiss Me Deadly as influences, the latest of wich is referenced a lot, it's iconic final scene is shown on the megazeppelin.
Maybe the day will come that Southland Tales is seen as the Dr. Strangelove for the 2000's, but I mostly see it as a 2000's update of Kathryn Bigelow's Strange Days, wich was released in 1995, both movies envision a bleak near future, yet approached in a very comedic way, where you are constantly being watched and most law officials are corrupt and rotten to the core.
Strange Days is not quite as bizarre as Southland Tales but they share a lot of elements.

Anyhoo, for those of you who haven't seen this film I recommend that you watch it, but don't try to follow the plot, rather immerse yourself in its weirdness.

[Kurug3n]

Nice summarization man . Whats your favorite part out of the whole thing?

[mr. mouse]

my favourite scene is either the scene with the Killers song or the scene where Boxer Santaros and Krysta Now describe their movie to Roland Taverner. "the future is going to be far more futuristic than originally predicted" haha 

[Kurug3n]

my favourite scene is either the scene with the Killers song or the scene where Boxer Santaros and Krysta Now describe their movie to Roland Taverner. "the future is going to be far more futuristic than originally predicted" haha 

Also, Sarah Michelle Gellar is great as the porn star Krysta Now.

[Tuco the ugly]

The good thing when you get a DVD from someone is that you can watch a movie for free. The bad thing is that you can't throw it out of the window.

I really don't wanna be the guy that goes around the board slinging mud on other members for their taste, but I couldn't finish this. And I tried. I don't even know how to describe it, ''a complete mess'' maybe. I remember SMG's character saying something like: ''Why fuck later if you can fuck now?''... too much for me.

''Why fuck off ST later, if you can fuck it off now?'', I'd say.

[Kurug3n]

I don't even know how to describe it, ''a complete mess'' maybe.

its a complete mess. totally.but damn theres just something that keeps me interested.

[PowerRR]

Probably the best scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dajn9Bk24CY

If that's the best scene than this is an awful movie.

[Kurug3n]

If that's the best scene than this is an awful movie.

i should have said my favorite scene.

[T.H.]

If that's the best scene than this is an awful movie.

Yeah, pretty much. This has trainwreck written all over it.