An audacious near-future pop fever dream under the guise of blockbuster aesthetics, "Southland Tales" starred Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as a movie star who keeps forgetting his past, Sarah. Blue, in an hour you feel new, and you can forget about Mellow yellow or Agent Orange, 'cause hey, I'm giving you blood red." Anything important or cool? What do all the characters in the film keep on quoting from? Ben's path down the dark side finally caught up to him when Sammy put the pieces together. The film follows the criss-crossed destinies of Boxer Santaros, an action film actor stricken with amnesia; Krysta Now, a psychic exporn star in the midst of creating a reality TV show; and twin brothers Roland and Ronald Taverner, whose destinies become intertwined with that of all mankind. It is suddenly interrupted when Boxer pulls out a gun and threatens to kill himself unless everybody evacuates the mega-zeppelin. On March 25, 2009, the R2 DVD was released in France. She is pursued by Zora and Bart, who have discovered that Krysta has taken Dion and Dream's murder tape by mistake. Cheri Oteri plays Zora Carmichaels, while Jon Lovitz plays violent police officer Bart Bookman who is in love with Zora. In Donnie Darko, the world ends when the Tangent Universe collapses, which may also be what happens at the end of Southland Tales. When Ronald arrives at the home of Fortunio Balducci (Will Sasso), a movie producer, to meet Boxer and Krysta, Boxer explains that he and Krysta have written a screenplay called "The Power," about a "paranoid schizophrenic cop" named Jericho Cane. Their hands begin to glow. ------------------------------------------. Muriel and Jericho take the child after its parents are killed, and, under Muriel's guidance, drive to a farmhouse, where they are met by Serpentine, the Baron's mistress. Lots of scary apocalyptic stuff will happen (judgment, plagues and the like), before Jesus Christ will ride in on a white horse and establish the new kingdom of God. That's why he wakes up on the beach at the start of the movie. She tells him that he must board the mega-zeppelin and what he is looking for is in the Baron's private chamber. The Grey Horseman. Tide power, and the wireless transmission of electricity, are scientific realities. He is a pimp and pimps don't commit suicide.". "ZORA: "A modified organic diet and transcendental meditation. They can use their telepathy as an advantage this way. One of these was a rift created in the fourth dimensionthe fourth dimension being time itselfat Lake Meade, which was discovered when an airplane flew through it and had all its passengers left with amnesia (bar oneKrysta Now, who gained psychic abilities from it). Starla Von Luft, the double-crossing USIDent employee, is reading a copy of "The Power" at work. Edit, No one really knows, it's never implied in the film who was behind it-Richard Kelly did mention he was given an article called "American Hiroshima" which revolved this plan of Al-Qaeda's to buy nuclear weapons off Russian mobsters and smuggle them into Texas over the Mexican border and detonate them in mid-sized cities. It's OK to be confused by Richard Kelly's "Southland Tales.". What was in the 20 to 25 minutes cut out of the original version showed at Cannes? Director Richard Kelly Writer Richard Kelly Stars Dwayne Johnson Sarah Michelle Gellar On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. As in "Southland Tales," a character in "Kiss Me Deadly" picks up a stranger in the desert, and one of the main characters in the film is named after a poet. Movie star Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson) plans his next film with the . What does the name Fortunio Balducci refer to? It stinks and we have to accept it. We may have to wait for the DVD commentary to figure that one out. Singer Rebekah Del Rio, who (as herself) performs the "Star Spangled Banner" onboard the mega-zeppelin, is also featured in David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive." On the mega-zeppelin, Krysta Now performs a dance number. External Reviews The movie plays in the background in several scenes, and in the "Prequel Saga," Krysta tells Boxer it is his favorite movie. The purpose of these novels is to explain much of the back-story and set the viewer up for parts IV, V and VI in the movie itself. In addition to her reality show, Krysta has launched an energy drink and recorded a hit single called "Teen Horniness Is Not a Crime." [9] Filming began on August 15, 2005, with a budget of around US$1517 million. As the movie suggests, the Baron conducted secret experiments, headed by Simon Theory, with soldiers in Iraq. During their discussion, they learn that Ronald has been dreaming of Boxer. One Taverner repeats, "friendly fire," while the other says, "I forgive you." The screenplay ends at a McDonald's restaurant, when Caleb starts belching noxious gas and launching fireballs. "Southland Tales" opens on July 4, 2005, in Abilene, Texas. But they're in there. He then asked her to forecast the last three days on Earth, and she made her prediction in the form of a screenplay: "The Power." He climbs out and walks up to the nearby ice cream truck. || Southland Tales Movie Ending Explained in English#endingexplained endingexplained Copyright Disclaimer: No Copyright in. And why is he having an affair with Krysta Now? I still don't know what that movie is about. When Krysta mentions that she is sleeping with Boxer Santaros, Cyndi decides to use this information to blackmail Boxer's father-in-law: Republican candidate Bobby Frost. In Southland Tales we have a movie whose frenetic, all-American surrealism - its blend of censorship and sexuality, commerce and violence - spookily pre-empted the prevailing culture under Donald Trump a decade before he was elected president. Edit, Richard Kelly stated in his interview with Empire film magazine, The idea of wireless electricity and tides being a source of energy, and there being a potentially world-altering energy source under the ocean, is based on real scientific theory. What does the Latin inscription "oderint dum metuant" on the UPU cars mean? That's why he wakes up on the beach at the start of the movie. A white light emerges from their hands and the ice cream truck starts floating. Edit, Richard Kelly stated in his interview with Empire, If Roland Taverner pulls the trigger and kills himself, the ice-cream truck will fall and the gateway it opens will close, and it's that gateway that may be humankind's salvation, so suicide represents surrendering to defeat. The novel has obvious links in its plot with Southland Tales, and the story's main character is named Jason Taverner. The Taverner twins are revealed to be the same person by the engineers of Treer, duplicated when Roland traveled through a rift in space-time, while Boxer has become the most wanted man in the world despite his political ties and his having the fate of the future, in the form of a prophetic screenplay foretelling the end of the world, in his hands. In the universe of the film, Dr. Inga Von Westphalen is also the granddaughter of Jenny Von Westphalen, Karl Marx's wife. [7] The title refers to the Southland, a name used by locals to refer to Southern California and the Greater Los Angeles area. | Edit, Fred Zinnemann, the well-known movie director of the 1950s and 60s, maybe? If these scenes are anything to go by, very minuscule moments in them that were cut can be noticed and they are now more compact and give the bare essentials in the theatrical cut. Zora Carmichaels and Bart Buchman return to the Neo-Marxist headquarters, where we learn that the two are lovers and have planned the murder of Dion and Dream. The movie and prequel saga focus a lot on the "blood red" version of the drug which gives the person using the drug ability to see, or "bleed", into the past, and with repeated use, the future. Initial release: May 21, 2006. It's. The Treer generators were slowing the rotation of Earth by .0000006 mile per hour (.9 inch per day, or 2.3 centimeters per day), per day, which caused strange effects around the world. He wakes up in a bed in his apartment in Treer Plaza. Pilot Abilene (Justin Timberlake) quotes Biblical scripture from the Book of Revelation in narrating the film and allusion is made both to Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening and an altered version of T. S. Eliot's The Hollow Men. [citation needed]. Pregnant woman from Revelation 12 and 13 (Puppet of the Anti-Christ)Bobby Frost and Vaughn Smallhouse: "Me & Bobby McGee" by Waylon Jennings6. 9 in D Minor, op. Boxer gets into a convertible and drives off. Edit, Richard Kelly envisioned the story as being told across multiple formats. [26], Southland Tales was initially planned to be a nine-part "interactive experience", with the first six parts published in six 100-page graphic novels that would be released in a six-month period up to the film's release. They are the two witnesses.Krysta Now: Kids are shooting home video of their Independence Day barbecue. All three graphic novels were written by Richard Kelly, with artwork by Brett Weldele. Most of the screenplay is included in the "Prequel Saga.". Although Kelly's first film, "Donnie Darko," was an obtuse cult hit about time travel and an apocalyptic rabbit, few people could have anticipated a follow-up as thoroughly baffling as "Southland Tales." Why would Martin let himself die after he killed everyone on the Mega-Zeppelin? What's the relation between Walter Mung and Veronica "Dream" Mung? According to the "Prequel Saga," "The Power" was written entirely by Krysta Now, who is apparently psychic. Is it just me, or did that make no sense? The film also evokes Kurt Vonnegut's sci-fi absurdism, Philip K. Dick's philosophical approach to time travel, and Thomas Pynchon's sprawling narratives. Roland manages to escape, climb onto the roof, and fall into a dumpster. Eliot's "Hollow Man" ("This is the way the world ends/ Not with a bang but with a whimper") and Robert Frost's "The Two Roads" ("Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-/ I took the one less traveled by"). They will reign forever and ever." No one really knows (except Richard Kelly, of course) but the glow could be to establish a connection between the two Taverners, that they are two identical souls walking on the same plane. A website was also developed to intertwine with the graphic novels and the film itself. It has a similar plot to "Southland Tales," but with different characters and more gratuitous product placement. He can be reached at @thomasmaxrogers. [23], Southland Tales: Music from the Motion Picture is the original soundtrack of Richard Kelly's 2007 film Southland Tales. When it premiered in its original three-hour form at Cannes, last year, the response was acidic. After the attacks, Kelly revised the script. Directed by Richard Kelly, a guy who can only make cult classics . | Edit, The term fluid karma is used to refer to two things in the movie. "Southland Tales" also borrows from "Repo Man," which ends with a flying car (and which also referenced "Kiss Me Deadly"). Edit, The Treer company is a German defense contractor that employs Dr. Inga Von Westphalen, a zeppelin designer and the Baron's mother. Pimp is American slang for badass. The film was released in the UK on December 7, 2007, exclusively to UK cinema chain Cineworld in a limited number of locations. Surrounded by his entourage, which includes Serpentine (Bai Ling); the Baron's mother, Dr. Inga Von Westphalen (Marion Card); Dr. Katarina Kuntzler (Zelda Rubinstein) and Dr. Soberin Exx (Curtis Armstrong) -- all dressed like a Cirque du Soleil troupe -- the Baron explains how fluid karma works: by "quantum entanglement.". His colleague, Starla Von Luft (Michelle Durrett), has planted a bug on his jacket and is leading the police forces to their hideout. No idea. Is "The Power" important for understanding "Southland Tales"? [14] With the film's premise of a nuclear attack on Texas, Kelly wanted to take a look at how the United States would respond and survive while constructing a "great black comedy. Edit, According to The Prequel Saga, "The Power" was written entirely by Krysta Now, who is apparently psychic. What's the deal with this screenplay-within-the-movie that all the characters keep referring to? But now it's about, I hope, creating a piece of science fiction that's about a really important problem we're facing, about civil liberties and homeland security and needing to sustain both those things and balance them. Dwayne Johnson joined the cast in April 2005, and principal photography was slated to begin August 1, 2005 in Los Angeles. He's the best friend of Seann William Scott's character (Roland Taverner), so he's witness to the resurrection. Edit, Revelation 22:5: "It will never be night again and they will not need lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will be shining on them. Richard Kelly's science-fiction comedy was widely derided on release in 2006, but it has since found a cult audience. There is no real-life equivalent to the movie's "organic compound" which grants people telepathy etc. Back at USIDent headquarters, we learn that Boxer was kidnapped at a charity scavenger hunt several days earlier, and a charred body, presumed to be his, has been found in the desert near Lake Mead. The original script was written 6 years ago just after Richard and his team returned from Sundance. (This explains the final scene where "Ronald" tells Roland he forgives himhe is actually Pilot Abilene talking, explaining that he forgives him for what happened in Fallujah.) The name may also reference the actor Fortunio Bonanova who starred as Carmen Trivago in the film Kiss Me Deadly, itself a considerable influence on Southland Tales. She became psychic when a plane she was onUnited 23flew through the rift in space-time above Lake Mead. In the hopes of helping you make sense of the movie, we've decided to unravel "Southland Tales" as we've done for "Mulholland Drive," "The Wire" and, of course, "Donnie Darko." Thinking it's her sex tape with Boxer, she takes it with her. Southland Tales grossed $275,380 in limited release at the North American box office and $99,363 in Turkey and United Kingdom for a worldwide total of $374,743,[6] against a production budget of $17 million. Edit, Richard Kelly has stated that "Kiss Me Deadly" is a huge influence on Southland Tales and that Boxer Santaros was modeled off that film's main character, Mike Hammer. It's just more physical. However, there was a promotional soundtrack that was given to members of the press when the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006. "ZORA: "I disagree. Why that happens when the Taverners touch, only Richard Kelly knows. It does get easier to understand, though, if you've read the Book of Revelation. Why does the movie start with Boxer Santaros asleep on a beach? Kelly said: "[Southland Tales] will only be a musical in a post-modern sense of the word in that it is a hybrid of several genres. Before Edward Snowden released information to the public about the NSA's numerous global surveillance programs, many people joked about the government spying on us through simple technology like our phones. While Ronald is briefly distracted, Boxer is beckoned over by Serpentine, who has been hovering nearby. The baby, she explains, is the Messiah, and Jericho is his guardian. It never becomes clear what exactly happened in the desert. ", "This is the way the world ends, This is the way the world ends, This is the way the world ends, Not with a whimper, but with a bang.". How did the Taverners end up with the Neo-Marxists in Venice Beach? 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