 Filled. This movie is filled with a huge strange cast and filled with visuals and filled with music and filled with ideas and filled with off-kilter dialogue and filled with a nearly two and a half hour running time and this sentence is now filled with too much info. See what can happen?
SOUTHLAND TALES is the follow-up film by the visionary director of DONNIE DARKO, Richard Kelly. Whereas that film has a cult following and is terrific, Kelly's new project just can't hold it together because it's just TOO MUCH. It took him years to make and get financed, so it's unfortunate that the final product is as convoluted as it is. Set in an alternate-reality, post-WWIII, there are ties to many other pictures before it (DR STRANGELOVE and the work of Philip K. Dick primarily, but also the classic film noir KISS ME DEADLY, which makes an appearance in the background...twice), but it is confused with it's own identity (satire? black comedy? sci-fi?). It may not interest the vast populace but Kelly seems insistent that it has a message that all should hear. Too bad that the select audience that does see the film will miss his message, lost and buried under the weight of so much extraneousness.
I'm curious if you, the reader, had been in the know about SOUTHLAND TALES already or if it's your first time hearing of it (understandable as it was years in development and was in very very limited release when it was finally unveiled last year). In order to provide this review its own clarity, I'll break down the film into a few pieces and a couple bites that may spark your curiosity further.
There are major points about the government, politics, the Patriot Act and surveillance. Got that part. A computer creation called US-IDent rules the internet and all computer users (as watched over by the wife of a politician, a malevolent-looking Miranda Richardson).
There is pointed satire relating to the indulgence of celebrity and their sway over the culture. Got some of that too, particularly in the "Arnold-like" actor Boxer Santaros (played greatly by the guy having the most fun, "The Rock" himself, Dwayne Johnson) and the porn star Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar, acting way outside the lines of her previous roles).
Twin brothers played by Seann William Scott help hold the key to "the end of the world" but what they're actually doing throughout the movie seems unknown (simple explanation for one: he's a cop, so he's on-duty). At least it's not two Stiflers.
Miss seeing Cheri Oteri or Jon Lovitz from "Saturday Night Live"? Well, they're on display here in dark humorless characters definitely "not ready for primetime" but also not fit for their former sketch show. You can make a drinking game at home taking a drink whenever a sketch show veteran appears on-screen (Nora Dunn, Will Sasso, Amy Poehler).
Ever wondered what would happen if "Inconceivable!" Wallace Shawn and "They're heeeeeeeeerrrre..." Zelda Rubenstein appeared in the same film and the same scenes?? Wonder no longer. Oh and toss in "Booger" from REVENGE OF THE NERDS just to see what happens.
Pop-singing drinking game! Watch Mandy Moore (always cute), a singer in our reality, but in the movie's reality she doesn't sing [half-gulp]. Watch Sarah Michelle Gellar, who's not a real singer in reality, but sings a tune here called "Teenage Horniness is Not a Crime" [gulp]. Watch Justin Timberlake, who IS a real singer, but lipsyncs here (in what is probably the best scene, keep reading) [gulp]!
Timberlake may be the best character in the movie. WHAT? Don't hate, appreciate! His narration carries us throughout the film and when lipsynching to the Killers' "All These Things That I've Done", he is definitely a true highlight as well as being the movie's centerpiece (coming directly in the middle of the film). It speaks to a soldier's terror of the war he's involved in and the confusion around him ("I got soul but I'm not a soldier"), but it's really just a kick-ass surprise of a moment and the most different thing in a film filled with different things. The scenes that follow are letdowns in its wake.
If you're not enticed to see this yet, you probably never will be. There's alot of David Lynch-style here and that makes it intriguing and impenetrable at the same time. Another game: count the Lynch similarities (set in L.A. [gulp]; Wallace Shawn's character is VERY similar to another Baron, the one from DUNE [gulp],; Rebekah Del Rio sings a song in Spanish at the same point in the film as in MULHOLLAND DRIVE [gulp]). I'm drunk from this movie...
The cinematography is strong and the visuals are amazing, I just didn't know what was going on for diffenent parts of the story. The character threads do start to come together near the end (as diverse as they are with Neo-Marxism and time-space tears), but the blimp could have been labeled "deus ex machina". Still, I was a captive audience and I could not turn away. Not every film can say that and I know I'll watch it again! INLAND EMPIRE did that, but on the second viewing I knew I didn't like it much (Lynch again [gulp]).
SOUTHLAND TALES: so bad, it's good? Maybe ( ...but probably not). It goes for broke... then breaks. Worth seeing? For the discussion, yes, but further viewing is at your discretion I suppose. It's Kelly's version of the end of the world, thoroughly involving your attention, but trying to make you figure out a plot that is not built to be a puzzle. By the end you're left wondering what was just said, what just happened and why.
 This is exponentially better than TWELVE and on-par with ELEVEN. Elliott Gould is royally screwed over and sent to the hospital, so George Clooney and the Gang get back together for a caper against egotistical Al Pacino's land-grabbing casino owner. The difference here is that unlike in TWELVE, everyone has something to do and a purpose for being in the film together.
It's set in Vegas again, which is a great setting when a film can do the ol' town justice. While it was a departure from ELEVEN before it, OCEAN'S TWELVE removed the team from America and took on an entirely different agenda, becoming too mixed-up and convoluted (the guys themselves even questioned why Danny Ocean was the self-appointed leader). The excess characters have been jettisoned ("it's not their fight") while the colorful ones of the past (like Eddie Izzard and Andy Garcia) have been included and officially make up "numbers twelve and thirteen" from what I can tell. New faces include David Paymer as "The V.U.P." in a terrific comic relief role, Ellen Barkin (who's never been hotter) and Pacino playing notes never seen the way he slimily does here.
Steven Soderbergh continues to direct interesting films, big and small. His cinematography here makes you want to touch the lights. I would also be remiss by not mentioning the too-cool-for-school musical score by David Holmes. Excellent as always.
OCEAN'S THIRTEEN takes it all back where it started and rightfully so. I felt let down by TWELVE and regrettably let THIRTEEN slip past last summer on the big screen (though I did go to the outside of the Chicago premiere and see Clooney, Damon, and the late Bernie Mac, in person). It's a fun film with a throwback feel that easily lives up to the Sinatra-style era of the past. Definitely roll the dice and give it a chance.
 One of tv's riskiest shows. No holds barred. No fear. Anything goes. Terrific.
I first noticed "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" when it debuted on the FX network back in the summer of 2005 alongside another sitcom called "Starved". This was an attempt by FX at establishing a comedy block of original programming. However, "Starved" was never fed enough audience and "Sunny" is now set to begin airing their fourth season. Although slow to develop it's audience, it soon became a certified hit.
Similar to "Seinfeld" in the sense that the characters find themselves involved in the most ridiculously improbable situations with some of the wackiest people. They also have no reservations about being hateful or selfish to strangers (or to one another) to get ahead and they never ever learn their lessons. A sample of subjects in the various episodes include gun control, handicaps, molestation, drug addiction, and finding a dumpster baby. It may not sound joyous, but somehow it is.
Set at their bar called "Paddy's Pub" in the title city, the show was created by it's three leading male protagonists (Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney), with classic performances by one of the funniest/sexiest ladies in sitcoms today (Kaitlin Olson) and a bonafide tv great (Danny DeVito, who joined in the second season). I got to personally act on-stage with Charlie back in '99 and I'm very proud of his accomplishments here. His character in particular is an illiterate, manic wildman who utters the following line after unsuccessfully getting a smart-mouthed kid to quiet down: "I will pound your face... into a jelly".
This show is an original, love it or hate it creation. The college crowd had found it during the summer and the cult audience has grown since it's move to the fall and with the dvd release of seasons one and two last year. Season three is set for release on Sept 9th and it has been reported that FX has ordered 39 additional episodes of the series, on top of the 13 being developed for Season 4 (This according to the page's wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Always_Sunny_in_Philadelphia). See episodes now on Hulu.com and other online video sharing sites.
Too bold for some, just right for others. These characters live every week like it's shark week. In this time of expensive gasoline and high airfare rates, all it takes is your tv screen to take you on a rude, crude trip to sunny Philadelphia.
 Why read this? Well, the show may have ended long ago (the early 90's, oooohhh), but it's five seasons still stand as some of the best television around. The series is episodic and for the most part you don't have to see more than one episode at a time to be connected to another (though the teasers at the end of each connect you to the next one sequentially). It's probably the greatest anthology series carried through by only two characters, neither of which are a host.
What if Sam Beckett had not stepped into the quantum accellerator and vanished, awaking to find himself facing mirror images that were not his own, leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping that each leap will be the leap home? Well, then ya wouldn't learn nuthin' wouldya?
Whether it was in the 50's or the 80's, as a man or a woman (yes, he even leaped into a pregnant woman once), Sam was given the challenge, unwanted though it may have been, to upright the crooked nature of a life somehow gone awry. With his brain "swiss-cheesed" at each leap, he must piece together his new situation quickly and adjust before trouble strikes. He's basically the unknown angel, aided with friendship and vital information from the future by his "spiritual guide" Al.
Each episode features a real human problem that can usually be solved and have the future be altered for the better. Humanity is in the people all around us, but also in the eyes that gaze right back through our reflections. The phrase "walk a mile in another's shoes" is all the more real here. By stepping into the shoes of another (and living within their physical being as well), Sam has undertaken what we all cannot truly do: live life as someone else for a short time, learning and giving through that experience. I'm all for a good hero with the power to make an impact in the lives of others, and in his journey though time, Sam Beckett becomes the truest form of hero.
If you've never seen this show, or have never sat and given it your full attention, then may you leap at your next chance to do so.
 Alright, so I'm late to the party. This show debuted in 1999 and ended with only one season airing on NBC. I was in college and just missed it. It aired on Saturday nights so I'm sure you missed it too. The question is: Have you seen it in the years since then?
My roommate and I recently fell for its "Wonder Years" of the 80's charms. Set in 1980 with a clear 1970's hangover, it features an assortment of characters that fall (for the most part) into the category of either "freaks" or "geeks". I'm sure you're not surprised. If you are like me, too young to have gone to high school at that time, you'll most certainly recognize how much simpler alot of things were (and how much has just never changed).
Most of the performers on this show have gone on to other work and varied degrees of success (James Franco, Linda Cardellini, and Seth Rogen most of all). The series was created by Paul Feig (who's book "Superstud Or How I Became a 24-Year-Old Virgin" is laugh out loud good and one of my favorite books). The main producer of the show is a man you may have heard a little about over the past year or two: Judd Apatow (KNOCKED UP, THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, SUPERBAD). The cast is excellent and the writing is tops. Joe Flaherty (known mostly from "SCTV") steals his scenes as the father of siblings, one freak and one geek. Plus, you'll not find a Bionic Woman Halloween costume this funny anywhere else.
This show has been on dvd awhile, but I do not have NetFlix (I know, right?) so its revelations to me have been a long time coming. Regardless, it's never too late to find something that deserves merit and should be shared with others. A new "Yearbook Edition" will hit store shelves in October. This is similar to a previous online-only edition that includes two discs not released with the previous store version. It has been out of print for a few years now and this new release will remedy that with new fans.
With the Apatow machine running at high gear (including this week's big-screen release of PINEAPPLE EXPRESS starring Franco and Rogen), it seems as good a time as any to journey back to high school and sit at our respective tables.
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