Return of "Southland Tales"

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A shorter re-edited version of Richard Kelly's Southland Tales -- i.e., shorter than the version that played and bombed at the '06 Cannes Film Festival -- will open on 11.9 via Samuel Goldwyn. L.A. Times contributor Mark Olsen has written that Kelly and producing partner Sean McKittrick "have been hard at work on revising the film nearly nonstop" since the Cannes wipeout.

The film has been trimmed "by approximately 20 minutes" and "now has about 600 visual-effects shots, of which at least 100 are completely new,": Olsen reports. I liked portions of what I saw at Cannes 16 months ago, but I basically called it "a very long throw of a surreal wackazoid football."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on September 19, 2007 at 6:08 PM

comment #1

Undercover Brother says ...

I think Kelly said this final cut is running 144 minutes. Is that really 20 minutes shorter than at Cannes?

Posted by Undercover Brother at September 19, 2007 7:39 PM

comment #2

Arran says ...

Not quite 20...I believe the official Cannes run time was 160.

From what I've read about the film, I don't think it necessarily needs to be shorter...just more coherent.

Posted by Arran at September 19, 2007 8:37 PM

comment #3

alynch says ...

Off topic, but the Rome Film Festival has just pulled quite the coup by getting Terrence Malick to attend and talk on stage. When was the last time he did that?

Posted by alynch at September 19, 2007 9:10 PM

comment #4

Ross says ...

It's great that we're finally going get a chance to see this. Donnie Darko is one of my favorite films of the last decade, and I think a stumble from director Kelly would be far more interesting than most films coming out.

Posted by Ross at September 19, 2007 9:44 PM

comment #5

source188 says ...

I hate Donnie Darko but i've always maintained some interest in this film since first hearing about it over two years ago, albeit heavily convoluted the plot seemed intriguing. Now I'm just curious to see what Richard Kelly and co. have been able to do with this thing. I'm also curious about that Moby score.

Posted by source188 at September 19, 2007 10:32 PM

comment #6

Jack Price says ...

Supposedly the trailer was slated to hit yahoo yesterday, but as of now no dice.

Posted by Jack Price at September 19, 2007 10:56 PM

comment #7

PastePotPete says ...

This is very good news IMO. I liked the theatrical cut of Donnie Darko a lot, then saw the Director's Cut with Kelly's commentary, and Kelly's explanation of the film was one of the most disappointing and lame things I've ever heard. I think the guy is talented but he needs to be reined in.

Posted by PastePotPete at September 20, 2007 12:18 AM

comment #8

Jesse Perry says ...

Richard Kelly is wildly overrated . . . I hear people talk about the awesomeness of Donnie Darko, but it seems that the Director's Cut undoes everything about the movie that made it interesting. If the filmmaker doesn't even get the mystique of his film, maybe there's no mystique there?

Posted by Jesse Perry at September 20, 2007 5:54 AM

comment #9

MickTravis says ...

"Chinese Democracy" is coming out soon, too, I hear. So there's two things I can finally stop not waiting for.

Posted by MickTravis at September 20, 2007 6:31 AM

comment #10

JD says ...

I read a draft of the Southland Tales script a while back and it was terrible. Not terrible in a "too long" or "the story's unfocussed" kind of way, but terrible in the sense that all the characters are irritating, the humor is clueless/unsophisticated, and the ideas are juvenile, familiar, and completely lacking in insight. That said, some very intelligent critics (ie. Dargis, Taubin) saw merit in the Cannes cut... so who knows?

Posted by JD at September 20, 2007 7:05 AM

comment #11

Reedyb says ...

The trailer is up, by the way.

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809233751/video/4164037/20070920/150/4164037-1000-flash-s.44247659-,4164037-1000-wmv-s.44247604-,4164037-300-wmv-s.44247594-,4164037-300-flash-s.44247613-,4164037-700-flash-s.44247646-,4164037-100-flash-s.44247608-,4164037-700-wmv-s.44247599-,4164037-100-wmv-s.44247575-,4164036-10300-qtv-s.44247706-,4164036-6800-qtv-s.44247686-,4164036-2700-qtv-s.44247679-

Posted by Reedyb at September 20, 2007 10:34 AM

comment #12

Jack Price says ...

Have to say, as much vitriol as I've seen spilled towards this film, very cool trailer. Love the slowed-down "Wave of Mutilation." Uncertain about how some of the comedy will play out, and Dwayne seems to seriously overact in some shots, but fuck it's just a trailer, right?

Back to the Future II times ten, I guess.

Posted by Jack Price at September 20, 2007 10:37 AM

comment #13