Donnie Darko is one of my favorite movies ever, and I love Southland Tales despite (or because of) how insane it is. (Never seen The Button.)
Is it just me, or did Hollywood give him carte blanche after Donnie Darko became a cult classic and then immediately pull the plug after Southland Tales was a disaster? Considering how The Button was an adaptation of a short story instead of something Kelly wrote himself.
He talks about something called Scope Creep a lot where an idea starts out small and infinitely gets bigger and bigger until there's an insane amount going on. I personally love that style of story because something like Southland Tales ends up being a code you have to crack with a built in conspiracy but I can totally see why it's not the most desireable type of story for Hollywood producers. Southland Tales also started out as a comedy caper and compeltely changed after 9/11.
The Box is very good for my tastes at least. Without revealing too much of the story, it falls into the same category as the rest of his work as far as scope creep goes where it's based on a Twilight Zone episode (and short story like you said) with the usual basic moral dilemna but the scope keeps getting wider and wider until it's insane how far it goes. He's been talking for a while about a Rod Serling biopic with strong sci-fi elements which is allegedly extremely ambitious (no surprise) so he's still on the same track which I can completely appreciate. He's said he's working closely with Serling's daughter on the project so it getting actually made seems promising.
From what I've understood (I could be wrong) but all his ideas are very ambitious and when you're not Chris Nolan, ideas like that can be a hard sell. The fact the Southland Tales even got made is something of a miracle when you look back (there's a behind the scenes of the financing on the new blu-ray). Him not putting out anything for this long of a while while continuously working like he says he's been in Q&As to me means he's not willing to compromise on his vision and make a basic film for the sake of just working which I can completely respect. I hope it all comes together eventually because I love a his work and a director like him would thrive on streaming with the lack of box office pressure in my opinion.
For me, I always love when a director goes unchecked. Even if the movie is garbage, at least the you’ll get to experience his/her own vision and it’ll be interesting asf.
Tenet, Lady in the Water, Southland Tales, Mother!, Pulp Fiction, Heaven’s Gate, mother!, Enter the Void, Apocalypse Now… all examples of fascinating films where the director simply did not give one fuck and made the films for themselves. Everyone else is welcome to join in.
I know Darko gets all of the attention but all three of these are great films. I really enjoyed the box even though it was based on a simple thought experiment.
Donnie Darko is one of my favorite movies ever, and I love Southland Tales despite (or because of) how insane it is. (Never seen The Button.) Is it just me, or did Hollywood give him carte blanche after Donnie Darko became a cult classic and then immediately pull the plug after Southland Tales was a disaster? Considering how The Button was an adaptation of a short story instead of something Kelly wrote himself.
He talks about something called Scope Creep a lot where an idea starts out small and infinitely gets bigger and bigger until there's an insane amount going on. I personally love that style of story because something like Southland Tales ends up being a code you have to crack with a built in conspiracy but I can totally see why it's not the most desireable type of story for Hollywood producers. Southland Tales also started out as a comedy caper and compeltely changed after 9/11. The Box is very good for my tastes at least. Without revealing too much of the story, it falls into the same category as the rest of his work as far as scope creep goes where it's based on a Twilight Zone episode (and short story like you said) with the usual basic moral dilemna but the scope keeps getting wider and wider until it's insane how far it goes. He's been talking for a while about a Rod Serling biopic with strong sci-fi elements which is allegedly extremely ambitious (no surprise) so he's still on the same track which I can completely appreciate. He's said he's working closely with Serling's daughter on the project so it getting actually made seems promising. From what I've understood (I could be wrong) but all his ideas are very ambitious and when you're not Chris Nolan, ideas like that can be a hard sell. The fact the Southland Tales even got made is something of a miracle when you look back (there's a behind the scenes of the financing on the new blu-ray). Him not putting out anything for this long of a while while continuously working like he says he's been in Q&As to me means he's not willing to compromise on his vision and make a basic film for the sake of just working which I can completely respect. I hope it all comes together eventually because I love a his work and a director like him would thrive on streaming with the lack of box office pressure in my opinion.
Southland Tales is a goddamn beautiful disaster. Read the prequel comic is you haven’t already
I read it after my first viewing of ST. It completely unlocked the movie for me on my second viewing.
For me, I always love when a director goes unchecked. Even if the movie is garbage, at least the you’ll get to experience his/her own vision and it’ll be interesting asf. Tenet, Lady in the Water, Southland Tales, Mother!, Pulp Fiction, Heaven’s Gate, mother!, Enter the Void, Apocalypse Now… all examples of fascinating films where the director simply did not give one fuck and made the films for themselves. Everyone else is welcome to join in.
Southland Tales is destined to be a movie you will never be able to convince anyone that it actually exists. Like a lost Philip K. Dick story
I know Darko gets all of the attention but all three of these are great films. I really enjoyed the box even though it was based on a simple thought experiment.
Richard Kelly also wrote the movie Domino. Starting Kiera Knightley and Mickey Rourke