Southland Tales release date set

Southland Tales, Richard Kelly's first feature after his debut with 2001's Donnie Darko. The film was perhaps the most anticipated movie to premier at Cannes in 2006 and critics... generally didn't like it. While there were some comparisons made to brilliance on the level of David Lynch, there were also an awful lot of walkouts.

The reason why this film's a big deal is obviously because of Donnie Darko, the cult classic that won the hearts of millions if not their money at the box office. Since its premier, Southland Tales has had 23 minutes cut off, whole new visual effects made and a heavy dose of re-editing. Given the dissapointing director's cut version of Donnie Darko, though, not letting Kelly have his original is likely a very good thing and time well spent.

The film stars The Rock, Sean William Scott, Sarah Michelle Geller, Janeane Garofolo, Jon Lovitz and about 30 other actors of varying levels of fame. It takes place on July 4, 2008 and actually starts at part four of six parts the previous three being collected as comic books. Given how long its been since the film premiered, there were questions as to whether it would be released before its setting.

So what is Southland Tales actually about? Good question. Even negative responses to the film seemed fascinatingly vague on the subject. Salon couldn't quite describe it, instead asking, "Is it an elegy for a dying planet? A kitsch-riddled spoof? An attempt to infuse the action movie with the deadpan pop nihilism of Godard? I really have no idea." We have no idea either but that sounds pretty damn cool. They also say, "There's a giant zeppelin on its maiden voyage (and we know what happens to those). There's a magic flying ice cream truck, fueled by the collapsing fourth dimension. There's a music video by Timberlake, which is actually pretty hot but has nothing to do with anything else in the movie." Yeah, that really doesn't clear things up either, but on their own all of those elements sound awesome. Success or not, the film has the potential to be the most fascinating movie in years.

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