| Overall Grade: |
C+ |
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| Story: |
C+ |
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| Acting: |
B |
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| Direction: |
C- |
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| Visuals: |
A+ |
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Highly codified!Gr8 potential but so-so(Spoilers!)
by Jizae (movies profile)
Jun 12, 2008
9
of
10 people found this review helpful
[*NOTE: You can tell from the dates set in the story of this movie(from July 4, 2005 to July 4, 2008), if this movie would have been released in 2005 like it apparently was supposed to have been, I think it would have given this movie a little more help(it needed ALL it could get)..]
*WARNING: SPOILERS GALORE! DO NOT read any further if you do NOT want to know.. But for those that DO, then this is for YOU!
"Southland Tales" would have been ABSOLUTELY AWESOME, a definite classic- a movie you MIGHT have WANTED to watch repeatedly! The story was extremely realistic, dealing with a lot of the issues that we currently face today and will face soon in the next couple of years.. The visuals, especially in the first approximate 10 minutes of this movie were amazingly mesmerizing- I havent seen that style of such visual timeline storytelling in a movie to date- literally about 6 things going on at the same time.. "Southland Tales", which takes places in a 2008 Los Angeles- a couple of days and into July 4th, touches on:
1) A nuclear attack on both EL Paso and Abilene, Texas,
2) The US invading Iran & Syria,
3) A subsequent oil embargo as a result of #2 above, forcing the US to use alternative fuels such as hydrogen, and experiment with a oil rig-like facility under military guard off the coast of Santa Monica, which would convert the energy from salt-water waves into an AC(alternating current)? electric power source for these SUVs & other vehicles within a certain range, similar to a large Tesla Coil(google 'Nikola Tesla' 4 more info),
4) The US reinstating the draft,
5) the Real-ID Act of 2008(In the movie, it was a corportation called "USIDent"), which basically transformed your state's DMV-issued drivers license or ID card into a domestic passport; also used as your ATM card, where your access to your funds could be denied for any reason)- in this movie, one could not cross their own state line without permission from the gov't, and one needed a VISA to go to Mexico(like now- but in 2005 you didnt..),
5) US gov't experimentation on the bodies of troops in Iraq- However ONE of the hidden TWISTS in the movie was Justin Timberlake's character(a facially-scarred soldier from Fallujah) was [SOMEHOW?] trying to expose the inventor of this 'Salt-Air' offshore rig of being behind experiments on him- the movie also implies they used SOMETHING from the bodies of the dead US soldiers as un undisclosed FUEL SOURCE for this
rig(it was referred to as "Liquid" something, I forgot what they called was, I only saw this movie once) ...
6) Mentions the end of the 3rd and 4th dimension of reality, collapsing in upon itself, as a result of the time and space continuum being disrupted(a tear); caused by yet ANOTHER hidden TWIST, dealing with both Sean Williams Scott's character(the cop, a "UPU2"- 'Urban Pacification Unit zone 2' officer), and The Rock's character(who has amnesia)- where they BOTH are involved in time travel, and there are TWO of each in the same time, although one of The Rock's characters is already dead,
7) The proliferation and oversaturation of porn and profane/vulgar language in mainstream media & society,
8) Several biblical scriptural references to Revelation- and a PLETHORA(a WHOLE LOT) of Jesus references in a couple of characters; A lot of scenes where people would fall from ledges of high places, while extending their arms in a crucifix/Jesus-like pose(#1: Scott's charcter falling in the dumpster; #2: The 'doo-rag', white T-shirt-wearing young man who got drafted, then after firing the bazooka into the zeppelin killing all aboard, leaps backward to his demise from the armored-truck hovering about 70 stories off the ground[long story on WHY that armored truck was flying in the air]; #3: Not to mention that FINAL gesture of The Rock as he realized he was about to die(get killed) on the zeppelin along with his porn-star girlfriend and politically involved wife & the group of Neo-cons) where he stretches his arms and his Jesus tattoo on his back bleeds the same facial image of Jesus through his white shirt; #4: Inside the floating armored truck where both Sean Williams Scotts are holding each others' hand in a masonic-like handshake grip, where Scott says three times like Jesus, "I forgive you" to himself- supposedly so he could live again; #5, I DID catch the part where The Rock was on the bed with(I cant remember if it was his porn-star girlfriend or his wife) ONE of the women, and The Rock referred to a "bright/morning star or sun" or something similar.. That reference is codified for either Jesus[Rev. 22:16] or Lucifer[Isaiah 14:12], but I honestly dont know know what the producer was trying to imply or sneak in with that line...
#9 The thick and heavy fog/mist scene where The Rock and Sean Williams Scott were responding to the fake domestic dispute call- how they said the fog or mist was artificial, coming from that Salt-Air rig off the coast of Santa Monica/Venice area.. That made me THINK- here in L.A. sometimes late at night we have heavy fog that literally covers a certain area- but the fog's borders will appear/disappear suddenly as soon as you cross a street into where the fog starts/ends... Interesting..
There's more, but I couldn't even figure out all the other VEILED SYMBOLISM in this movie(for example, Justin Timberlake's scene in the Venice Beach video arcade singing with the Marilyn Monroe dancers- there is a lot of codified symbolism involving Marilyn Monroe, from her name, to her being some sort of sacrifice).. The items above were what I got out of it.. Its a DEFINITE see on DVD, but I dont think its worth your bread to see it in the theater unless you are NOT paying... NOT recommended for those that dont like to think too much or analyze- but for those that enjoy some codified symbolism in their movie, check this out on DVD.. "Southland Tales" could've been a GREAT movie, but it ended up being a bizarre, cinematic acid-trip. |
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