Fantastic Fest. Southland Tales.

"The first of this year's secret screenings was unveiled tonight with Richard Kelly's long delayed follow up to Donnie Darko, Southland Tales, playing to a packed house with Kelly himself in the audience," writes Todd Brown at Twitch. "It is overly ambitious, incredibly dense with ideas often obscured by stylish diversions," but "for those who make it through the initial overload of information and can latch on to Kelly's vibe, Southland is also a dazzlingly smart, funny, and engaging work, one that fuses political fears with apocalyptic religiosity and techno-dread and wraps it all in a glossy, colorful package. Southland Tales is far from the mess it has been made out to be, a work that rewards as much as it challenges and succeeds in finding the human, emotional core lurking beneath all of its high concepts."

Updated through 9/25.

"Richard Kelly has set out to create a film of the same ilk as Candy or Slaughterhouse 5 or the original Casino Royale," proposes Harry Knowles at AICN. "These have always been controversial films for a very niche crowd. Films so packed with detail and nuance that to the average viewer it becomes simply a mess, but upon further inspection, you can find a method to the madness."

Jette Kernion has "no idea how I'm going to review this movie, it's so strange."

Earlier: Reviews from Cannes 06.

For more updates on Fantastic Fest, check the blog at the site itself; and a few notes here.

Updates: "A movie about (among other things) the end of the world, pop-culture depravity, revolution and interdimensional time travel, it was right at home at the fest," writes John DeFore at the Austin Film Blog. "The sci-fi-steeped audience was clearly delighted to see the film, even if they didn't always seem to connect with its brand of satire. (Dead silence greeted many of the movie's jokes.) Still, they stuck around to ask thoughtful questions of its director, including many that noted the thematic similarities between this and Donnie Darko. Kelly good-naturedly owned up to his proclivities, and promised 'no more movies about the apocalypse.'"

Online listening tip. Twitch's Todd Brown talks with Kelly.

Updates, 9/24: "Southland Tales managed to captivate and hold my attention despite the fact that I sometimes felt lost or confused," writes Jette Kernion at Cinematical. "It's not hard to see why it's often accused of being self-indulgent and messy. But I would rather see filmmakers (and studios) taking risks with films like this than have to sit through more Hollywood cookie-cutter sequels and remakes. Besides, I like a movie I can watch with a group of friends, then head off to a coffeehouse or bar and have an interesting discussion about what exactly happened and what it all meant. Southland Tales will have us debating through dinner, drinks and dessert... maybe for several meals."

It's "essentially Donnie Darko on a global scale with a really engaging post 9-11 discussion," writes Blake Ethridge.

Via Karina Longworth, Mike Curtis: "One wonders if the whole thing were just a huge joke on us the audience, the investors, Hollywood, and everyone else desperately watching to see how he'd follow up on Donnie Darko. A big 'Psych!' shout out to all of us - and we stand here confused - was this a joke, a mess, or just a failed multi-layered thingamabob?... And it most definitely isn't worth taking the time to make sense of - life is too short - even though there is a ton of stuff in there."

Update, 9/25: Online viewing tip. Matt Dentler points to the Drafthouse's talk with Kelly.

Posted by dwhudson at September 23, 2007 7:15 AM