SOUTHLAND TALES is a weird and wonderful film. It is the type of film destined to achieve cult status. SOUTHLAND TALES with it's wonderful dialogue and ideas is a mix of genres from sci-fi to action to comedy to political satire (focusing on Homeland Security, the war in Iraq, and the Patriot Act). Boxer Santaros (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) is an action star with amnesia. He has hooked up with Kystra Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar), a porn star who has a reality show. Together they have written a screenplay called the power. During the course of SOUTHLAND TALES, the story happens like the screenplay Boxer has written. The world of SOUTHLAND TALES is an alternate 2008 where state borders have tightened security due to nuclear terrorist attacks in Texas in 2005. USIDent has been set up to filter information. People can cross into other states without travel papers. Also the oil crisis is heightened as the search for alternative fuel results in Fluid Karma which can beam energy by capturing the motion of the ocean as energy. In the middle of these events, Neo-Marxists, Officer Roland Travener (Seann Wiliam Scott) who is searching for his twin), an illegal weapons dealer named Walter Mung (Christopher Lambert), an action star turned soldier/ drug dealer (Justin Timberlake), and a senator who is running for President have their paths collide with Boxer, Krysta Now, and Fluid Karma's developers as a rift in time threatens to end the world as we know it.

SOUTHLAND TALES mixes commentary on today's world in a very absurd way with many different genre elements. It is a people very much about now as Homeland Security and the Patriot Act along with the upcoming Presidential race is very much in the minds of US citizens. Real ID is way of supposedly tightening ID standards to prevent terrorists, but many see it as an invasion of privacy and a step too far. Many United Sates governors (including the one from Montana) have objected to Real ID. Then you have the war in Iraq and the rising gas costs. SOUTHLAND TALES entertains while making the viewer think about the direction the USA is hiding to or might lead to. SOUTHLAND TALES focuses on now like STRANGE DAYS did a decade earlier (about the fear of the upcoming millennium). SOUTHLAND TALES has an agenda. It is an agenda to open our minds about the issues that may already be on the minds of US citizens.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
The only featurette is USIDENT TV: SURVEILLING THE SOUTHLAND which is a fantastic behind-the-scenes look at SOUTHLAND TALES. A few of the actors don't understand the script as it is very complex. An audio commentary for the film with writer/ director Richard Kelly would have been a nice addition to the disc, but the featurette is the only insight we get at this time.

You can skip the THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS animated short. It really doesn't have much to do with the film at all. Also included are previews for Blu-Ray and 15 Sony titles including ZOMBIE STRIPPERS, DAMAGES Season 1, THE GOOD NIGHT, REVOLVER, GABRIEL and THE TATOOIST. Too bad the trailer for SOUTHLAND TALES can't be included.

FINAL ANALYSIS: SOUTHLAND TALES is an absurd and weird journey that comments on the USA of now and where we could be headed.

this DVD review is (c)3-31-2008 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com  

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