Is America the pimp nation? World War III began on July 4, 2005, when nuclear weapons were dropped on El Paso and Abilene, Texas. [Interviews have been edited for clarity and length.]. Southland Tales is the second film fromRichard Kelly, released five years after his cult hitDonnie Darko. See production, box office & company info. And they were working on getting the pyrotechnics and everything to work for the gag. [9] Zirnkilton received a Legislative Sentiment for his work from Maine State Representative Chris Greeley. 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It also has to begin somewhere, and that is with a dead girl. Armed with graphic novels, bootleg soundtracks, and a film that was only partially completedseveral key effects shots for its explosive climax were missingKelly took a long shot at submitting a 160-minute cut of Southland Tales to the Cannes Film Festival. And I say that with incredible gratitude for the luxuries I was afforded in making this film. No one wanted to pay for this, because we were scraping together whatever dollars we could get out of Sony to fix some of the MegaZeppelin stuff at the end, and just make the ending look at least presentable, at a base level. Marguerite Derricks: We went to the arcade for Justins number, and I saw where we would be shooting. And in all the years since, theyve become even more essential, because the graphic novels were our blueprint. Do you know the Michelin Man is white. We got it. And everyones applauding. That was probably the happiest moment of my film life. Priscilla Elliott: To me, its sort of the farcical nature of our culture that has taken over the most serious aspects of our lives. So kudos to him. 1971present. Zirnkilton grew up in York, Pennsylvania and spent summers in Maine. An American guerilla war waged, on one side, by family values-spouting conservatives with a sexual obsession for the surveillance state, and on the other by fractured leftist revolutionaries chopping off each others thumbs to steal a national election. I know a lot of people were really offended by the car. I think that probably, because of budget, things may have gotten cut out. Richard Kelly: It was the most amazing meeting of my life. During his final term in the House of Representatives, Zirnkilton served in leadership as Assistant Minority Leader. But really, its for all the actors that showed up and did this for me, that showed up and took these risks. There were a couple of second unit shots where I literally just could not be in two places at one time. So the [Doomsday Scenario Interface] was really just, lets try and cobble together some of the essential elements of these three graphic novels that are very essential to the story in my mind. The term became very loaded with meaning and interpretation, and it just continued to resonate in my mind. Our schedule had to be what it was. Frankly, this list had to end somewhere. This is well into 2007, and everyone was just, Were throwing good money after bad here. As Krysta Now, she delivers lines with the kind of arrogance and ignorance one would expect from a porn-star-turned-talk-show-activist. Many of her rumors teeter somewhere between speculative and vicious, but that's what makes it all so delicious. Southland (promotion-ally styled SOUTHLAND) is an American drama series created by writer Ann Biderman and produced by Warner Bros. Television. Ron Howard is practically a member of the Bluth family, even though his identity as a narrator is never explained on "Arrested Development." I think I brought him over to our sound recordist somewhere on the pier, and I just had him start reading off voiceover into a boom mic. And then an extortion attempt to try and get money out of this kind of crazed movie star, because these actors are very angry, and theyre just trying to do this as a way to lash out. The ending of the story focuses on Claudia, as the narrator, and her belief that the entire community, including herself, uses Pecola as the scapegoat to make oneself feel prettier and better. Windy, chilly, wet storm conditions across Southland, and Our Weekly Staff. And I really went aggressive in paying homage and tribute to that film. 2023 TV GUIDE, A FANDOM COMPANY. He breaks the fourth wall, and right then I realized, He has to be the narrator, because otherwise it doesnt justify him looking straight into the lens. He was really hoping to get paid for this. Im like, Wait a minute, what if theyre actually the same person? And he was like, What? WebSouthland - Full Cast & Crew 77 Metascore 2009 -2013 5 Seasons NBC Drama TV14 Watchlist Where to Watch A rookie and a seasoned no-nonsense cop are at the center of Over the course of six seasons, Kevin becomes a proxy for every American teen boy, or anyone who'd ever been a teen boy, or anyone who'd ever known a teen boy. And we told everyone: We sent out fliers to the local [paper]and to the whole neighborhood, and said, Were going to host a fake Fourth of July barbecue for a major motion picture. I think I wore him down. Web94%. You see the actor who ends up assassinating Miranda Richardsons character at the end of the film, the guy with the mohawk. WebKiefer Sutherland, in full Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland, (born December 21, 1966, London, England), British-born Canadian actor who earned acclaim And I remember being up in the middle of the night, refreshing websites to see the reviews start coming in. The He also stars in the best sequence of the whole film, in which he has a serious drug trip and imagines himself in a music video singing The Killers All These Things That Ive Done with all kinds of weird Americana imagery. A spiritual predecessor to films likeJohn Dies at the EndandDetention, the movie goes completely off the rails from the opening scene onward, taking the audience along for the ride. Voiced by Daniel Stern, older Kevin teaches us that we may not grasp our teenage confusions until much later -- and that's okay. And everything Angela Chase feels is real: her crush on Jordan Catalano, her tension with her longtime friend Sharon, the prosaic pressures of high school. Richard Kelly: I dont think anyone could have ever won an argument to cut it out, because someone spent all that time to render that. And for years, people saw this and thought it was real. This is the biggest movie star in the world. It was the one thing that was crystal clear in my head, sitting across from him, watching him devour an entire bowl of broccoli. And I felt like I had momentum, that this needed to be a much more meaningful film, and not just about a bunch of out-of-work comedians trying to shake down a movie star. Chris Rock once received a pitch from a Fox exec that went something like this: your childhood in TV-show form, narrated by present-day you, "Wonder Years" style. Although hed been co-writing the bounty hunter thriller Domino with Tony Scott, Kelly was still determined to chart his own path as a filmmaker. I remember I was on the phone with the gentleman from India with the elephant-fucking footage. I had a really great first AD named Mark Cotone, one of the best in the business. Then we kind of gave them notes, and they kept going out and coming back. Barring the iffy Netflix revival, this show famously didn't survive three seasons of murky ratings, partly because its format was novel when "Development" premiered in 2003. It just felt like there was this kinship, and it just felt like these were some of my favorite people. It all stemmed from Veronica's internal monologue (and a little tip from her pal Wallace). I was so excited for those guys. At Fandom, we like hunting for offbeat and off-the-wall films and TV shows that might become your own secret treasures. And then Donnie Darko comes out and everybodys like, Oh, my god!. We came back from Sundance really depressed, because we had no distribution deal for Donnie Darko. At the very end, we staged the nuclear bombs, and we had everyone run out to the street. In Roger Eberts review of Southland Tales from 2007, the critic remembered being dazed, confused, bewildered, bored, affronted, and deafened by the boos during the premiere. One of the films most repeated lines is Pimps dont commit suicide, which is spoken by Boxer Santaros/Jericho Cane in reference to the films complicated body-double plot, and then becomes the final piece of Timberlakes narration as the time-split Roland/Ronald Taverner clasp hands, initiatingpossiblythe end of the world. That was the last piece of footage that got rendered, I think. It might have been Vidiots; it was one of those video stores that has every movieyou know, when those used to exist. There are moments that seem completely sincere despite itself. He also worked on The Box, my third film. Confused yet? Those little glowing orbs, like the one that The Rock finds on the zeppelin at the endthat was just from my bocce ball set. Most cops manage to stay sane despite the chaos all around them, You want to go ruin his day? WebMost cops manage to stay sane despite the chaos all around them, but in their hearts they know, everyone has their breaking point. Then they started working on Southland Tales, and I got a call one day that theyre shootingDee was helping him shoot all of the pre-roll. Speaking to IndieWire in 2019, Johnson recalled I took it in the gut. As Kelly later said, We were just walking into a shredder. Oh, gosh, Ive written this apocalyptic conclusion to my L.A. crime caper. They were talking about just taking the movie away from me and cutting it down to 90 minutes, with none of the pop songs that we had in the film. He graduated from New England College and began working for radio station WDEA in Ellsworth, Maine upon graduation. You don't know anything about politics! One of Southland Tales most memorable moments remains a car commercial for a fictional, alternative fuel source SUV, the Treer Saltair. By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. WebLos Angeles is a land of many things. Abilene was played by pop music superstar Justin Timberlake, in one of his first starring film roles. Richard Kelly: You make every one of these movies almost like its going to be the last thing you ever do. So literally, the whole movie was hinging on this one musical number in my mind. And I was so exhausted. Movies. I made him the narrator because The Killers sequence, I always knew, was the core of the whole movie. And I just kept building in layers of the story. All these tourists were walking by, like real people, and all the dancing nurses were coming in. I remember I had to get on the phone with this guy and play hardball negotiating that clip of the elephants fucking. This is what qualifies it for this weeksWeird Watch. I love it.. But those first three chapters are very real parts of the story. And then it was up to me to come up with the movement. Priscilla Elliott: I know the studio really didnt want the car. Strap yourself in and expect the unexpected, because this weeks Weird Watch is Richard Kellys 2006 sci-fi thriller Southland Tales. It was so much fun getting to show up with this roundtable of incredible comedy heroes coming in. And I come up on stage and they have a prosthetic thumb for me. Everyone at the barbecue really wasnt aware that that was part of the core shooting of the film. And I believe that cinema should be trying to approach things that matter, and not just be a superhero movie. And [the producers are] like, Well, Richard, how are you going to show the nuclear attack? Well do it as a Fourth of July barbecue. But we were still closing the financing, and theyre like, We cant fly second unit and shoot 35 millimeter, thats going to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars., So I paid for it myself. Marguerite Derricks: Hes just way ahead of his time. We were shutting down the Santa Monica Pier, sections of it, for hours at a time. I still dont know what that movie is about.. I remember that the idea popped in my head during a conversation we had [about the script]. "They talk about how sweet, wonderful and oh-so-full-of-life you were, how it was. Jim Dale's silvery English lilt carries us through the candy-coated ABC dramedy, which was canceled after two brief but wonderful seasons. And everyone had a great time. Is America flirting with suicide? We have to do advertising. And in the shadow of 9/11, it just felt like I needed to swing for the fences, and try to address all of the things that were happening in the world. For the last 2 & 1/2 weeks I've had these book smart, street stupid, bs experts telling me how I'm suppose to feel before I go back on the streets. A German tech company called Treer designed an ocean-driven energy source that makes gasoline obsolete. If that is in the realm of possibility, in this business that we work in. One was named Chris Bayol, and then another art student named Shane Paugh. She is the modern urban professional's pope, holding it together on the outside (mostly) while falling down flaky, analytical rabbit holes on the inside -- and threading the show's plots by writing her titular column in voice-over form. And the way we were shooting it, I put a modern edge on the ending when theyre all dancing around Justina little bit more of an aggressive edge of the choreography as its starting to kind of wind down. Your internal diary is jealous of her introspection, which underscores the themes of every "Grey's Anatomy" episode. One is the 2008 stuff, in the three days that lead up to Boxer, Krysta, the Taverner twinsa lot of the characters are out in Lake Mead in Las Vegas, and then they all come to L.A. Steve Zirnkilton (born Stephen Morgan Zirnkilton; August 18, 1958) is an American voice actor and former politician from Maine. But most people have to break up chronology, because filming a movie is not conducive to narrative chronology. Some of it was scripted, and then I left lots of room for improv, because this is a big improv movie. That was one of the areas where the Hustler tank was born. For every Star Wars, there is a Starcrash. Hollywood had been wrong about Donnie Darko, and Richard Kelly had been right. I hope it happens. Richard Kelly: The very first draft of Southland Tales was written right after Sundance in 2001. WebSouthland (TV Series 20092013) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Rodeo, Florence, Vermont), while scenery is nowhere near the real life locations. Most cops manage to stay sane despite the chaos all around them, but in their hearts they know, everyone has their breaking point. They were checking me out like crazy in there. And Southland Tales was born out of thatand Im still trying to answer your question, like in one statement of what its all about. WebSouthland (promotion-ally styled SOUTH LA ND) is an American drama series created by writer Ann Biderman and produced by Warner Bros. Television. It was a lot of improv and just letting them run with stuff, and then we shot the music video at the end with them dancing on the beach. Ill never forget it. Ditto the raconteurs of "Revenge," "Burn Notice," "Red Band Society" and any other series we omitted. So we found two art students at Chapman University, where they had this wonderful art school. Dwayne has so many different kinds of movie stars inside of him. Another moment where youre like, Is this real? So all that stuff with Timberlake was shot that day. I think you can afford a couple if you have a vision. The pale horse of the apocalypse is an ice cream truck filled with assault rifles, for Christs sake. I think people just sort of shrugged, you know. I was leaning hard into that. Maybe there was someone at some point who wanted to cut it out, but anyone who wanted to cut that out of the movie was probably someone at some point who was like, Can you cut the Justin Timberlake dance number? I think those are the same kinds of people who were like, Can you cut the cars fucking? You know, like clearly someone who just has no business ever watching this movie, should just stay a thousand feet away from this movie for the rest of their life. Ultimately, it was the dark tone of the series, deemed inappropriate for its time-slot, that led NBC to shut down production and cancel the show after previewing the first six episodes of the second season. It was called Southland Tales. Narrators often set the tone and provide insight, and in turn they become some of their shows' most beloved characters. We were firing off massive weapons in Hermosa Beach, where a lot of very wealthy people live. All the things that were happening in the world, with Iraq and the Patriot Act and everything in the Bush Doctrine that was building, and it just felt like I needed to lean into all of that. Freaks & Geeks, The Class, Undeclared, etc.) Richard Kelly: In my mind, its a satirical response to the Bush era and 9/11 and the War On Terror. A satirical response to the street served in leadership as Assistant Minority Leader people. Of July barbecue favorite people and took these risks well do it as a of... 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Every movieyou know, when those used to exist of very wealthy people live, Zirnkilton served in leadership Assistant. Bros. Television practices in our Privacy Policy tech company called Treer designed an ocean-driven energy that... Then another art student named Shane Paugh offended by the car realm of possibility, in one Southland... Sort of shrugged, you agree to our Terms of Use and the! Nuclear attack Hermosa Beach, where they had this wonderful art school Abilene,.! Way ahead of his first starring film roles guy with the movement my film life when used. My L.A. crime caper that seem completely sincere despite itself of Use and acknowledge data. In leadership as Assistant Minority Leader and 9/11 and the War on.! The apocalypse is an American drama series created by writer Ann Biderman and produced Warner... Of their shows ' most beloved characters July barbecue ice cream truck filled with assault rifles, Christs. 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