Area 52 - Southland Tales Reviews: 47 of 52... A Family Viewing Of The Cannes Cut!!!

It's week 47 only 5 more to go!!!

This week I conclude watching Southland Tales with my family and sharing their guest reviews so at 8:00 in the pm on Monday… January 6th I fired up the Cannes Cut of Southland Tales to see what my mom and two younger sisters thought about the differences. 

Keep in mind that even though I've been doing this experiment for a year, these people have never heard of the movie and I continued to avoid sharing any information that I've found in my research to make sure everyone's opinion was their own.

Here's what we found.

Bunker (aka me) - Not a guest, a lackadaisical movie viewer, will chime in with jokes while watching a movie yet hates when others turn the quick (and sometimes frequent) joke into full-on conversations even if he is to blame.

"This week I was excited to find one more difference between the theatrical release and the Cannes Cut. That difference being that Hideo Takahashi (the man who gets his hand cut off) is the Prime Minister of Japan in the theatrical release while he is the inventor of the hybrid motor that I assume runs the Treer SUV in the Cannes Cut. Other than that my own observations are running thin and that's why I brought in the family."

 Rini (aka mom) - serious movie watcher, gives the rest of us the sink eye whenever anyone makes a peep, prefers more mainstream/Oscar-contending movies but will watch whatever nonsense I bring down during my visits and usually likes these movies as well but won't seek them out.

"We watched directors cut on 1/6.

I noticed a lot of references to the book of Revelations from the bible this time so I'm thinking that this film could be about the ending times. There is definitely a lot of chaos on the planet which is predicted in the bible.

Things seem to be off-kilter with all the different stories contained in the film. I tried to piece them together in my last review but this time I think the message of the movie is that nothing will make sense in the ending days and there will just be chaos everywhere.

I think the bomb at the beginning was the second coming and all the followers were taken off the planet which left all the crazy people behind. The Rock must be the AntiChrist as he was the one who claimed to have scripted all the events that happened.

I definitely had a whole new perspective this time and for my theory of what I think the film is about now. I can kind of piece things together."

Sarah (aka older of the younger sisters) also a lackadaisical movie viewer, seems to know most of the comedy films that are out there, known to fall asleep during most movies no matter what time it is.

“After watching Southland Tales for the first time I was left incredibly lost and confused. After watching it for a second time, and it being the directors cut, I am still pretty damn lost and confused.

My second time through this journey of a movie I fell asleep, (just like the first time) but for shorter periods this time around. I saw a few new things to help clarify a few confusions I had after the first time I watched Southland Tales but still left pretty much blank.

I'm not exactly sure what to take from this movie. Not clear on what the take-home message is if indeed there is one, or exactly what the plot of the whole film was, again if there is one.

There are a few humorous parts in the movie which helped to keep my attention, but not nearly enough to last the whole movie. To me, it all jumped around way too much. The entire time I was trying to figure out what happened in the scene I just watched, this left me lost and confused about the scene I was in. I spent the whole time just trying to find out what the hell I was watching.

Watching these two times was two times too many!!"

Rachael (aka youngest sister) new mom, falls somewhere between a lackadaisical and a focused viewer depending on whether or not the movie hooks her in, known to wander off if not hooked and tell you not to pause the movie while she disappears from time to time (and this is before she had the kid.) 

"Watched Southland Tales for the second time and it definitely was easier to follow. Not just because I already had knowledge of what was going to happen but also because I feel like I missed pretty critical parts the first time.

Seeing that stuff I missed definitely filled in some huge gaps for me. I still have some questions about little things but I enjoyed watching the movie overall.

It's funny little lines and interesting twists in the end that made the 2 1/2 hour-long movie not drag on and on. Long movies don't generally bore me anyways but I never lost interest.

Lots of good actors and familiar faces were cool as well. The movie was a little crazy but definitely interesting and worth a watch."

There you have it. My two-part series on watching Southland Tales with my family. 

Next week I'll be back in Seattle for my deadline and have no idea what I'm going to do. As always I'm sure I'll figure something out.

Also… be prepared for the announcement of my next experiment!!!