Though I know films aren't solely or even principally about storytelling, the actual storytelling in this film is piss-poor. Things happen for no reason and with no tangible effect (Like the scene with the Japanese prime minister). Simplistic, lame, and downright lazy plot devices are used to advance the plot (like the ATM machine thing), and so forth. It's fine that he released a graphic novel, but it's a really crap way to tell a story. Just because art is often pretentious doesn't mean it has to or should be.

All that being said, I did like the film…weird

Though I know films aren't solely or even principally about storytelling, the actual storytelling in this film is piss-poor. Things happen for no reason and with no tangible effect (Like the scene with the Japanese prime minister). Simplistic, lame, and downright lazy plot devices are used to advance the plot (like the ATM machine thing), and so forth. It's fine that he released a graphic novel, but it's a really crap way to tell a story. Just because art is often pretentious doesn't mean it has to or should be.

All that being said, I did like the film…weird

The only criticism I have of this film is that it seems almost overtly derivative of the works (and worlds) of Robert Anton Wilson, who, were he still alive, would probably have a case if he decided to sue for royalties.

That complaint aside, this is a movie for thinkers. If you want action without plot, go elsewhere. This isn't a film you are going to solve in one viewing, nor in that matter in one frame of mind. If you like your cinema with a puzzle you can wrap your brain around, then you won't be disappointed.

The only criticism I have of this film is that it seems almost overtly derivative of the works (and worlds) of Robert Anton Wilson, who, were he still alive, would probably have a case if he decided to sue for royalties.

That complaint aside, this is a movie for thinkers. If you want action without plot, go elsewhere. This isn't a film you are going to solve in one viewing, nor in that matter in one frame of mind. If you like your cinema with a puzzle you can wrap your brain around, then you won't be disappointed.

So…please don’t give the writer/director of Southland Tales credit for thinking about things that no one else thinks about.

Southland Tales is made up of a bunch of silly ideas thrown together with the hope that it would be viewed as a smart movie. It is not a smart movie, nor an interesting one.

So…please don’t give the writer/director of Southland Tales credit for thinking about things that no one else thinks about.

Southland Tales is made up of a bunch of silly ideas thrown together with the hope that it would be viewed as a smart movie. It is not a smart movie, nor an interesting one.