If you just watched the preview for The Box, you will have noticed it is by the same guy who directed Donnie Darko. His name is Richard Kelly and I think he might just be one of the best filmmakers of his time. He created a magnificent piece of work in Donnie Darko with an extremely low budget ($4.5M) and did it in only 28 days.
Sure…the film tanked at the box office but you have the terrorists who crashed into some planes into some buildings up in New York about a month before. After 9/11, I don’t think anybody was thinking about seeing “a psychological thriller” about some freaky looking bunny so it didn’t make shit in the box office. It gained a cult following after its DVD release and all the hipster fanboys debated what it was about over yuppie coffee drinks at their local coffee shop. I love the movie. If you don’t like it, it won’t offend me (but I probably will think less of you as a person). I just hate the hipster fanboys forcing certain interpretations down peoples’ throats. It makes me want to set my hair on fire.
Kelly followed with Southland Tales starring The Rock, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Stifler, and J-Tim. It has a plethora of other actors and actresses that you know from all different parts of Hollywood in it, too. It is really hard to classify this film because it defies genres. It is fictional story set after a nuclear explosion that started WWIII. It follows the four main characters (mostly) throughout the film and it really seems to be a parody of the government that we have seen for the past 10-15 years. It is quirky and fun but really has a powerful message. I recommend watching it and then re-watching it after you had some time to marinate on the story. It got bad reviews but I think Southland Tales will stand the test of time and be a film that people will understand better over the years.
Editor’s Note: Richard Kelly is a great person because he said that he wouldn’t be any part in that “sequel” to Donnie Darko called S. Darko that was blatantly a shallow attempt to make a few bucks off of the consumer. I haven’t seen it yet but I know I will be mad when I see the $1 charge from RedBox on my credit card statement.
Anyways, let’s discuss The Box. I have only read a few articles about it and seen the preview. The first thing that really stuck out to me is that this isn’t Richard Kelly’s original idea. He has taken the short story ‘Button, Button’ by Richard Matheson (who has also written some classics like What Dreams May Come, Stir of Echoes and a shitload of other novels and short stories which some were turned into movies and TV episodes). Since ‘Button, Button’ was a short story (and also an episode of the Twilight Zone), I am guessing that Kelly has but his own little quirky and original twist to the film.
The basic premise of the story is that someone is delivered a box with a button and there is a note that says someone will come by and explain what is going on. The person comes by and tells them that they will receive a large sum of money if the press the button but the only thing is that someone they don’t know will die if they press it. Suspense ensues…but you probably got all of that from the preview earlier.
I thought the entire preview looked pretty bad ass…minus the casting. I am not really a big fan of Cameron Diaz. She has only done a few things that I have enjoyed and that was because they were comedies (There’s Something About Mary, The Mask, Being John Malkovich and Feeling Minnesota) and didn’t really need a whole lot of great acting except for the Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich. The male lead has pieced me off since I first saw him act which I thought was X-Men (he plays Cyclops) but was actually the shitty teen suspense thriller Disturbing Behavior. He looks like a complete douchebag and probably is.
The one redeeming factor in the main cast is Frank Langella. This guy is a total badass. Sure…he’s old but this guy played Skeletor in Masters of the Universe. I don’t think you can get more bad ass than that. He is also up on his acting chops with his recent performance in Frost/Nixon and was nominated for a bunch of stuff. Unlike Cameron Diaz, he hasn’t been hiding behind a large green cartoon ogre for the past couple of years.
All in all, I think Richard Kelly might make up for these two. The cast is loaded with some really weird looking people so I imagine there are going to be some freaky startling scenes in the film. I have been waiting for this film for about five to six years and I am glad that it is finally coming to theaters on October 10th.
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