Yes, I realize that it’s early to go making generalizations about Richard Kelly’s strengths as a director what with him being all of one film into his career – that being the dazzling Donnie Darko – but I’m going to do so anyway. One of the things that makes Kelly such an impressive film maker in my book, and the single largest thing that gives me hope he’ll continue to do such good work, is that when he makes a film he sets out to create an all-encompassing world rather than just a little snapshot. Though you may never see much of what goes on in the broader world there’s no doubt in my mind that Kelly himself has a pretty good idea of everything that’s out there, of all the forces that are at play, and he seems to dare his audience to immerse themselves in that world as deeply as they can. Don’t believe me? Go ahead, click that link up above.
Well, Kelly’s at it again … his sophomore film’s not even in production yet but there’s already a mighty compelling website in the works for Southland Tales here. The site is not complete yet, but what is there is pretty compelling stuff. Not much is known about the film yet beyond the cast (Seann William Scott, Jason Lee, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Tim Blake Nelson, Jeneane Garafolo and Kevin Smith. Yes, that Kevin Smith) and that it will involve singing. The singing part has led some to label it a musical, which Mr. Smith disputes here, and he knows more about it than I do so I’m taking his word for now.
In other Kelly news, Newmarket Films has started listing theaters and release dates for the director’s cut of Donnie Darko on their website. Not much there yet but hopefully the reception at the Seattle Film Festival was good enough to get this thing out into decently wide release …
