Anyone with half a brain can smell dud a mile away on Richard Kelly’s “The Box.” Frankly, he might be the most overrated young director in recent memory — the “Donnie Darko” director’s cut was actually far worse, overexplaining the ambiguities and robbing the picture of its mysteries and “Southland Tales,” is one of the most misguided efforts of this decade.
As for “The Box” so far there’s only one screening in New York and at a very inopportune time during the day which doesnt breed a lot of confidence. And Jeff Wells has a report that says, don’t get your hopes up. “I strongly doubt it [will be a mainstream success]. This period sci-fi thriller (i.e., set in the mid ’70s) suffers from a complete lack of logic and woeful miscasting of the lead roles — and, worse, is almost totally devoid of tension.”
Gee, a Richard Kelly movie with a complete lack of logic? Shocker.
What’s worse is one of the only elements of the film we were looking forward to — the Bernard Herrmann-esque score written by members of the Arcade Fire, a decent amount of which you can hear here — doesn’t appear like it will be released on CD anytime soon.
Soundtrack CDs are generally listed more than a month out on various retailers like Amazon, etc., but “The Box” — which has suffered from many release date bumps, never a strong indication of quality — is scheduled for a November 6 release date and all the usual suspects, even the Arcade Fire’s Merge Records site, have zero upcoming information.
It’s odd because the “The Box” (like all Kelly films) is slathered with pop music tracks by The Grateful Dead, Derek & The Dominos, Wilson Pickett, The Marshall Tucker Band, and Scott Walker (admittedly some nice off-the-beaten path choices) and Kelly himself has saidthe trio who composed this score (Win, Regine, Owen Pallet of Final Fantasy) have composed up to 80 minutes of score, so that’s certainly enough for a disc on its own.
Perhaps the one hope is an ITunes-only release, but one presumes we also would have heard about that by now. In a recent interview about his favorite pop songs, Kelly said, “I had to yank a Pink Floyd song out of The Box at the very last minute due to money issues. But maybe one day I will get another chance.”
Dude doesn’t have bad music taste, but his use of it in film and his pictures themselves could use more than a little fine tuning. Maybe we’ll be pleasantly surprised? We’ll go in with an open mind, but we’re not even sure we’re going to make any press screening (not plural) before November 6.
That list of ten covers songs he calls "obscure" is anything but. Anyone who visits pitchfork.com on even a semi-regular basis has those on their ipod. Further more, I don't know what to think of Kelly's music taste really. On one hand he seems to have some taste, but then counteracts any good decision like having The Arcade Fire score his movie with one like Justin Timberlake lip singing The Killers. Is he now one of those directors that people follow because of the music in his films a la Wes Anderson?
1. That list of ten covers songs he calls "obscure" is anything but.
Correct.
2.Is he now one of those directors that people follow because of the music in his films a la Wes Anderson?
Unfortunately, yes.
I couldn't make it past ten pages of this script. I heard Kelly is a really great guy, but it looks like he lucked into this career, piecemailing together something he thought was one thing (Donnie Darko) and having his audience declare it a masterpiece as something different. It's never good when you succeed by accident. Not to mention, the movie looks absolutely awful.
Yeah, i tried to read the script too and bailed around the same time. I'd like him to make a good picture and rooting for him because of "Donnie Darko," but the follow-up was a disaster and the director's cut of 'Darko' does his "boy-genius" tag zero favors.
It's amazing how one review is picked to sum up the movie while dozens of other far more positive reviews are apparently ignored lol.
Here are some other blurbs from reviews of The Box:
"I want to make clear – the atmosphere of the whole thing was terrific. There wasn’t a dull frame anywhere in the film. 4 out of 5 stars"
"With its throbbing rhythm, its gradual creation of agonizing suspense, careful reconstitution of the historical context of the 70s and excessive decorations around NASA, The Box takes its time to creep into the emotions of the viewer…Kelly gave birth to a damn good thriller in which the effect of fascination endures long after the screening."
"Somehow, Kelly has managed to create a film which not only delivers on both a fantastical and human level, but also delivers on the promise of his potential as a filmmaker worth investing in. 4 out of 5 stars"
"In Conclusion: The new Richard Kelly film…is a worthy movie, a sincere, intelligent, remarkably interpreted and implemented picture."
"''The Box'' is a very successful exercise in mood and tone. Win Butler's rambunctious soundtrack combines with a great sense of the mid 1970s to create a sense of menace that will keep you close to the edge of your seat, and though you're never as sure as you want to be of what's going on, the cinematic technique is brilliant.
4/5 stars"
And there are many other reviews out there that speak positively about the movie, all of which are as easy to find as the negative review you chose to promote lol :). I know bashing Richard Kelly may be the sport of the moment for online movie fans, but believe it or not The Box just might end up being a decent flick.
Don't forget his production company funded "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell". Ugh.
Maybe he really is just some kind of idiot savant that just accidentally made a really good movie once on accident.
Don't forget his production company funded "World's Greatest Dad". GREAT movie, which got an 85% Fresh rating on rottentomatoes.com.
I question whether or not any of you evey bother to look at Richard Kelly realistically.
I question whether you look at the man who made Southland Tales and wrote Domino realistically. I'm going to say "no."
God, i forgot he wrote Domino. No wonder that thing was a piece. Then again, Tony Scott on crack….
"I question whether you look at the man who made Southland Tales and wrote Domino realistically. I'm going to say "no.""
I didn't say anything about how I saw Richard Kelly…and I definitely didn't call him an "idiot savant" who only "accidentally" made one good movie.
I only said something about "The Box" and the good reviews it's been getting being overlooked on this site lol. Well, I also showed how claiming that his being a producer on "I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell" showed him to be a talented bum was idiotic since he also was a producer on "World's Greatest Dad". I'm commenting on faulty logic used to label him a hack, not on the man himself.
And for the record, a few more blurbs that show "The Box" might not be the obvious dud that "anyone with half a brain" could detect a mile away:
"Tense and unnerving. Donnie Darko has just entered The Twilight Zone." – TOTAL FILM
"Terrifying and disturbing. [The Box is] a mind-blowing chiller packed with smart scares. 4 Stars." – EMPIRE
"It may fall short of Donnie Darko's clever storytelling, but for his third feature film, Kelly plays confidently with suspense and lays down the right hooks at the right time to keep you drawn into his creepy world. 3.5 / 5 stars." – IGN
You know you just posted thoughts from fanboy sites, yeah?
"You know you just posted thoughts from fanboy sites, yeah?"
What about "thoughts" from the other 12 sites that all give "The Box" favorable reviews? Are they all "fanboy" sites as well?
So much for "We'll go in with an open mind".
By the wayl, as far as the "No Acrade Fire Soundtrack" comment:
"I want to clarify a few things about THE BOX score by Win Butler, Regine Chassagne and @OwenPallett. The band is hard at work recording the new Arcade Fire album. They will release the score at some point, when it does not conflict with their album release schedule for their record label."
So it will be released. No need to wonder or worry or decide that it's a bad omen or anything lol.