The main problem is that this movie has been a lame duck in the movie pond, trying to paddle for shore ever since the Cannes Film Festival. Kelly rushed the film into competition there, even though it "wasn't finished," and it got savaged by the critics as a result. Most people who saw it had no idea what was happening with the story, and even The Rock had trouble following along. You know your film is in trouble when braniac former pro-wrestlers lose the plot. Kelly vowed to finish (and fix) the film, adding over 100 visual effects, trimming scenes and having J.T. re-record his voiceover track. Did any of this work help?

L Magazine's film critic Michael Joshua Rowin had a real soft spot for it, saying "Here it is, at last: the worst film of the year." Even New York Times film critic Mahnola Dargis, who seems to be one of the few loners who enjoyed the film to some degree, calls it "messy" Granted, Donnie Darko was called messy and confusing in plenty of reviews when it came out, but it didn't have the albatross of bad Cannes reviews hanging around its neck when it was released. Southland Tales does have that albatross, and these reviews are pulling it under like an anchor. The film is playing in limited release right now, which means if you're near New York or Los Angeles you might have a chance of seeing it, but if you live elsewhere you'll have to pray for a DVD release. With reviews like this, you won't have to wait long.

Review: Southland Tales spins nonsense [AP]
More on Southland Tales [GreenCine Daily]

We say he's been hard at work, because this film premiered at Cannes amidst some pretty dismal reviews. In fact, some of the reviews were so bad that they make the two word review Spinal Tap got for Shark Sandwich look eloquent in comparison.

He's added over 100 visual effects shots to a film that "wasn't ready" for Cannes in an effort to clarify the story. Does that mean that George Lucas was saying that the Star Wars flicks weren't ready when he put them out with all new effects?

We'll let you know if it worked when we're sitting front and center for its November 14th premiere. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson plus Sarah Michelle Gellar plus Seann William "Stifler" Scott plus 100 new visual effects shots = we have to see what comes out of this mix. That's not even mentioning the musical number from Justin Timberlake.

Southland has new shots [Sci-Fi Wire]