I understand that Richard Matheson did not like how "The Twilight Zone" changed the ending to his original short story, but I remember the episode as short, spare, and perfect -- the ending gives me a slight twinge to this day. The movie sounds over-engineered, but I'm still willing to give it a shot.

Gonna check this one out.

Everyone is trying to get to the bar

The name of the bar

The bar is called heaven

The band in heaven

They play my favourite song

Play it one more time

Play it all night long

Oh heaven

Heaven is a place

A place where nothing

Nothing ever happens

Heaven

Heaven is a place

A place where nothing

Nothing ever happens

There is a party

Everyone is there

Everyone will leave at exactly the same time

When this party's over

It will start again

It will not be any different

It will be exactly the same

Oh heaven

Heaven is a place

A place where nothing

Nothing ever happens

When this kiss is over

It will start again

It will not be any different

It will be exactly the same

It's hard to imagine

That nothing at all

Could be so exciting

Could be this much fun

Oh heaven

Heaven is a place

A place where nothing

Nothing ever happens

Heaven

Heaven is a place

A place where nothing

Nothing ever happens

You pulled a Night Gallery reference. That show freaked me out as a little kid, and I know just the "watched to much for it to do good turning the channel now" response you're talking about.

The previews for The Box make it seem pretty ridiculous, and Donnie Darko did not work for me (though I agree it had a palpable atmosphere, and that's maybe the hardest thing for a director to pull off—I'm not sure it can be taught, it may just be a gift certain directors have). I avoided Southland Tales.

But this review has me intrigued.

I usually go to a film festival in Austin called Fantastic Fest. A couple years back, Richard Kelley showed up with Southland Tales.

It's the second worst film I've ever watched in the theater. The first worst being Domino by Tony Scott and, you guessed it, Richard Kelley.

When the film was over, only 2 people in the audience clapped. No exaggeration. We were supposed to get a Q&A, but one of the event coordinators announced that Richard Kelley had to leave. It's the only time I've ever seen that happen at FF.

Needless to say, I'm going to wait for a significant amount of positive reviews before I see another Richard Kelley film.

The storyline for The Box story sounds a lot like a play by Spanish playwright Alejandro Casona called "La Barca sin Pescador" (roughly translated into The Boat without a Fisherman). It's really good and anyonw who likes this movie should read the Casona play.

When I saw the previews for this film, I immediately thought of the classic WW Jacobs short story...which is essentially that a couple gets wishes granted with terrible price to be paid....

I read the story as a kid and even in the middle of a sunny afternoon, got utterly freaked out at the scene in which the son is returning to the family home....

When I heard about the box, I told my wife thay I'd press that button in a heartbeat. She slapped me across the face. I said better them then us and realized what an animal I really am....

I don't really want to see a movie about a magic box.

about my misspells... Having the stupid slapped out of me must have sumpin to do with it!

Are you still around?

Rod Serling's Night Gallery scared the sausages out of me when I was a wee fellow. I used to play a game with myself, promising that I wouldn't watch it but I always ended up watching the show anyway. We lived in a creaky, old farmhouse at the time. My bedroom was the attic. Wonderful!

Donnie Darko is perfect, an extraordinary tale that rewards close attention. Multiple viewings are mandatory. My son had been bugging me to see it; I waited until I felt he was old enough. Indeed, he pointed out a lot of things I missed during our instant second viewing. It deserves a Catcher in the Rye-level perch in the cinema canon.

SZ describes Kelly's gifts well here. I too was confounded and disappointed by Southland Tales. Kelly's screenplay is ingenious. His directing scuttles his own screenplay. Remake, please, with Spike Jonze directing?

Like Kevin Smith, Richard Kelly could use a stern editor, a Maxwell Perkins.