"Cloud Atlas" by the Wachowskis

[Jan]

JMS posted this link last night. It looks amazing!

From my friends the Wachowskis, one of the most moving and beautiful films of the last 20 years (and yes, I've seen it).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmJVFOKaGUY

Must get the book. Anybody here familiar with it?

Jan

[Jonas]

Haven't read the book (though I was aware of it), but the movie looks AWESOME.

[Delenn_of_Mir]

Oooh that does look really good! I want to read the book first before I see it, so I can understand it better. Plus the book is almost always better unless it's Game of Thrones.

[phazedout]

I am intrigued Delenn_of_mir how you felt the the tv show covering game of thrones (book one of a song of ice and fire) was an improvement over the book.

While I admit the adaptation of book one was brilliant, esp with George on board throughout and having chatted with one of the principles I can say produciton values were second to none, how do you feel the book fell down in this regard, as it was written before the show and the show adapted from it.

Phaze
on the "mods feel free to split this off in to a book vs tv/movie adaptation thread if you wish" ID

[Jan]

JMS posted a link to a really interesting article about the Wachowskis and the creative process for the movie.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/09/10/120910fa_fact_hemon?currentPage=all

I saw it at a screening...was absolutely knocked out by it. Every person that walked out of that theater did so a better person, in intent if nothing else, than they were when they walked in. If you want to see a film that reaffirms everything decent and good that you believe about mankind, that is loving and not cynical, honest in its portrayal and not corny, that will inspire you to do something good for the world...this is that movie.

High praise. Looking forward to it.

Jan

[Jan]

Keeping this spoiler free for now...

Just got back from "Cloud Atlas" and actually gave some thought to seeing it again tonight. I *know* there are a million things I missed. What they managed to pull off is nothing short of amazing. I highly recommend it. It's complex and beautiful in many ways at once.

I make a habit of staying through most of the ending titles in movies and it was funny to see the people getting up to leave stop dead to watch the credits which showed all of the parts played by the actors. I missed a bunch so I'll be on the lookout next time.

I was startled to read that there's controversy over the racial casting. In a movie where actors are (as Patricia Tallman mentioned) playing souls, not just characters, I have go with the assumtion that the producers picked the best actors for the roles rather than restict their choices to certain races.

Definitely looking forward to seeing it again.

Jan

[Jan]

Here's an excerpt of an interview by our own Joe Nazzaro:

http://makeupmag.com/news/featured/id/1031/

The full interview is in Makeup Artist Magazine #99.

If there's not a whole *lot* of awards for the make-up and art direction of this film, it'll be a doggone shame.

Jan

[Delenn_of_Mir]

I am intrigued Delenn_of_mir how you felt the the tv show covering game of thrones (book one of a song of ice and fire) was an improvement over the book.

While I admit the adaptation of book one was brilliant, esp with George on board throughout and having chatted with one of the principles I can say produciton values were second to none, how do you feel the book fell down in this regard, as it was written before the show and the show adapted from it.

Phaze
on the "mods feel free to split this off in to a book vs tv/movie adaptation thread if you wish" ID

The ages of the characters in the tv show I felt was an improvement over the books. I know that in the middle ages it wasn't unusual to have boy kings and child war commanders, but I preferred having Rob, and Theon, and Jon being in their late teens early twenties to fourteen.


Also the age of Danerys when her brother sold her into marriage and she was raped on her wedding night (I know stuff like that did happen to twelve years olds and younger, all the time) but aging her up to sixteen was just easier for me to watch.

The main reason I preferred the show though was the way the story was told. The book is sooo long and the pov chapers so huge, and spread out that it felt to me as if it took forever for anything to happen at all. The pace was a bit agonizing like having a tooth tied to a doorknob and then having the door being pulled open, creaking slowly.

The pacing of the show, and the swapping of the pov's, so that we get a little of each character per episode was more enjoyable for me.

Sorry it took so long to reply, just seeing this now.

And since this is the Cloud Atlas thread I would love to see it at the cinema, but it isn't playing in my town so I will have to wait for it to be released online or on dvd.

[babylonlurker]

Keeping this spoiler free for now...

Just got back from "Cloud Atlas" and actually gave some thought to seeing it again tonight.

Definitely looking forward to seeing it again.

Jan

Thanks for your mini review, Jan

Sounds like a movie right for me and a few friends.
Premiere here (in the Netherlands) is late November, so I will have to wait.
In my native Denmark it is even later - mid January.

Looking forward with some impatience . . .

[Ubik]

Cheers for the head up Jan.

To be honest, I’m a bit put off by anything under the Wachowski banner having suffering through The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions. Speed Racer and V for Vendetta didn’t exactly do much to change my opinion of their work as film makers. Much of their reputation rests on one runaway hit (The Matrix), which I enjoyed a great deal as a fun action movie but it did borrow very heavily from other peoples’ ideas and work. There are striking similarities to Grant Morrison’s ‘The Invisibles’, the anime Ghost in the Shell and William Gibson’s novel Neuromancer.

Cloud Atlas does however appear to be a bit more ambitious and daring. Given the praise from JMS, happy to give Cloud Atlas a chance.

[Jonas]

I finally saw Cloud Atlas... and loved it.

The accusations of racism make me want to leave this planet. There's never been a more anti-racist film than this.

[Marsden]

I want to see Cloud Atlas, and this just encourages me more.

I never saw the Matrix films, but I really liked Speed Racer. I thought they really captured the spirit of the original show and expanded on it.

[babylonlurker]

I went to see it and need to see it again. Like Jan, I am sure there is a lot of subtle stuff that I missed.

And Jonas, agreed on the anti-racism theme of the movie (well, one of the themes).