Jupiter Ascending - Just What Kind Of Batshit Crazy Space Epic Do The Wachowski's Have Coming Out?

There are not many more polarizing figures in the Hollywood landscape than the Wachowskis. The brothers (or former brothers, now that one is living as a woman...) have been making waves from their very first movie Bound. No one wanted to finance the Matrix films, and when they finally did find someone to greenlite those we got one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time... and a couple of ill conceived sequels as well. But there is no denying that the Matrix franchise proved that original properties could be made into tentpole movies that might even spawn franchises... and that is a good thing no matter how you feel about Neo & the leather clad gangs further adventures. These dudes are extra ambitious when it comes to their projects. Need proof? Check out Speed Racer, V for Vendetta, and Cloud Atlas for proof. All of those films were met with mixed reception from fans, but all of them showed just how committed to their vision for their projects they can be. They do not bend, they do not compromise... nope, they make THEIR films THEIR ways whether the public & the studios likes it or not. Check out their latest project, Jupiter Ascending. Channing Tatum as a intergalactic bad-ass bounty hunter. Mila Kunis as his target and also the potential future leader of the universe. Time travel, gods ruling over the universe, alien bounty hunters... yup, this sounds exactly like a Wachowski film to me. Then there is the casting of Tatum as the lead. This also seems like a very Wachowski thing to do, very similar to Keanu Reeves casting in the Matrix. From the trailer I get the unique look and feel of the Wachowskis, and I am very intrigued by the concept. Cloud Atlas helped sell me on anything future these guys did, because that film looked to be a mess going in and was executed incredibly. I don't know if this puppy will live up to their past accomplishments or be any good, but I will certainly be giving it a shot. Oh, and Eddard Stark himself (Sean Bean) will be along for the ride as well. That is just another reason to get on board. The film release July 18th, 2014. Check out the trailer & posters after the jump....



Character & Movie Posters:

And now the trailer:

  

The A To Z Blogger Challenge: Day 22 - V Is For V for Vendetta

V... V can only be for one thing... V is for Vendetta!!!!! Remember, Remember, The 5th of November.... Alan Moore & David Lloyd's classic graphic novel got a pretty great film version courtesy of the Wachowski  Brothers, and I can't possibly have enjoyed it any more. So well done, so perfect. Hugo Weaving, Stephen Fry and Stephen Rea bring us the British angle of the story, and I think the star of the movie has to be Natalie Portman as Evey. She is amazingly vulnerable, and eventually comes back stronger than ever due to the help that the main mystery man V gives her. I had the opportunity to meet David Lloyd last year and asked him what he thought of the film version of his comic that he drew, and he said he loved it as well. We all know that Alan Moore hates every type of adaption of his literary work... but if it gets a co-sign from one of it's creators (and its not the crazy one!!!) than it is good enough for me. I have always loved Natalie Portman, and after this movie I will always have a soft spot for her. So she is the obvious choice for the Letter V... because she is V. You can see more of the people participating in the A to Z blogger challenge by clicking here, and check out Natalie's pics after the jump...

  

A CCD Rant - Cloud Atlas: What Did Mike D Think?

Last night Jeff Bond and I decided that we needed to make a trip to the local cinema and catch Cloud Atlas on the big screen before it leaves theaters. The film has been in theaters since October 26th and is much debated on the merit of its three hour runtime. This is a full on fucking movie, one that does not take any shorts from what the filmmakers (the Wachowski Brothers & Tom Tykwer) wanted to get up on the screen. It is adapted from a very famous British book of the same name by David Mitchell and has been pretty much a nightmare to get an actual release. It features a star studded cast with the likes of Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Susan Sarandon, Keith David, Hugo Weaving and Jim Sturgess... all who appear in various roles throughout the films six segments. The film has been praised by some critics like Roger Ebert as visionary and extremely fun, and panned by reputable publications like Time Magazine as one of the worst movies of the year. It can't possibly be both, right? So here is my little rant on what I think of Cloud Atlas. Here is a bit of a hint: I tend to think Ebert is right in this one...

Click after the jump for more...

The Wachowski Brothers (well brother & sister now... snip snip) and Tykwer

Let me start off by saying that I absolutely love the Wachowski Brothers as film makers. But I am not a Wachowski fanboy who will automatically defend everything they do, even if it sucks. The reason why I hold them in such high regard is because they have taken the success & credibility they had with the first Matrix film and then used that cred to make the films THEY wanted to make. Their way. the wachowski vision. You may not like the two Matrix sequels or think that Speed Racer was anything more then CGI drivel. You may agree with Alan Moore when he calls V for Vendetta a travesty. And you may think Time has Cloud Atlas pegged spot on. But their is one thing you have to agree, and that is the fact that the Wachowski's don't give a flying fuck about what you think when it comes to their creative process. And they will make the films they want to make, when they want to make them, how they want to make them. You gotta love them for that.

Great, now that we got that out of the way, lets talk about Cloud Atlas. This fucking movie is huge... and I mean huge. 3 hours long? Check. 6 alternating story lines that span hundreds of years? Check. An epic assemble cast that would make the producers of New Years Eve cry in shame for not being able to secure such a talented cast? Yup... it's all here. Not to mention the fact that we get a little bit of every genre of film mixed into this flick  from period seafaring adventure movies to Matrix styled science fiction. Huge is the only way to describe it. And it is epic. And I kinda loved every second of it. All 2 hours and 52 minutes of those seconds. My number one reason for this has to be because, for every moment of the film's running time you can see that whether you like the film or not, the Wachowski's made the film they wanted to make. It is an uncompromising vision... and that makes it fantastic. Fucking fantastic... and that originality and clarity in seeking out their vision is what makes this film so important. Cause that type of film does not get made very often in Hollywood... not now, not ever for that matter.

Tom Hanks as British Ex Con Critic Killer... so funny!

As far as the story lines themselves, I have to admit that I liked them all for various reasons. My favorite was probably 'The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish' and 'Half Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery'. I think I like these two segments the best because they contrast each other so well.  The first one is the funniest of the bunch and is set in modern times. Jim Broadbent is fantastic as a hapless publisher with no luck and Tom Hanks as a ex con writer who tests out the theory of gravity on one of his harshest critics. I loved this segment across the board, and that is what makes the Luisa Rey segment so cool as well.

Bill Smoke, assassin!

 Halle Berry takes the lead role in this segment which is set in 1973 and uses the nuclear power craze as a backdrop for the mystery. It plays like a hard boiled 70s exploitation detective story (like the French connection or Cleopatra Jones) with some of the best characters of the movie. Hugo Weaving stands out as assassin Bill Smoke, and Keith David proves once again that he is the motherfucking man. These two story lines play so opposite each other that they make for great favorite segments and provide me with enough reasons to like the movie themselves.

The bridge... best scene in the future, by far!

My least favorite segment had to be the Neo Seoul segment, which was the one set in the future and had the most sci fi elements to it. You would think that this would be the Wachowski's strong suit since they seem to love the sci fi genre so much, but it is pretty much a rip off of all the classic sci fi movies I saw from the 70s and the 80s. Replicant humans like Blade Runner, government control like 1984, blind consumerism like Soylent Green, an innocent hero/heroine on the run like The Running Man, and an impromtu hero/heroine that needs a little push to see the realities thate xist in their world and become the leader for change like in Star Wars... it's all there, right by the numbers. some of the tech was cool and some of the visuals were fantastic, but it mostly lacked originality and left me pretty board. But other than this segment I really didn't have too much to complain about.

Broadbent is awesome... I Know, I know!!!!

In the interest of not ruining the movie by talking about key points of the film I will say that the reason I liked the film so much is because of how original it is and what that takes for a filmmaker to undertake. It is so rare to get a film maker to take chances on material they love and make the film adaption that they envision, and the Wachoswski's & Tykwer do just that. They make an uncompromising version of what they want to make... and like it or not, in this day and age of paint by numbers movies you just do not see that much anymore. It reminds me of Kubrick changing around The Shining and basically telling a young Stephen King to go fuck himself when the writer question some of these changes on the set of the film. The writer may know the vision of the novel best, but translating that to the big screen is totally different. That is up to a director, and when anybody takes on something as large and dense as a book like Cloud Atlas then you need a true visionary to get the job done. Or maybe three visionaries.

Either way, I think you will enjoy Cloud Atlas for this reason alone. But what the fuck do I know? Films like Alvin and the Chimpmunks & Jack and Jill make hundreds of millions of dollars yet original movies like Cloud Atlas get blasted as too complicated and unique. It is the sad state of affairs in Hollywood these days, but as long as the Wachowski's keep getting projects financed then at least we will get to see some creativity and conviction in a few films. Get out there and see it before it is out of theaters, because this is the type of film you definitely want to see in the cinema. Please leave your own comments and thoughts on the movie below... I would love to hear what you guys have to say!!!!  

'Cloud Atlas': Now That Is A Movie Trailer!!!

Wow... wow! There has rarely been a time when i watched a movie trailer and was completely blown away and immediately drawn to a film in the way I am to Cloud Atlas, the new film from producer The Wachowski  Brothers & Tom Twyker. I have been hearing about this epic undertaking of a story for quite a few years, and I have been a bit intrigued. But after seeing the 1st trailer, I am all in. Why you ask? Well, it could be the cast. Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Hugh Grant, Susan Saradon... yeah, that is a pretty good start. Tom Twyker (director of the fantastic Run Lola, Run) and the Watchowski Brothers (creators & directors of The Matrix) are a great start as well. But that is not it... it is the 6 MINUTE FUCKING TRAILER!!!!! HOLY SHIT!!!! I have never, ever, ever seen a 6 minute trailer. A 3 minute trailer is usually referred to as extended.... what is a 6 minute trailer? It is epic!!!! Now I don't know exactly if this complex, time jumping storyline is going to end up awesome or end up being crapped on... but I know that this trailer has at least got my interest  up. I have often heard that the original book would be one of the hardest books to convert to film, but that didn't stop Twyker and the W brothers from giving it a college try. Check out the trailer (mini movie is more like it), poster, and a cool storyline breakdown (there are 6 storylines apparently, intertwining!) from /Film after the jump....



First, here is the trailer:



Now here is the poster (which I really like):

And now here is a rundown of the 6 different storylines by Russ Fischer of /Film, which I think may very well be the best film website out there:

OK, kicking things off, the “first” story is ‘The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing,’ pictured above, which takes place in the mid 1800s. (It’s the first in the novel, at least, but we don’t know just how the film will structure things.) Tom Hanks features as a doctor who encounters a few unusual souls in the remote Chatham Islands, east of New Zealand, before journeying away by ship. Hugo Weaving‘s character talking about the “natural order to this world” factors in here. A diary chronicling that journey ends up in the next story. 

The next is ‘Letters from Zedelghem,’ in 1931, in which Robert Frobisher (Ben Whishaw), a broke young English musician, takes a gig transcribing the work of a composer (Jim Broadbent, looking more friendly than I’d pictured him in the novel) living in Belgium. There’s a plotline with the composer’s wife, too, which is left mostly un-shown in the trailer. Seems like she’s also played by Berry. Letters from Frobisher to his perhaps-lover Rufus Sixsmith end up in the next story. 

Then we bounce forward a half century to 1975, for ‘Half-Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery,’ in which, as the trailer shows, Halle Berry plays the title character. She’s a journalist investigating corruption at a nuclear power plant run by Hugh Grant. This is a pretty straightforward thriller story, but it does have some big elements that reverberate throughout the entire piece.

Her story is told as a novel manuscript which lands in the hands of Jim Broadbent’s title character in ‘The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish,’ which is the closest thing to a story set in our present day. (Halle Berry is in this one, too, which is the shot of her at the bar in the trailer, and Susan Sarandon shows up, too.) Cavendish is a vanity press publisher in trouble with the mob, who ends up stuck in a nursing home. This is almost a Twilight Zone sort of story — despite the wild fantasies of some of the other tales, this one might be the weirdest of the set. Cavendish’s story is told as a film within the novel, that is watched by a character in the next story. 

Here’s the futuristic stuff: the corporate-controlled future South Korea of ‘An Orison of Sonmi~451.’ The title character here is a food service clone played by Bae Doona, who develops a bit more intelligence and emotional consciousness than she is meant to. That leads to problems in her totalitarian society, and as the action-oriented shots in the trailer show, this is the most obvious Wachowski aspect of the film. 

Finally, the sixth story at the center of it all is ‘Sloosha’s Crossin’ an’ Ev’rythin’ After,’ in which Zachry (Tom Hanks) lives in post-apocalyptic Hawaii, where he encounters Meronym (Berry), a member of the last remnants of technologically-advanced civilization. They embark upon a journey that reveals some things about how all these stories and characters tie together.

Wow... you can see some great frames pertaining to each one of those scenes on /Film. So what do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.