The Wachowskis are two of the most interesting talents working in big-scale Hollywood movies today; so much so that the fact that they’re no longer The Wachowski Brothers is NOT the most interesting thing about their output.
Their careers have never quite recovered from “The Matrix” becoming a massive overnight mega-sensation, prompting two unnecessary and innevitably-underwhelming sequels, and the the (IMO) underappreciated “Speed Racer” didn’t exactly put them back on top; but I can’t not respect people who make good on the dream of attaining permanent blockbuster clout and using it to do whatever the hell you want.
Now they’ve partnered with Tom Tykwer for a sprawling adaption of “Cloud Atlas,” which features a big cast playing multiple roles that stretch across multiple genres, styles, time-periods and realities. The film’s first SIX MINUTE trailer is now up over at Apple. Whoa.
MOVIEBOB CENTRAL 
Don't they still bill themselves as the Wachowski Brothers even after Lana's transition?
LikeLike
Well, it's an ambitious project, I'll give you that. It's movies like these that for the last couple of years have made me conscious that Fall tends to be the most interesting season for movies.
LikeLike
Wow, six minutes & I still have no idea what this movie is actually about. Guess I'll actually have to SEE the movie now, seeing as they were so rude as to not give away the whole movie in the trailer. Oh wait, I see what you did there, Wachowski Brothers!
LikeLike
http://www.cinemaclock.com/movies/alb/Calgary/47544/Gambit.html
Sorry to post a straight up link like this, but I was checking out upcoming movies in my area and happened across this. A Gambit X-Men Origin's movie. Written by the Coen Brothers!?! I'm posting this for you Bob because I'm trying to check the legitimately on this and know that if anyone would know about it, it would be you.
LikeLike
One of the cast members in this movie is Jim Sturgess.
If that name doesn't sound familiar he was the lead in the Kevin Spacey produced movie “21” that was based on a real life story that involved mostly Asian Americans which were then whitewashed for the Hollywood movie. He played the role that in real life was an Asian. The movie received much backlash and rightfully so. Now I watch this trailer and see that Sturgess is playing an Asian via yellowface.
I can already see some reading this jumping automatically to the “But everyone is playing different races! That's the whole point of the movie” card but that isn't going to work. For a guy that was involved in one of the major scandals of whitewashing of the last decade he sure has a lot of balls to accept playing an Asian via yellowface. I'm also shocked that the supposedly conscious Wachowskis offered the role to him despite his past.
Aside from just how damn unconvincing his makeup is I also am amazed with the fact that even in this “raceless” concept of a movie (that comes entirely from the perspective of only white writers and directors) is that they still managed to have the Hollywood stereotype that Asian women's love interests are only white men. They just put the white man in yellowface to try and hide it.
Unbelievable.
I'm not wishing this movie well at all.
LikeLike
You think that maybe the other time periods where Jim makes an appearance would not make sense with an Asian actor.
LikeLike
As opposed to Jim playing an Asian American in “21” even though it didn't make sense to hire a white British actor to play that role?
LikeLike
@victorious_opposition the point? You missed it.
Anyway, not sure what to expect from this movie at all. I was barely able to maintain my attention for the whole trailer, not sure how I will deal with the movie itself.
However, as a fan of huge over-ambitious time-sprawling multi-layered stories, I'll surely give it a try.
Still, expectations aren't very high, which is actually a good thing I guess.
LikeLike
Weird, two posts in a week about films based on my favourite books.
I have to say it does look like they might be overplaying the 'events repeat from time period to time period' thing here. The connections between the times in the book are very subtle and it's left up to the reader to piece it together. I hope they don't overplay it here.
One of the best things about the book is how easily it hops from genre to genre, copying the styles of each one perfectly. I hope the movie manages this, but I do get the feeling the Wachowskis will have more confidence in the sci-fi sections than anywhere else.
One thing I do love about the Wachowskis though, they're certainly ambitious. None of their movies so far has been lazy, and they're always swinging for the fences whether they succeed or not.
LikeLike
Hey Bob, how come you give Obama a free pass for doing things that you'd criticize Romney or a republican for doing?
You won't be rid of me until you own up to your hypocrisy.
LikeLike
Hey James, please keep posting. Because for every post you make, your behaviour gives Republicans a bad (or even worse) image. Like a lot of current generation republicans/teabaggers you don't want to debate, you want to scream as loud and as often as possible so that everyone gives up on the process and walks away. It's childish and totally representative of today's republicans.
So please keep going. And thank you for helping Obama win in 2012.
LikeLike
@James
He's already explained this to you a thousand times and has basically stopped responding because you either don't get it or you don't care. It's because Obama does more to push forward the political motives that Bob is in support of and unlike a Libertarian candidate, he actually stands a chance of winning.
Your argument seems to be that in order for Bob not to be a hypocrite, he should vote Libertarian. In a world where a Libertarian might actually be taken seriously as a third candidate, maybe so, but presently, Bob believes that Romney would be a worse President than Obama and therefore is going to give Obama his support so long as he believes that. Voting for a third party, to him, is no different than not voting at all. It's not very complicated, in fact it's a very common school of thought.
You think you can maybe NOT flood every single one of his posts with your inane, repetitive, self-righteous, off-topic stupidity?
You know who you remind me of? Johnny Snow from “Dr. Horrible”. I can just imagine Bob going on camera and saying, “YOU'RE NOT MY NEMESIS.”
James, if you have thoughts and opinions, the best way to express them is NOT to go and call other people out incessantly. What you should do is put your own thoughts and opinions in your OWN blog or forum or whatever. If your opinions are as valid as you seem to think, then other people will gravitate towards them. You don't need to ride Bob's coattails.
And just so we're clear, I'm not doing this solely to defend Bob or Obama or whatever. I'm mostly just REALLY FUCKING TIRED of seeing you post the same stupid fucking bullshit in EVERY FUCKING POST. In a post about politics, that's fine, but a post about a Wachowski movie? Really? Do you really think Bob is going to read that post and think, “Gee, that young man has a POINT? Why didn't I see before now!?”
You seem like a decent enough guy some of the time. Please, for the sake of my sanity, please just end your annoying and utterly pointless crusade against Bob. Or at the very least, please relocate it.
LikeLike
I loved Speed Racer myself, and it's my opinion that most of the people who disliked it went into it with the wrong mindset. It's one of the most fun-to-watch-movies I've ever seen.
LikeLike
@GG Crono
I agree entirely. Minus the unbearable scenes with Spritle, the movie was a lot of fun and took advantage of its visual style whenever it could. To me, it kind of comes off as “Scott Pilgrim” for pre-teens.
LikeLike
@Pat
James admitted multiple times he's doing this out of hatred and a desire to make Bob suffer. He also pretty obviously drank the radical conspiracy theorist Kool-Aid and doesn't want any real discussion. He's beyond help. I wish Bob would ban or report him to some kind of authority, but hey: his site, his decision.
Who knows: maybe keeping him around is keeping the visitor and ad-clicks high? He's not exactly rolling around in the cash, so I wouldn't declare this to be automatically bad. Not that it's really good for the long run to allow him to set the tone of these posts and I'm sure he has lost a lot of valuable voices by his inaction.
So long as nothing is done, the only person winning here is James.
LikeLike
I read the book in English class last year, and I really hope the movie does it justice.
For those who don't know, the book covers a bunch of different characters scattered throughout various time periods, from colonial-ish times to the far future. The book itself places much emphasis on ascent and descent(much like Dark Knight Rises with the word “Rise”). The connection between the time periods' different characters becomes more clear as time goes on.
Overall, the book is less about telling a regular story and more a statement about the human condition and society as a whole. Stuff like the nature of power, how our actions have a real effect on the course of history, etc.
Unfortunately, the trailer kinda spoils the part about how they read about the events in the past and the “different lives” characters have.
LikeLike