Indiewire Browse the indiewire network

The Playlist

The obsessives' guide to contemporary cinema via film discussion, news, reviews, features, nostalgia, movie music, soundtracks, DVDs and more.

Interviews

Actors

Directors

Archives

The Playlist

Spinning 'Cloud Atlas': 5 Unfilmable Novels That Became Movies & 5 More On The Way

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
  • |
  • October 26, 2012 12:31 PM
  • |
  • 10 Comments
Features
While it was a worldwide success, and displays some bold and ambitious storytelling that could look amazing on screen, it always seemed that there was little chance of David Mitchell's best-seller "Cloud Atlas" ever making it to screens. Indeed, Mitchell himself told the New Yorker recently, "As I was writing 'Cloud Atlas,' I thought, 'It's a shame this is unfilmable.' "
Read More »
More: Features, Cloud Atlas, Paradise Lost, Winter's Tale, Ender's Game

Review: 'Cloud Atlas' Is Bold, Messy & Disappointingly Unimaginative

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
  • |
  • October 25, 2012 6:32 PM
  • |
  • 20 Comments
Reviews
With The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer literally throwing a critic off the roof of a building to his death in the opening moments of the nearly three-hour "Cloud Atlas," it's clear that they aren't concerned in the slightest with how this ambitious effort will be received. And you certainly have to give the trio of directors some respect for their approach, which tag teams an all-star cast, gives them multiple roles and spreads the story across nearly a half dozen time periods. But for all their boldness in narrative approach, the adaptation of David Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas" is also a mess, with an attempt to mix its various genres under a universal thematic banner that never quite coheres.
Read More »
More: Cloud Atlas, Review, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, The Wachowskis, Tom Tykwer, Ben Whishaw, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant

Everything Is Connected: 5 Movies That Paved The Way For 'Cloud Atlas'

  • By The Playlist Staff
  • |
  • October 25, 2012 2:02 PM
  • |
  • 13 Comments
Features
The big release of this week (albeit on rather fewer screens than you might expect) is also one of the most ambitious of the year -- The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer's "Cloud Atlas." An adaptation of a novel by David Mitchell that some had deemed unfilmable, it's a near-three-hour tale that interlinks multiple narratives from the 1800s to the end of time, with its starry cast taking on multiple roles, often buried behind make-up that lets them change gender and even race.
Read More »
More: Features, Cloud Atlas

50 New Cloud Atlas Photos Confirms The Cast Wears A Lot Of Silly Looking Make-Up

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
  • |
  • October 12, 2012 2:26 PM
  • |
  • 9 Comments
News
"Cloud Atlas" features many things -- narratives, characters, special effects...but it also has a lot of makeup. A lot. With the extended principal cast -- Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Sturgess, Ben Whishaw, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Hugh Grant, and Bae Doona -- playing multiple roles in a tale that spans centuries, the trick was making them look similar, yet also distinct in each case. And for the most part it works, and you don't really notice it. But time to time, it is distracting. (We're looking at you, Thug Hanks).
Read More »
More: Cloud Atlas, The Wachowskis, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry

Watch: Featurette For 'Cloud Atlas' Showcases New Footage From The Film

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
  • |
  • October 12, 2012 9:25 AM
  • |
  • 0 Comments
News
The question of whether or not our lives are more than just the brief impression we make in the few decades we occupy this Earth that has been spinning for millions of years before we were here and will be spinning for millions of more after we're gone, is one that many have grappled with. Some say that after we die we go to heaven (or hell) or return in another form or just provide fertilizer. But in "Cloud Atlas" our lives continue in one connected thread, and The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer have put that theory up in the form of a time-spanning, multiple character movie that is certainly ambitious.
Read More »
More: Cloud Atlas

Get Connected With New Images & Soundtrack Preview For 'Cloud Atlas'

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
  • |
  • October 5, 2012 2:50 PM
  • |
  • 0 Comments
News
Heading into the last stretch of the movie year, this is when studios generally roll out their more sure-fire bets, either banking on four quadrant stuff to take care of bored families during the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, or their awards-contending pictures that they hope will maintain buzz. But one of the biggest gambles hits in just a few weeks with Warner Bros.' "Cloud Atlas." Granted, they didn't produce it -- it was financed independently -- but the sprawling, nearly three-hour movie may have won over crowds at TIFF and Fantastic Fest, but can it carry over to mainstream audiences?
Read More »
More: Cloud Atlas, Soundtrack, Tom Tykwer

The 10 Best Films To See In October

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
  • |
  • October 1, 2012 3:00 PM
  • |
  • 4 Comments
Features
After an unusually rewarding September, that featured critical and audience favorites like "The Master," "Looper," "End Of Watch," "Dredd," "The Perks Of Being a Wallflower" and "Arbitrage," October has arrived, but things aren't letting up. Sure, the box office is likely to be dominated by Liam Neeson cracking heads in "Taken 2," but there's plenty more to see when you look a little further afield. Below, you'll find ten of the best options over the coming month. Let us know what you're looking forward to most in the comments section.
Read More »
More: Features, Argo, Frankenweenie, Middle Of Nowhere, Nobody Walks, Cloud Atlas, Holy Motors, The Sessions, Smashed, Seven Psychopaths, Wuthering Heights

Watch: Spoiler-Ish Clip From 'Cloud Atlas' Jumps Through All The Film's Storylines

  • By Cain Rodriguez
  • |
  • September 28, 2012 9:00 AM
  • |
  • 0 Comments
News
Let’s get this out of the way up front. If you want to walk into the Tom Tykwer and the Wachowski Starship's “Cloud Atlas” pure, do not watch the video below. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. However, if you've read the book already it probably won't be too big of a deal.
Read More »
More: Cloud Atlas, Tom Hanks

7 'Cloud Atlas' Banners Plus New 3 New TV Spots As Film Goes IMAX

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
  • |
  • September 25, 2012 2:21 PM
  • |
  • 1 Comment
News
There are few movies coming this fall that are as ambitious as The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer's "Cloud Atlas." Featuring an all-star cast in multiple roles, in a story set across numerous time periods, touching a half-dozen different genres all amidst a sprawling narrative, few films are going as far out on the ledge as this one. And it's getting even bigger.
Read More »
More: Cloud Atlas, The Wachowskis, Tom Tykwer, IMAX

Everything Is Connected In Poster For The Wachowskis & Tom Tykwer's 'Cloud Atlas'

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
  • |
  • September 14, 2012 5:36 PM
  • |
  • 3 Comments
News
There were few films that caused quite as much of a stir as "Cloud Atlas" did at TIFF this year. The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer's sprawling and ambitious adaptation of David Mitchell's novel earned enthusiastic applause at its premiere screening, but critics were more divided, with some positively swooning for the movie, and others....less so. Our own review from Toronto was less than impressed with the film's rather simplistic, new age-y, fortune cookie wisdom and multiple narratives that became repetitive and dull. But hey, to each their own, and everyone will get to find out for themselves soon enough.
Read More »
More: Cloud Atlas

Follow Us

Email Updates

What's Poppin'

Recent Comments

Blog Roll

Around The Network

the network

indiewire

categories