|
|
Post by Samnz on May 26, 2021 11:55:05 GMT
Cloud Atlas: Does anyone love this movie a much a I do?  Trailer: I think this is one of the most misunderstood masterpieces of the last 30 years, next to the Prequels. The visuals are great, the music is liberating, the scope and story are significant, the editing is masterful and it's just one hell of an experience and truly unifying. I recommed everyone to watch this movie. It's not everyone's cup of tea, aure, but I think it's definitely something that deserves to be seen. If only for being an independent production (much like the PT) and so far away from the usual assembly-line moviemaking that Disney "perfected" over the last decade.
|
|
|
|
Post by smittysgelato on May 26, 2021 20:33:42 GMT
Cloud Atlas is amazing. I always give the Wachowski's the benefit of the doubt. Speedracer is underrated too.
|
|
|
|
Post by Somny on May 26, 2021 21:19:28 GMT
Speed Racer is my favorite film of all time! Criminally underrated.
I love Cloud Atlas as well. I wrote the following about it on Facebook some time ago:
|
|
|
|
Post by Pyrogenic on May 26, 2021 22:10:18 GMT
Speed Racer is my favorite film of all time! Criminally underrated. I love Cloud Atlas as well. I wrote the following about it on Facebook some time ago:
I wrote a 20-page Speed Racer analysis at the end of college. It's insane. Also...this trailer! |
|
|
|
Post by Somny on May 27, 2021 1:51:13 GMT
Speed Racer is my favorite film of all time! Criminally underrated. I love Cloud Atlas as well. I wrote the following about it on Facebook some time ago:
I wrote a 20-page Speed Racer analysis at the end of college. It's insane. Also...this trailer! If it's possible without derailing the thread, I'd love to know more about your analysis!
Cloud Atlas actually contains a brief quote of Speed Racer (rather, its unique, deep-staging visual style) in the Seoul portion of the film. There, now Speed Racer is topical!
EDIT: Nevermind. I'll likely start a Speed Racer thread in this subforum for the above-stated purpose when I have some time. I don't mean to be a thread crasher.
|
|
|
|
Post by Moonshield on May 27, 2021 6:34:51 GMT
I think this is one of the most misunderstood masterpieces of the last 30 years Who said to you that it is misunderstood? It has good critics rating and audience rating. Yes, it failed in box office, but Equilibrium (2002) also failed, and most people think that it is a masterpiece. |
|
|
|
Post by Seeker of the Whills on May 27, 2021 11:28:57 GMT
I've seen it once, and I don't remember that much of the plot, except the whole reincarnation thing, but I do remember loving it. I remember thinking that it had something in common with Star Wars, especially the PT. The idea of events recurring and different people with intertwined fates facing them is explored in Lucas' Star Wars saga. The tagline "Everything is connected" could just as well describe Star Wars.
|
|
|
|
Post by Samnz on May 27, 2021 13:23:28 GMT
I think this is one of the most misunderstood masterpieces of the last 30 years Who said to you that it is misunderstood? It has good critics rating and audience rating. Yes, it failed in box office, but Equilibrium (2002) also failed, and most people think that it is a masterpiece. You're right in that wasn't hated or didn't get the kind of backlash that the Prequels got, but it also wasn't really loved or appreciated in its fullest. Especially if you compare it to the rave reception that Interstellar got, which was so much more heavy handed in how it pretended depth and tried to convey certain ideas of transcendence by flatulant dialogue. Cloud Atlas, on the other hand, managed to achieve all that a lot more naturally and cinematically and was definitely neglected in comparison. I also think that the "reincarnation" thing was actually totally overblown by the media, because that's not what the movie is really about, at all. Just as it isn't about Christianity just because Somni does evoke images of Jesus. In fact it's about the idea that we're all in this (life, world) together, that we've got to go through the same situations, face the same emotions and demons, make the same decisions and sometimes mistakes and that what happens to one of us affects others, as Obi-Wan would say.
I also think that George must love this film. I mean this movie is a child of its editing and the emotion is definitely created through the editing, when the idea of one scene is developed in the next and ultimately paid off in the the following and so on... It also manages to tell stories within stories and shows how stories that intertwine with each other create an all new story that opens up a whole new book. It got close to the kind of interactive moviemaking that Lucas loves and I could totally see this movie being made by a young George Lucas with the right technological und financial ressources.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cryogenic on May 27, 2021 14:05:18 GMT
Who said to you that it is misunderstood? It has good critics rating and audience rating. Yes, it failed in box office, but Equilibrium (2002) also failed, and most people think that it is a masterpiece. You're right in that wasn't hated or didn't get the kind of backlash that the Prequels got, but it also wasn't really loved or appreciated in its fullest. Especially if you compare it to the rave reception that Interstellar got, which was so much more heavy handed in how it pretended depth and tried to convey certain ideas of transcendence by flatulant dialogue. Cloud Atlas, on the other hand, managed to achieve all that a lot more naturally and cinematically and was definitely neglected in comparison. Although he has plenty of fans (including people here), I've always found Christopher Nolan and his movies to be pretty overrated. Yes, they look and feel expensive and deal with "weighty" themes, but they're all so turgid, self-serious, and such a slog, to me. I've not seen "Cloud Atlas", but this thread has inspired me to check it out. While I'm lukewarm on "The Matrix" movies, I love "Speed Racer" -- now, there's a movie, for sure, that the critics didn't get and basically did a Darth Maul on (RT rating of 41% for SR, compared to a sturdier 66% for "Cloud Atlas"). It actually struck me, watching the trailer supplied by Pyrogenic (he has encouraged me to watch many movies, including this one), that it's sort of like a more colourful and fantastical version of "Interstellar" and "Tenet"; with an almost "Baraka"-like beauty to the colours and art direction/environs. I should have gotten around to it and seen this movie a lot sooner. The Wachowskis are probably the closest living analogue of George Lucas and his approach to filmmaking; after Steven Spielberg and James Cameron, anyway. And much like Lucas, it seems that a lot of their work is undervalued; while other filmmakers are hyped up for their overproduced and ultimately underwhelming contributions to cinema. Pyro would perhaps like to tell you all about M. Night Shyamalan, too. Certain filmmakers who may be derogated or ignored by many are extremely adept at crafting layered narratives, interweaving puzzles, and making thoughtful and hypnotic movies. Alas, we live in something of an anti-intellectual culture that tends to sneer whenever someone tries anything different or stays true to themselves. It's important that there are still filmmakers thinking big and crafting works that appeal to their own sensibilities, instead of trying to pander to crowds or placate shareholders. |
|
|
|
Post by Pyrogenic on May 27, 2021 14:14:18 GMT
Cryo, were you aware that Baraka is literally featured in The Matrix Reloaded on the Architect's screens?
|
|
|
|
Post by Cryogenic on May 27, 2021 14:16:02 GMT
Cryo, were you aware that Baraka is literally featured in The Matrix Reloaded on the Architect's screens? No! Impressive. Most impressive. A film that surely left a big impression George Lucas, too. |
|
|
|
Post by smittysgelato on May 27, 2021 17:06:10 GMT
Ron Fricke, the director of Baraka, also worked on Revenge of the Sith.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cryogenic on May 27, 2021 18:47:23 GMT
Ron Fricke, the director of Baraka, also worked on Revenge of the Sith. Frickin' hell, you're right! www.imdb.com/name/nm0294825/Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (director of photography: Sicily and Thailand) |
|
|
|
Post by smittysgelato on May 27, 2021 19:18:40 GMT
Lucas also loves his musical analogies, and Cloud Atlas obviously makes use of the sextet as a metaphor.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ingram on May 27, 2021 19:41:39 GMT
Interestingly, I just revisited The Matrix trilogy last week for the first time in years. Over a decade, in fact!
I rate the Wachowskis thus:
8. Cloud Atlas 7. Bound 6. The Matrix Reloaded 5. The Matrix 4. Jupiter Ascending
3. The Matrix Revolutions 2. Speed Racer 1. V for Vendetta
I'm including V for Vendetta as something of a cheat in that it's a film in which they were so heavily, creatively involved in every aspect save for 1st unit directing. If we're being technical then, yeah, Speed Racer would be numero uno. As for Cloud Atlas, alas, I saw it only once in theaters back in September of 2013 and the film sortta rubbed me the wrong way, chief among its elements being the "we're-all-connected" karma business, which I found, particularly in the film's illustrations, to be sentimentally lazy if not downright morally defunct. I also specifically recall not being nearly as impressed with the timeline editing array as the Wachowskis/Tykwer were seemingly self-satisfied. While certainly bold in terms of sheer volume, the idea of parallel narratives was hardly anything new. These multiple, coinciding storylines, each with their own settings and timeframes, only have to mirror each other thematically, while never having to connect narratively. Therefore, the cumulative experience of seeing them cut together amounts to little more than a channel changing experience that’s been synced in tandem all cutesy-like; adroitly executed yet fundamentally no different than any other film that merely cuts to different set pieces occurring simultaneously. Ironically, Speed Racer presented a far greater challenge in having to shift nonlinearly through a singular narrative without disorientating their audience or disrupting the overall story-flow, and it was a challenge they met with a wonderful, buoyant use of glazing screenwipes and pop-anime aesthetics.
Still, eight years is a stretch and, per this very thread, I now plan to rewatch Cloud Atlas on the chance that I might appreciate it's game in a different light.
And as for the infamous commercial failure of Speed Racer, I can only conclude such was an anomaly of sorts or just the perfect storm of extreme un-trending timing. To this day I have yet to encounter a single soul, in person or online, who's had anything but varying degrees of praise for the film.
|
|
|
|
Post by Subtext Mining on May 27, 2021 22:37:56 GMT
Oh yes, Baraka. I've been meaning to see that. I saw his follow-up to it when it came out, Samsara, which I've raved about in earlier iterations of our group while we were discussing Koyaanisqatsi (a favorite of GL's). Which Fricke also worked on.
|
|
|
|
Post by Moonshield on Jun 28, 2021 8:31:28 GMT
Speed Racer is my favorite film of all time! Criminally underrated. I love Cloud Atlas as well. I wrote the following about it on Facebook some time ago:
I wrote a 20-page Speed Racer analysis at the end of college. It's insane. Speedracer is underrated too. Speed Racer is my favorite film of all time! Criminally underrated. I rate the Wachowskis thus: 2. Speed Racer I'm including V for Vendetta as something of a cheat in that it's a film in which they were so heavily, creatively involved in every aspect save for 1st unit directing. If we're being technical then, yeah, Speed Racer would be numero uno.
In 2008, when I was in the institute, my friends invited me to watch Speed Racer, but I didn't go. I have to watch it.
|
|
|
|
Post by stampidhd280pro on Jul 1, 2021 13:18:41 GMT
Speed Racer is fun to look at, but the story is a bore. I wish more movies were so visually thrilling. I always like Wachowski movies, but I don't love any of them. Too preachy, and somewhat juvenile. Like the Dhar Mann of blockbuster cinema.
|
|
|
|
Post by Subtext Mining on Dec 12, 2023 23:15:43 GMT
I saw Cloud Atlas again for my 2nd time, the first being about exactly 10 years ago.
Films with this premise hold a special place in my heart because I used to think up stories like this in my early-20s, before I knew it was a thing. The Fountain is one of my all-time favorite movies outside of SW. I even created an improv game based on it, which my team has performed.
I like the story of Cloud Atlas a lot. I haven't read the book, but I bet it lends itself better to a larger cast of characters than a film can.
I applaud the Wachowski's for what they did achieve here, it's very ambitious, but perhaps too much so. They pulled it off decently, but I think finding a balance between making it understandable for average viewers and maintaining a tasty depth for more nuanced viewers was an impossible task with this story. And in the end the final product was something that's not too terribly special to anyone.
It's nice and layered, but too convoluted. It flows smoothly but it's also jarringly clunky. The themes are compelling but also come off as hokey and too on-the-nose. You start getting invested in the characters but when it cuts back to them you realize you've forgotten about them and have stopped giving a shit. The connections are fun and intriguing but almost overwhelming to keep track of.
Overall it's ok, but it doesn't feel like a Wachowski film, it looks like a film anyone could've made. But again I think it comes back to the balance I was talking about. But then again The Matrix was perfect in this regard.
And the make-up when an actor needed to look older, it just looked like they had acid poured on them. And I don't know, maybe it's just me, but casting Susan Sarandon and Tom Hanks kind of took me out of it. I loved the characters played by lesser known people.
All in all I like it, and I don't know what else they could've done to make me love it, but that's where I am; I don't love it.
|
|
