Cloud Atlas

[iceroll]

24 hours later and still thinking about this film.

Yeah I don't remember the last film that made me think so much about it after watching it. This film is sticking with me even more than TDKR.

[Plain Old Tele]

A-

Major points for ambition and message. You can quibble about some things (some stories are inherently more interesting and/or dynamic than the others), the pacing sags in some places, the cross-ethnic/gender casting can be distracting at times, etc -- but those quibbles are basically just bitching about details when this is very much a movie about the sum of the whole.

It was also much funnier than I was expecting. And really -- I mean this in a good way -- it feels like the Wachowskis delivering their personal manifesto to the world. Bravo to them (and Tykwer).

[Kvikk Lunsj]

I think this might be my favorite movie of the year. I am shocked on who much I love it. I thought it was going to be garbage.

[ACCA]

This is definitely a love it or hate it kind of film, and I loved it. One of the best of the year.I had lowered expectations, because these types of films I usually don't like, and I thought that the movie would fall apart. As much as I love the work The Wachowskis have done in the past, I was worried this was way too ambitious, and also too abstract to work properly as a film.Well I sure was wrong. Everything worked brilliantly in the film. I'm not fans of Hanks or Berry, but both were solid in the film. I was never confused, all the storylines and flashbacks/flash-forwards made sense and the movie had so much depth to it.The visuals were spectacular, and the film editing was also excellent.This film was a solid A for me.

[Noctis]

^ I'm sure it got an A the moment the WB logo came up.

[ACCA]

^ I'm sure it got an A the moment the WB logo came up.

Nice trolling attempt ... not. Try again.My 2nd favorite movie this year, which I liked almost as much as TDKR was Looper, and guess WHAT you troll, it is NOT a WB film. Oh and Cloud Atlas was independently made, WB only joined very late on the project, but it wouldn't be trolling if you didn't leave out that convenient fact now would it?I liked Looper more than I liked Cloud Atlas by the way.As for WB, well WB supports a lot of very good and creative movies. For all the trolls, studio shills and anti-WB whiners, that's just too bad. It's not my fault other studios love to release absolute dreck or droll, dull generic films. Edited November 15, 2012 by ACCA

[rockNrollaDIM]

Yeah this is my favorite movie of the year, hands down. Your play, Silver Linings Playbook. (And ZDT!)

[MovieMan89]

Everyone has pretty much said everything I want to on this movie already, but it truly was an astounding undertaking that miraculously got pulled off. And I think the Wachowski's nailed it on why it got so many pans from the critics:"As soon as they encounter a piece of art they don’t fully understand the first time going through it, they think it’s the fault of the movie or the work of art. They think, 'It’s a mess [ ...] This doesn’t make any sense.' And they reject it, just out of an almost knee-jerk response to some ambiguity or some gulf between what they expect they should be able to understand, and what they understand."Summed up perfectly. This movie will never get the attention it deserves because that's how most people will react to it. Not realizing that not every movie has to fit together perfectly on a first viewing to be great. A lot of the best movies are the ones that require multiple viewings. I really liked Cloud Atlas on a first viewing because I felt the overall theme was conveyed profoundly in a hugely ambitious way. I'm looking forward to seeing it more times to fit all the little details together upon which I'm sure I'll like it even more. Also it has to be said, for a near 3 hour movie, this is never boring. I think only showing snippets of each timeline was a great way to always keep it interesting. It's like this movie had cliffhanger after cliffhanger to make it more engaging and cut the runtime.

[IndustriousAngel]

Soo, how did I like Cloud Atlas?

Very well, thank you. I'm even thinking about visiting a 2nd time on the big screen. I didn't feel bored for a second despite the long running time!

Is it perfect?

Well, no film is, and Cloud Atlas has some faults, at least for my personal taste. I don't call it an A because I don't think I'll watch it often in complete length, but there are some scenes I'll probably revisit a few times. So, B+

The faults or weaknesses first:

- The concept as a whole. While the stories exchange mutual comments, they are not all that dependent on each other. With 4 lines instead of 6 we would have got the point but left more room for the individual stories and scenes. which leads to:

- Many scenes are too short. Cloud Atlas is, first and foremost, a visual feast, and I would have liked to get long, slow, loving camera pans. Instead they cut every few seconds to a scene equally pretty but different.

- The soundtrack is not very good. If you consider the "Cloud Atlas Sextet" the emotional centerpiece of the film, then it's clear some more thought should have gone into the music. It's not outright bad except maybe after the scene where Zachry and Meronym killed the bandits (now, that was cheesy), but it's trivial, unsubtle and not up to the otherwise excellent standards of Cloud Atlas. In many scenes, the music did add nothing and in fact could (should) have been dropped altogether.

Ok, now to the highlights:

- Visuals: I thought Prometheus looked pretty great but, sorry, Cloud Atlas looks better. And it does so in most instances, in nearly every of the 6 timelines, in its costumes, make-up, light ... and it doesn't even need 3D to achieve that. Cloud Atlas has the crown for "most beautiful 2012 film" atm and I don't know if the Hobbit can come anywhere near (I'll be very happy indeed if it does though)!

- Acting: Did I mention make-up? They must have had big laughs every day when slipping into their roles; this is absolutely an actor's film and do they have fun! And we in the audience have fun watching them fooling around, it's truly enjoyable. Tom Hanks as "Dermott Hoggins" - omg. Hugo Weaving as NURSE NOAKES - omfg. Bae Doona - never heard of her, she's great! Susan Sarandon is the freckliest lady ever-will-have-walked-this-planet and has such warm smiles, Keith David is harder and cooler than most 70s TV cops. Halle Berry truly shines in the 70s storyline and Jim Broadbent could have extended his storyline to 2 hours and still earned laughs. Ben Whishaw plays an effeminate musician and finds himself as "Georgette" 2 storylines later ...

- Balls. Sometimes you have to admire somone for trying even if he doesn't score every single point. This is such an ambitious project, financed as an Indie film, looking like a 250mil Hollywood production - I have to salute Tykwer and the Wachowskis. This is an artistic success, maybe not on every level but most.

And you know what, apart from the question if the structure really makes sense, the other shortcomings are not unsurmountable. What I'd like next year for chrismas: A Cloud Atlas Bluray with 4h running time so the camera can linger on some scenes, and a new and more ambitious soundtrack. A man can dream, no?

[RichWS]

I really dug it. However, I did make the big mistake of drinking too much water early on so during the last 20 minutes, I had to take a major piss which took my mind off of the film a bit. Hate when that happens.

[DoctorWho]

I liked it a lot! The first 30-40 minutes of the movie I was a bit confused by the quick jumps between timelines, but after that it was pure awesome. It fel like a 90minute mvie for me..it passed so quickly. Good acting, very good special effects, excellent cinematography!A 8/10 from me!

[Ozymandias]

This is one of my favorite movies of the year. I love stuff like this that aims high. Who gives a shit if the mainstream doesn't dig this? And man, the score in this movie was almost hypnotic.

[filmscholar]

Grade: AThe Slave and The Master Story: It was ok, I enjoyed it but it had it's flaws but overall it had a lot of themes I enjoyed about freedom.The Gay Musician Story: Thought this was good too and showed how people who aren't happy and how they ended up. He was very talented composer but his lifestyle ruined his life. The Nuclear Conspiracy Story: Really liked this one, it was deep and was the 1st story that I started to connect the movie together. Hugo Weaving was a bad ass assassain and Halle was great. The Old Writer Stroy: This was the weakest story of the film to me but still very funny, especially the break out of the old folks home.The Asian Future Story: By Far the BEST story of the film. This story literally drove the entire movie. The effects, The Action, The Concept. It was a great part of this movie.The Apocolyitic Story: The 2nd best story, Tom and Halle were amazing. Loved it.Overall it was a brilliant piece of film making art and I commend all 3 directors for doing this movie. My mind has been spinning since I 1st saw it. The themes of Love, Freedom, Sacrifice Fate, Destiny and how we are all connected really resonated with me. I liked all the stories but I'd say the Old Writer and the Slave stories were the weakest. The other 4 were great. I've read all the breakdowns and theories but the movie was just an amazing experience. I will buy it on DVD for sure, it's definitely a film I can watch from time to time. Sure it's long but it's 6 stories going on. The time just zooms by cause each story starts to grab you and keep you there then it switches to the next. I can see a viewer getting overwhelmed by the movie but to me it was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time.

Edited December 19, 2012 by filmscholar

[Moviedweeb]

This is one of my favorite movies of the year. I love stuff like this that aims high. Who gives a shit if the mainstream doesn't dig this? And man, the score in this movie was almost hypnotic.

I wish mainstream audiences dug it just so we can get more ambitious films. When a film like this bombs, it scares studios away from making such projects and it's really the audience's loss. Otherwise, I agree. Edited December 19, 2012 by Clavius

[rockNrollaDIM]

It's so sad that this bombed. Can't wait to own it.

[Ezen Baklattan]

I love the fact that I'm not alone, even on this site, in thinking that this is the best film of the year. In fact, most people here seemed to really like it.

[Michael Gary Scott]

Definitely in my top 10 for the year.

[yads]

If you wanted to you could pick a lot of holes in this movie. Some of the storylines are stronger than others. One in particular I think should have been cut (Jim Broadbent held captive in an old people's home). The quality of make-up and accents vary wildly. But none of the flaws matter. This is incredible, audacious, balls to the wall film-making.

Coming at it from a Buddhist perspective, the philosophy makes perfect sense to me, and really works for me - everyone and everything is interconnected, karma is passed from life to life, yada yada. But beyond the philosophy - the editing of this movie. Man. This has some of the best editing and intercutting I've ever seen. It's glorious. It's got to be up there with JFK (which I always argue is the best edited movie ever).

Yeah, so... I loved it. One of the films of the year, easily.

A

[DerekShooster]

I'm hoping Cloud Atlas gets a surprise 15 Oscar Nominations this week and a rerelease in theaters the following week. Hopefully then people will flock to see this in theaters and give it the Inception-scale reception it deserves. I've now watched Cloud Atlas three times and believe it is unquestionably the best picture of 2012.

Cloud Atlas may be my favorite movie made in my lifetime.

[Webslinger]

If the Internet ran the Academy, I'm certain Cloud Atlas would lead the way in nominations. I'm surprised by how relatively non-divisive the reaction has been on quite a few corners of the web.I'll probably check it out again when it hits DVD/Blu-Ray, but I doubt my mixed opinion will change much.