The Wachowski siblings and Tom Tykwer’s Cloud Atlas was tragically the most under-appreciated and under-seen film of 2012.  It had to be a marketing mishap.  How else do you explain the poor performance of a film that encompasses multiple genres over vastly different time periods with high-caliber actors like Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving, Hugh Grant and Jim Broadbent (just to name a few) taking on multiple roles?  But wait, there’s hope!  You can help remedy this glaring oversight by picking up the ambitious and epic movie on DVD and Blu-ray now.  Hit the jump for my review of Cloud Atlas on Blu-ray.

[This is a re-post of my review from the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.  Cloud Atlas opens today.]

“My life exists far beyond the limitations of me,” a character notes in Cloud Atlas. By the same token, The Wachowski Siblings and Tom Tykwer‘s film exists far beyond the limitations of genre, narrative, identity, and time. It is a work of sweeping ambition, engrossing stories, compelling characters, and powerful emotions. The filmmakers have taken David Mitchell’s novel, and rebuilt it into a captivating sextuplet filled with love, hate, redemption, damnation, bravery, cowardice, and more. Through skillful editing and astounding performances, Cloud Atlas is a cinematic experience like few others, and it will leave viewers in awe.

The wildly ambitious adaptation of Cloud Atlas is a brilliant piece of filmmaking from writers/directors Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer, but it’s also a very hard sell for general audiences.  The film takes place across multiple settings and time periods, with the fantastic ensemble cast taking on a number of different characters.  In order to entice those who may be a bit apprehensive about the film, an extensive 13-minute featurette has been released that features interviews with the directors and the entire cast explaining how the film works.  It’s a fascinating watch not only to see how The Wachowskis and Tykwer pulled this thing off, but also to get a look at the whole cast in their various make-up and costumes.

Hit the jump to watch the featurette, and click here to catch up on all of our previous coverage.  The film stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Doona Bae, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Keith David, Ben Whishaw and James D’Arcy.  Cloud Atlas opens on October 26th.

I have been looking forward to this weekend for a long time, because this is Cloud Atlas weekend.  Since I was convinced by the word Wachowski from day one, I have stubbornly avoided watching too much beyond the first trailer to go in as fresh as possible for what looks to be one of the few truly ambitious wide releases this year.  Thankfully Dave is still around to help provide context for a “ridiculously cool” featurette.  Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Keith David, Ben Whishaw, Hugh Grant, and Jim Broadbent discuss the multiple characters they get to play in the five-minute clip—titled “An Actor’s Dream”—which features plenty of behind-the-scenes footage.

Co-directed by Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski, and Tom Tykwer, Cloud Atlas opens on October 26.  Watch the featurette after the jump.

We’ve got a couple casting stories for you in one handy article.  First up, Hugh Grant is set to reunite with director Mark Lawrence for a fourth time for yet an another romantic comedy. The untitled picture, written by Lawrence, has Grant playing a broke, washed-up Oscar-winning screenwriter who is forced to teach at a small East Coast college.  While he expects to win the favor of his attractive co-ed pupils, he ends up falling for a single mom who has gone back to school.  The lead here sounds awfully similar to Grant’s character in Music and Lyrics (also written and directed by Lawrence), but since I find that movie surprisingly charming, I hope that this untitled picture will be better than Grant/Lawrence’s other efforts, Two Weeks Notice and Did You Hear about the Morgans?

Grant will next be seen playing six roles in Cloud Atlas, which opens on Friday and you should totally go see.  Hit the jump for some Anna Kendrick casting news.

Warner Bros. has released a new behind-the-scenes featurette for The Wachowski Siblings and Tom Tywker‘s Cloud Atlas.  The studio has a difficult task of selling the movie because it’s so different than what audiences are used to, and yet the film is surprisingly accessible if you’re willing to go along with its central conceit: six storylines with overlapping themes and shared actors.  The trailers and TV spots are pushing glowing pull quotes and the overarching plot devices, and this new featurette is in line with that marketing approach.  The only hurdle is in trying to get audiences to go in even though they don’t know the individual plotlines.  It’s a challenge viewers need to meet or else they’ll be missing out on one of the year’s best films.

Hit the jump to check out the featurette, and click here for my review of the film.  The movie stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, Keith David, David Gyasi, Susan Sarandon, and Hugh Grant.  Cloud Atlas opens October 26th.

An insane amount of images from the upcoming adaptation of Cloud Atlas has been released.  The film comes from writers/directors Lana and Andy Wachowski (The Matrix trilogy) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run), and early word has been enormously positive.  Our own Matt Goldberg considers it one of the best films of the year and notes that it’s “an important film in terms of how it breaks the boundaries of cinema and challenges the audience to cast aside preconceived notions of how genres and narratives have to work.”  You can read his full review right here while you patiently await the impeding release date.  Here’s hoping audiences spark to what sounds like a very special piece of filmmaking.

Hit the jump to check out over 80 images.  The film stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, Keith David, David Gyasi, Susan Sarandon, and Hugh Grant.  Cloud Atlas opens October 26th. 

Seven new poster banners for the epic adaptation of David Mitchell’s sprawling novel Cloud Atlas have gone online.  The film comes from writers/directors Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer and features a large ensemble cast of actors who play multiple roles across different time periods and settings.  These banners help to delineate some of the storylines, as they appear to be highlight the separate time periods.  We learned yesterday that the film will be getting an IMAX release, which is good news since the pic looks to be absolutely epic in scope.  You can read Matt’s positive review right here.

Hit the jump to check out the banners along with two new TV spots.  The film stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, Keith David, and David Gyasi.  Cloud Atlas opens on October 26th.

A new trailer for Cloud Atlas has arrived, and it’s unsurprisingly great.  Directed by Lana and Andy Wachowski (The Matrix) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run), this ambitious adaptation of the David Mitchell novel features an all-star cast taking on multiple roles across numerous time periods and locations.  This trailer is a shorter version of the phenomenal first trailer that was released in late July, but it includes a few enticing new bits of footage as well as a Susan Sarandon voiceover that attempts to put this original take into perspective for unfamiliar audiences.  We recently learned quite a bit about the incredibly tough road to production for the film, but if these trailers are any indication then The Wachowskis and Tykwer have crafted a worthwhile, sprawling epic unlike any other.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.  The film also stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, Keith David, and David Gyasi.  Cloud Atlas opens on October 26th.

Writer/directors Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski, and Tom Tykwer recently unveiled their ridiculously ambitious adaptation of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas with an awe-inspiring extended trailer, directors’ commentary, and poster, and now we’ve got a closer look at some of the film’s characters.  The pic spans multiple time periods and locations, with the cast assuming numerous roles across different races and genders.  The idea is that we’re all connected, and relationships can play out the same way no matter the time or place.  The official site has now released images of the actors in all their character makeup, and it’s a sight to behold.  Where else can you see Hugh Grant playing a futuristic tribesman, Tom Hanks done up as a gangster, and Halle Berry as a white woman?

Hit the jump to take a look at the images.  The film also stars Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, Keith David, David Gyasi, and Susan Sarandon.  Cloud Atlas opens on October 26th.

Warner Bros. has released a six-minute trailer for Cloud Atlas along with a director’s commentary video and a poster.  The ambitious movie is based off David Mitchell‘s novel of the same name, and tracks how the lives of multiple characters intertwine across multiple eras.  Yesterday, we showed you the first images from Cloud Atlas, but they’re nothing compared to what this trailer shows in terms of the film’s scope and visuals.  Of course, no one expected directors Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski (The Matrix Trilogy), and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) to go small, but it looks like they’ve made something that’s truly a sight to behold.  My only concern is with how the dialogue will be executed.  If it’s done in narration, then it will probably be okay, but if it’s conversation, then we might want to prepare for the “Let me read you a philosophy textbook” dialogue from The Matrix Reloaded.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer, directors’ commentary, and poster.  The directors’ commentary explains the difficulty in getting the film made and why they chose to make an extended trailer. It’s also noteworthy since the Wachowskis never comment on their movies.  The film stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, Keith David, David Gyasi, Susan Sarandon, and Hugh Grant.  Cloud Atlas will play at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, and open on October 26th.

Cloud Atlas, the first movie to be released by the Wachowski Siblings since 2008′s Speed Racer, now has an official domestic release date of October 26th, 2012.  The movie will open to international territories in early 2013.  The story, adapted from David Mitchell’s best-selling book by the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run), explores how a person’s actions impact lives across time and space.  Cloud Atlas stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Jim Broadbent, Susan Sarandon and Hugh Grant. Hit the jump to read the press release.

The Wachowski Siblings and Tom Twyker‘s highly ambitious adaptation of Cloud Atlas now has a release date and a run-time.  According to Thompson on Hollywood, Warner Bros. has picked up distribution rights at Cannes for $20 million, and will release the movie on December 6th.  Additionally, the movie reportedly runs at 2-hours and 44-minutes, which seems about right when you consider that the movie spans six time periods, and you have an ensemble cast each playing multiple roles.  For example, Hugh Grant will be playing six “incredibly evil” characters in the movie, and Halle Berry said one of her roles is a Jewish woman in the 1930s, and another is an old tribal woman.

Hit the jump for a synopsis.  Cloud Atlas also stars Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Hugo Weaving, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, and Jim Sturgess.   Surprisingly, the only other film set to open the same weekend as Cloud Atlas is Hyde Park on Hudson, but the following Friday is the blockbuster one-two punch of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Les Miserables.

Aardman Animation’s The Pirates! Band of Misfits packs the frame with sight gags, constantly throws out clever asides, and has more wit than a dozen other animated family films combined.  And yet, it’s rarely laugh-out-loud funny.  Being clever, witty, and fun usually lead to a film that constantly has you gasping for air from laughing so hard, but those hard laughs never come in The Pirates!.  Instead, the movie generates both admiration for the intelligence of its jokes and the frustration that those jokes can only muster grins and chuckles.

A new featurette for Aardman Animation’s The Pirates! Band of Misfits has gone online.  In the featurette, Hugh Grant talks about voicing the lead character, the Pirate Captain.  Grant explains that the captain is incredibly vain, but also has a wide-eyed innocence.  It’s a description that could also apply to the male protagonists of Aardman’s Chicken Run and Flushed Away.  But Aardman has made that character funny both times, and judging by what we’ve seen of The Pirates! so far, it looks like they’ve succeeded again.  Grant also notes that he had to tailor his performance to the look of the character since Aardman had already physically created the Pirate Captain before Grant was cast.

Hit the jump to check out the featurette and click here for Steve’s set visit and interview with director Peter Lord.  The film also features the voices of Salma Hayek, Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson, David Tennant, Jeremy Piven, and Imelda Staunton.  The Pirates! Band of Misfits opens in 3D on April 27th.