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.

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.

We’re currently in a time when Hollywood seems more likely to revamp, reboot, remake or re-adapt an already established property than to take a chance on something wholly original.  Financially, this makes sense as the general public is already aware of the franchise in question and may be more likely to go see a new iteration out of a sense of nostalgia or plain old curiosity.  We’ve seen Hollywood continually mine our rich, fertile and imaginative childhoods as a source of box office fodder (Transformers, G.I. Joe, Teenage Mutant/Alien Ninja Turtles) and that’s not likely to stop any time soon.  So I’m here to take the initiative and offer up some forgotten franchises, some lesser-known vintage properties and some downright obscure media to sacrifice to the box office gods.  Our initial feature will plead the case for a re-imagining of one of my favorite mid-90s animated shows and you can read it after the jump.  Hollywood! Adapt This: Disney’s Gargoyles.  

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.

Heroes has already been flushed, Smallville is on its way out and no one wants Wonder Woman. I think it’s safe to say that network television needs a new superhero. Though ABC has impressed me with No Ordinary Family, the series is less about being a superhero, and more about a family who just happens to have to deal with super powers in addition to the usual family trials and tribulations. Enter The Cape, NBC’s newest attempt at bringing the insanely popular comic book genre to TV. Thankfully, the series has plenty of potential (even if it doesn’t have the greatest hero name). But as much as there is to like about The Cape, the two-hour premiere isn’t without flaws. Keep reading for my take on this new network superhero.

Showgirls has attained the cult status that it was always destined for, fifteen years after release. It is rightly infamous. Elizabeth Berkley’s performance as Nomi, the dancer who’s not a stripper, has inspired thousands to re-watch the film over and over, to see her tussle with Gina Gershon and Kyle Maclachlan, to see her push things over and act pouty. It’s a career-defining performance, that’s for sure, as her Nomi Malone comes to understand the machinations of the Las Vegas showgirl life. It was also the beginning of the end for Paul Verhoven, who directed another masterpiece in Hollywood that was misunderstood (Starship Troopers), and then turned to lesser titles before heading back to Europe to write a book and direct Black Book (great film, btw.)

Whereas Steven Seagal has achieved a different sort of cult following for his film Marked for Death. Battling Jamaican drug lords who went after his family, here Seagal teams with Keith David to fight evil. My reviews of both Showgirls and Marked for Death on Blu-ray follow after the jump.

Opening this Friday is director Neil LaBute’s Death at a Funeral, which stars Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Tracy Morgan, Zoë Saldaña, Columbus Short, Luke Wilson, Peter Dinklage, Danny Glover, Regina Hall, and Keith David.  The movie is a remake of the 2007 British film with the same name, and while most remakes recast everyone, Peter Dinklage is playing the same character again.  So if you’ve seen the 2007 film, you know who he plays and some of the twists and turns.

To help promote the movie, I got to sit down with Danny Glover and Regina Hall.  Hit the jump to watch the interview:

Opening this weekend is director Neil LaBute’s Death at a Funeral, which stars Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Tracy Morgan, Zoë Saldaña, Columbus Short, Luke Wilson, Peter Dinklage, Danny Glover, Regina Hall, and Keith David.  The movie is a remake of the 2007 British film with the same name.  If you saw the previous version, the remake is the same story set in America.

To help promote the film, I recently got to speak with James Marsden.  In the film, Marsden gets accidentally drugged and spends most of the film dealing with vivid hallucinations.  While the film is a comedy, we talked about how he found the right balance for his performance.  He also told me about some of his deleted scenes, and I asked him what’s up with Enchanted 2.  Check out what he had to say after the jump:

Opening next weekend is director Neil LaBute’s Death at a Funeral, which stars Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Tracy Morgan, Zoë Saldaña, Columbus Short, Luke Wilson, Peter Dinklage, Danny Glover, Regina Hall, and Keith David.

The movie is a remake of the 2007 British film with the same name, and the project was led by Chris Rock, who explained why he wanted to remake the movie when I spoke to him yesterday.  He also talked about the challenges of getting the cast together and he also told me about his next documentary Credit is the Devil – which he is starting to prep right now.  Hit the jump to see what he had to say:

Opening on April 16th is director Neil LaBute’s Death at a Funeral, which stars Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Tracy Morgan, Zoë Saldaña, Columbus Short, Luke Wilson, Peter Dinklage, Danny Glover, Regina Hall, and Keith David.

The movie is a remake of the 2007 British film with the same name, and while most remakes recast everyone, Peter Dinklage is playing the same character again.  So if you’ve seen the 2007 film, you know who he plays and some of the twists and turns.

To help promote the film, we’ve been given 6 clips and the synopsis.  Hit the jump to check them out: