Here’s where things get interesting.  Over that past few days we’ve been taking an early look at the 2013 Oscar race, running down the contenders in a number of categories including Best Supporting Actor and Actress, Best Actor and Best Actress, and Best Animated Feature, Screenplay, and technological category quick picks.  We’ve now come to our final installment, Best Picture and Best Director, and these two races are shaping up to be incredibly interesting. Hit the jump for the full rundown.

With Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the East Coast, a perfect storm of indifference hit the domestic box office. Blame it on the weather or on a weak crop of new studio releases, the outcome is the same: a slow weekend that fell behind 2011 by more than 10%. Only Argo found a silver lining in the storm, pulling into first place after two weeks in theatres. As for Cloud Atlas – the most closely watched newcomer of the frame – the forecast is a little, um, cloudy.

Tonight the wife and I are hosting an inaugural Halloween gathering for three primary reasons: 1) it’s an excuse to hang out with friends, 2) it’s an opportunity to watch horror classics with said friends and 3) our street name is Elm and we can’t pass on the chance to christen the get together with the least original Halloween party name of all time (I’ll let you do the math). All of this in mind, I was finding it difficult to strike a healthy balance of scary movie goodness that was equal parts frightening (for fans of the horror genre like myself) and fun/of the “Halloween spirit” (for those who don’t necessarily enjoy the genre but can appreciate the season). That was until I remembered that we owned Ernest Scared Stupid on Blu-ray. Now the biggest concern I have is making sure no one walks out of the house at the end of the night with that little gem in hand.

All Hallows Eve 2012 party plans aside, in this week’s Top 5 we’ve got a lineup that includes a visit to the New Zealand set of The Hobbit, the first trailer amongst other new assets from Iron Man 3, Cloud Atlas interviews with Tom Hanks, Halle Berry and more, the first red band trailer for director Fede Alvarez‘s Evil Dead remake, and a heartfelt plea for a Hollywood adaptation of The Legend of Zelda. A brief recap and link to each lives on after the jump.

I absolutely loved Cloud Atlas.  I loved the way directors Andy & Lana Wachowski and Tom Tykwer broke the conventional rules of storytelling.  I love the way all the actors played multiple roles.  I love the combination of genres.  Finally, I loved that even though the film plays out over hundreds of years and it features a variety of characters and races, Cloud Atlas reminds us that everything is connected.  While everyone loves to complain that Hollywood is only about remakes, reboots and telling the same stories again and again, Cloud Atlas is a shining light showing us what’s possible in cinema and I implore all of you to see it as soon as possible.

Last week I did an exclusive phone interview with the Wachowskis and Tykwer.  Since they’ve done a number of interviews to promote the film, I tried my best to ask all new questions.  We talked about their favorite movies, how long was the first cut, if they believe in test screenings or friends and family screenings, deleted scenes, what will be on the Blu-ray, how many takes do they like to do, how much changed during pre-production due to budget, how the finished film compares to what they thought they were making, and more.  In addition, one of my favorite movies from 2008 was Speed Racer.  At the end of the interview I asked if they had plans for a sequel (had the film been a hit at the box office) and why it didn’t connect with moviegoers.  Hit the jump to listen or read the transcript.

With four new wide releases, you’d think the box office would be primed to close out October with another strong weekend. You’d be wrong. The prospects for the four newbies – including Cloud Atlas and Silent Hill: Revelation 3D – looked shaky even before the so-called ‘Frankenstorm’ trained its eye on America’s East Coast. Now, a combination of poor Cinemascores and Hurricane hysteria seems poised to put Argo on top with one of the lowest first-place wins since September. On its third Friday in theatres, Argo edged out Silent Hill 2 and Cloud Atlas for first with an estimated $4 million. The Ben Affleck drama is expected to stay on top (for its first weekend win) while Silent Hill falls to number four. That means that Cloud Atlas, the epic drama co-directed by the Wachowski siblings and Tom Tykwer, should move into second place with close to $10 million – $3 million under initial projections. If the Cloud Atlas debut seems disappointing, however, it could have been worse. Despite a big release in 3,014 locations, Paramount’s Fun Size just missed Friday’s top ten with its estimate of $1.3 million. Fox’s Chasing Mavericks, with Gerard Butler, fared even worse: twelfth place on Friday with $1 million from 2,002 runs.

Cloud Atlas is one of my favorite films this year, but I’m not ready to declare the best film I’ve seen this year.  Even though 2012 isn’t over, there have been other films that I enjoyed more and worked slightly better for me.  But Cloud Atlas is definitely the most important film I’ve seen this year in terms of what it represents from an industry perspective.  It is an independent film with a major budget.   The film had the technical resources to meet its grand ambition.  The Wachowski Siblings and Tom Tykwer have been able to successfully craft their vision and do so outside the Hollywood system, which is good because Hollywood never would have made a movie Cloud Atlas.  And if Cloud Atlas tanks, they never will.

You have the power to change that.

From acclaimed filmmakers Andy & Lana Wachowski (The Matrix trilogy, Speed Racer) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) comes the stunning, epic and powerful Cloud Atlas, based on the best-selling novel by David Mitchell. Through various genres and time periods, spanning 500 years, and with the actors playing a variety of characters that cross genders and races, the story contains drama, mystery, action and love, interwoven in such a way that illustrates how everything is connected and that the actions and choices in one era can have consequences in another. The film stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Ben Wishaw and James D’Arcy.

At the film’s press day, actor Hugo Weaving spoke to Collider, in both a roundtable and 1-on-1 interview, about what it was like to finally get to see the film all put together, how he hopes people will be willing to get it a chance , his impression of the book when he first read it back while shooting V for Vendetta, what made this such a special and unique experience, which character he was most excited to embody, and the roles that fans approach him about most often.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

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.

From acclaimed filmmakers Andy & Lana Wachowski (The Matrix trilogy, Speed Racer) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) comes the stunning, epic and powerful Cloud Atlas, based on the best-selling novel by David Mitchell.  Through various genres and time periods, spanning 500 years, and with the actors playing a variety of characters that cross genders and races, the story contains drama, mystery, action and love, interwoven in such a way that illustrates how everything is connected and that the actions and choices in one era can have consequences in another.  The film stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Ben Wishaw and James D’Arcy.

At the film’s press day, the previously press-shy Wachowskis and German filmmaker Tom Tykwer, who also composed the music, talked about what made them want to engage in discussions of this film, striving for a boldness in their storytelling, having breakthroughs about how to adapt the story for film, and collaborating as a group.  Tykwer also talked about what it was like to compose The Cloud Atlas Sextet, while the Wachowskis said that they’re not thinking about Jupiter Ascending yet, but that they like their material to be reflective of where they are, at that point in their lives.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

Our latest poster round-up includes:

• Cloud Atlas, from the Wachowski Siblings (or Wachowski Starship?) and Tom Tykwer, starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent and Hugo Weaving.  Cloud Atlas opens October 26th.
• Flight, from director Robert Zemeckis, stars Denzel Washington, John Goodman and Don Cheadle and opens November 2nd.
• Rise of the Guardians, the animated film from director Peter Ramsey, features the voices of Hugh Jackman, Alec Baldwin, Isla Fisher, Jude Law and Chris Pine, and opens November 21st.
• Silent Hill: Revelation 3D, from director Michael J. Bassett, stars Sean Bean, Radha Mitchell, Carrie-Anne Moss and Kit Harington, and opens October 26th.
• The Impossible, from Juan Antonio Bayona, stars Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts and opens in New York and Los Angeles on December 21st.

Hit the jump for the new posters and synopses.

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. 

I can’t wait to see the Wachowski Siblings and Tom Tywker‘s Cloud Atlas again.  It’s a stunning piece of filmmaking, and one of the best films I’ve seen all year.  The ambition, thoughtfulness, and majesty of the picture are a wonder to behold, and I’m glad that the filmmaker took some time to talk about the movie.  The Wachowskis are notoriously press shy, but they’ve really opened up when it comes to Cloud Atlas, first with a piece in the New Yorker and now an extended interview with Hitfix.  In the interview, they talk about the music, establishing the film’s tone, keeping the tonal balance across six different genres, the structure, casting Tom Hanks, their next picture Jupiter Ascending, and much more.

Hit the jump to check out what they had to say.  Cloud Atlas opens October 26th.

The enormously ambitious adaptation of Cloud Atlas by writers/directors Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer is getting a very big release when it hits theaters next month.  THR reports that the visually stunning film will be digitally remastered and released in the IMAX format in select North American theaters when it opens on October 26th.  The pic premiered at the Toronto Film Festival to a polarizing yet passionate response, with our own Matt Goldberg giving it a glowing review.

The film’s actors—including Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Xun Zhou, Susan Sarandon, Jim Sturgess, and Hugh Grant—play multiple roles across different settings and time periods, and if the trailer is any indication this is going to be one hell of a moviegoing experience.  The expansive visuals and epic story seem a perfect fit for IMAX, so this comes as welcome news.  Hit the jump to check out the film’s first TV spot.

“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.

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.