Cloud Atlas, White House Down and Sigur Rós
Last week, I went to see Cloud Atlas at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).I always like The Matrix. Sowhen I heard that the Wachowski siblings teaming up with Run Lola Run and Perfume: The Story of a Murderer director Tom Tykwer made Cloud Atlas, I know I want to watch it. Cloud Atlas is based on the novel of the same title by David Mitchell. When Mitchell visited China, he mentioned that people are running out of ideas of stories, so he decided to find new structure of telling stories. Cloud Atlas consists of six interrelated stories that across time, space and genres. It is considered to be unfilmable. However, I think Wachowskis and Tykwer have done a good job. The final product is not perfect, but it's watchable and from time to time quite enjoyable. My favorite part is a comedy, starring Jim Broadbent. There is also a pair of gay lovers, played by Ben Whishaw and James D'Arcy. Sadly the two lovers didn't share much screen time. I also like Hugh Grant in the 2012 London story. Hugo Weaving is great playing Nurse Noakes (a woman). What I don't like is the casting of Tom Hanks and Halle Berry. They are actors whose faces are too recognizable that you can tell them right away in spite of their heavy makeup. I also don't like cross-race casting. Seeing James D'Arcy, Jim Sturgess and Hugh Grant playing asians is just WRONG. Their Asian characters look like aliens with fake bald heads.
Cloud Atlas has three screenings at TIFF. I read that Joseph Gordon-Levitt attended the premiere of the movie. Some time ago, there are news saying JGL might have a role in Wachowski siblings' next movie - Jupiter Ascending. JGL attending the premiere of Cloud Atlas leads me to believe that he probably accepts the role. If it turns out to be true, it will be the fifth time that JGL and Channing Tatum work together on a film. Oh, I love their bromance.
Now Channing news. He did some promotion of 10 Years on Sunday. I have seen that movie last year at TIFF. It's interesting to see how long it will take an indie film to reach the public if they didn't get a big distribution deal. I am not a fan of 10 Years, I am more interested in Channing's next action comedy - White House Down. Here is Channing being interviewed by ET's Nancy O'Dell on the set of White House Down. Isn't he handsome?
Also, a update on Magic Mike 2. A little more than one week ago, it was reported that Channing wanted to direct Magic Mike 2 with his business partner Reid Carolin. At that time, my friend rvchel2012 wrote:
Is Channing moving a bit too fast on this one? I don't know. Am still skeptical about the idea of Magic Mike 2. I personally would like to see him become a established actor before making a directorial debute.
I replied:
Well, he's been talking about trying to direct for some time. He said he wanted to try earlier so he could fail earlier, and hopefully he could get better... And speaking of actors who try to direct, there is Ben Affleck. Affleck is generally considered not so good an actor, but he's been doing pretty well behind-the-scene these days.
Yesterday Channing told Vulture:
Reid and I aren't idiots! We're not going to direct our first movie as a sequel to a Steven Soderbergh movie. That's not smart. I want to start with something very small ... make a lot of mistakes, make them real early, and then go jump in [on Magic Mike 2].
He also said he's been laying the track for his jaunt behind the camera by studying the arc of actor-turned-director Ben Affleck.
(feilongfan: I saw the similarity between Affleck and Channing 6 days ago :)
Finally a Jamie Bell story. On the Sep. 15 issue of New Music Express (NME), there is a feature article about Scotish rock band Biffy Clyro. The band members moved to LA and lived there for a few months to make a new album. While they were in LA, they saw Jamie Bell at a Sigur Rós gig.
Hoho, sheepish Jamie, I want to see that. I think the first time I heard about Sigur Rós was in a BBC music program hosted by Jamie Bell last August (audio). Jamie talked about the seismic moments while he was listening to Sigur Rós. And there is another indirect connection between Jamie and Sigur Rós. Jamie's Nymphomaniac costar Shia LaBeouf appeared nude in Sigur Rós's 8'30" music video - Fjögur píanó.
Cloud Atlas has three screenings at TIFF. I read that Joseph Gordon-Levitt attended the premiere of the movie. Some time ago, there are news saying JGL might have a role in Wachowski siblings' next movie - Jupiter Ascending. JGL attending the premiere of Cloud Atlas leads me to believe that he probably accepts the role. If it turns out to be true, it will be the fifth time that JGL and Channing Tatum work together on a film. Oh, I love their bromance.
Now Channing news. He did some promotion of 10 Years on Sunday. I have seen that movie last year at TIFF. It's interesting to see how long it will take an indie film to reach the public if they didn't get a big distribution deal. I am not a fan of 10 Years, I am more interested in Channing's next action comedy - White House Down. Here is Channing being interviewed by ET's Nancy O'Dell on the set of White House Down. Isn't he handsome?
Also, a update on Magic Mike 2. A little more than one week ago, it was reported that Channing wanted to direct Magic Mike 2 with his business partner Reid Carolin. At that time, my friend rvchel2012 wrote:
Is Channing moving a bit too fast on this one? I don't know. Am still skeptical about the idea of Magic Mike 2. I personally would like to see him become a established actor before making a directorial debute.
I replied:
Well, he's been talking about trying to direct for some time. He said he wanted to try earlier so he could fail earlier, and hopefully he could get better... And speaking of actors who try to direct, there is Ben Affleck. Affleck is generally considered not so good an actor, but he's been doing pretty well behind-the-scene these days.
Yesterday Channing told Vulture:
Reid and I aren't idiots! We're not going to direct our first movie as a sequel to a Steven Soderbergh movie. That's not smart. I want to start with something very small ... make a lot of mistakes, make them real early, and then go jump in [on Magic Mike 2].
He also said he's been laying the track for his jaunt behind the camera by studying the arc of actor-turned-director Ben Affleck.
(feilongfan: I saw the similarity between Affleck and Channing 6 days ago :)
Finally a Jamie Bell story. On the Sep. 15 issue of New Music Express (NME), there is a feature article about Scotish rock band Biffy Clyro. The band members moved to LA and lived there for a few months to make a new album. While they were in LA, they saw Jamie Bell at a Sigur Rós gig.
Hoho, sheepish Jamie, I want to see that. I think the first time I heard about Sigur Rós was in a BBC music program hosted by Jamie Bell last August (audio). Jamie talked about the seismic moments while he was listening to Sigur Rós. And there is another indirect connection between Jamie and Sigur Rós. Jamie's Nymphomaniac costar Shia LaBeouf appeared nude in Sigur Rós's 8'30" music video - Fjögur píanó.