Cloud Atlas

Tali: Cloud Atlas is the incredible story of, well, several stories, featuring the same actors as strands of the same character jumping through and  transcending time and space. Trust me, it is way less complicated then it sounds. Without going into too much detail, I will tell you all you need to know. Most importantly, keep an open mind. Critics of the film suggest that the interconnectedness of the story lines to be too convoluted and pompous, that the film is too big for itself. I could not disagree more! I felt each story alluring and engaging and felt that the balance between all of them was well done. I feel that this movie deserves an Oscar or two (Halle Berry plays a very convincing Asian man) but it might get shafted.

Leo: Cloud Atlas was exactly what I hoped it would be, and shares the same philosophical message as one of my favorite book series of all time (The Hyperion Cantos). The cast and acting of this movie was incredible and played so many believable characters even though they were essentially the same characters, which sounds more complicated than it is. While this movie is not exactly the "perfect" masterpiece, it is easy to tell it is not far off. It has every dimension of enjoyment throughout multiple dimensions of time and that is no easy task. The movie's score is also worth noting. I do not understand the negative criticism of the movie, specifically the one's that complain about it being too complicated. It isn't. If one does not understand the movie in at least the basic sense, then reviewing movies is a terrible career choice. That, or stick to reviewing something like The Breakup. Or something equally simple and idiotic.