Movie Preview: Jupiter Ascending

The Wachowskis are back writing and directing a new science fiction movie to be released on July 18, 2014.

Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) is an unlucky Russian immigrant who cleans toilets for a living. She encounters Caine (Channing Tatum), an interplanetary warrior whom the Queen of the Universe sent to kill Jupiter. Caine tells Jupiter that the stars were pointing to an extraordinary event on the night she was born, and that her DNA could mark her as the universe's next leader (Wikipedia)

Why do I bring this up? If Andy and Lana had never made any other films than The Matrix series, they would have remained in my personal annals for all-time greats. The Matrix hit all the right buttons for science fiction, special effects, philosophy, wild imaginings, and, of course, total geeky nerdiness. Time-slice, slow motion, and such film techniques had been in use for a number of years, but the Wachowskis managed to bring it home with "bullet time". For me at least, this trilogy of films remains a very original cinematic opus.

Based on this and this alone, whatever the Wachowskis do will remain on my To Do list. They may not always hit it out of the ball park, but it is worth seeing what they are up to.


The Guardian - Dec 10/2013
Jupiter Ascending trailer: move over Matrix?
And yet the Wachowskis have recently shown themselves to be slipping into the sort of ambitious arthouse fantasy territory usually inhabited by Terry Gilliam (it is no surprise that the former Python is reputed to have a cameo in Jupiter Ascending). Last year's sprawling, refracted and hypnagogic Cloud Atlas was a daring, confident and unapologetically leftfield affair: the kind of movie that would never have survived intact as a major Hollywood studio production. A cult classic in the making that will surely come to stand alongside Brazil and Twelve Monkeys as elliptical wonders destined only to garner increased critical traction over time.

Selected Filmography
Here are some of the films written and/or directed by the Wachowskis.

The Matrix (1999)
Budget: $63 million
Gross: $464 million (worldwide)
Rotten Tomatoes: 87%

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
Budget: $150 million
Gross: $742 million (worldwide)
Rotten Tomatoes: 73%

The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Budget: $110 million
Gross: $427 million (worldwide)
Rotten Tomatoes: 36%

V for Vendetta (2006)
Budget: $54 million
Gross: $132 million (worldwide)
Rotten Tomatoes: 73%

Speed Racer (2008)
Budget: $120 million
Gross: $94 million (worldwide)
Rotten Tomatoes: 39%

Cloud Atlas (2012)
Budget: $102 million
Gross: $130 million (worldwide)
Rotten Tomatoes: 66%

Final Word
It's the Wachowskis. There is nothing more to say. I'll be there and I would advise you to be there too.


References

Rotten Tomatoes: Jupiter Ascending: n/a
Release Date: Jul 18, 2014 Wide

Wikipedia: Jupiter Ascending
Jupiter Ascending is an upcoming science fiction film written, produced and directed by The Wachowskis. The film centers on Jupiter (Mila Kunis), a lowly janitor who learns that she has a great genetic destiny.

official web site: Jupiter Ascending

Google image search: "Jupiter Ascending"

Google video search: "Jupiter Ascending"

Wikipedia: The Wachowskis
Lana Wachowski (born Laurence "Larry" Wachowski; June 21, 1965) and Andrew Paul "Andy" Wachowski (born December 29, 1967), known together professionally as The Wachowskis and formerly as the Wachowski Brothers, are American film directors, screenwriters and producers.

2013-12-20

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