by Jason Pyles
Movie Podcast Weekly.com

A few questions about “Cloud Atlas”: How are there two movies currently playing in theaters with the word “Atlas” in the titles, namely, “Cloud Atlas” and “Atlas Shrugged II: The Strike”? How did this adaptation ever get past its initial pitch meeting? And more to the point, how would one pitch something like “Cloud Atlas” to studio execs? And how does one cut a trailer for such an execution-dependent film? And how long did it take to edit this film?

Premise: Adapted from a 2004 novel by David Mitchell, “Cloud Atlas” is essentially an anthology film with six story lines, set in various time periods, that are loosely interrelated and interwoven within one another:

One story involves a tribesman who is enlightened by a visitor who redefines his perception of the truth. Another story involves a seafaring traveler who is being treated by a doctor for a mysterious, deathly illness. Another story involves a female journalist pursuing a dangerous story pertaining to the energy industry. Another story involves a composer’s assistant who becomes perilously entangled with his employer. Another story involves an older man who has been tricked into admitting himself into an elderly care facility and tries to escape. And the sixth story involves a heroic man who rescues an enslaved woman in hopes that she can initiate the beginning of a great social revolution. Continue reading →