Cloud Atlas (2012)

Cloud Atlas (2012) is located far beyond the comfort zone of its cast. Hugh Grant is unrecognizable in feathers and war paint. Halle Berry and Susan Sarandon play both male and female roles. And, most bizarre of all, Tom Hanks attempts a Cockney accent! Yes, this is one sci-fi mind-bender written and directed by the artists formerly known as the Wachowski Brothers (now Wachowski Starship) and Run Lola Run (1998) director Tom Tykwer. Even though the movie was a box office flop, Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil won Best Score at the Austin Film Critics Association Awards and the Houston Film Critics Society Awards. They also nabbed a nomination at the CinEuphoria Awards, which recognized Ms. Berry and Korean actress Doona Bae with Best Supporting Actress nods. The same can be said for Ben Whishaw and Jim Sturgess in the Supporting Actor category. Based on a notoriously “un-filmable” novel by David Mitchell, the sprawling epic uses six interwoven storylines ranging from a 19th century Pacific voyage to post-apocalyptic Hawaii in the year 2321. In between, we travel to San Francisco circa 1973 and London circa 2012. The movie also includes James D’Arcy and Zhou Xun as it explores themes of love, hate, fate, reincarnation and the interconnectedness of existence. That’s heavy stuff, but you’ll really be moved (in your pants, that is) when Ms. Bae loses her shirt as a clone in the futuristic city of Neo Seoul. The forecast in this Cloud Atlas? Horny with a 100% chance of boobs!