Movie Review: Cloud Atlas

"Everything Is Connected"

IMDB - Rotten Tomatoes - Amazon - Official Site

Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave dramatically through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future. Each member of the ensemble appears in multiple roles as the stories move through time.

Release Date: October 26, 2012
DVD Release Date: February 5, 2013
Running Time: 172 minutes
MPAA Rating: R

Cast:
-Tom Hanks
-Halle Berry
-Jim Broadbent
-Hugo Weaving
-Jim Sturgess
-Doona Bae
-Ben Whishaw
-Keith David
-James D'Arcy
-Xun Zhou
-David Gyasi
-Susan Sarandon
-Hugh Grant

My Thoughts:
Sometimes, it happens rarely give the state of current authorship, but sometimes the film is better than the book.

I recently started dating again after my breakup and a friend decided to take me to see the film Cloud Atlas. I didn't know much about what I was going to see. So, I didn't have any real expectations from the movie. I wasn't prepared for the single most life altering film experience I had ever had.

The film begins slowly, but at the same time dives into a world of reality and fiction, past, present and future to give you a feel for what's in store. The films score is magical, it evokes feelings of utter sadness and loss, mixed with the angelic ting of hope. The film itself plays out like a symphony of words, images and thoughts.

Needless to say it was for me a life altering experience. I no longer thought my problems, my life, myself was something singular unto myself. But after seeing this film it became all to apparent to me that I am part of the past, the present and the future. That every decision I make will effect the world in some way no matter how minute. That every decision made before me has affected me and caused me to be who and what I am.

Cloud Atlas is 3 hours long but it feels like a blip of time because the view becomes so entangled with the action on screen. It is visual poetry and musical history. It is love, life, humanity, cruelty, death, loss, pain and hope. This film is more human than many of us could feign to ever be. I urge everyone to see it. Learn from it. Live it.

Screenshots :)

Have you seen Cloud Atlas?

Book Review: What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

Eva and Addie started out the same way as everyone else—two souls woven together in one body, taking turns controlling their movements as they learned how to walk, how to sing, how to dance. But as they grew, so did the worried whispers. 

Why aren't they settling? Why isn't one of them fading? The doctors ran tests, the neighbors shied away, and their parents begged for more time. Finally Addie was pronounced healthy and Eva was declared gone. Except, she wasn't . . .

For the past three years, Eva has clung to the remnants of her life. Only Addie knows she’s still there, trapped inside their body. Then one day, they discover there may be a way for Eva to move again. The risks are unimaginable-hybrids are considered a threat to society, so if they are caught, Addie and Eva will be locked away with the others. And yet . . . for a chance to smile, to twirl, to speak, Eva will do anything.

My Thoughts:

I'm writing this little bit after reading the first chapter. I can already tell this is gonna be a great book and right up my alley. I can't wait to see where this goes. I'm already getting that feeling where I want to constantly read it. So I'm going to go do that.

Now I'm about half way through and I'm really liking it so far. Its very different. I am having a little trouble grasping the whole bit about how there are two people in one body. You know how when you're reading a book it just plays out in your mind like a movie. Well that little bit keeps getting me stuck. I'm not sure how to picture it. I'm trying to use special effects in my brain to help me out, so far it's doing okay, but I keep picturing a set of eyeballs inside this girls head looking out into the world through her sisters eyes. It's actually pretty creepy to think about. The characters are growing nicely and there are some suspenseful parts, I'm going to go finish it now.

So yeah. I just finished the book and wow. Just wow. It was amazing. And very confusing at times. But mostly wonderful. So from the start of the book, you know it's wrong that they're hybrid. So that kinda sets the mood for the book. It was mostly suspenseful and then at about 80% through the book, it really picks up. Everything gets crazy. All the action starts. I started getting really anxious and wanting everything to be okay.

It took me a little longer to read this book than I had wanted, but I had to take a little road trip to California. And that took several days of my time since I did most of the driving. But I really got back into it. And I'm really glad I did.

It's kinda hard to talk about this book without giving stuff away, but I'm going to try. At first I didn't like Addie. She seemed like she was kinda stuck up and better than Eva just because she was the dominant soul and could control the body when Eva couldn't. But her character really grew, as did all of the characters.

Let's talk a little about the climax and plot twist. It got crazy. I didn't expect it to be that, but it makes a lot of sense. I was really skeptical toward the end. I didn't really know how all this was going to end up.. And I was really scared there for a minute. But after that I was very pleased. I'm just wondering what the next book will hold. It closed everything off pretty nicely which I was pleased about. But it doesn't say what the future holds for them.

Overall I give it four stars. It was a really good book, but don't think it made my favorites list. It would make a really interesting movie though. And props to the author for coming up with such an interesting and original idea. And executing it very well. Go Kat Zhang!

[Goodreads - Amazon - B&N]

So this was my first read

for Halloween this year.

You can check out my

Halloween TBR here.

What are you reading 

this Halloween?

Have you read this book?

Is it on your TBR list?

My Favorite 'World Building' Authors

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly

 meme held over at The Broke and the Bookish. 

This weeks topic is your top ten favorite authors

in a specific genre. For Example: Dystopian, 

Contemporary, Sci-Fi...

I chose dystopian, but not just dystopian, because some of my authors aren't classified as such. My selections are authors that are amazing at world building. Describing how that world works and having it flow in my head like a movie. Or when it's still our world, but society is so much different, everything is ran completely different than now. 

My choices:

Veronica Roth

Ahhh, Veronica Roth, the wonderful author of Divergent. I loved Divergent from the first few pages, I knew I was going to fall in love with it. And I did. The world that they live in is crazy, and although we don't know exactly what's going on, we will soon. Can't wait for the third and final book. 

Cat Patrick

Cat Patrick... If you haven't read Forgotten or Revived, you need to. That's need to be on your 'right after I finish this' list! She is amazing at this kinda stuff. Both are set in the present, but when you get sucked into the stories and see how differently their own personal world is... It's amazing.

Tahereh Mafi

I started reading Shatter Me and was instantly drawn in and not even really knowing why. I had heard her name thrown around, but didn't know what all the fuss was about until I actually started reading her book. It's amazing so far, it had to go back to the library, so unfortunately I didn't get to finish it yet. But I'm on the waiting list for it :)

Beth Revis

Have you read Across the Universe? If not, you should! The world Beth Revis built on Godspeed was amazing, all the futuristic-ness was wonderful! I still haven't made it around to A Million Suns, but I will. Hopefully just in time for Shades of Earth. 

Richelle Mead

I just recently read Vampire Academy and though Richelle Mead did a fabulous job. The names were a little weird, but that's all part of the world building. I loved learning about all the different Royals and levels of vampires. Definitely a really great author. Hopefully soon I'll get around to the second book. 

Suzanne Collins

Although I didn't really care for The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins is a great author. All the characters in the different districts and their different social statuses really is very creative. I will eventually finish the series, I'm just not in a rush to do so. 

Kat Zhang

Many of you may not have ever heard of Kat Zhang, but her debut novel What's Left of Me just recently came out. And I read it as fast as I could get my hands on it. The synopsis was so weird and original and extremely unique... for me. I've never heard of anything else like that. A must read!

J.K. Rowling

She wrote the wonderful, wizarding world of Harry Potter... Need I say more?!

Well, those are my picks. I only had 8. I know I didn't exactly follow the guidelines, because I didn't pick an actual genre, but they are my favorite to read in terms of world/society building.

Have you read any of these authors?

What did you think? Did you like them?

If you did a TTT, leave a link :)

Waiting on Wednesday: Crewel

Waiting On Wednesday #8!  "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event,  hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights  upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week I picked:

Crewel by Gennifer Albin

Expected Publication: October 16, 2012

[Goodreads - Amazon - B&N]

SYNOPSIS:

Incapable. Awkward. Artless.

That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: she wants to fail.

Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. But if controlling what people eat, where they live and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn't interested.

Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and wove a moment at testing, and they’re coming for her—tonight.

Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her Dad’s stupid jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.

Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back.

So..... Whoa! What a synopsis?! This one has me really intrigued. I think this book is going to be great. I've read some good and bad reviews, so I'm hoping I will like this book. And hopefully we find out pretty soon. 

Is this on your TBR?

What are you waiting on?