Watch Three Jupiter Ascending Clips And This Epic Interview With The Wachowskis
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The Wachowskis‘ latest, the wingnut space adventure Jupiter Ascending, has been pushed back and delayed multiple times, but after waiting for years now, the film is finally almost here. To pump up the February 6 release date, Warner Bros. has unleashed a trio of new clips to give you a better idea of what the film entails. And in conjunction with this release, we came across a massive, 100-minute long interview with the visionary filmmakers that, if you’re interested in any of their work, or even the industry at all, is a must watch.
Jupiter Ascending is the story of Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis), a lowly cleaning woman who is destined for greater things. She dreams big, but scrubs rich people’s toilets for a living and has zero luck to speak of. When Caine (Channing Tatum playing an albino, man-wolf hybrid soldier) shows up, she learns that she has the same DNA as the Queen of the Universe, which means she’s next in line to rule the cosmos, and that kicks off a raging intergalactic conflict.
We’ve seen the big, sprawling space creations and high action in the film in trailers, but this first clip gives you an idea of what kind of effects the Wachowskis’ have in store. It’s quiet, tense, and the strange, creepy-looking characters disappearing into the cornfield is fantastic and doesn’t look like much else that you’ve ever seen.
The second clip also revolves around corn and a cornfield, though this time you get to see Caine hitching a ride from the Midwest all the way out into deep space. This is the interstellar version of a character clinging to the landing gear of a plane as it takes off.
In the final clip, you get a sense of the sheer size of the film and the epic scale of the worlds the directors created. You have massive ships, a sprawling new planet, that weird winged monster that we’ve seen a couple times before, and more in just a few seconds.
This interview that the Andy and Lana Wachowski did at DePaul University in Chicago as part of their visiting artist series, is more than an hour-and-a-half long, so it’s quite an investment, but it is 100% worth your time if you have some to spare. And that includes not only those of you interested in their work as filmmakers, but anyone curious about the larger industry, what goes on behind the scenes, the creative process, and so, so much more. It’s fascinating and interesting and illuminating stuff.
The discussion starts with aesthetics, but cover a great deal more. You learn how they got into the industry, and they discuss their films, starting with Bound, The Matrix, Speed Racer, and others. They even talk about Assassins, the Antonio Banderas/Sylvester Stallone action fiasco that they wrote and tried to get their names taken off of.
They discuss their influences, thematically as well as visually, like William Gibson, Ridley Scott (there’s a nice bit about seeing Blade Runner for the first time), and talk about what draws them to science fiction. For my money, however, the highlight has to be when Lana describes, in great depth and detail, why Snow White and the Huntsman and Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom are the exact same story. It’s a good time.
They’re personable, engaging, sarcastic, funny, and open, and if you have the time, you should totally give this a watch.
