The Wachowskis

Before Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss, The Wachoswkis had some very different cast members in mind for The Matrix. The directors initially offered the roles of Neo, Morpheus and Trinity to Will Smith, Sean Connery and Janet Jackson, all of whom turned down the film. That’s just one of the facts packed into the latest episode of You Think You Know Movies, which swallows a big, red pill with The Matrix!

If the premise of Netflix and the Wachowskis’ upcoming Sense8 series has you confused, you’re not alone. Neither are you alone by the June 5 premiere’s latest round of videos focusing on each individual character, and their awakening to seven other selves. Still confused? Maybe you should just watch.

A few days ago saw our first look at the Wachowski’s mysterious new Netflix series Sense8, though the action-heavy images raised more questions than they answered. Now, the streaming service has released a full trailer for the June premiere, solving some of the mystery with a complement of images as well.

Netflix has added so many new original series prospects in the last few months, we’d almost forgotten the Wachowskis would follow up Jupiter Ascending with the mysterious globe-trotting Sense8, live births and all. Now, the first photos of the series have arrived, looking a bit more John Woo action-style than we’d expected.

Netflix has a major year ahead of it, even after this past weekend’s debut of House of Cards Season 3, and at last we know its summer plans. Not only will Orange is the New Black Season 3 premiere in June, but so too has Netflix set an official premiere date for the Wachowski’s Sense8, and upcoming prequel series Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp.

I was not a huge fan of the Wachowskis’ ‘Jupiter Ascending.’ But as I said in my review, if there was a longer version of that movie, I would totally watch it. ‘Jupiter’ is an absolute mess, but a lot of it feels messy because it’s so rushed, cramming an entire universe of mythology and dog-men who look like Channing Tatum into a little over two hours. I couldn’t say for certain why the movie is that length, but if I had to guess, I’d imagine that studio executives who invested $175 million in this sci-fi boondoggle didn’t want a three-hour epic, and kindly requested (or sternly demanded) a shorter, zippier movie. The result moves quickly at the expense of any sense of coherence.

‘Jupiter Ascending’ may be something of a commercial and critical failure, but even with its many (many) flaws, there’s one thing we can all appreciate about it: the robust, incredibly inventive and immersive production designs. It’s just something we’ve come to expect from Lana and Larry Wachowski, and it’s one element of their films that will reliably never disappoint. New concept art from the film has been released, showing off even more details from the world of ‘Jupiter Ascending,’ including hints at an expanded story for Channing Tatum’s character.

Episode 415 of ‘Seinfeld’ was called “The Movie,” and it ended with Jerry delivering a monologue about the guy in every group of friends who can’t follow the plots of films and invariably spends them whispering confused questions to their seatmates (“Why did they kill that guy? I thought he was with them? Wasn't he with them? Why would they kill him if he was with them? Oh, he wasn't with them. It's a good thing they killed him!”) ‘Jupiter Ascending’ turned me into that guy. If you can explain the plot of this baffling movie in all of its intricacies, you are either a genius or one of the Wachowskis who wrote and directed it. It’s hard to believe that a movie that contains this much exposition could also be this confusing, but it does and it is. Something went horribly wrong here.

In about four hours, I’m seeing ‘Jupiter Ascending,’ the latest film from Andy and Lana Wachowski. I’m beyond excited. I see early responses like “mad, majestic, magnificently overblown” or “legendarily awful” and I get pumped, because I know love it or hate it, I am about to see something. It certainly sounds like the Wachowskis have outdone themselves in the crazy department, which is particularly impressive since these are the Wachowskis we’re talking about, and the baseline for their movies is already pretty nutty.

This week sees the release of ‘Jupiter Ascending,’ the latest sci-fi adventure from Andy and Lana Wachowski. And while in all likelihood ‘Jupiter Ascending’ will not go down in history as one of the great works of its genre, the occasion of a new sci-fi epic from two of the modern masters of the form seemed like a good time to assess and celebrate the recent highlights of science fiction cinema, which has taken audiences from the furthest reaches of the cosmos to the deepest recesses of the human mind.