Across the Universe

Within the first ten seconds of this trailer, I can tell what this movie will be like, and by the last ten seconds, my assumption is confirmed. The first trailer for Julie Taymor's new film Across the Universe, opens with a young man singing, painstricken, at the camera, asking, "Is there anybody who will listen to my story?" Yes, young sir, I will. Mostly because this trailer makes your movie look like Moulin Rouge for the 1960's, minus a brothel, plus a war. Hints at Moulin Rouge are abundant in the two-and-a-half minute preview. There's the love-struck young boy, new to a country, offered alcohol, singing to the camera about a story. There's the mix of cartoonish elements into the live-action. There's the centric idea of revolution. There's the updated soundtrack of old hits, this time all of Beatles songs (think "I Am Sam"), whereas Moulin Rouge took a taste of everything from Bowie to Madonna to The Police. However, despite the many similarities I've pointed out, I am by no means complaining. Moulin Rouge is one of my favorite movies of all time, and although Across the Universe may be a blatant child of the Baz Luhrmann film, I'd like to think of it more as a homage than an imitation, and it looks to be an excellent one at that. The trailer is intriguing, already hinting at a man thrown into war, a love found and then lost, and then found again, as well as already boasting itself as the most "Original, Exhilirating, Spectacular, Groundbreaking motion picture of the year." Yeah, we'll see about that. I'm hoping it's good, and if the preview has anything to do about it, it will be. Already the trailer shows breathtaking cinematography and snippits of very promising acting from Evan Rachel Wood. I will definitely be looking forward to this one. Across the Universe comes to theaters in 2007.