I was kind of blown away after finishing David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas last year; not only was it one of the best pieces of fiction I've ever read, it was also the most inventive, bizarre, and genre-distorting book that I've ever picked up. Long story short (and it is a long story, or rather group of stories), I highly recommend it.
So I was more than reticent when I just now discovered that it's going to be a fall film release. Not only is it the very definition of "challenging source material", but the choice of the Wachowski brothers as directors seems like a less-than-inspired choice. Sure, they knocked one out of the park with the Matrix, but that doesn't excuse the subsequent Matrix films. We'll see. I predict either disaster or Oscar nomination; I just can't imagine the middle ground with any interpretation of this book. Either way though, I doubt many people will see it.
