Matrix Reloaded

[King of Snake]

Yeah what's wrong with hating both? Eircom should have me hooked up for broadband, true, but that site should accomodate all internet users, broadband isn't a common standard yet, a little consideration is all I ask.

 

The way to get things done? Whether I apportion blame to either or both it doesn't matter, I'm not exactly gonna do anything about it, all I intend to do is bitch about it, so I can send strands of hate wherever the hell I want!

 

 

SoF: I thought that iStream shit was just for businesses? €99 (~$88) is steep but me and Jont end up spending that much on dialup anyway, mainly on off-peak and we clog up the phoneline, that sounds a bargain to me (but I have internet addiction problems! ) to get optional anytime access. Its gonna be a while before we've the option tho! :dissappointed:

[soldier of fortune]

Well i am sure its available to Home Users, don't forget you'd have to buy a cable modem as well so that would add to it!

 

There's always ISDN from Eircom, but its not as good as broadband, but you can get that now!

[BigChiefSlapaho]

Ok guys... commence drooling.

[Reverend Jax]

ummm...drooling...

 

Is what we're seeing tonight at SW going to be a teaset or full trailer?

[MyLeakyBucket]

When's it out?

[Reverend Jax]

My apologies to all the silly limeies and otherwise foreign fellows out there when I say THE MATRIX RELOADED TRAILER LOOKS AWESOME AND IT LOOKS TO BE AMAZING! Both The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolution are coming out in 2003 (the traile was actually for both movies, but somehow I doubt any Revolutions foootage was in the trailer, but who knows.

[MyLeakyBucket]

Next question:

 

Why are Matrix 2 and Matrix 3 being released so close together? Bit irregular. ???

[JunkerSeed]

Well, the practical reason is that it costs a lot less money to film two movies at once than to film them seperately, they're saving money on LoTR for the same reason.  EVen so, LoTR is coming out in 1 year intervals, matrix within months of each other, maybe because they're gonna make money no matter what, and shit, if they'll be done by then, I guess it's harmless for them to see how that style of releasing movies works.  

 

And yes, the trailer was incredibly cool, I'm looking for the same action-packed, stylish, and hopefully thought-provoking stuff we got from the first one.

[MyLeakyBucket]

Thought-provoking?

 

Hahahahahahaha

 

Sorry, something about that that makes me chuckle  

[JunkerSeed]

The matrix was plenty thought provoking for a movie where time is stopped to show the path of the bullet and Yuen Wo-ping is choreographing the action alright?  Sure, most of it's ideas have already been used in various forms of sci-fi books and stuff, but it was done well.  So I stand by my statement on it being a very smart movie.

[The NZA]

I'm with Junker. Nah, MLB, it wasnt Pi, but for a superhero action flick, it hinted at existentialism amongst other such ideals, and that's light years ahead of most.

Techno music, bullets & John Woo shots? Sure, and plenty, but toss in some philosophy to boot and I'm sold.

I cant fuckin wait....are we sure theyre comin out back-to-back? Closest ive seen that was the last 2 Back to the Future ones, they were less than a year apart if i recall...does anyone know exactly the time between 2 & 3?

[MyLeakyBucket]

I heard it is gonna be like 2 or 3 months, seriously. Isn't that weird? ???

 

IC, I wasn't comparing it to Pi either, but I just think the philosophy stuff behind it has been done before, thats all. I ain't saying its like a Steven Seagal movie, but it ain't what I'd call a smart movie.

 

Don't get me wrong though, I was in the cinema a few days after it came out, and loved it.

[Reverend Jax]

Yeah, Back to the Future 2 and 3 were the same way (filmed together released within a few months of each other). Basically, the writer had a trilogy story in mind when he wrote the first one and when it was a huge hit he knew he had the levelage to say "we do them both or you get nothing". When you film movies together you can get a sense of consistancy between them. Anyway, it's unorthdox but not a new concept...which is a perfect segway to critizing your silly opinions. Filming multiple flim sequels together isn't a brand new idea, so why are you so shocked by it? Obviously the ideas in The Matrix weren't new, so is that why it's not thought-provoking to you? Do you have any idea how rare truely original ideas are? Any clue? The last one I would say was Relativity. That was truely unique and original (but even that's debatable). Other than that, everything in the past hundred years has been a reharsh or a reinvention or a renewal of an old idea. They have all directly required outside influence or assistance. The fact is the Matrix was chop-full incredible challenging ideas and methophors for the social construct of reality and the society we live in, and for the most part, did it in a new and refreshing manner. It was proof that enlightening, intelectual and challenging ideas can be mixed with fire, testoserone an industrial music and still be both legitimately clever and accessible. I love Pi, but it is not accessible. The Matrix is the embodiment of accessible inteligence. To put it simply, no matter how you slice it, the Matrix is deep. But just maybe I'm looking at this entire argument incorrectly. Maybe the British government edited the film and took out all the parts that questioned the establishment and challenged the audience to think beyond the constructs society provide for them. Maybe it also had subliminal messages...Let the government take away all your guns...Let us protect you...we'll keep you safe...buy things with Prince William's face on it...the Royal Family needs a source of income and his face is their best shot...say chips instead of french fries just to annoy the Americans...Oasis are the next Beatles...oh shit, not even subliminal messages could get anyone to go along with that one...

[MyLeakyBucket]

For starters, it wasn't that the movies were filmed together that suprised me, in fact its probably the best way to save money with a film using that much CGI stuff. What suprised me instead is that they're being released so close together. I'm not saying its the first time its been done, but you can't exactly say its a regular thing. I would have thought most films in this situation would take the Peter Jackson approach and release them a sensible time span apart, in this case 12 months.

 

As for the Matrix being thought-provoking, maybe the English did cut some bits out. All I saw was the idea of a alternative universe as a framework for the world we live in. Read a challenging Physics book and you will likely see theories of an alternate universe. Theories that suggest time is not one continuous line, but more lines, all originating from a point.

 

I enjoyed the movie but did not find it particularly challenging. I just thought it took the idea of an alternative universe linked with our own, and added slow-mo, guns, and suspicious men in suits.

[BigChiefSlapaho]

Did you guys go over to MATRIX and get the trailer yet?   It's downloadable now.

[The NZA]

Must..free up...hard drive space....

Got me a confession to make.

Many folks of my generation (that's us) are diehard Star Wars fans. I can appreciate the series, and its fuckin amazing at times.  Despite hokey lines here & there, even outside the badass lightsaber battles - which were cool even in the old trilogy, though they were poorly done; we were young and it looked fuckin cool - the Jedi Knight thing, in a very eastern way, is interestin as shit.  Its a great epic, but i never went nuts over it like TopDawg, BigChief here, etc - never tried a jedi mind trick, for instance, and those look fun.

Now, folks like artisticcartoon & Bacchus go for Lord of the Rings.  Fair enough; it got the ball rolling, and if the next 2 flicks are in line with the first, i think itll be amazing as well...those guys think its the Star Wars for the next generation, but i think its a very traditional fantasy epic (again, because it began much of the traditioin).

But, based on just the 1 movie so far - and pleae god dont let the sequels make me look the fool for this - The Matrix is my seires.  

The effects are incredible, yeah everyone knows this.  But SW has that too, so its not that that gets me warm & fuzzy, its the hint of philosophy.  Where SW had traces of eastern taosim, many buddhist ideals, and jedis based heavily on bushido/samurai, Matrix at times gets into ideas of existentialism in a very approachable way...tying this up with a futuristic fantasy epic, well...

Again, as MLB implied, its not nearly as clever as, say, Pi, but for an epic seires, it feels so far ahead of the pack for me.

 

 

...and the next one has katanas! Fucking katanas!

[JunkerSeed]

I'd have to agree with you, the Matrix is one of the freshest movies to come out in a long fuckin time.  It didn't just look good because of special effects, it looked good because of style, style will take you further than any amount of money that ILM can throw at the screenm and the Matrix was just that, a big mass of style.  It was so fucking stylish that it got existential.  The special effects that they did use revolutionized the action movie.  The funny thing is that all they did was get a bunch of existing genres and made what they felt was the ideal action movie.  Who'd of thought that a sort of chop suey of other, older ideas would come off as being so fresh and original?  I think that the Matrix was an absolute classic, and if the sequels are on par with the first one I'll have a series I can really sink my teeth into.

[Reverend Jax]

As for the Matrix being thought-provoking, maybe the English did cut some bits out. All I saw was the idea of a alternative universe as a framework for the world we live in. Read a challenging Physics book and you will likely see theories of an alternate universe. Theories that suggest time is not one continuous line, but more lines, all originating from a point.

 

I enjoyed the movie but did not find it particularly challenging. I just thought it took the idea of an alternative universe linked with our own, and added slow-mo, guns, and suspicious men in suits.

The Matrix wasn't thought provoking (only) because of the physics of alternate universes! It was a highly inteligent, incredibly accessible, high octane, adrenaline pumping, very sublime movie that filled with incredible sociological and philosophical critical methapors about society, and humanity as well. I can't imagine how anyone who truely understands  the themes that the movie deals with could call it 'not thought provoking'. Is it the most intelligent thing in the world? No, but it's still pretty darn original and entertaining.

 

I'd have to agree with you, the Matrix is one of the freshest movies to come out in a long fuckin time

 

I think it's second in that catergory to Fight Club. It's a tad off subject, but I'd like to take the oppurtuny to say that 1999 was the best year for movie most of us have seen in our lifetimes.

 

Fight Club, The Matrix, American Beauty, Election, Three Kings, Pleasantville, The Sixth Sense, Being John Malcovich, The Cider House Rules, Boys Don't Cry, Magnolia, The Talented Mr Ripley, Toy Story 2, etc.

 

What other year have you seen so many damn good movies in the mainstream? Even with Episode 1 and The Mummy, that's a tough year to bet. It's like, all of a sudden, for a short while, quality flicks became trendy to make. Any other really good 1999 flicks I forgot to mention?

[JunkerSeed]

Yeah, I noticed that about 1999 too, it was kind of weird, I just kind of woke up one day, and noticed that half the movies on my dvd shelf were from the same year... hope we get another year like that, last year wasn't anything to shake a stick at either, granted, nobody saw the majority of the good movies, but they were there.

[Reverend Jax]

Put that was the amazing thing, they were in the mainstream and people went to see them! Come on, I wanna compile a list. Name some more for me. Anyone?

[The NZA]

Hmm, hadnt thought bout the year, guess it was a great one, cinematically. Were either of the Arnousky films that year, Reiqiuem or Pi?

Its a lot of things, again. Fishbourne's delivery of somewhat complicated ideas, simplified & with stunning visuals, as Jack said, makes it amazingly approachable....im dyin to see "Waking Life" for another look at this sort of thing on a much smaller visual scale; were finding we can express complicated scientific/philosophical ideas so much easier with such visuals & delivery.  I recall bein at a great museum in New York, and astronomy/big bang was being explained by a voiceover of Tom Hanks..i think damn near everyone in the room followed, and perhaps was sparked to investigate more on their own if they had the inclination...but all this is for another education post; the idea is that it meshed rather well.

And yeah, Junker's got his points - this sci-fi/epic/action flick did little that hadnt been done before, but it was insightful, and oozed with style about it.  I hung on Morpheus' words. And its incredible techno/rock soundtrack did nothing but accnentuate the film.

This is the reason Xenosaga is my favorite RPG series; why i go for movies like this.  Because at best, they can scratch the surface & devle a lil into complicated ideas, but not too much so within their time span.  However, they can do this - they can get insightful perspectives across, provoke thought, etc - and look cool as shit doing it.  

If youre like me, youre watchin Star Wars for nothin but the Jeids.  I wanna see their council, they tao/way, i wanna see em converse, and most of all, yes, fight. Everything else feels like filler to me, but then we all take what we like from such stories i guess.  Its just The Matrix brings so much more to the table for someone like myself, lookin for, basically, cool shit with depth.  There's no reason the one-liner hero badass cant be politically/philosophically motivated.

 

...P.S. Sorry to be crude, but Chiefy: that trailer there gave me a stiffy.  

[Reverend Jax]

And yeah, Junker's got his points - this sci-fi/epic/action flick did little that hadnt been done before...

 

...P.S. Sorry to be crude, but Chiefy: that trailer there gave me a stiffy.  

 

I wouldn't say that either. The Matrix was a breakthrough as a straight up action film too. With the combination of Wu-Ping's kung-fu choreography, amazingly staged gun fights, the setting a new standard for fighting realism through the minimization of stunt-doubling for fight-scenes, and basically eventing bullet-time, the biggest cimematic trend to spread like wildfire since super-imposing via blue/greenscreen.

 

All that plus and the philosophical/sociological stuff mentioned before! If the sequels are half as good (and my intuition say they will be, not that my intuition is good for anything), we are in for alot of "Oh my god, that was sooo fucking awesome!" at Denny's in the middle of the night come next year

 

And I recon there's no need to apologize there, IC. I figured anyone with a penis who saw the trailer got stiffer than a 3-day old corpse. And as for the ladies, well, we'll just let them speak for themselves, won't we?

[JunkerSeed]

Dogma, Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai, and The Green Mile also came out in 1999, all really great movies.  Galaxy Quest came out in '99too, not a masterpeic,e but a fun one.  Well, we've at least exhausted all of the 1999 movies on my dvd shelf...

 

As for waking life... um, it's not on much of a "smaller visual scale", it's one of the most uniquely animated movies i've seen, so it manages to look pretty damned cool too.  I'll bring that over next time I see ya, if you want to see it anytime this week let me know, I got jack shit else to do other than the film festival which is later at night.

 

I wonder what the Wachowski brothers will do after the matrix?  I mean, I guess they'd be expected to pump out another action-extravaganza, but they could just as easily do a comedy or something.. it'd be kind of interesting to see what happens.  They could just ride the matrix gravy train and do nothing else, they could become exclusively action movie makers from now on, or they could try to do other stuff.

[Reverend Jax]

Dogma, Galaxy Quest and The Green Mile certainly qualify (though the Green Mile is a typical Oscar film, you see those kinds of movies every year), but I've never seen Ghost Dog, and from the commercials, it didn't look too good. I guess based on a Junker recommendation I have to at least look into it

[JunkerSeed]

If you think Ghost Dog looks like a bad action movie with a hit rap soundtrack you're sorely mistaken, it's a pretty damned good movie.  It's from a damned fine director, Jim Jarmusch, mostly known for being a great indie director and making "Dead Man" with johnny depp.  Fine movie, sort of a modern day don quixote, just less goofy.