another matrix thread (hot potato)

[Banky]

The world of the Matrix just seems to amazing to not continue to explore

[Weak2ndAct]

Well, I suspect it will continue on in other mediums.  There is a volume of comics coming out soon that you can pre-order on Amazon.  While there might not be anymore movies in the near future, I highly doubt that Warner Bros. would let such a geek-worthy franchise fall by the wayside.  I wonder if the Wachowski's have any kind of approval clause in terms of merchandising.

[markums2k]

You have to read this with that deep announcer voice:

The Matrix Renewed: The Animated Adventures of Neo and Trinity.

Coming this spring to the WB.

[MacGuffin]

Matrix Revolutions Superbrawl & Soundtrack Clips!!

Want an early peek at footage from The Matrix Revolutions, opening just a week-and-a-half from now? If you don't mind spoilers then you can check out four clips in ASF format here, here, here and here!

Meanwhile, the official website has the soundtrack listing and you can listen to samples from the music!
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A 7-Minute Look at Matrix Revolutions!

Yahoo! Movies has up a 7-minute look at the highly-anticipated The Matrix Revolutions, opening Wednesday, November 5.

The clip, available in the Windows Media and Real formats, features interviews with the stars and never-before-seen footage from the third film. Watch here.

[Banky]

does the Yahoo movie one have spoilers MAc.  Did you watch the ones that did?

[MacGuffin]

does the Yahoo movie one have spoilers MAc.  Did you watch the ones that did?

The Yahoo one is pretty much spoiler free. It's basically talking heads interviews. The clips shown are minor extentions of the scenes shown in the trailers.

The four clips are a good portion of scenes. So you you want to be completely surprised, don't watch.

[modage]

INTERVIEWS: The Matrix Revolutions Press Conference!
Source: Coming Soon! Tuesday, October 28, 2003

Warner Bros. held a press conference on Monday morning for The Matrix Revolutions, and ComingSoon.net was on hand to listen to what the stars and crew had to say. What follows is what Keanu Reeves (KR), Carrie-Anne Moss (CAM), Laurence Fishburne (LF) and producer Joel Silver (JS) had to say.

What is the strength of doing films back-to-back? What advice can you give to others who attempt to do the same?

LF: Time is always against us, as you know. If you're going to endeavor to do something like this, it helps to have a lot of money.

CAM: And to really love it. To love the movie is important. I would recommend you only do it if you really love what you're doing.

Why open the movie at the same time around the world?

JS: We felt that our fans would really want to see the movie right away, so we had the idea to open the movie on the same day. And because of the reality of piracy and the fact that sometimes these movies are playing in theaters and before they get there they're available on street corners, we decided to have an actual moment by moment release so at 9 a.m. New York time it's zero hour, which is 6 a.m. in the morning in LA and sometime during the day in the continent and 11 p.m. in Tokyo, this movie will begin playing on almost 20,000 screens worldwide in over 63 countries.

Do you still feel the bruises and bangs from the shoot?

LF: I think we all recovered very nicely actually.

What do you think of the IMAX version of "Reloaded"?

LF: I saw it over the summer, I think. It was really a tremendous experience to see it that big, particularly your entrance, Carrie-Anne. In IMAX it's sick. It's great.

What are your emotions today knowing this is probably the end of the ride?

CAM: It's bittersweet, you know. For me anyway, I really want to celebrate this evening and to really feel with my friends and family here the fruits of the labor that we put all our hearts and souls into. And at the same time, like the poster says, every beginning has an end. I feel very much that same way. When I saw that first poster, I literally started crying. I was like Oh My God that's so reflective, not only of the journey of the film but the journey of my life on this movie. It's a very exciting day to be in the venue we're going to, I can't wait for that, and to see the movie with everybody and to say goodbye to a big segment of my life. It's big.

Do you approach a part differently when you're playing it over this much time?

LF: I don't know if any of us knew we were going to be playing these characters for this long. We sort of knew that there was a trilogy somewhere and we were hoping they were going to make these movies, but for myself, I know I just signed on for the one movie and then we performed really well and it was made clear that there were two other movies and they wanted us all to come back. So I think for myself it's just taking it one scene and one sequence at a time. One scene and one fight sequence at a time, whatever it is.

Can you reflect on the experience of playing Neo?

KR: It was a great role, great project and I got to work with some special artists and people. It was, for me, a really special endeavor. It's exciting that the last one, Revolutions, is opening.

Can you talk about shooting the fight sequence at the end?

KR It was just another element. What happened was that on the first take when Hugo and I, Smith and Neo fight, rain came down and we realized that we couldn't see each other. But we'd fought so much together that we actually didn't have to see, which was kind of a cool thing. It was just dramatic, it as fun. Like a ton of water a minute or something like that. Yeah, so we were wet for a couple of weeks, or six weeks.

What philosophies did you take away from the film?

LF: Well I have a very large samurai sword that I keep at home now.

What Neo superpower would you like to have in real life?

KR: I'll take the flying. Flying looks fun.

Can you talk about the strength of the women in the film?

CAM: I love playing Trinity. The first time around that I, in the first Matrix I was just like wow, this is such a great character. Then to have gotten to play her through not just being the girl that kicks ass, I think it's important to not just have women who just kick ass, it's like all of the characters in the Revolutions, all the women they have so much heart and soul and they're strong and it's not like they're just one dimension and I love that and that's really an attribute to Larry and Andy because they really understand women and they understand people and it's been an honor to play a woman with the kind of strength that Trinity has, with her heart and her body too. It's been great. I love it.

Who were your heroes growing up?

LF: My heroes were all great actors and great musicians. Movie heroes, I don't know, typical, John Wayne, Steve McQueen, Sidney Poitier, Charles Bronson, Jimmy Coburn, Katherine Hepburn, another hero of mine. With respect to what kids or young people will get from this divine trinity of these three characters is, it's not for us to say. Whatever they need. If they get whatever they need, then we've done proper service to not just the filmmakers but the larger thing which is the story itself. So there you have it.

Does the fashion of the film put any pressure on you to be a fashionista?

KR: I don't believe so.

How has your relationship with the brothers evolved?

CAM: They are really extraordinary people. They absolutely knew how they wanted to see each and every moment of this film so really we were just a conduit to their expression of the film, I think. For me for sure. We had so many great conversations. They're really smart interesting guys and it wasn't so important to me that I understood every single thing intellectually. For me it's my heart, understanding something and feeling things. But I sure loved hearing them talk about it, all of the ideas of the movie. We all talked about it. We're all very conscious people and looking to understand ourselves and the world more, and the movie really reflects those ideas. In knowing them over six years of my life, they absolutely created the character that I just gave life to. They told me how to do everything that I did. I really wanted to give them that.

Has your involvement in the films spawned interest in the video games, anime projects, books, etc.

LF: Funny because I was sort of aware of those things before we got to the Matrix. It was all kinda like we were watching Anime and reading books and watching movies, and then I met these two guys who had this idea about taking all the wonderful things from those things and sort of making what they made.

How did everyone say goodbye to their characters?

LF: Well the groovy thing about these characters is that they're gonna live with us for the rest of our lives, so we don't necessarily have to say goodbye to them. We're going to be walking around with them for the rest of our lives pretty much. So they're all a part of us now.

What is the new tattoo on your arm?

KR: It's a movie tattoo. Something that I have for a character.

What kinds of themes would you recommend discussing with your children after seeing the film?

CAM: I would say let your child show you. Let the kid, you know, kids are so much more intelligent than we are anyway. I love to see what kids think of the movie because they get so much more than so many adults do.

CAM: I don't remember it ever being difficult.

Do you enjoy the more theatrical scenes or fighting scenes?

KR: I prefer, it's not even prefer, the scene say with Neo and the architect? I love scenes like that, ideas and confrontation, the drama of that scene, and then it's fun to do fake fighting. It's fun.

How was the metro scene to film?

What happens in that thing, it was a set that actually, is where you saw a different color palette being introduced into the schemes of colors throughout the piece. Zion has a color scheme. The Matrix itself has a color scheme. That place that Neo comes to at the top of Revolutions has a whole other scheme to it, so that was interesting.

Was there ever a concern that the series was too philosophically complex? Do you feel the last film resolves the questions of the series?

LF: Well I think what's great about it is that it doesn't really try to answer any of those questions for you. I think it really engages you in a way. It engages the audience, it challenges the audience to actually engage in thinking about these things and it operates on so many different levels that it allows you, if you want, to explore the different philosophies inside it, the religious symbolism that's inside of it, you can explore that. But if you wanna take a really great ride and be purely entertained, you can do that as well.

Can you talk specifically about the climatic fight sequence?

KR: We wore wet suits underneath our costumes. Neo had I think 21 different casics, and I think five of them were used for the rain, different weights, how the fabric looked in rain and then how it moved. So I had a fight rain casic, a dry tugging casic. Also the other thing that Hugo and I found was that when we would do the scenes, we couldn't hear each other and we couldn't actually hear ourselves because the big, fat, juicy raindrops that had taken two months to design were loud. So that was kind of a, one of the, I guess to try to find the scene and feel the scene it was frustrating some of the time because you couldn't hear yourself and you couldn't hear your fellow actor. So we kind of had to work through that.

Is it hectic getting ready for a premiere?

CAM: It can be. It can be really crazy and then if you can kind of say calm, well for the girls, I don't know about the guys but, for the girls you start getting ready at like 4 o'clock. It's crazy. It reminds me of high school. You get ready for the dances with all your girlfriends, deciding what you're wearing. It's kind of fun, but it's also just, you kind of have to stay, for me anyway, as calm as possible so that you can be present and enjoy the evening and not be in the craziness of the event.

Keanu, what time do you start getting ready?

KR: I take a long time too.

The Matrix Revolutions explodes into theaters on Wednesday, November 5.

[Banky]

THE LOST WACHOWSKI BROTHERS INTERVIEW

Interview conducted by Josh Horowitz

November 5, 2003

Before THE MATRIX rocked our world in 1999 and way before THE MATRIX RELOADED either rocked your world to another level or left you royally disappointed, Larry and Andy Wachowski were already ones to watch in Hollywood.

In 1996, armed with a screenplay credit from the forgettable Stallone/Banderas actioner ASSASSINS, the Chicago-born brothers now seemed to be going somewhere with a critically acclaimed thriller they had written and made their directorial debut on called BOUND. Today, the brothers are as infamous for their refusal to do any interviews as their curious mentions in the gossip columns. But in October of 1996, they were talking and I spoke with them.

At the time, I was hosting a tiny radio show in upstate New York where I was going to school. From the press I had seen on them and the film itself, they seemed like a worthy duo to talk to. Even before they tapped into the cultural zeitgeist with THE MATRIX, I had a soft spot for this interview. I spoke to them by phone and the two were obviously joined at the hip. Forget finishing each other's sentences. How about speaking the same phrases in unison! Often cracking each other and myself up with their lazy monotone voices, they brought deadpan to a whole new level.

While much of our discussion revolved around BOUND, the two do reveal their sense of humor and a bit of their sensibilities as they weigh in on what happened to ASSASSINS, a script for PLASTIC MAN, and an ambitious science fiction project they were trying to get made. I wonder how that one turned out...

Here is a transcript of my 1996 chat with Larry and Andy Wachowski.

Josh Horowitz: Larry and Andy Wachowski have directed and written the new film BOUND starring Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon. The film tells the story of Corky and Violet and a suitcase filled with two million dollars and it is generating much talk in the film world. I am pleased to welcome the Wachoski brothers. Larry, Andy, welcome.

LARRY AND ANDY WACHOSKI: (IN PERFECT UNISON) Thank you.

JH: This could be considered your big break. It's your first film that's generating some press. How difficult was it to get going on this project?

LW: It had it's difficult moments where things sort of seemed like they would fall apart forever particularly when we were trying to cast it. But as far as actually getting someone behind us, I mean Dino [De Laurentiis] really liked us after he made a lot of money on ASSASSINS.

AW: We were his good friends after that.

 
LW: We had told him we were interested in directing a movie and he's a guy who has made a career out of giving people their first break and he's great that way. He asked us what the story was about and we were a little nervous about telling him the story because he's sort of this old Italian patriarch and we knew it was going to be about lesbians. We were sort of beating around the bush trying to explain it. "There's a woman and then there's another woman..." Dino stopped us and was like...(in an Italian accent) "this first woman, she is a lesbian?!?"

AW: And we were like...uh yeah.

LW: "This second woman...she is a lesbian?!?"

AW: Um yeah, she was...

LW: Then he claps his hands and says "done we have a deal!"

JH: Yeah, I don't remember any lesbians in GODZILLA 1985.

LW and AW: LAUGHTER

AW: It was all in the subtext.

LW: It was subtext.

JH: What should a moviegoer going to see BOUND expect to see?

LW: Well, we sort of made it for people who are kind of like us who go to the movies a lot and are generally kind of bored by movies today. We tried to make a movie that was entertaining, that had sex and violence because we  
like sex and violence. And that had a lot of deeper intellectual concepts. The whole idea of playing in a genre that is so convention heavy as film noir. It's like you almost have this dialogue with your audience because they know the conventions and you know they know the conventions. You show them something and they say I know what that is and then you start to twist it and that becomes fun because with a genre like film noir, everyone has these assumptions and expectations. And once all of those things are in place, that's when you can really start to twist it about and mess around with it. And with BOUND, what we really wanted to do on another level was pull at the conventions. Because you begin to wonder why we have these conventions. Why do these stereotypes exist? What are stereotypes and where do they come from? You use that as the subtext. But that's all the boring stuff.

JH: What were the problems you encountered in casting the film?

AW: We thought we'd write a good script for women giving them the fun roles that generally men get and that women would be lining up around the block. But that wasn't the case. I guess they'd get to the sex scene and the script would go flying out their sun-roof right onto highway 10 there.

JH: You have Gina Gershon in this. Was there some ribbing about SHOWGIRLS on the set?

LW and AW: (INCREDULOUSLY) Noooooo.

AW: (FACETIOUSLY) No. Not at all. Why would you say that?

JH: Well, I heard it a got a little bit of bad press.

LW: You guys just didn't understand it.

LAUGHTER

JH: Was Dino De Laurentiis a close collaborator on the project or did he give you guys free reign?

LW: He's a guy who pretty much lets you do what you want. In the end, when you finish the film, he give his opinions. There are opinions he wants paid attention to.

AW: I mean he's been in the business for 300 years.

LW: He saw the first week of dailies and he was satisfied that we knew what we were doing and he pretty much left us alone until we were done.

JH: How does an idea like BOUND begin?

LW: Like I said, we really like the genre. People have made a lot of other comparisons but Billy Wilder is really is a heavy influence on BOUND. We felt that film noir was a genre where you could create a really contained story. We knew we wanted to be totally on a set as much as we could to get the kind of style level we were looking for. We had this idea about a woman who you would see on the street and make a host of sexual assumptions and they would all be wrong and that sort of lent itself to this constant idea of surfaces and truth under surfaces.

JH: You guys wrote the screenplay for ASSASSINS starring Sylvester Stallone a few years ago. Was that a good experience for you two?

PAUSE

AW: You're just trying to get us into trouble!

LAUGHTER

JH: What went wrong on that?

LW: The film was not really based on the screenplay. The one thing that sort of bothered us is that people would blame us for the screenplay and it's like Richard Donner is one of the few directors in Hollywood that can make whatever movie he wants exactly the way he wants it. No one will stop him and that's essentially what happened. He brought in Brian Helgeland and they totally rewrote the script. We tried to take our names off of it but the WGA doesn't let you. So our names are forever there.

JH: How did you guys start collaborating together? According to the press notes you started at age four or something...

LW: We didn't know how to answer that question in the press thing. I don't know. We've just been hanging out forever together. After college we started a carpentry business. While we were doing that, we wrote some comic books and while we were doing that, we read Roger Corman's autobiography which was truly inspirational and we decided to try to write a script for a low budget horror movie. We wrote one and that was it.

JH: Was film always ideally what you guys wanted to end up in?

AW: I guess. We've always loved going to the movies. We've been going to the movies since we were kids. Our mom and dad are big movie fans. They'd take us out on these movie orgys where we'd see sometimes three movies in a day.

JH: How do you two work together? Are you yelling at each other in a room? What's the process like exactly?

LW: Well, since we know that my ideas are always better we have an understanding in place. That was Andy by the way.

AW: No, that was Larry!

LW: Andy, Andy, Andy! Andy sucks.

JH: But seriously, is it a pretty easy relationship?

LW: You can kind of tell what's working and what isn't. We work on part of the script ourselves and then we switch. And we work on each other's and rewrite each other's stuff. It sort of works out that way.

JH: I understand you guys wrote a film for PLASTIC MAN. Is this actually going to be made into a film one day?

AW: You never know. For a while there, it looked like it was going to be another ASSASSINS.

LW: Originally they liked the script a lot and then they got a director and he didn't like the script. I don't know why directors sign on to these projects and completely rewrite everything but he rewrote it and now I guess he's not on the project anymore so we'll see.

JH: Was there a lot of research going to the comic book for that?

LW: We had read the comic book. We sort of thought it might be a funny idea. It's probably the closest script to a comedy we'll write. We thought it could be kind of cool. The basic idea we came up with was that he would be an environmentalist, almost like an Earth First-er type guy. The funny scene we thought of that was kind of the start of it all was like he goes to the bathroom after he becomes Plastic Man and his urine is no longer bio-degradable so he like wants to kill himself.

JH: Are your writing styles different? Does one of you like more action in a film or something?

AW: I tend to use more scatalogical humor than Larry.

LW: That's true. All of the butt jokes are Andy's.

JH: So what's next for both of you? What are you working on now?

LONG PAUSE

LW: There's a science fiction project that we really want to make but it's very expensive as they keep telling us so we'll see. Hopefully it will happen.

JH: Down the line are you both going to work independently or are you going to stay together?

LW: Well, we're both very very lazy and having someone else do half the work is very convenient.

JH: Do you have a prepared response when interviewers compare you to all those other famous brother filmmaking teams like the Coen brothers?

LONG PAUSE.

AW: We haven't quite gotten that response down pat yet.

LW: It's going to happen. It's automatic. We're brothers. They're brothers. We want to be compared to more sisters.

[Banky]

on TNT, they replace "My own personal Jesus Christ" with "My own personal Juvenile Delinquant"

[picolas]

on TNT, they replace "My own personal Jesus Christ" with "My own personal Juvenile Delinquant"

TBS
how about if i give you a flipper?

[Banky]

thats what i meant

[NEON MERCURY]

...o-key-doe-key..here is some more ramblings on the matrix films that I have seen......

1.0 the story is cool
2.0 effects are cool
3.0  the acting is okay
4.0 all the technical aspects are cool
5.0  dialogue is not cool...why do they talk like that?????after every line you want to do this....