Re: Cosmopolis (Cronenberg 2012)

101
I have gotten to the point where I can appreciate The Matrix for its surface moments of entertainment, but really it's a jumble of shit stolen from better sci fi movies and the sequels certainly bear out the fact that the Wachowskis had little to no plan or deeper thoughts. It's a lot of cyberpunk action puke, not much else.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

Re: Cosmopolis (Cronenberg 2012)

102
Nah, I think it assembles those influences into a cohesive whole, a pop culture classic of sorts. The sequels are lame, but you can't blame them for cashing the check. If nothing else, the Wachowskis have always been about ticking boxes with certain films (Bound, Matrix sequels) to make the films they really want to make (The Matrix, Speed Racer, Cloud Atlas). When they over-reach into arthouse territory, as in Cloud Atlas, that's when they fail.

Re: The Matrix megathread

103
I think The Matrix is one where you can probably make a good argument either way; it's certainly joined the pop culture lexicon on your side of the coin but I had a fairly unpleasant 10 pm screening (drunk teenagers in the row behind us) which probably leans me in the negative direction more than anything else. Cool and influential ultraviolence for sure, Snyder certainly owes the majority of his career to its bullet-time innovation.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

Re: The Matrix megathread

104
really?
DH wrote:A New "The Matrix" Trilogy On The Way?

Andy and Lana Wachowski are reportedly developing a brand new sequel trilogy to "The Matrix" at Warner Bros. Pictures according to Latino Review.

The filmmakers have reportedly already turned in outlines and treatments to the studio who wants the first movie ready by 2017.

It isn't clear what direction the new trilogy will take, though an early outline suggests it will be a prequel exploring how The Matrix was first created. Previous tie-in material such as "The Animatrix" will NOT have any impact on the new film's story.

It's unknown if any of the original trilogy's cast will return, it also isn't known if the Wachowskis will actually direct, but it seems likely.

Nothing has been confirmed by Warner Bros. Pictures at this time. Indeed, three years ago came talk of a revival of "The Matrix" franchise with dual films - a report which never panned out. Will this one hold true?

Re: The Matrix megathread

111
Quick review - this movie is fucking terrible. Paused after 90 min for a bathroom break only to realize there was an hour left. So instead we all spent the next hour talking about how terrible this movie was. I’ll never know how it ended. Hopefully with an IED for everyone behind the camera.

Re: The Matrix megathread

112
That pretty much sums up my feelings too. I kept wondering if I was missing something because it's been 20 some years since I saw the originals. But no, I don't think that was it. I did sit though the whole thing and trust me it just got dumber by the end. Remember kids, love conquers all!
Just cut them up like regular chickens

Re: The Matrix megathread

113
I mean it’s really bad. They took the parts of 2 and 3 that made people hate them and made the entire film about that. So hey, if you really love the “real world” of the matrix, i guess this is for you? I don’t know who could possibly care about “hey look, it’s 85 year old naiobi!”, but i guess there’s an audience as i’ve heard people talk about how great this is. To me, as soon as the films introduced “the real world” underground society, that’s the moment it started sucking. The more time they spent there, the more it sucked, which is why 3 was total shit. At least 2 had that sick car chase scene. And now, here we are, however many years later, back in “the real world”, where only two main actors returned to reprise their roles. One of which, by the time i bailed, had been in the film for about 30 seconds. One of the other things that was great about the first one was the soundtrack. This doesn’t even have that. Seriously, by 90 min in, nothing happens. Nothing. “Lana” W clearly thinks very highly of themselves and their writing/dialog as that’s all we get here. Dive into the shit “real world” and have endless exposition, all set to soothing ambient sounds.

Right now, with four entries (not counting animatrix), this franchise is around 35% (giving part 2 10 points for the action sequences). If you graphed the quality of the franchise over time, it would be a graph of exponential decay. The only reason we’re talking about it was the first one was so fucking good. After that, oof. And this is peak shit. Even the nine main entries of the SW franchise, as much as quite a few of them are shit, ends up around 50% for me (where most have a binary score, but ep 1 gets points for a couple sequences and darth maul, and ROTJ gets points removed for the ewok subplot). Really, this film caused me to think about the idea of franchises in general (properties with more than three movies). Outside of and until the MCU, the only ones to do it mostly at least ok are horror films. I mean, you have your big three - F13, NOES, and Halloween. Of those, F13 is probably most consistent, with Halloween having more swings for the fences - some of them just don’t work well. But believe me, I am well aware horror doesn’t ALWAYS do it well. Tons of examples of films that didn’t need one sequel let alone ten. But i’d still rather sit through Amityville 5 than this huge, steaming pile of shit again.

Re: The Matrix megathread

114
This is definitely a franchise that shouldn't have been. I was never a huge fan of the first one, but I can at least appreciate what it did and the new things it introduced. 2 and 3 really didn't need to be. The story they tried to introduce was paper thin. And 4 is so far up it's own meta ass that I'm pretty sure it found what was left undigested of the red pill from the first movie. You'll be happy to know Carrie-Anne Moss did get more than 90 seconds, by the end I'd say she had almost a solid 3 minutes. I kept thinking, wow, she got a cushy gig. Probably got paid a ton to come back and barely had to show up.
Just cut them up like regular chickens

Re: The Matrix megathread

115
Yeah. Also, in the 90 min I watched, they used CGI “bullet time”, which I found extremely annoying. They’re not even using the thing they created 20+ years ago in their own movie. Get fucked.

BUT… maybe this film is just a long ad for the new video game. Because that 8 min preview was fucking amazing looking and could be a huge deal. Haven’t the last several films from this director and/or director team been widely panned for being fully bloated and confusing as hell? Maybe take the hint and stick to video games.