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The Matrix Thread: Stop Trying to Post and Post
- Thread starter Büge
- Start date
Sprite
(He/Him/His)
"Oh, honestly when somebody offered me these things [pills], I went off on binary conceptions of the world and said there was no way I was swallowing some symbolic reduction of my life."
Bugs definitely reads as queer or at least gender non-conforming to me.
The best Bugs moment for me is when she goes, "What's up, Doc?"at an extremely inappropriate moment and I have to imagine she does that, on purpose, all the time.
Chad is also his actual name.
Oh right, I forgot to mention that I had seen The Matrix 4. Good shit. I like what they've done with the lore. I echo that the action scenes are miles short of the original trilogy's, but other than that I can't find a thing to harp on. I love that it's a movie that contains a parody of its own creation. Particular appreciation that it made explicit the theme that I had picked up on during my trilogy rewatch leading up to it: freed minds escaped from a system of control called The Matrix only to find themselves trapped even more desperately in a system of control called war. People speculated back in the early 2000s about whether the "real world" was another Matrix, and it's like - yeah, but only in the same sense that you can see the sound stage reflected in Smith's glasses when he's talking about how despite appearances he's not free. The answer is Yes, but as a metaphor, not a diegetic nested simulation. Though we do have those now.
On a rough consideration, the central philosophical through-line of Resurrections seems to be along the lines of "a choice between freedom and slavery is no choice at all - which means someone choosing to be free isn't really choosing anything, isn't that a wacky paradox?" and thinking along those lines means that the scene I'll be contemplating the longest is the one where Niobe asks for two volunteers and every single captain steps forward in perfect unison.
The plot element of replacing The Architect with The Analyst, a new jerk with a new, more psychological plan to keep people inside this jail-society has made me feel sheepish that I never drew a connection between The Matrix and The Prisoner before.
On a rough consideration, the central philosophical through-line of Resurrections seems to be along the lines of "a choice between freedom and slavery is no choice at all - which means someone choosing to be free isn't really choosing anything, isn't that a wacky paradox?" and thinking along those lines means that the scene I'll be contemplating the longest is the one where Niobe asks for two volunteers and every single captain steps forward in perfect unison.
The plot element of replacing The Architect with The Analyst, a new jerk with a new, more psychological plan to keep people inside this jail-society has made me feel sheepish that I never drew a connection between The Matrix and The Prisoner before.
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I rewatched the original Matrix before seeing Resurrections and I rewatched the whole trilogy this last week. I already liked Revolutions way more than a lot of people sounded like they did but if anything it's even better now. Usually I see people rank the trilogy pretty much in the order they came out but I think they're all way way closer than that with the original getting the edge because it just does so much.
So now I'm gonna rewatch Resurrections. I don't really expect my overall AHHHHHHHHHHH to change because it's still so fresh in my mind and I love it but who knows. Maybe I'll like it even more. It does nearly as much as the original does. Even if the action direction isn't quite as good for the raw fighting (Reloaded and Revolutions definitely have some weak action sections peppered in themselves), there's still a LOT of really good shit to chew on from them like random members of the general populace essentially feeling compelled to attack Neo and Trinity based on one spiteful pearl-clutching loser telling them to.
So now I'm gonna rewatch Resurrections. I don't really expect my overall AHHHHHHHHHHH to change because it's still so fresh in my mind and I love it but who knows. Maybe I'll like it even more. It does nearly as much as the original does. Even if the action direction isn't quite as good for the raw fighting (Reloaded and Revolutions definitely have some weak action sections peppered in themselves), there's still a LOT of really good shit to chew on from them like random members of the general populace essentially feeling compelled to attack Neo and Trinity based on one spiteful pearl-clutching loser telling them to.
I still don't love Revolutions as a movie in itself, but I think it works much better as a part 3 of 4 than a part 3 of 3.
This past week, I rewatched the original Matrix and then Matrix Resurrections.
My wife went to the theater to see the film with friends. I wasn't feeling great, so I stayed home and saw it on HBO. Both of us, independently, walked out after about 90 minutes had passed.
It's got to be one of the most fascinatingly clumsy films I've seen in years. Scenes transition like lightning between sterile shot-for-shot repetition of past Matrix films, characters dumping exposition like it's a first-sitting line reading, nauseating cut-ins of archival footage from past Matrix film, and wooden action scenes that only illustrate the massive chasm left by Yuen Woo-ping's absence. The action scenes often imitate the set dressing of prior movies but lack purpose, stakes, or soul. New characters seem to serve the sole purpose of pawns who must be in place to move legacy characters from scene to scene, or as expys of actors who declined to return to an aging franchise.
The meta moments did not feel like clever commentary on the nature of The Matrix as a construct, but instead as empty, winking surface-level reference, or worse, disdain on the part of the filmmakers forced to return to a franchise they wished they could leave behind.
Worst of all for me is the reduction of Trinity - a rare example of an action heroine from her era - to a prop that must be rescued. As I understand, the movie eventually allows her to reclaim her agency, but only at the end. I was not engaged enough to continue on the film's empty, stakes-free journey between flatly shot effect scenes.
I'm no Matrix super-fan, nor did I have anything riding on my enjoyment of this movie. I came in with no expectations. The original Matrix is an outstanding cyberpunk action film, and I enjoyed returning it both on its own merits and on more recent LGBT-centric readings of it. It's a film that is refreshing for its dedication to its concept and which does not care if you think it is a little bit silly.
Matrix Resurrections is a film that pats itself on the back for lines such as "I still know kung-fu."
My wife went to the theater to see the film with friends. I wasn't feeling great, so I stayed home and saw it on HBO. Both of us, independently, walked out after about 90 minutes had passed.
It's got to be one of the most fascinatingly clumsy films I've seen in years. Scenes transition like lightning between sterile shot-for-shot repetition of past Matrix films, characters dumping exposition like it's a first-sitting line reading, nauseating cut-ins of archival footage from past Matrix film, and wooden action scenes that only illustrate the massive chasm left by Yuen Woo-ping's absence. The action scenes often imitate the set dressing of prior movies but lack purpose, stakes, or soul. New characters seem to serve the sole purpose of pawns who must be in place to move legacy characters from scene to scene, or as expys of actors who declined to return to an aging franchise.
The meta moments did not feel like clever commentary on the nature of The Matrix as a construct, but instead as empty, winking surface-level reference, or worse, disdain on the part of the filmmakers forced to return to a franchise they wished they could leave behind.
Worst of all for me is the reduction of Trinity - a rare example of an action heroine from her era - to a prop that must be rescued. As I understand, the movie eventually allows her to reclaim her agency, but only at the end. I was not engaged enough to continue on the film's empty, stakes-free journey between flatly shot effect scenes.
I'm no Matrix super-fan, nor did I have anything riding on my enjoyment of this movie. I came in with no expectations. The original Matrix is an outstanding cyberpunk action film, and I enjoyed returning it both on its own merits and on more recent LGBT-centric readings of it. It's a film that is refreshing for its dedication to its concept and which does not care if you think it is a little bit silly.
Matrix Resurrections is a film that pats itself on the back for lines such as "I still know kung-fu."
Just watched it, loved it, liked the meta commentary. And I too felt like the movie was robbing Trinity of her agency too much until I realized we're watching Matrix 1 but from the pointof view of Trinity - or rather, from the PoV of Trinity's role in 1, of the one who has faith on The One. And lo and behold, who can fly now, baby? This is how you make a re-release from a different PoV, Stephanie Meyers.
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So I was struck by how much this movie reminded me of Sense 8 and now I've read that, just like in Sense 8, Lana Wachowski was filming almost everything with natural lighting and almost all effects are practical and not CGI.
This is the lovechild of Matrix and Sense 8. No wonder I liked it so much.
This is the lovechild of Matrix and Sense 8. No wonder I liked it so much.
Phantoon
I cuss you bad
I finally watched The Matrix Resurrections. I love it wholeheartedly; my big problem with the original trilogy was that it was hugely po-faced and while it had great ideas it presented them in the most indigestible way possible.
This does not do that. It's weird and meta, and sends itself up. It rights wrongs from the original trilogy, while continuing to be thoughtful and interesting. Brilliant stuff.
This does not do that. It's weird and meta, and sends itself up. It rights wrongs from the original trilogy, while continuing to be thoughtful and interesting. Brilliant stuff.
I really liked it too! It takes a step down in the action department vs. the first two (the action in Revolutions is worse than those, and largely of a different kind), but a step up elsewhere.