54 - A glitch in the Matrix
Hey - thanks for joining me today :)
I did a recent re-watch of the Matrix trilogy and I thought it held up incredibly brilliantly. It was on Netflix, but like two weeks ago it was taken off...at least Stan still had it. Some random thoughts below:
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The action sequences are incredibly well choreographed. I can't believe that a movie more than 20 years old could have such incredible fight scenes - does Keanu only work with killer action choreographers?! The key things that make it good:
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They don't smash cut and use shaky cam all the damn time - you actually see the choreography and how the action is happening - this video from Every Frame a Painting breaks it down using Jackie Chan as an example.
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They slow-mo the impact of the hit, so that you can actually feel how intense it is - sometimes repeating the hit so you can feel it from multiple angles.
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The fights are never overwhelmingly one-sided - there's always a give and take that keeps the tension up. They move between locations, they use the space effectively; it's insanely cool.
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Matrix Reloaded, though universally lauded as the worst of the three, had one of the most incredible car chase scenes that I've ever seen - an INSANE sequence that starts from Morpheus and Trinity leaving the Merovingian's mansion, to being picked up by a Mach 25 Neo flying from the Alps. I was so impressed that it kept the tension up for so long!
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I think this was the first watch I've had of the Matrix where I could follow the storyline, and what all the mystery and hinting was about. I even liked the scene with the Architect, since I could actually understand what the hell he was talking about. Almost as if Year 12 English was on to something...
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When I was 12, all I could remember was wanting to get a pair of sunglasses like Neo because it looked cool. It also probably influenced me into liking trench coats even though I'm short as shit and look horrible in them. I also had Matrix wallpapers, phone backgrounds and played the Playstation 2 game Enter the Matrix. I was pretty obsessed.
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I know this is kinda old now but when people talk about strong female protagonists, they bring up Ridley from Alien or Sarah Connor from the Terminator, but I mean...the Matrix has a whole bunch of them too! Trinity, Niobe, Zee (Link's wife); they're all incredibly kick-ass and were really well designed characters. The Wachowski twins are so good at this, and they were so respectful of this even in 1999! If you haven't watched Sense8, also done by them, you're missing out!
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I could NOT get the old Internet Matrix dub meme made by Knox out of my head - does anyone know what I'm talking about?! I couldn't find it other than these crappy quality versions - when I was younger I absolutely LOVED these...it's hilarious when you're like 12...
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Keanu Reeves hasn't aged a day.
Chat soon :)
✔️ Real Life Recommendations
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Watch the Matrix if you haven't already! It's a classic science fiction movie that has something for everyone. Except maybe horror fans.
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Arrival - a fantastic science fiction movie directed by Denis Villeneuve (who directed Blade Runner: 2049, and the soon-to-be-released Dune), and based on a short story written by Ted Chiang. Ted has a fascination with language as a technology and how communication is so very important between people (and also aliens?) - using a linguist to translate the alien language as well as describe the differences between human languages. A really thought-provoking movie that I highly recommend.
🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway
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Your Life is not a Hero's Journey - a contemplative video by 'Like Stories of Old', who did a 3-part series on how stories that we consume are not reality, but that they might inspire us to find better purpose in our own lives. A really comforting video in a time of uncertainty, using the Hero's Journey as a framework. Key takeaway: movies get a start and an end, but you don't. Meaning doesn't mean anything until you can see everything come together at the end of your life, so don't worry about it. Find meaning in goals you make for yourself, and purpose from achieving them.
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The $0-budget movie that topped the US box office - a light-hearted article about two guys made a film on an iPhone during quarantine, asked a local cinema to show it, bought out all the seats and put their budget at $0. This made their daily box office increase the top in the US for that day (June 10th)...the movie is about five YouTubers who join an online video-call and find themselves haunted and hunted by a mysterious internet troll. They got some YouTube-famous names there; I might watch it sometime and give y'all a review?
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AI Dungeon - an AI-powered D&D-type role-playing game that uses GPT-3 to generate prompts, adventures, characters, enemies and items. It's fascinating what technology can do!