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Started by SmallBlueThing, 04 February, 2011, 12:40:44 PM

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Funt Solo

Blade Runner (any cut, really, but I favor the ones without the VO) is probably in my top five movies - of any genre.

2001 is very, very good - but a bit arty farty, and loses it entirely in the last section when it goes all woo-ey.

The Matrix is buttered popcorn - I've remained surprised at fowks high regard for it all the way from its release. All FX and no substance.
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Jim_Campbell

Quote from: Funt Solo on 02 June, 2021, 09:14:46 PM
The Matrix is buttered popcorn - I've remained surprised at fowks high regard for it all the way from its release. All FX and no substance.

Disagree quite strongly. Leaving aside the astonishing drop-off in quality of the sequels, the first movie has an aesthetic that was quite unlike anything we'd seen in a mainstream Hollywood movie before (admittedly one that you could unpick various elements of, but in totality felt very new) and at its heart has a question — does it matter if you're not free if you don't KNOW you're not free? — that's surprisingly smart for a big-budget crowd-pleaser.
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Definitely Not Mister Pops

#15767
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 02 June, 2021, 10:35:33 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 02 June, 2021, 09:14:46 PM
The Matrix is buttered popcorn - I've remained surprised at fowks high regard for it all the way from its release. All FX and no substance.

Disagree quite strongly. Leaving aside the astonishing drop-off in quality of the sequels...

I would echo Jim here. The sequel's were piss poor, but The Matrix rewrote the language of action cinema in the late 90s.

I heard the Warchowskis originally wanted one of the characters to be male in the real world, but female in the matrix. The studio blocked it. In hindsight, it's obvious why the Warchowskis wanted that. The Matrix is very much pro trans. The movie says subtle yet definite things about personal identity versus public persona and how "the system" can strip those things away.

Having said all that, I suspect not many Trans people would be terribly impressed that I understand their identity through a 90s Keanu Reeves movie.

Edited for royal fuck-ups on pronouns.
You may quote me on that.

Funt Solo

Man, you guys are making solid arguments. It's been twenty-two years, so probably I should give it a re-watch.
++ A-Z ++  coma ++

milstar

Quote from: Funt Solo on 02 June, 2021, 09:14:46 PM
Blade Runner (any cut, really, but I favor the ones without the VO) is probably in my top five movies - of any genre.

2001 is very, very good - but a bit arty farty, and loses it entirely in the last section when it goes all woo-ey.

The Matrix is buttered popcorn - I've remained surprised at fowks high regard for it all the way from its release. All FX and no substance.

2001 - transcendental storyline that laments on the past, present and future of the humanity. Kubrick is genius for setting his shots. And for the music choices he used. And that time and space traveling sequence is something that is yet unseen in cinema. Simply unbeatable.

The Matrix - groundbreaking special effects for its time (though, I think it still pretty holds up) and surprising amount of thought-provoking narrative left, that is akin to 2001. Influence from manga and John Woo's movies. I don't wanna sound like conspiracy theorist, but I find the idea that we all live "in a box", aka com programme, intriguing, with the red pill to wake up and blue pill - keep going. And there's something I find relatable about the movie - "ignorance is bliss".
Reyt, you lot. Shut up, belt up, 'n if ye can't see t' bloody exit, ye must be bloody blind.

CalHab

I thought The Matrix has some impressive but overused special effects. I didn't find it particularly profound and its themes are better explored in other works. I don't really understand the regard that some people hold it in, but that's fine. After all, I spend my spare time reading comics.

My comment about Milstar's review of Blade Runner was simply that all the criticisms of it (which have some validity) are doubly true of The Matrix.

pictsy

I agree with Funt that The Matrix is buttered popcorn.  It's a fun science fiction action film.

The Philosophical concepts it explores are done in a very shallow manner and with large degrees of incompatibility.  The Brain in the Vat thought experiment and Baudrillardian theories don't really have overlap, as an example.  It's a jigsaw puzzle of borrowed ideas and references.  And that's fine.  It's clear it's set dressing. 

When I strip away the themes and ideas that don't really go anywhere in the film, I'd say the film is pretty much just about finding oneself.  It's the only theme I see that runs consistently from start to end. 

Neo is living a life defined by his environment.  He feels something is wrong and he is searching for answers.  He gets introduced to new ideas and a marginalised group of people who show him that he has been living a lie up to that point.  He has to start rebuilding his sense of self.  He finds it difficult to reconcile his old life with his new revelation.  Through conflict and struggle he finally discovers who he is and his place in the world.  He discovers his sense of self and it is (sortof) done on his own terms.

Of course, I could just be projecting.  The messianic stuff muddies a lot of things.

Jim, Mister Pops and milstar make very good points about the film.

Except... how can you say the third film is awful?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzidu-5iVRk
;)

Definitely Not Mister Pops

There's no doubt it loves the smell of its own farts and I'm not trying to argue that it's particularly profound. But it's not as dumb and crass as you would expect a movie about people in fetish gear knocking each others pans in and disco dancing their way out of gun fights to be.
You may quote me on that.

Funt Solo

++ A-Z ++  coma ++

TordelBack

Quote from: pictsy on 03 June, 2021, 10:20:55 AM

Except... how can you say the third film is awful?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzidu-5iVRk
;)

Best thing thing I've seen all week.

FTR,  I like the Matrix, and think it's a good film, but I don't really love it. At some point the SF underpinning is just too silly (for me) for a movie that takes itself so seriously.

I do however think highly of the second one, I liked the idea and execution of the ghosts and whatnot.

And I'm enjoying all the metaphors being explored on this thread, most of which hadn't occured to me: I confess the trench coats, sunglasses, redpills, and guns, lots of guns, had swamped my perceptions with their veneer of school-shooter cool. May have to re-watch.

milstar

I find Matrix sequels somewhat enjoayble; they had few really cool moments (like Neo fighting 30+ agents) or Neo vs Smith showdown... but the main issue I have with these movies is... they brought nothing to the lore, only confused it. The first Matrix had a proper conclusion on which I never thought they were gonna make a sequel or two for that matter.
Reyt, you lot. Shut up, belt up, 'n if ye can't see t' bloody exit, ye must be bloody blind.

Funt Solo

Have I mentioned my far superior idea for the third movie? In either case, I'm sure you'd love to hear it...

So, in the second movie when Neo uses magic powers outside of the Matrix to disable the baddy bots who are trying to mangle his magic floaty ship ... I thought - wtf - how can he do that? It's not like he's Jesus! (At this point, you have to realize, nobody had seen the third movie where it turns out - SpOiLeR alert - Neo is no shiz the real deal, OG, a melonfarming messiah. No way! Way! etc.)

So, how could he disable the baddy bots outside of the Matrix unless he ... was ... still ... in ... the ...

WHA?!

Yes! A matrix within a matrix. Like in Seinfeld when they make a show about nothing. Or in Curb when they make a show about The Producers within the show where Mel Brooks is trying to use the tactic from The Producers. Basically - this idea is old hat, but great.

It's time we saw the Funt-cut.
++ A-Z ++  coma ++

pictsy

Quote from: Funt Solo on 03 June, 2021, 10:07:38 PM
Yes! A matrix within a matrix.

That film exists.  It's called [spoiler]The Thirteenth Floor[/spoiler].  I don't remember whether it's an important twist to the film or not, it's been years since I last watched it.

zombemybabynow

Quote from: Funt Solo on 02 June, 2021, 09:14:46 PM
Blade Runner (any cut, really, but I favor the ones without the VO)

I showed it to my gf last week, for her first time BUT with the original with the VO - it's a futuristic film noir epic with the vo

without the vo [which i tried to watch once but couldn't dig - imho it's just epic cinematography ?!

"Sushi. That's what my ex-wife called me. Cold fish."  classic
Good manners & bad breath get you nowhere

Dark Jimbo

Cash on Demand. A taut Hammer heist movie, built almost entirely around the performances of leads Peter Cushing and Andre Morrell. Cushing is the upright, uptight bank manager forced to rob his own bank; Morrell is the charming, avuncular thief who makes him do it, on pain of his family's cold-blooded execution. This is as about as lean as thrillers get - the whole film takes place in the bank (or just outside) and there's a total cast of about ten actors; there's not a scene or line of dialogue that's not relevant to the heist, or telling us about the characters. Cushing and Morrell are a powerhouse. The pleasure of the film is not so much in seeing the heist unfold, but watching their verbal sparring. The ending falls a bit flat, which is such a shame, but for what it is the rest of the film's practically perfect.
@jamesfeistdraws