Red Hot '90s Action Summer: Reloaded (4) THE MATRIX

Episode Transcript
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(00:31):
It's red hot 90s action summer. Here at the Blood and Black Rum
Podcast, we're covering your favorite sweaty 90s action
movies all month long. Expect stunts galore,
transportation mishaps, and lotsand lots of hench men.
We've got Schwarzenegger, Chan, possibly even Reeves.

(00:52):
It's going to be hot and steamy all August long.
Hey guys, welcome back to the Blood Micron podcast.
I'm Ryan from Colts waydation.com and I'm joined of
my Co host Martin. How's it going?
I'm doing OK, but again, you know, we're coming town to the
end of our son, our season. It's the final episode of the

(01:15):
red hot 90s action Summer Reloaded.
Unfortunately, I can't believe it's already over.
Four weeks goes by real fast, especially when you're old.
It's just like it. Just goes by even faster at that
point. And yeah, we've got a good run
of movies. And I think today the show, the
episode is a culmination of kindof the things that we've been

(01:39):
working through with this part of the road.
Hot 90s action summer. Kind of reminiscent of Total
Recall. Both on I would say.
Both on opposite spectrums of the decade, one to 98.1 to 99.
True. Yeah.
Also true. Yeah.
This in night. Yeah.
This one was pushing the limit of where the 90s action summer

(02:02):
could go because it was right onthe cusp of of being in the 90s.
And, you know, again, to revisiting a man who has been
part of the Red Hot 90s Action summer previously, of course, I
did that so much so that I didn't even need to change the
introduction for our for our show, because we did pick most,

(02:23):
mostly people that had already been in Red Hot 90s Action
summer for the the previous year.
So that made it kind of easy. And I had to, I just threw in
Arnold's name then instead. But of course, talking about Mr.
Reeves, not Christopher, of course.

(02:46):
Different Reeves. See him in John Carpenter's
Village of the Damned. That's right, a mid 90s middling
effort. Yeah, which you've done.
You should. Yes, well, let's let's see.
That's what I was doing there. Circles all work.
And today, yeah, so again, I mean, I we're kind of working
through most of the things that we've we've done similarly and

(03:09):
the science fiction bent as well.
And also, you know, kind of joining in on the fun of
something like our other 90s film that we did probably about
a year ago now. Hackers, you know, very kind of
kind of similar ideas, a similarscope, even sometimes similar

(03:29):
sound design, music design as Hackers and we did back in the
day. So we're talking about the 1999
film The Matrix. The little, the little film that
could. Little little known film that's
probably, you know, most people probably never even heard of
this movie. I can't.
Do it, You know? You know, you know what's a good

(03:50):
band you probably never even heard of?
That's kind of goes well with this movie.
Probably never heard of them. You know The Flaming Lips.
The Flaming Lips. Yeah, you know, just a little.
Just a little bit. Not only that, Rage Against the
Machine as well probably never heard of them either.
You know, I can't. I, I have and I was disgusted
with their politics and I, you know, to be honest with you, I

(04:12):
like them when like they didn't do that.
I thought they literally meant against a machine like in the
Matrix. Yeah, yeah, Rage Against it.
Or like, you know, being mad about the copy machine.
It's out of paper again. Or.
Try, Try again. Tom Morello.
Yeah, I didn't realize they weretalking about the machinations
of the actual, you know, politics and things.

(04:36):
We've also, and so I we also didn't, we didn't mention this
either, but Ghost in the Shell, another film that we've.
We did both right. We did the remake and we did the
original. Yeah, we did the Yeah.
Yeah. Well.
We we haven't, we haven't done the second film in a sense.
No, we didn't do it. Yeah, There's no.
But we did the original yes, as I like to call it.

(04:57):
It's I think our only anime title so far.
Yeah, probably. We haven't even touched like
Acura or anything like that. But yeah.
And this film, you know, The Matrix is kind of hard to doubt
the prevalence of something likeGhost in the Shell in terms of
its influences, because it kind of wears it on its sleeve a

(05:18):
little bit. But at the same time, as we were
jugging about in 1999, The Matrix was fucking huge.
Huge, unlikely, huge, you know, 'cause it's not necessarily a
movie that on the surface, like when you just think, you know,
you hear about it, you'd think like, wow, majority of the
population will be really interested in this type of

(05:40):
movie. But at the time it was quite
big. And I think so much so that,
like you said, as a millennial, you kind of expected to have the
knowledge and the, the viewing experience of having seen The
Matrix at some point in your life.
Right, 'cause it's, if you haven't, it's kind of, it's kind
of weird. It's like eventually everybody

(06:01):
will see the matrix. But also too, I mean it had easy
competition looking at like the box office that it opened up
against forces of nature. What?
Don't know that? Fucking what?
Movie. Was that again?
Forces of nature like Sandra Bullock ROM com with Ben

(06:25):
Affleck. Don't ever remember that piece
of shit. 10 Things I hate about you OK?
Well, a little bit of a different demographic, I feel
like. The out of Towners, the Steve
Martin Goldie Hawn turd. Again, not not a memorable 1.
I don't recall analyze this OK. OK, so you know, we get, you

(06:50):
know, there's there's a film there in ATV.
And that one was not a super popular movie as well, although
I do remember it coming out. I don't really know that much
about it. Literally the only films out of
that that I can pick out would be 10 Things I Hate About You
and Analyze. This.
So are you saying that the Wachowski's had it easy and that
was what was what caused the boxoffice success that The Matrix

(07:13):
had? Yeah.
Because you know what, I think it like this.
Remember guys gotta go back. It's the late 90s, you know,
there's lines out your local cinema and people are looking
like, especially if you're a small town, like, oh, it's like
back in 99 we still only had a two film theater.
Yeah, two film theater you. Know at the holiday at the at

(07:33):
the Holiday Inn, at a certain. Point.
You had to just basically make adecision like, which of these
movies do I care about a little bit more?
You know you're going. You're going there.
And you're about to like, like, tickets for what?
And they're like forces of nature or The Matrix.
And then you see a bunch of people walking out of forces of
nature be like, what the fuck was this piece of shit?

(07:54):
And you're like, I don't know anything about this new Keanu
Reeves movie, but you know, the guy from, you know, P BS
Playhouse is there Cowboy Curtis?
So we're going to go with that one.
You do. Forget at the time that you know
it, things were a lot different when you went to see movies.
There wasn't, you know, that, that you weren't referring to

(08:16):
the Internet to see what was playing.
He didn't have huge movie theaters at that point.
You had me did. You had maybe some people did,
but yeah. Moviefone, what have you even.
Bothered to call it right because you might just be like
well I fuck it, let's just go see what's there.
I don't. I don't even.
Which is like a fun, like funny thing to think about, like a
like a thing that was like existed in like it's own little

(08:41):
four year span of like you call the phone number and you get to
find out your local theater and like the movies and times
they're playing. You know I.
Think that's too. You know, that's kind of the
idea behind The Matrix too, is it is very much a product of its
time. And we have to also we we can't
discount the fact that so this movie released in March of 1999,

(09:03):
what else was coming at the end of 1999?
Y2K, right? And so The Matrix does kind of
play into that a little bit, that Y2K aesthetic of like, it's
the dawn of a new, you know. A new Everything's going to come
crashing down, yeah. So you do have that kind of
playing into it as well that, you know, it's a really weird

(09:26):
time to think about as what? Like because of the sort of
prophesizing that was going on about Y2K that really when you
stop and think about it was likereally, we all believe that at
the time. Like it, it's like, it sounds
really stupid, but at the time it, I remember being just so
slightly nervous about Y2K. Oh, I I.

(09:49):
I stayed up until new year to see if like something like I
guess the computer was. Crazy.
And is it going to blow up? Is it going to add away?
If our like little 19, like 98 Windows 98 compact was going to
like just sizzle because it's going to.
Lecture me on my browser history.
I don't, you know. If you use Netscape, Netscape

(10:09):
never judged. This was also a time period too
when you know there and probablyeven a little bit later than
this, but there was like stupid things that we would do with
computers all the time. Like I remember for me it was
like a badge of honor. If my AIM like profile had been
on for like days, I don't know why it was.

(10:32):
I think I gauged myself on is. I think that was on for three
days. I think that's a lot of people I
I would say, but I never I wouldsay you only having a younger
sister. I never got that joy because it
was a fight. It was a fight, you know, it was
a fight to see who's going to beon the computer.
And also too with the film makesa lot of makes a big connection

(10:54):
to which a lot of people if you weren't of the time, you
wouldn't get unless like a millennial or Gen.
X are explained to you. It's like, why are they using
phones and you know, and payphones, payphones to get, you
know, to get back in. And it's like, well, the
Internet was all ran through telephone line.
It's very like, again, it's verymuch a product of its time.

(11:17):
And, and I do think, you know, looking back at it, it's sort of
like that hacker's aesthetic that we talked about too, which
I think I believe is like in 1995 where it, it has the
semblance of looking like, you know, to, to an audience at that
time, like looking like, you know, what you're talking about
when it comes to hacking and computers and things.

(11:37):
But like, it's all a bunch of mumbo jumbo when it really comes
down to it. I think the Matrix has that too.
But it the good thing about the Matrix, which we'll talk about,
is that it doesn't necessarily even try to explain much of
what's going on in turn, like like the actual science or the
computer science behind what's going on.
It's kind of just presented to the audience.

(11:58):
And it's like here, you know, this is part of the world that
this is living in. So just accept it, you know
isn't. It neat like you know it's not
concerned with like techno Babble.
Yeah, but. Also, I was going to say also to
to the sorry to interrupt the point like about hackers like
again, like it's funny to think like within four years, the tech

(12:19):
from hackers. So like the tech from the
Matrix, it's just like so funny to think of.
It's like such like a like on a dime, you know these things, you
know? I think we also.
Change the technology change so quick and rapidly.
It's like, you know how we've talked before, like you know,

(12:40):
like, oh, you had that's that one type of cell phone, that
BlackBerry. Well, within two years that
thing was already outdated, gone, and like you were fucked,
you know? It's also you can't, we can't
discount things like ghost in the shell from, you know, the
original ghost in the shell fromthe manga set around like 1989

(13:01):
was originally written being, you know, a precursor to things
like that. We would actually end up seeing
in, in stuff like the Matrix because it, they, they very much
were, you know, again, we, we mentioned it, we haven't covered
it before, but Akira as well-being sort of like that
cybernetic element of what we kind of see a little bit in the

(13:22):
Matrix. I think that they were all, you
know, prescient displays of whattechnology like where, where
films like The Matrix would go even back in 8889.
They were kind of precursors to what would influence the Matrix
later on in 1999. So all those things really came
to to be. But but again too, as we'll

(13:45):
probably discuss when we get into the movie a little bit
more, The Matrix itself is very much a influential film in its
own right. You know, it culls from a lot of
those other things, but it's kind of it makes its own mark,
especially with its discussion about simulations and things
like that. I don't want to get too far into

(14:07):
that right now, but I do think the Matrix has its own very
important niche in the the universe of cybernetic science
fiction film. You know, that makes it pretty
important even to this day, especially watching it now and
again. There are things about it that
will probably point out that like maybe have an age as well.

(14:30):
But I think, you know, just revisiting it today again
because it was really, I think it's probably my only my second
time seeing this movie. I've I watched it way, way, way
back, probably been 20 years at least by now.
And now it's probably the only time I've seen it.
So I really didn't remember it extremely well.
You know, obviously I remember parts of it and, and sequences

(14:50):
that have been pretty big and pop culture, but I didn't
remember like every single scenario that occurs in the
movie. And watching it now, I still
think it holds up pretty well interms of, you know, an
entertaining movie and how it presents its ideas.
So I'm sure we'll get more into that as we, you know, discuss
the movie forthright. But really interesting dynamic

(15:11):
for this movie. And again, too, can't discount
the fact that Total Recall kind of does that same idea in that
it presents this scenario where you might choose to live an
alternative lifestyle that is not in reality.
It's like a construct of something that you decide that

(15:32):
you want to have play out for you instead of your real life.
And I think that idea is pretty prevalent in the Matrix as well.
Now that blue and red pill thing, the red pill is the same
thing as in Total Recall. You have to take the red pill if
you want to, you know, escape the, you know, the fever tree.

(15:53):
That the offer, yeah, the offering of of choice in that
matter of yeah, what do you wantto do?
Like how would you like to experience, quote UN quote, like
life in reality? So yeah.
And we'll talk about that a lot more.
But first, let's take a break real quick and talk about the
beer that we have on the show today, because we have a new

(16:16):
beer we're and we're kind of this.
I feel like this is a lead in tothe Halloween season as well,
that it's a lead in to where we're going with our next
seasonal episodes because we're talking about a wise beer.
I should say probably vice be vice be.

(16:38):
If I want to be, if I want to pronounce it I.
Want to take you. I want to take you to like
Oktoberfest in like Germany or like over to it.
You know, the Netherlands and you can be like they just look
at you side. I'd like you're the the idiot

(17:00):
American, like, you know, like. Yeah.
Actually, you know what? That's not a tortilla.
It's a tortilla. You know, that's and if you
really want to be authentic, it has to be corn vice vice.

(17:21):
Beer. So I'll let you take it, though
you're the one that picked it out.
What were you thinking when you grabbed this particular beer?
Well, I was originally thinking grabbing Abita's Purple Haze
because I've never had it. It's always been, I know you had
this. That's why I kind of went away
from it, but I've never had it. And I was looking at, you know,

(17:45):
they're newer box art. And I'm like, man, you know,
that's something that like, I feel like Keanu Reeves would be
like, yeah, man, it's cool. We're trying Crunchy Locker.
Yeah, you know, whatever. And I was thinking about getting
it and I had that one picked outand as I was locking the
beverage center, I saw a new, excuse me, new German beers from

(18:08):
a brewery based in Germany that we've actually never had before.
And I was very surprised by it. Now, granted, at this point too,
it's hard to kind of tell outside of Hofbrau 'cause they
have chesty barmaids. It's kind of hard to tell which,
you know, beer maker you like you're getting half the time
'cause they all have a Benedict monk on it.

(18:29):
So. Which is strange enough because
again, the brewery is called theBenedictor.
And Benedict Diner. Benedict Diner and I.
Saw they had a couple of four packs of tall boys for 899, very
reasonable. And I saw that they had their

(18:52):
wife's Spirit, which is 1/2 of Eisen.
And I was like, we're about to end summer.
I'm like very good now so that. That was the idea behind it.
And yeah, again, too, we do like, you know, our, our local
store generally does get in a few imports like this of

(19:14):
traditional traditionally made German beers.
And I think every time we see something new we we're
interested in, we try to try to grab it.
We're kind of like Sierra Nevadaover here where we try to, we
try to have a collaboration withevery German beer that we can
find. So we're we like to equate

(19:35):
ourselves to Syrian that over. But I do think that we we do try
to look outside the box a littlebit and see any of these German
beers that we've never really had for imports.
And it's fun to try them out andsee which ones.
You know, I've never really had a bad one that we've gotten
from, you know, from an import style like this.
But you know, I, I. I would say the same thing.

(19:58):
I can't think of one that was like very disappointed.
No, but I mean, every every one of them has been great.
And I really like I enjoy tryingout new German beers that you
don't necessarily get for imports.
So I think this is the same idea.
And this one is a a Weiss beer, which is just, you know, German
for wheat beer, But it's it definitely has the Hefeweizen

(20:24):
element to it. You know, it's not doesn't say
it by name, but it certainly hasthe the half of flavor.
It's got that nice banana Y clove taste to it, which, you
know, for an undistinguished drinker as we used to be at one
point, that might be a turn off for some because I do remember

(20:44):
trying half of Isens previously and thinking, wow, this beer is
strange. It's, you know, it's got these
banana Y flavors and clove Y flavors and I'm not sure about
that coriander, I think. I think also, too, we we had
Saranac and Sam Adams. Yeah.
If you reach back in your memory, they, Sam Adams did
have, you know, half of Visen out like all the time.

(21:07):
It's coastal wheat and it was terrible, yes.
And I'm, I'm, you know, I'm not a big banana person myself, but
I have really come come around to enjoy half of Eisen flavors
and, and wise beer flavors. And I think that part of that
too is that they, they're actually very, very good for
summer, summer type beers because they do go down very

(21:28):
smooth in a warm and hot climate.
And I think like that's kind of overlooked sometimes with a
wheat beer, especially because when you think wheat, I don't
want a heavy wheat, you know, flavor weediness to it when I'm,
you know, sweating my ass off. Well, that's not entirely true
because they often tend to be light bodied, flavorful and

(21:52):
just, you know, overall smooth and refreshing to drink.
And I think that's the same. That's how I feel about this
Benedictiner wise beer. I think it's very good.
It has a nice banana Y Clovy flavor to it, not overpowering,
not super strong. The flavour profile is really
nice. The mouthfeel is very light.
It's light bodied, perfect for like a warmish type day or a you

(22:18):
know, moving into fall type day like we are today where it's,
you know, kind of been warm, butalso, you know, in the shade it
can be cooler. I think this is a perfect beer
for this time moving into more oktoberfesty styles and I I
think Benedictiner does a reallygood job with this white beer.
I would definitely check this out again, Very, very
refreshing. Probably the only downside to

(22:39):
this is that it's only a four pack.
That's that's rough. It's a four pack of the one
point .9 fluid ounces or 500 milliliters as they if if you're
measuring in milliliters for some reason with your test tubes
and stuff. But I would say that that's the

(23:00):
only downside for it's a four pack, at least for me.
Yeah, I can't. I can't praise it enough.
I love these styles. This is like.
And a Belgian whipped beer wouldbe very similar to this too,
just in Belgium. Yeah.

(23:23):
It's nice and I was taking a step.
Sorry. It's got a great mouth feel,
very smooth, easy drinking, nicelike kiss of orange peel, nice
coriander, hints of banana and clove give it a spicy roundness
and also, you know, the fruitiness to make just pair so
well together. It's got like a nice yeasty, you

(23:47):
know, taste to it too, because style.
I love it and I can't say enough.
I wish more local breweries did half of Eisens, it'd be great.
Alas, they don't. But I can't say enough good
things. If you see a German, you know,
import German beer and it's a Weiss beer, I can grab it.

(24:10):
They're always good. The other thing I wanted to
mention too about it is one thing that, you know, we kind of
never mentioned when we do theselike imports, they're always
older. Shit.
They've been around for 500 years, but it's great.
They've literally like been like, you know, they brew
according to Ito German, you know, beer laws where they kill

(24:31):
you, you know, three ingredients.
And it's like the recipes are the same and they're always
great. And it's just it's just amazing
to think of. It's like, you know, they
haven't been tinker, you know, tinkering around with it.
It's like, no, this is what we've been drinking for 500
years. Fucking.
Yep, the malts had to be harvested, you know, full moon

(24:55):
and they can only brew every Thursday and Sunday.
But. The.
Rules are there for a but. It is and it because it works,
because what you get bounty thatyou get back is so delightful,
so. Yeah, sometimes the rules are
there for a reason so that you you ensure that everybody's

(25:15):
making quality beer. So I would I would definitely
agree with it. Yeah, I definitely and I'm
excited. I haven't tried it yet.
But you also, you know, we we don't have it on this show, But
you also got the Benedict Diner.I quote a fest, the fest Beer,
No. No, just the fest beer.
Not the yeah, not not the American it's.

(25:36):
Not American, it's a a fest beer, but I'm excited to try
that as well. See how Benedict Diner does with
that one too. Which?
That's not, I mean, if we go on and do it for the podcast we
can, but I'm drinking them before, sure.
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I probably will as well.
I'm just gonna crack into those probably tomorrow.
But yeah, I was just saying I'm excited to check them out as

(25:57):
well. So they.
Don't do I say they do not do a regular traditional Martsen.
They got from what their websitedoes.
They they got the HEF, they got a hellas, they got a dunkle, an
alcohol free HEFA and I'm. Kind of not surprised.
I mean, the Meritsen is really not super heavily now for for

(26:22):
German beers. It's more so an American style
at this point. But you know, the fest beer kind
of proliferates is the German beer of choice for Oktoberfest
styles. So I'm not surprised.
But it was fun doing some of those ones where they made both
and check them both out. Yeah, I'm curious to see how

(26:43):
they do with the Oktoberfest. So, all right, so let's talk The
Matrix very, you know, very important movie, as you talked
about from the 90s. Probably one of the biggest
things that stands out immediately about The Matrix in
terms of like what people know about the Matrix is that green
code, the green scrolling code that kind of has proliferated

(27:05):
into popular culture. When you think about like
hacking and computer stuff. Yeah, Techno, you probably think
green code and that's thanks to The Matrix.
Big, big, big deal at the time, for whatever reason.
I don't, you know, I don't necessarily looking at the film

(27:26):
now, it's not a huge, huge element of the movie to say
like, oh, there's all this greencode everywhere and stuff like
that. And even when you think about
the movies whole color scheme and everything, you can't.
You probably would think like the Matrix is full of diffuse
green, but it really is not. You know, it's not the sickly
green of a Saw film anymore. Well, I was.

(27:46):
Going to say I think like so we can thank I think this film for
the early 2000s into the mid 2000s films being in love with a
green filter. Yeah.
I. Mean it.
It does have a green filter to acertain extent, but I don't
think it has like it's not as pronounces what we would get

(28:07):
later on, I don't think. I think they people saw it and
they kind of took it to a further level than what the
Matrix actually does. Well, I was, I was saying, let's
say, well, it works 'cause it's like it's when they're in the
matrix, you know, it's not like,when it's not like when they're
on the ship, the Nebuchadnezzar.That's like the way green.

(28:27):
Filter and again too, you know, I, I kind of like the idea
because again, we're, we're as the audience sort of peering
through the Matrix's code as they show routinely in the movie
where people are just staring into computer screens of code
that that's green and like, you know, presumably they're able to
see through that code to actually what's occurring.

(28:48):
I, I like the idea. I think that works really well
in terms of like presenting it as sort of a little greenery.
But I will say what I like even more, especially towards the
beginning of the film when we actually meet up with Neo, we're
also known as Mr. Anderson. I really like 'cause I, I like
those Paul Thomas Anderson. Paul.
Yes, Paul. Thomas Anderson.

(29:12):
Wait, no, it's just Thomas Anderson.
Completely different. Completely different Anderson,
but I what I like about those opening moments when we first
start meeting Keanu Reeves in those scenarios is that this
this world in the matrix that hethought that we'd want to live
in is like here's corporate world for you.
You like you like pretending of stuff is reality here you work

(29:35):
in this nine to five really boring.
You kind of hate your job, but like that's that's reality for
you. That's what you're expecting.
See. Little known fact that this
movie is actually a companion piece to 1999's by Judge Film
Office Space. You know that's right.
It is. And I'll say Ron Livingston is

(29:56):
also trying to find his way out of the nature.
Ron Livingston is also, yeah, he's kind of an alternative Neo
who's like, you know, the secondone is Ron Levison.
The second one, if Neo doesn't make it out, then it's Ron
Levison. But he's just.
Like, I always want to get drunkand have sex with Jennifer,
Jennifer Aniston, you know, and hang out.

(30:16):
And with Dedrick Bader and one of his finest roles.
It is funny though, like you said, I mean, that's the they're
very kind of the scope of that idea is very similar of seeing
through the ruse of reality of like that's all there is, is
like corporate world working fora dude.
Because again, there's a great sequence at the beginning of the
movie where Keanu Reeves, you know, he's initially being

(30:39):
presented with the matrix element and Carrie Ann Moss is,
you know, has met up with him ata a nightclub and they're
listening to Rob Zombie and kindof hitting it off a little bit
and vibing a bit. And you know it, it could be the
scene from Blade, the nightclub scene from Blade, but it's not,
it's a little bit different in the Matrix here.
And he goes to work the next dayand he's late, right?

(31:01):
He's like 915 when he wakes up. And he, you know, he knew that
this was going to happen previously.
That's why he didn't want to go in the first place.
Well, his the guy was always like, yeah, you want to fly, do
some mess going. Yeah, that's that's another
thing too. Maybe you just didn't want to be
around. This feud is like you have some
casual mescaline, man. See, that's why the 90s rave

(31:22):
scene also died too 'cause it's like, alright, let's go rave and
then you get out in the world. It's like Rob.
Zombie bad mix. I don't know you're in for a bad
time. You're certainly not going to
wake up for work on time the next it's.
Like, oh, what happened to de laswollen ecstasy?
Like what's that's? Right.
But what I found really funny islike, yeah, Keanu Reeves has to

(31:45):
go into work and his boss basically lectures me.
You don't like, you're not a fanof authority, are you, Mr.
Anderson? It's like, no, who the fuck is a
fan of authority? Who is sitting around like, I
can't wait until someone tells me what to do.
Thank you so much Boss have. You met a lot of people.
I believe you. Know, I know, I know, but I
mean, I'm just like, it's just funny too, because like when you

(32:07):
think about it in the in the in the scope of this movie, like I
feel like I would answer like, no, I don't fucking like
authority, Like, well, what a stupid question you're asking
me, boss. But I do like that whole like
beration scene of like, you're going to find yourself out of
here. You're going to you have a
choice to make because it sets up that whole idea of, you know,
making a choice later on and youknow, Neo being the one and what

(32:30):
kind of choices is he going to make in his life, the fate and
and things like that. I really like that whole opening
sequence again too. And I think that's part of the
reason why the Matrix is a well renowned film.
And this in like I said, I have not seen the sequels, but I feel
like the sequels were not well received is because there is a
magic to this this first movie of of you as the audience being

(32:56):
one with Neo and sort of also being presented with the idea of
the Matrix and kind of working through it with him, which I
think is part of the charm of the idea of the Matrix.
And when you try to sequelize that and you try to expand upon
a difficult concept where it relies on the audience to that

(33:17):
art now already knows the magic in the, you know, the universe.
So I got news for you. That's like half the problems
with the sequels. Is it that it becomes like, if
you're the layman and you have like the architect, like running
down like Socratic theory and you're like, what the fuck's

(33:38):
going on? Like, you know.
I. What's you know, I thought the
Oracle was just cool, like. I definitely could see that
because I think, like I said, I think the charm in The Matrix is
being there and being presented with the ideas.
And I definitely remember back in the 90s when people saw The

(33:58):
Matrix, you know, like that movie was fucking confusing,
man. I don't even know what was going
on in that movie. And now when you kind of watch
it and you're like, how did you not know what was going?
Like? There's not it's not like this
movie is like some conundrum paradox that's like always out
of just out of reach of understanding.
It's how. Dare you this this film is the

(34:22):
millennial version of Odysseus. Well, I would argue that the
Winchowski's did not mean to admire it in any sort of like
cloudiness of, of of a haze where the audience was not Privy
to the ideas behind the Matrix. It is like literally presented
to you because you're there withNeo and Morpheus is like, here's

(34:43):
what's going on, you know? Basically and sit down and talk
about it's an, and it's an action film.
Yeah. Because like the difference is
like when it comes to like comparing this to say the
original 95 Ghost in the Shell anime, though Ghost in the
shells only 88 minutes. One of the big questions about

(35:05):
the the film is that, like, is the major, you know, does she
have a soul, a ghost, as they say, because she's a Cyborg,
right? And they delve deeply into,
like, having diatribes and, like, soliloquies dedicated to

(35:25):
this and like trying to, you know, talk about the
philosophical theory. They.
Don't do that here. It's literally like this is what
happened. This is how we got here.
This is what we're trying to fight.
And I like a lot of like the main story beats are literally
very basic hero Jesus, you know,metaphor like, you know, Messiah

(35:52):
type things. It's not.
There's nothing like, if you're still like, if somebody were to
watch this film today and be like, I don't know what the hell
is going on, then you're retarded.
Like, it's not like, like, it's not like it's not like a brain
Buster. Yeah.
And I think that's, you know, again, like I said, that's part
of the charm of like the of seeing this movie, the first
movie, because you're you're basically Keanu Reeves in this

(36:15):
in this movie. Yeah.
You know, because the film kind of treats you as though you're
there with Neil and he's basically being given a
historical rundown by Morpheus alike a literal sit down of like,
here's what happens. You know, there's a war between
the AI and and, and you know, this was what happened to the

(36:36):
cities. Everything is a wasteland.
And what you're seeing is just the matrix, a code that was
written so that you know, because otherwise you wouldn't
want to live in this anymore. And they're harvesting you.
And I don't think that the idea behind the Matrix is like
particularly hard to understand.I think the concept of it is

(36:59):
what we routinely now in, in, incurrent times talk about as like
living in a simulation, right? That's the whole idea of like
sometimes. And that that also, I shouldn't
discount the fact that that did propagate from the Matrix to
some extent, because we have a lot of speech about the Matrix
that came out of this film, You know, red Pilling.

(37:21):
I mean, I'm not I'm not saying that a lot of it is good, good
stuff that came out of the Matrix, but it is stuff that
stuff that came from the matrix.That's correct.
That is exactly what I meant. But yet, you know, you have
stuff like Red Stoner. Stoners like, you know, being
like, what if everything is just.
You know exactly, exactly and and again too.

(37:44):
That's it's the concept of living in a simulation or, you
know, a reality of your own making is not like new to the
matrix. I mean, philosophically, that
was propositions that had been amused on for, you know, many
hundreds of years of, of the fact that like a reality that is

(38:06):
presented to one person is not the reality of another person,
even though they may be living in the same house, that reality
is different. And, you know, I don't think
that it's not a difficult concept.
It is in some part a philosophical and moralistic,
you know, conflict between what you believe in, in terms of

(38:28):
religious deities or a fate or however you want to see the
outlook of, of, of your own reality is kind of at, at play
with the, how the matrix dives into that.
Because in the matrix, it is sort of like a, you know, a
religious, it doesn't have a really defined religious element

(38:51):
to it. Besides the fact that, as you
said, there is that Jesus archetype of Neo being sort of
the the Jesus that's coming to save everyone.
Like he is the Messiah, like it's a, you know, stand then.
But yeah, I mean like it like again, it's like a really neat
idea. I I do love like the whole setup
of the movie of like you know Neo being your down on the luck,

(39:15):
you know bored hacker hacker. Dude, they.
Don't get even even get really too into like his hacker dude
like hack sores dudes friends oranything.
Like he sells floppy disks with like illegal software on it.
The one thing I cracked up and laugh at was like at the
opening. I love in movies when like
somebody just is typing on your computer and it's like popping

(39:38):
up on the screen. There's like no DOS prompt or
anything. I didn't chat.
You're. Like, yeah, like there's no chat
box or anything. It's just like wake up Neo.
And it's like what? I always find that to be like
really funny because it's just like stupid funny.
The. Instant messaging capability.
I love, I do love that too. I think that's, you know, that's

(39:58):
a a staple of nineties, 2000s era technology movies too.
But like I just like I like again like it like Keanu Reeves
is a very good everyman for thissure and fresh.
Off yeah, I mean, I mean not fresh, but you know from speed
as well-being sort of a stand infor your Everyman Jack

(40:21):
character. I think at this time in his
life, Keanu Reeves was a very good.
What's going on? Actor?
Yeah. He was a mirror for the audience
in all of these roles of like, Idon't know, he's really good at
it. I.
Just had an idea, why hasn't somebody made it like either

(40:45):
like a edit or like insert Like why wasn't Dennis Hopper, Agent
Smith? I know.
Hot quiz hotshot it. Would have been great.
But yeah, I mean, I, I think Keanu Reeves does a great job in
this role of, you know, and it'ssomething that kind of has come
back to haunt him a little bit and is later career of, of the

(41:07):
earlier, you know, kind of like dude aesthetic of Keanu Reeves
characters. But I think he does a great job
of being the everyman guy. And here, particularly as a guy
who is literally transported into an alternate reality, sort
of a la Alice in Wonderland, which the film references
multiple times, I think that he does a great job of, of, of

(41:31):
being the stand in for the audience, something that you're,
you know, you really need in a movie like this to cement the
audience in that reality and kind of get them accustomed to
what's going on. If Carrie Ann Moss comes to you
in a nightclub, are you going tofollow her?
From yeah, from a 1999 matrix. Sure.

(41:52):
Yeah, I mean, clad in leather, you know?
Yeah, probably. So obviously making the joke in
my head, I was thinking I was really smart about it.
Like I was like, yeah, Carrie Anne Moss.
She's like the, you know, poor man, Canadian version of Neve
Campbell and Courtney Cox. And I find out she's actually
Canadian herself too there. He goes not.

(42:16):
That not that she's bad, but just looking at her and like
kind of like her look and some of the stuff yeah the.
Sort of the slicked back, you know, short cut hair.
Yeah. And that kind of leads into the
idea of like the Matrix being sort of for the 90s, a very
slutty. I was going to say influential,

(42:38):
but influential in terms of likethe concept of like techno,
cybernetic, flush with leather tight, you know, bodices and
leather and sunglasses. This was a thing that
proliferated after the Matrix for whatever reason that over a

(43:01):
decade, you know, and it kind ofdoes span from from what you
said as well as sort of the techno rave scene maybe
influenced by Trigun May a little bit, you know, knowing
the Wachowskis in their potential influences already,
you know, I don't think. Yeah, the cold kind of does give

(43:22):
Vance to Stampede, right? Like, I don't think that would
be too out of the question that they could have been influenced
by Trigon a little bit, especially at this time.
But you know, I think that this movie was very influential in
just setting up this like just style and dress of the

(43:43):
cybernetic techno world at this time.
What what do you think about theweather?
How you know good, bad. It's it's fine.
I think. I think it still looks fine
though. Like it definitely fits like I
can't like imagine it. Any other way?
Any other way? When I was watching in that
'cause I had to rent it on Amazon, they got like the little

(44:03):
IMD trivia stuff. So I never knew this until
actually watching the film in like 4K just now.
Neo's jacket is not leather, it's wool.
It's whoa, huh? Yeah, because they originally
wanted like a little like, you know, pop up video fun fact came
out and it was like throughout the movie.

(44:25):
And one of them was originally they wanted them to have silver
leather jackets, like bright silver green jackets, but it
didn't move enough and they weretoo heavy and they didn't want
to have to keep using like a giant industrial fan to make
them wave around. So like his jacket was made out
of wool because it was like 3 bucks for a yard is super cheap

(44:46):
and like watching it in 4K it's like Oh yeah that's definitely
not leather baby. Swear that's like, you know,
that's wool. Yeah, I mean, a wool seems like
a an odd choice for someone who's going to be running around
well. Again, $3 a yard and I didn't,
you know. It's true.

(45:07):
It's true. I never really understood the
idea of wearing a trench coat period, when you're planning on
storming a compound or things like that.
You know, it just seems like a particularly restrictive leather
in general. Is it a trench?
Coat or is it a duster? You know, I guess you could get
into semantics of what it is there.

(45:30):
'Cause I, I think it's like, more like a duster, especially
when you look like the movie poster with him, like pulling
the gun out, like, you know, he looks like he's about ready to
face down Bronson. I I mean, yeah, I think either
way, I would still say I feel like the idea behind the leather
in this sort of situation is restrictive.
What do you think is the the idea?

(45:50):
Do you think it's just like the sort of like, you know, you kind
of stand out and wearing all leather like that that they were
going for the petrosis are goingfor in the the aesthetic of it.
Is it to be you know, especiallywhen you look at the world when
they go into the matrix and you see all the people who are
basically just living their lifeand they're wearing, you know,
suits normal clothing is is the wearing of the leather sort of

(46:14):
like the outcast element to it of being like, I know what you
guys don't is that is that what they're going for?
You think symbolically they. Have to stick out, right?
Like, you can't, like if they'rein this world of, you know,
fantasy and normality where everyone's just going with the

(46:35):
flow and being a part of the, you know, the mass lie.
How else you going to let everyone know?
Like, I took the red pill. Yeah.
I'm not. I'm not.
Like if you're, if you're not decked out, you know, in some
nice cool. Leather, I agree.
I mean, I think it's sort of like that hardcore element too,
of like, you know, I'm different.

(46:56):
I, you know, in I think too, this is another thing that we,
you know, when we talk about like the red pill green or the
red pill blue pill thing of the how this film has kind of
influenced some worst parts of humanity is the fact that it
also kind of gave some credence to the fact that people revel in

(47:21):
things like conspiracy theories where they think that they found
something that lies at the, you know, the, the fringe of reality
that they found that other people don't recognize.
So a good, good example of that would be the Flat Earth theory
of dumbasses thinking that they some thinking that they just

(47:42):
don't understand. And then and then, you know,
trying to convince them means that you're actually emboldening
their theory because they believe that there are something
there that they know that everybody else is trying to
hide, which. Is saying they're going to just
dig it more too, because you're,you're, you know, you're not

(48:04):
being like, wow, that's a great idea.
You're trying like you're, you know, going to debate them,
which means it's on, you know. Exactly like the more the more
you debate, the more credence you lend to their theory, the
more they kind of feel like, andagain, that this film kind of
brings that up again and again, the fact that like at the
beginning of the movie, Morpheuspresenting the idea of this

(48:28):
alternate reality, the Matrix, that is actually the reality
that for most people like watching the film, we would
expect to be our own reality that you just live in this life
on Earth. It kind of is the same idea that
you you feel like you are picking up the fringe of
something that other people justdon't realize is there.

(48:50):
And that's kind of the idea reversed in The Matrix.
In the Matrix, the film, these guys recognize that the world
that they're living in is not real world.
And so they Jack out of that world into the one that's real,
which is actually, when you stopand think about it, not worth

(49:10):
living in really. You know, the one that they go
back to that's not part of the Matrix is kind of a shitty place
to live in. Not know why.
I mean, they are constantly moving around on the
Nebuchadnezzar, worried about being targeted by these machines
that are, you know, trying to find them and constantly trying,

(49:32):
almost intercepted by the agentsthat are in the Matrix.
I mean, what's there really in this, this real world to aspire
to? And I think that might be my
only problem with the Matrix is that it doesn't really offer
much in the way of like a hopeful future if you do get out
of the Matrix. Like what's the what's the
angle? The one Jesus will save you.

(49:56):
He's. Just going to magically alter
the rest of the real world, I mean.
Wait, do you watch? Wait, do you watch the sequel?
Yeah, I mean, like I'm trying totake The Matrix as stand alone
at this point, you know, without, you know, really
referencing that there is sequelmaterial.
But yeah, I see what you mean. Yeah, I, I just, I feel like

(50:18):
that's one area that the Wachowski's really forgot to
harp on a little bit, is that the fact that, like, the
characters bring up a pretty good point.
I think the the one that brings up the best point is Cypher, who
you know, basically they show him like having a nice steak.
It's one it's that is one of my favorite scenes, the one that's

(50:41):
always stuck with me, him in a nice steak house eating a medium
rare steak and he's like, I knowit's all bullshit, but it's
telling me that. Tastes tastes good to me.
This. Is a God damn fine juicy steak.
Yeah, and I, I think that's the,you know, that's, that is a
problem with the matrix in that like when you do do jump back
out of the matrix, like there's nothing there.

(51:03):
They're eating like things that are really only there for them
to be sustained. There's no kind of life outside
of them trying to alter the matrix.
And at a certain point, when do you just say like, well, maybe
it is better to just live in theMatrix because 'cause the
alternative is saying too that like.
And I think this also kind of leads to the fact that some were

(51:25):
I'll influenced by the fact thatthe Matrix presents the world in
such a way that the, the world that we live in, you know, in
terms of like outside of the film is not the simulation.
And the film presents it as the simulation.
And the simulation is intentionally made in shitified,

(51:45):
right? Because they, you know, they
talk about that, Adrian Smith talks about that and he says
basically like we tried, we're the, the.
Utopia. Yeah, the.
Utopia was here and people were like not having it.
They were like, this is this doesn't seem fucking right.
Like we're influenced by our your own my our own mortality,
our own misery. I.

(52:05):
Don't know if it's intentional or not, but like that kind of
part is very biblical in the sense that, you know, man likes
fall from paradise like and likeSatan's implies that like we as
people, you know, aren't satisfied with the utopia like

(52:28):
we have just natural, you know, things against us, whether it be
like, you know, natural sin or or instincts or what have you
that need us to have some sort of engagement.
You know, I'm going to disagree with you, though, on the whole,

(52:48):
the matrix is better. I is a little like anarcho,
like, you know, hate authority person I am.
I would much rather not be in the Matrix and I would much
rather, you know, die in the Nebuchadnezzar trying to write
the situation because again, though, the world is better.

(53:11):
Like you like, oh, like you OK. I like I could be in the Matrix.
I could be Elon Musk doing ketamine and, you know, running
a tech, you know, fortress into the ground.
But it's not real. That happened.
That would bother you. That would bother you too.
Well, I mean, I guess in Joe Pantoliano's case, he wouldn't

(53:33):
know it's not real because he wanted to have all of his
memories wiped so he would not even know that's not real.
But again, with the choice that you already know after Morpheus,
you know, has revealed it to you, like I, I, I would rather
be in the real world because again, you have freedom there.
You have autonomy. You had can you know, is life

(53:56):
great? No, but you are free.
You have free will. If you're, if you're safe,
you're in the matrix and you're not like, you know, cognizant of
what's going on. You you don't have free will,
you're just being entertained for the sake so you can pump the
robots their. Fuel I I think to the the one
thing that lends to that idea, as well as the fact that when we

(54:20):
see agent Smith is able to like morph to any, you know, being
within the matrix whenever he wants to it let it, you know,
again, there's a certain elementof seeing that and saying like,
well, you know, if he can do that, that kind of sucks because
anytime again, like you said, the freedom or the, you know,

(54:41):
the, the independence that you have can just be like
immediately taken away because you don't really exist in that
reality. So you, you immediately just
cease to exist in that scenario within the matrix.
So I I agree with that. And to a certain extent, I don't
know that the film offers up a satisfying enough alternative
reality outside of the Matrix where it would make me want to,

(55:03):
you know, take the red pill. But again, I think that the
ideas that it presents, like yousaid, is, is, is definitely
rooted in the Messiah complex. The the idea that there is some
sort of like maker element to itor something that, you know, a

(55:25):
Jesus type figure. And for a lot of people, I feel
like that is sort of a relief when they watch The Matrix.
I don't know because it does offer sort of like a.
Catharsis. Yeah, a catharsis in like a
sense of of interconnectedness that maybe is sometimes missing

(55:50):
in like the chaos of the world. And that's, you know, kind of
where religion comes in as well.And then not only that, but the
the idea of the Oracle as well of, you know, the Oracle being
sort of the, I would say in the Matrix in this film, kind of a

(56:10):
confusing character in the sensethat the role of the Oracle in
the element of the Matrix kind of eludes me at times as to what
the Wachowskis intended the Oracle to be.
I don't know if that stood out to you as well, but I kind of

(56:30):
questioned the idea of the Oracle as the presence that can
is like sort of all seeing and knowing 'cause it's not really
explored. I imagine it's explored a little
bit further in the sequels, but here I feel like it's a little
bit left, a little bit too transparent for the movie, and
it doesn't really OfferUp enoughinformation for the audience to

(56:54):
kind of understand the Oracle's role in this film.
Because if she's all seeing like, why just just fucking spit
it out, lady. So, OK, so.
I'm not giving a defense for because it is kind.
It is ham fisted, yeah, but I think it's it's because it's a
mishmash of she again Oracle. She's all seeing.

(57:14):
She, like, reads the future, sees the future.
And she is this wise counsel that Morpheus's crew relies on
for guidance. Like, you know, Morpheus says
the Oracle told him that he would find the One and he was
going to find the the One. And Trinity was told, like, I'm

(57:35):
going to have sex with the One. And, you know, yeah.
So like, there's this predestination there.
And that's something that the film does briefly talk about, is
this sense of like, you know, when Cut is talking about free
will, because when Morpheus is asking Neo questions like this,

(57:58):
Neo is like, why? I wouldn't like that?
Because like, that mean like, ifI'm in the Matrix, that means I
have no free will. I can't change anything.
So with that being said, the Oracle telling Neo, yeah, well,
you're not the one. Sorry Hun, but here's what's
going to happen. Either Trinity or Neo's.

(58:20):
I mean either Trinity or Morpheus is going to die and you
have to make a choice on who you're going to save.
So she predicts the scenario bought by Neo's actions.
He proves he's the one by his actions.
He takes the next step and goes past what she predicted to kind

(58:43):
of say like, hey, there is some free will here.
Because at the end of the day, if you think about it, it's
like, well, you know, if once you're out of the matrix, yeah,
I mean, at least you have like, as I was saying, you have free
will. You're your own person.
You can make your own decisions.But if you got the you're going
like, hey, Oracle, what's like what's like lot on like pick 4,

(59:06):
Should I pick There's free determination there.
So it kind of shows that like she may be, you know,
serendipitous and, you know, inspire you.
It's your actions that you act upon that lead though to those
things to happen. Now that's really heady and me,

(59:31):
I, I would say kind of overreaching, but I mean, that's
how I can work a logic pretzel myself into like not caring
about it as much like, but I, I,I can totally understand because
it is like what like she said, like if you were to take it on
face value, she's supposed to belike an Oracle predictor of the

(59:53):
future and then all this stuff happens.
You'd be like what's going on? But like, you have to kind of
think of it like that, you know?So I'm not justifying it for
it's being confusing and unwieldy, but I mean.
There is a roundabout way to getthere, is what I was, you know,

(01:00:14):
basically saying. Yeah, yeah, I mean, I'm OK with
it. But again, I think it's a small
part of the movie. But it was one thing that stood
out to me. I, I don't think they do, you
know, particularly well, you know, obviously we've, we
haven't talked to touched on a number of things, but one of the
biggest ones I think again, thatwe, we haven't discussed, but

(01:00:37):
it's very influential from the Matrix is it's action sequences.
It's actually, you know, it's, it's slow motion sequences, it's
fight scenes that are inspired by karate and Kung Fu movies.
John Woo. Yeah, John Woo movies.
What do you think about the the choreography in action?
How's it hold up today? Still great.

(01:00:57):
One thing I think though that people need to understand in
this two hour and 15 minute film, the actions back loaded.
It's the last 40 minutes is where you're going to get the
action. You get like the first in the
1st 5 minutes in the movie and then yeah, the the later 40
minutes and that's it Yeah the. Last 40s where it like all

(01:01:19):
happens, so in between all like the world building, but I think
it holds up great like that opening with tranny on the run
and like, you know, trying, you know, get back and the agents
and the cops chasing her. Great.
It's like a nice warm up to likeget your, you know, taste buds

(01:01:41):
like a little, you know, satiated because you're like,
oh, like, you know, they're slowMO.
She kicks a guy, you know, she jumps across this fucking
building art dump truck, you know dump truck.
It's a garbage truck. Drives into a fucking phone
booth. Like, Yep.
Whoa. Isn't this cool?

(01:02:02):
And then like. Yeah, yeah, I can see that.
I mean, there is a very vast wealth of information in between
the opening sequence of Carrie Anne Moss, you know, being
Carrie Anne Moss, you know, which I love.
They call her like, oh, I think we could take care of a little
girl in there, you know, and, and then sure doing that.
And then, you know, there's a there's a lot of time in between

(01:02:25):
those two things towards the endof the movie where they're
actually, you know, fighting Agent Smith in that whole
sequence of events, which is very popularized in pop culture
of, you know, shooting up the the business building and stuff
like that with all the explodingtiles and things.
You know, again, I think that there's, you know, that's

(01:02:47):
potentially alienating to some people who expected The Matrix
to be a little bit more action and a less sci-fi, but.
I think it. Works to them for the most part
because it does kind of filter in a few different set pieces
that work pretty well. So I think like overall the film
still does a pretty good job of managing the action.

(01:03:10):
I think the the whole the whole like idea of the slow MO and the
the choreography of the fights being more hand to hand
fisticuffs, I think actually works pretty well in the Matrix.
I I preferred that actually oversome of the more like over the
top shooting sequences that thatoccur in the movie.

(01:03:30):
I think the fisticuff choreography is really good.
They have sort of that like crouching tiger hidden dragon
jumping style of like slow MO and and wire acrobatics that
that movie had it around the same time.
So I think they do that pretty well.
Again, this movie was super influential in that idea of like

(01:03:51):
bullet time too, of being able to like slow MO bullets.
I don't believe around. Them No, you don't think so I.
Think they stole that from Max Payne?
Give Sam Wake his due and finishAlan Wake too.
You see all that rhyme there? That's right.
There you go. Well Max Payne didn't come out

(01:04:12):
till 2001 so. Yeah, no, I know.
But I mean like it's like again,very like the amount.
And I was telling our buddy whenI was telling him how you
haven't seen the movie before. He was very upset about it.
I was saying like the amount of new grounds, videos and shorts
and shit that I watched it like from 99 to 2003 in between like

(01:04:34):
the the sequels, like like everywhere, like the whole
especially like it's not in thisfilm, but like with the whole
Neo versus Smith, like this 100 Smiths and reloaded like, you
know, the matrix was Uber part of the zeitgeist and

(01:04:55):
inescapable. You know, like every scary movie
from like scary movie like 2 to 5 was like, here's the joke.
Like a little. Bit of Matrix, which is, which
is in itself very interesting because the movie is not, you
know, a horror movie per SE, though it can't, I guess it can
fall into the the idea of like aTerminator style horror movie in

(01:05:18):
a certain sense. But but no, it's like it's just,
you're right, the the choreography is great.
It is kind of funny and silly tothink of like how do they go
around do things like, oh, they just do Kung Fu, you know right.
Yeah, yeah, I think, I think I like it.
But I again, I think I like the idea in the Matrix of Neo kind

(01:05:39):
of finding himself. Because the film does OfferUp
this idea of like when you're inthe Matrix, you are somewhat
bound by the Matrix's rules, butyou could break them, right?
Because they even Morpheus at the beginning when they're doing
their little Kung Fu fight sequence, he kind of talks about
that. He says, you know, listen, the
Matrix has rules, but like a computer program, they can be

(01:06:00):
bent. You can work around then.
And I like that idea because it comes out towards the end of the
movie where Neo really understands, like, OK, I know
what he's talking about now. And that makes sense because
he's new to the Matrix. And he's he, you know, he's like
us. We're just kind of figuring out
the basics of this, how this world works.
And he understands at the end ofthe movie how to bend that

(01:06:20):
reality. The jump.
Say, the jump sequence is great.I love that part of like when
they're going through the training program, yeah.
And like. After the Kung Fu and he's like,
you have to open your mind and Morpheus jumps across from one
building to another and it's like, holy shit.
Like it's like like you would belike, oh, that's a, that's like

(01:06:41):
a fucking Marvel film type. Like, you know, CGI there and
then when they're like, oh, he'sthe one everyone on the
Nebuchadnezzar is like, oh, he'sthe one.
He should be able to do it. And they're like, no one's ever
done. No one's ever done.
He's the one he can do it. And then he does, he jumps and
falls like flat on his face and,you know, almost his death, but

(01:07:03):
because it's in a, you know, a training program, he doesn't
die. That's great.
Like that whole like the Wachowskis do a great job in
being minimalistic in the world building, but very detailed.
Like it's minimalistic in the fact that like it's not over
saturated with techno Babble andthe rules of what's going on,

(01:07:27):
but they give you a great grounding of what the rules, how
things in the Matrix work and what reality and life is like.
So. There is no spoon.
There is no spoon. There is no spoon.
Yeah, I I like the idea. I can see how that would come

(01:07:50):
into play in the sequels to kindof bite them in the ass a little
bit because at eventually, at a certain point, you're like, why
don't they just keep fucking bending reality then?
You know, Like they know they now know how to do it, No.
He knows. He knows how he knows how to,
because he's the one. The rest of them can't because
they're. Like you you, I can see how that

(01:08:13):
could be an issue later on in the sequel.
The one. Quibble I have with the story
overall is the fact that I get it.
It's a 2, almost two hour and 20minute film.
The one thing I I quibble over, and it's a small quibble, is the
fact that I don't really like Neo's growth as a character in

(01:08:34):
the Matrix in his way to the onebecause he goes from shitface
Coward in the Matrix like one time.
And by the time he's like loadedup to go back into the Matrix,
he's the one he's died. Like I don't like that because
again, like it's such a jump in growth.

(01:08:56):
Like we don't see him overcome other things before that.
It's too like, you know, over the top, like becoming a hero.
I think if you had like another 20-30 minutes like showing them
in the Matrix before the setup that gets him, you know,
Morpheus captured to show him like in his struggles with them,

(01:09:20):
like doing whatever the fuck they're doing, you know, yeah,
that would that would be better.But again, I understand is the
film is already 2 hours and 16 minutes.
I can understand for runtime's sake.
But I think the film is good enough to where it is like a
Godfather one or two where you can put the extra, you know,

(01:09:41):
story in there because the storyis and everyone is so engaging
that as if you were you're goingto go with it.
So I I agree with that. I also do agree with the fact
that the film's finale is rushed.
The conclusion is rushed, especially considering the fact
that like Neo is dead, literallydead and then just rises as a

(01:10:04):
Jesus figure. Well, hold on, it didn't take on
three. Days, but he rose.
So what you didn't see was Carrie Anne Moss's pussy lips.
Like that's true. Yeah, like.
Just like right on his Dick. Like, yeah, I love you and you
can't die. You know, I haven't had this
before. What's this feeling?
Yes, you. Know and I I she's the.
Virgin Mary I. I definitely do think that that

(01:10:27):
is an issue at the end of the film.
One of the biggest, bigger issues for me too, is that Agent
Smith is just annihilated by Neojumping into his body at the end
of the movie. And it's kind of fucking, you
know, kind of disintegrates or hold on hold.
On they they they totally rippedoff Shao Khan's death in Mortal

(01:10:47):
Kombat 2 and three in the arcadegames like where he turns into
stone and like green. I also like 2 of the other
agents just flee. They're like oh fuck this like
just like skedaddle. Speaking of, we haven't really
mentioned it, but I mean again, there's a lot to cover here.

(01:11:08):
Hugo Weaving, my God. Great.
What a performance. Yep, he is so fantastic for 30
years. Well, it's not 3025 years.
I've been quoting Mr. Anderson. Hear that?
That there's the sound of inevitability like he's, he's

(01:11:31):
great, perfect. He's like so smarmy.
Yep, the smarmy cadence of his speech is great.
I love that he is like a corporate CEO type and like
this, the way that they present Agent Smith, I think that it was
just a great casting from him. He he just again, too, I think

(01:11:53):
one of the the things that's sort of like good about a
villain is that they have a particular not likeability, but
a, an attraction from the audience, right?
So like, you know, I would say Asia Smith is likeable, but you

(01:12:14):
do want to see more of him because he is interesting as a
character. And I think that works perfectly
for how that character was played.
It just does he just does a really great job of presenting
him. It reminds me of like some of
the the best villains from stufflike Justified that are, you

(01:12:36):
know, they have like either linguistically very interesting
or action wise very interesting.I think he does.
He pulls it off really well and you every time he's on screen,
it's really great. The diction is just excellent
and how he presents like, words and, you know, great villain

(01:12:57):
character, even though I do think the way that he's
vanquished at the end is silly. Yeah, I think it's silly.
I, I, I it doesn't work very well.
And it's, it's way too like wrapped up in a bow of just
like, you know, not it doesn't even really give you much of a
catharsis of how he's, you know,dispatched.

(01:13:19):
It's just kind of like. What do you think about, let's
say if you think about the logically like where to go from
there? He's a, he's like a program of,
you know, he's McAfee, he's a man.
You know they're you. Just can't get.
Rid of it. The agents of McAfee, they're
giant, like AI bloatware. You can't get rid of it.

(01:13:39):
Yeah, I agree. I.
Mean, but indeed. But at the same time, no.
I agree because it is like that's stupid, but it like in
kind of like by the time with the fight becomes like, you
know, do. Do you think that Agent Smith
does get to go back to the placethat he would prefer to be in?
Because at the end of the film, he's talking to more if he's

(01:14:01):
like, I hate this place. The stink of all of you people.
Will you wait to the sequel? Because you'll find out what
happens, yeah. Where he I don't, I feel like I
don't want to see a I don't wantto see a sequel.
See. Again, like I I do and we're
going to have to do it reloaded in in revolution.

(01:14:21):
It's not bad, but they're very underwhelming, right?
And it's but you know, they do have their moments.
Speaking of, we haven't mentioned either the other
acting powerhouse in this film. There's also the other reason to
watch this film, Laurence Fishburne Morpheus fantastic.

(01:14:44):
He is such a does such a terrific job in convincing you
to join this cult. But he is, you know, great and
what like I would say like one of his finest roles.
He's very charismatic and charming and, you know, get you

(01:15:07):
to really buy into what the world is and isn't so.
I mean, yeah. I mean, you don't know if he's,
he's converting you into a cult or a sex cult or what is it?
What it, you know, what is it with all, all the weather and
things, you know, everybody's kind of passing each other
around. You just don't know.
Makes me, I say, I say, I say itmakes me think of the King of

(01:15:29):
the Hill episode where Luanne joins a cult and Hank pulls up
on like their place in the compound and he's like, is this
where the cult is? And they're like, it's not a
cult. It's a OK, this is where the
cult, Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, Yeah, Morpheus is great. I think T does a really good
Rob. What else?

(01:15:51):
What else? The music.
The music of course we didn't talk about the very techno
tinged music that is pretty prevalent throughout The Matrix.
What do you what do you think about that?
Again, this is not the first film to feature a techno
inspired soundtrack or an Enya tinged drum and bass style

(01:16:18):
soundtrack. But what?
What do you think about Matrixes?
I think it's fine and dandy and it works well.
I think though, it's kind of disorienting when it goes to a
more traditional like symphonic,like Morpheus and like Smith are

(01:16:39):
fighting, you know, like, because like it does like, oh,
that builds like tension. But it's like compare that to,
you know, the yeah, you know, the soundtrack I think is hit or
miss. Like it's there is a lot of
that, but parts of it are good, parts of it are bad.

(01:17:01):
Like nothing really though like sticks out to me though, like
something like this is somethingyou have to go out in here.
I do think the techno elements to it date it just a little bit.
I think that it kind of takes the film from what was probably
considered a pretty action-packed and sort of high

(01:17:25):
octane moment, especially, you know, I'm thinking of the ones
where they go in and shoot up the the building, you know, when
they're going to save Morpheus. I think it it now when we look
back at this movie with that kind of soundtrack, which now
probably traditionally would have been a much more
orchestrated, you know, tension based and building score.

(01:17:50):
I do think it tends to date thismovie a little bit more than it
might not necessarily have to because I think for the most
part though, you know, obviouslythe, the idea of the, the
technology is pretty dated in the matrix.
When we consider like current technology 30 years later, I
think that the film is pretty still is pretty timeless, but

(01:18:15):
the soundtrack kind of dates it in a way that kind of takes you
out of that timelessness. Even the CGI is not that bad for
the most part. You know, I would say that the,
the, the, the AI sentient beingsare pretty good for AI or for

(01:18:35):
CGII should say. I think like some of the other
elements like the explosions andsome of the bullet time is, you
know, the bullet time is probably the one of the worst
parts. But the other parts of it, the
CGI is actually not that bad. It's, it's, you know, it's kind
of interesting how sometimes CGIhas actually gone back when we

(01:18:56):
think about like CGI now becauseit, I think it is like trying to
be like. So real.
That it's it, it actually kind of goes backwards in a way.
So I think actually that that works pretty well.
My one complaint is the CGI at the end of the film where Neo
just zooms off into space Jesus style.

(01:19:19):
Look if you. Want to?
If you want to follow me, come follow me, yeah.
Looks horrible. The concept of it is stupid.
I I really hate that ending sequence.
I really wish that they had justleft it at the phone call and
called it a day. But other than that I think the
CGI is pretty good. So the timelessness of it I
think works well except for thattechno rave style music.

(01:19:42):
I, I don't know that it necessarily meshes and and does
what the film was hoping it would do in the future, but
other than that, I, I'm, I'm fine with it.
What else? What else do we need to talk?
About. I think that's so I.
Think we covered most of it, Yeah.
I mean, yeah. So I guess let's just give it a

(01:20:05):
A rating. So on a scale of zero to 10 very
striking women in red, big bootied women in red that are in
the matrix, what would you give the matrix?
Before I do give that rating outone thing to note is Mouse is

(01:20:27):
the one who created her and I always felt very sad and bad as
a kid when Mouse gets like granted we only spend like 3
minutes with the character but just the whole it's a trap and
then like mouse like Oh no. And then he get he gets gunned
down by the, you know, the SWAT also too, which we didn't

(01:20:49):
discuss either one horrendously 90s hacksaw's names for these
people. Yeah, switch a a pack.
It's like, you know, like what they're into when, when Morpheus
is introducing them on the Nebuchadnezzar for the first
time, when Neos like, you know, you know, gets his consciousness

(01:21:11):
and knows what's going on. It's literally like in Dodgeball
me blade. Yeah.
Laser Blazer. It is, yeah.
Oh yeah, the also the other thing too that always sound
really sad was because again, when you die in the Matrix, you
die in real life because your brain can't tell the difference

(01:21:32):
between what the hell is going on, right?
So they explain it. And so when you get
disconnected, it's the same thing.
So when Joe pantily owns, you know, disconnects Apoc and
Switch, you know, especially after Apoc and he's getting
ready to like take switch out, He's she's like, not like this.

(01:21:52):
Not like that. Always got me sad as a kid, too.
Yeah. Really.
If really pulled the heartstrings, which.
Also too, I mean, those characters don't have very, very
small roles. But also too Cipher, why are you
like spending like all that timetalking and bullshit and with
Trinity and then you're like, let me kill like the people who

(01:22:15):
definitely aren't going to hurt me at all.
Like, you know, start with Trinity, start with Neo.
Like you not in like, you know, we saw the all that time.
But yeah, it's not right here and over there.
I'm going to give the Matrix an 8 1/2 out of 10.
Still holds up. I love this movie.

(01:22:37):
It's a lot of fun. The action, though, is very back
loaded. It is great when it happens.
It's awe inspiring. Still to this day, the Suns they
did. I know the which house easily.
You know they borrowed from a lot of different types of media
from like you know, the Bible toyou know, home, you know

(01:22:57):
Odysseus and whatever the hell anime works.
The story that they were able toformulate still resonates.
Neo Keanu does such a great job,as he always does, as being the
everyman, a mere reflection, an avatar for you in this journey.
The film gives you enough detailto make this world feel engaging

(01:23:23):
and believable, but isn't hunkered down with insufferable
techno Babble that makes it, youknow, unappealing to get engaged
into. It's a very basic, you know,
Messiah story, but all the things just come together and
work really well. You know, Laurence Fishburne's

(01:23:44):
greatest Morpheus, Hugo Weaving is outstanding as Agent Smith
still is like, I would say one of the best, like, villain
performances to this date. Carrie Anne Moss and the rest of
the crew, the Nebuchadnezzar, they do a great job.
The film is very good and you can see why it's like why it was

(01:24:04):
popular at the time and why it still like stands the test of
time today even though it also too has fallen out of the
zeitgeist. But it like it's pinnacle 90s
sci-fi action and would be like a top five film.

(01:24:25):
I would probably recommend to people for like a sci-fi film
because it's that damn good and that big of a film.
So yeah, 8 1/2. I would give this an 8 out of
10. I think it's a really enjoying
movie. I think that you know, for the
most part the Witch Houses have done a good job of creating an
action sci-fi movie that is really engaging.

(01:24:46):
Again, I think that a lot of people connect to this movie in
a lot of different ways. I mean, some people connect to
it in the fact that they might feel like they are living in a
simulation and sort of this filmgives them an outlet for that.
Some people might feel like they, you know, their reality is
there could be something better.And this film kind of gives them

(01:25:06):
the opposite of it, right? Like, like you, maybe a reality
is the better of the two things and you might be living in it
right now. But I think, you know, again,
there was a reason why this movie resonated for people, you
know, in terms of either the action, the the the stylings of
it, maybe even just the fact that it felt familiar, but they

(01:25:27):
didn't really know where the influences came from that it,
you know, came from a lot of anime that they might have been
partially subjected to but didn't really realize.
But again, the Matrix says a lotof influences.
And I think that you we see a lot of those influences, a lot
of influences that most a lot ofpeople love.
And again, it's kind of recycledin a way, but I think it does it

(01:25:48):
in a really good job. And again, very influential in
terms of how all of the ideas that are presented in the Matrix
kind of make their way into contemporary pop culture as
well, which is not always the case.
You can't really always say thatfor for a lot of films.

(01:26:09):
So I think the Matrix is, you know, very well done.
Which house? He did a great job, especially
with like the fight scenes choreography.
I do love we didn't talk about, but I love that spaghetti
western style showdown the at the end of the film between
Agent Smith and Neo where there's even like a piece of
newspaper blowing in the breeze,you know, which was an obvious

(01:26:29):
nod to spaghetti westerns. You know, they kind of wear
their influences on their sleevesometimes.
So I, I, I like the movie a lot.I think it is, for the most
part, pretty good, maybe potentially marred by its
sequels, but overall taken solo,I think it works very well as a
movie besides a couple of choicethings that I probably would

(01:26:52):
have left out that we talked about on the show.
So I would give it an 8 out of 10.
I think it's really fun. And again, you know, even it's
nearly 30 years now, I would still recommend this movie.
It it holds up very well despitethe fact that, you know, a lot
of things have changed in the the meantime for technology, but
it still holds up, especially ifyou can kind of take that with

(01:27:13):
face value. So really fun movie.
Jesus, 30 years. 30, almost 30 years, yeah, I mean, right.
More like 20. No, I know.
I didn't know actually. 25, then30, but yeah.
It's still it's still awful though.
Either way, it's like Jesus Christ.
Yeah, so all right, Well, that comes to an end for Red Hot 90s

(01:27:38):
Action Summer. That's it.
Summer's over. So I think we're, you know, very
quickly moving into Halloween season because again, we try to
do a quite a quite a long extended period of Halloween
because it it it is a big major part of kind of like the show's
ideals and go so quickly. So I think we'll, you know, next

(01:28:00):
time we're going to be moving into our, our Halloween season,
which seems weird, but we're already almost to September, so.
Not only that, it's going to be just Jamie Lee Curtis Halloween
titty font. That's right.
That's right. I think our plan, if that's

(01:28:21):
still the plan, is to go with horror parodies, parodical films
for Halloween this year. I don't quite know what we're
going to call it. What would it?
Oh, I think it was. What was it like, Ha ha,
Halloween or something like that?
Is that what you're saying? Something like that.

(01:28:41):
I can't remember how it's so interesting like that.
I think I did Now that's like we're like a Comedy Central.
Like you know if those. Ha ha ha, Halloween, you know,
on. Comedy Central.
But you know, I think that's fine.
So yeah, but I think parodies are the the name of the game
this time, so we haven't been. Quite tight, I totally forgot

(01:29:03):
about that. Yeah, Yeah, we have.
We are. We had our actually already kind
of optioned quite a few different ones.
I know of like one or two that Idefinitely want to do and then,
you know, I know. I know one I want.
OK, So we definitely though, so we, we, we have a lot of options
at our disposal and I don't knowthat the actual full listing of

(01:29:29):
of episodes has been cemented, but we got a lot.
To work with, yeah. Yeah, we'll, we'll definitely
release it. So, but that's starting, that's
going to start next week. So we're going to move right
into it because we're we're getting into September and it's
time to start Halloween season. So and of course, you know,
that's the return of like the Halloween spooky sounds in the
background of the podcast and stuff like that.

(01:29:50):
So. We'll we'll do it up.
We'll. Do we'll have fun.
I'll probably make a new intro for the for the episode.
So so that's that's coming up. So you'll you'll want to tune
in. But thanks.
Thanks a lot for listening to red hot 90s action summer.
Hope you enjoyed it. Who knows?
Will it return next year for revolutions or whatever?

(01:30:12):
Red hot 90s action, summer revolutions?
I don't know, but maybe why? Would it be in the 90s?
I don't. Know maybe we'll move to the
double lows yo OS into a new Millennium yeah.
So we'll, we'll, we'll see what we can do, but thanks for
listening. Hope you enjoyed.
If you want to continue listening and catch our
Halloween stuff, subscribe on any podcast apps you can think

(01:30:36):
of. We're on our home base at
Spotify, Apple podcasts, pretty much anything.
So subscribe, leave us a nice review.
We are on Facebook and Blue sky search for us on there Blood
Black Rum podcast. We have an e-mail address at
bloodblackrumpodcast@gmail.com. You can write to us, let us know
what you like, what you don't like, what movies you want us to
cover for horror parodies for Halloween, and we'll definitely

(01:30:58):
take that into consideration. And we also have a Patreon page
or you can donate to us on our Spotify page.
Anything you donate goes back towards beer.
So we appreciate that. In advance, thanks for listening
to our episode on The Matrix. Hope you enjoyed.
Hope you don't feel like you're in a simulation, but if you do,
you know, live it out, live it to the fullest.
And until next time for a Halloween episode, take care.

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