The Matrix
This is great! I haven't seen Revolutions yet, but now I can go in with really low expectations and come out pleasantly surprised. Or extremely disgusted and wanting money back, but I doubt that'll happen. I hope to see it this weekend, so I'll lay down the law after that...

... as it turns out, I took a break on the post, the weekend is now over, and I did go see the movie. Here's my take on the whole trilogy (DON'T READ THE SECTION FOR A MOVIE YOU HAVEN'T SEEN SINCE IT MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS):

The Matrix - Overall I liked the first one. It was based on an interesting idea with a lot of "whoa" moments, whether from sci-fi plot points or special effect flash magic. The action scenes were cool, although martial arts stuff looked floaty. It wasn't that sad when most of Morpheus's crew was betrayed and killed- bitchy Switch, horny Mouse, and that other guy no one even remembers. The romance aspect seemed thrown in. I thought the open ending worked well enough. So the first one was a nice balance of plot, ideas, and effects, with few complaints.

The Matrix Reloaded - After seeing this very effects-heavy movie, my favorite parts were the slow plot-relevant and/or thought-provoking ones: Neo's talks with the Councillor, the Oracle and the Architect. But these were short, and floaty fight scenes ran long with unthrilling music. The car chase and the Merovingian's guys in white were the action highlights, very well done. I could've done without Persephone's kiss and the whole cave party. Link's girl is fine. Once again, the romance... if your boyfriend had to manually massage your heart back to life, you probably wouldn't feel up to kissing right when you came back to life, but hey movie magic yay. In total, this one had some good elements but disappointed a bit too. Smith and Neo have powers that transcend the matrix... uh... wha... I was left hoping that the third would somehow tie everything up nice and neat.

The Matrix Revolutions - I feel bad for the guys who worked so hard on the opening sequence coming out of the Matrix viewscreen, they get no recognition. The best character was the guy whose only line was "I don't know... lieutenant!" It's like he's new on the job. Those key points taken care of, I thought this was a pretty good movie. Not near perfect, but certainly entertaining. The squid attack was cool. The fight between Neo and Smith brought back the excitement from the first one and added some new elements (water effects were sweet) instead of just the old pitter patter kick punch. The machine leader that Neo talked to was weird looking. Unfortunately, the end left a lot of questions unanswered, and not in a satisfying way like the first one. Hey, yeah... how about those real world powers? No? I can see how "plugging in" could connect your brain signals to a complex network like the matrix, but otherwise you can take the train? Ehh... And what's Smith's problem? Besides the smell. I like how there's supposed to be peace and the humans can be freed if they choose to. I bet none of them will be glad they did. Look at that place! Now you live in a metal box, eat goopy slop, and all with weird plugholes all over your body! Ladies don't love that. Stay in the matrix with your steak and pass the A1. But I guess they can be plugged back in like Cipher wanted. But it might be hard to willingly step into the bowl of pink sticky icky icky. The oracle really pisses me off with her attitude and unwrapped candy. Whatever happened to spoon boy and the other kids?

The only characters I came close to caring about were Morpheus (as the dreamer/believer) and Smith (as the wildcard attacking both sides). I agree that the movie worked better as a one shot than a trilogy, but I enjoyed parts here and there from the sequels despite their lesser underlying substance. I also agree Trinity needs another special move. I don't, however, blame the creators for combining aspects of things they have enjoyed and admired. First of all, they explained when The Matrix first came out that they loved kung fu movies and anime and stuff, and wanted to combine their favorite elements. They did it well and didn't go around claiming that they made all this stuff up, so it's mostly self indulgence and tribute, and only a ripoff from a very cynical standpoint. Okay, a tribute that they profited hugely from. For example, the Neo-Smith fight integrated some Dragon Ball style elements in a really cool way, and I'm glad they did it. Now if Neo's hair turned blond and spiky, that'd be crossing the line. And let's not forget the "awesome" Kill Bill. I saw elements from samurai movies. Shit, I saw elements from Samurai Shodown. And you want to talk about ripping off anime? Tarantino just stuck an anime clip in his live action movie. Gimmick? Yes. Argument? Please.

Ok enough. I mainly appreciate The Matrix as an interesting science fiction concept (mostly handled in the first movie), and the effects were extremely well done although they spoiled us the first time around. I'm still not sure if it'll have a permanent place in my DVD collection, but the ride, good and bad, was a memorable one.

Ok maybe not enough. In answer to Brendan's question about jobs depending on audience reception: standup comic. I mention this not to show I came up with a good answer, but because there is an analogy to go with it. Yeah. Analogy. SATs. 1560. Nerd. Hahaha SHUT UP. It seems like the discussion thus far (i.e. Brendan vs. Steve) has shortchanged special effects. "I did think it was overrated because I don't care how you say it...and you can't argue it...if it didn't have those effects it wouldn't have been what it was". What does that mean? You mention effects like a computer somehow automatically makes a movie better, and by cheating. Like it's nothing but a gimmick. This from the guy who wanted to do 3D animation. The Matrix was an interesting science fiction story. With the effects, it was an interesting science fiction story that looked really cool. Movies are reliant on writing, acting, visuals, and music. Visuals are important, and just because they use a computer to make something impossible look realistic doesn't make it bullshit. It's like a magic show. It's part of the escape from reality. If it doesn't look good, it will be distracting. Bad effects will distract from effective imagery just like bad acting will distract from a good script. So, the analogy. A standup comic's material can include jokes, voices, and impressions. But in addition, they can use facial expressions and gestures to enhance the performance. Physical comedy. Martin Lawrence and Jim Carrey come to mind. Of course, we wouldn't be fans of standup comics that just stood on stage silently making faces. But if they do a good job integrating the two, it's hilarious. I love Martin's facial expressions, and it's true that I wouldn't laugh as much if he didn't do them. The performance wouldn't be the same. But that doesn't make him overrated. It just means he has more tools to entertain with, and it's good that he's smart enough to use them. (DON'T EVER SAY YOU CAN'T ARGUE IT.)

SOCOM 2!!!
Nah, still don't give a shiet. Hopefully you'll get your money's worth. If not, there's always another shoot-kill-repeat game in the making, and a bunch of middle schoolers you can pick on from across the country haha have fun.

What's the deal with Sonoma anyway?!
I forgot to buy Karaoke Revolution too. DAMN it!