Negromancer News Bits and Bites from April 11th to 17th, 2021 - Update #28

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

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ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS: 

AWARDS - From Deadline:  The American Cinema Editors have announced the winners at the 2021 / 71st ACE Eddie Awards.  Aaron Sorkin's film, "The Trial of the Chicago 7" (Netflix), won the marquee "Eddie," which is "Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic)."

SCANDAL - From Deadline:  In the wake of an explosive allegations about his abusive behavior that stretches back years, Oscar-winning film producer, Scott Rudin, says that he will "step back" from active involvement in his Broadway productions.

ANIMATION-STREAMING - From Deadline:   The upcoming fourth season of Netflix's animated series, "Castlevania," will be its last.  Netflix is reportedly considering a new series set in the universe of Castlevania with an entirely different cast of characters.

DISNEY - From Deadline:  Disney claps back at screenwriting brothers, James and John Thomas, who are trying to reclaim the rights to their 1984 spec script that became the 1987 20th Century Fox film, "Predator."  Disney owns the property as a result of buying 20th Century Fox.

DISNEY - From BleedingCool:  Actor Mads Mikkelsen has joined the cast of "Indiana Jones 5" in an unknown role. The film is being directed by James Mangold

MOVIES - From ShadowandAct:   The site looks at five underrated Black actresses who deserve more roles: CCH Pounder, Debbi Morgan, Tamara Tunie, Lisa Gay Hamilton, and Lorraine Toussaint.

MOVIES - From Deadline:   Two-time Oscar-winner Renee Zellewegger in the golf comedy, "The Back Nine," the will be directed of Michael Patrick King of "Sex and the City."

BLM - From YahooNYT:   In 2006, an African-American female Buffalo police officer, Cariol Horne, stopped a fellow officer from choking a handcuffed man.  She was eventually fired for this.  Now, a New York state court has vindicated Horne by restoring her back pay and pension.

CULTURE - From HuffPost:  Back in 2015, Dan Price, the CEO of "Gravity Payments" (a credit card processing company), slashed his $1.1 million a year salary to $70,000 per year so that he could pay all his employees $70,000 per year.  Fox News and Fox Business called him a "socialist" and said that his employees would end up on "bread lines."  Six years later, his number of employees has doubled and the payments the company processed has gone from 3.8 billion to 10.2 billion.

MUSIC - From HuffPost:   Mick Jagger of "The Rolling Stones" and Dave Grohl of "Foo Fighters (and formally of "Nirvana") have come together for a new single, "Eazy Sleazy," that takes on conspiracy theories and anti-vaxxers.

MOVIES - From Deadline:   Universal Pictures is making a film that is based on one of the characters from the original "Dracula" novel, "R.M. Renfield," Dracula's henchman.  Chris McKay is in talks to direct and produce.  The film will be produced by Skybound Entertainment, the company belonging to Robert Kirkman, the creator of "The Walking Dead" comic book.

STREAMING-BLM - From Deadline:  The state of Georgia recently passed a slate of Jim Crow laws to keep African-Americans from voting.  Some business have decided not to do business with the state, and that includes Apple's filmmaking division.  It's film, the runaway slave thriller, "Emancipation," will not film in Georgia and may film in Louisiana, where the actual events upon which this film is based, took place.  Antoine Fuqua is directing and Will Smith stars.

STREAMING - From YahooEntertainment:   Superstar actress Melissa McCarthy and her husband, writer-director Ben Falcone wanted to work with Oscar-winning actress, Octavia Spencer.  They created that chance in the Netflix superhero comedy, "Thunder Force," about ordinary women with regular body types as superheroes.

POLICE/SCANDAL - From TheHill:   There is a report that Boston Police kept child sexual abuse allegations against now-former union president, Patrick Rose, Sr., secret.

From NBCBoston10:  This article includes a photo of Patrick Rose, Sr., former Boston police patrolman and Boston Police Union head, who is facing multiple charges of child sexual abuse.

BOX OFFICE - From Variety:   The winner of the 4/9 to 4/11/2021 weekend box office is "Godzilla vs. Kong" with an estimated take of 13.4 million dollars.

CELEBRITY - From THR:   Carrie-Anne Moss is returning to "The Matrix" film franchise for next year's "The Matrix 4."  In a recent interview, Moss says she was offered a "grandmother role" the day after she turned 40 years old.

STREAMING - From YahooSports:   Actor Kevin James will play Super Bowl-winning New Orleans Saints coach, Sean Payton, in Netflix's film, "Home Team."  The film will recount the year Payton coached his son's sixth-grade football team.

MOVIES - From YahooAVClub:   Paramount Pictures and Hasbro are moving up the release date for for "Sanke Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins" from October 22nd to July 23rd, 2021.

TELEVISION - From BleedingCool:  This is an update on the USA network and SyFy's "Chuck" series, an reboot/revival of the "Child's Play" film series.

AWARDS - From Deadline:   At the 2021 BAFTAs (British Academy Awards), "Nomadland" wins 4 awards, including "Best Film," "Best Director" (Chloe Zhao) and "Best Actress" (Frances McDormand).

From Deadline:    At the 2021 / 73rd Directors Guild Awards, Chloe Zhao won the top prize for her film, "Nomadland."  She is only the second woman to win the award for "Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film."  Kathryn Bigelow was the first when she won for her film, "The Hurt Locker."  This article also includes a complete list of winners.

From Variety:   Spike Lee's "Da 5 Bloods," Christopher Nolan's "Tenet," and David Fincher's "Mank" top the 2021 Art Directors Guild Awards.

MARVEL - From THR:   Marvel Entertainment's new comic book distribution deal - with Penguin Random House Publisher Services - has some comic book stores worried about the future of the market.

OBITS:

From Deadline:  English actress, Helen McCrory, has died at the age of 52, Friday, April 16, 2021, after a battle with cancer.  McCrory is known for appearing in the James Bond film, "Skyfall" (2012), and in the last three "Harry Potter" films.  McCrory may be best remembered for being a member of the main cast of the British period crime drama TV series, "Peaky Blinders."  McCrory had been married to English actor, Damian Lewis, since 2007 and was the mother of two children.

From Variety:  The former actor and stuntman, Felix Silla, has died at the age of 84, Friday, April 16, 2021.  Silla wore the costume to play "Cousin Itt" in the former ABC television series, "The Addams Family" (1964-66).  [The late actor Anthony Magro provided Itt's voice.]   Although two other actors provided the voice, Silla also provided the physical performance (wearing the costume) for "Twiki" in the former NBC TV series, "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" (1979-81).

From APNews:  American investment advisor and convicted fraudster, Bernie Madoff, has died at the age of 82, Wednesday, April 14, 2021, in prison at the Federal Medical Center at the Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina.  Madoff is best known for operating the largest "Ponzi scheme" in world history, which allowed him to steal from the rich and the poor, the famous and the ordinary.  In June 2009, he was sentenced to 150 years in prison.

From IndyStar:  Former professional basketball player and coach, Bobby "Slick" Leonard," has died at the age of 88, Tuesday, April 13, 2021.  He played college basketball for the Indiana University Hossiers and was a member of the 1953 NCAA Tournament championship team.  His seven-year career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) included stints with the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers and the Chicago Packers/Zephyrs.  In 1968, Leonard began coaching the Indiana Pacers of the ABA (American Basketball Association), where he coached the team to three ABA titles, 1970, 1972, and 1973.  He continued to coach the Pacers when they joined the NBA in 1976 and remained coach until 1980.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from August 18th to 24th, 2019 - Update #20

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COMICS-ANIMATION - From Deadline:  At Disney's D23 Expo, Marvel Animation & Family Entertainment announces a new animated series, "Marvel's Spidey and His Amazing Friends."  The series is set to debut in 2021 on Disney Junior.

From THR:  Marvel Animation & Family Entertainment's "Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur" animated series is headed to Disney Channel in 2020.  Laurence Fishburne's Cinema Gypsy Productions is partnering with Disney Television Animation and Marvel Animation to produce the new series.

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DISNEY - From Deadline:  Now that Sony Pictures and Disney/Marvel have split up on the "Spider-Man" films, they will fight over director Jon Watts, who has directed the two Marvel Spider-Man films, who is not contracted to do anything right now.

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SPORTS - From ESPN:  The inside story behind the funniest baseball card ever made.

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TELEVISION - From TheWrap:  Nielsen, the primary TV ratings company since the 1950s, is prepping networks for the significant changes to the way it reports "overnight" ratings.

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CELEBRITY - From TheWrap:  Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson tops "Forbes" Magazine's 2019 highest-paid actor's list.

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MOVIES - From YahooEntertainment:  For Jay Roach's upcoming film about the Fox News/Roger Ailes controversies, "Bombshell," two actress undergo extreme makeovers.  There is Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly and then there is Nicole Kidman as Gretchen Carlson.

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MOVIES - From Deadline:  Warner Bros. is set to produce a fourth film in "The Matrix" film series.  Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss will return as Neo and Trinity.  One of The Matrix's co-creators, Lana Wachowski (formerly Larry Wachowski), will return to direct and co-write the film.

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DISNEY - From Variety:  Disney is moving its live-action "Cruella" movie (from the animated classic, "101 Dalmatians") to May 28, 2021 from Dec. 23, 2020.  "Woman in the Window," one of the films it inherited from the Fox purchase, is moved to October 4, 2019 from May 15, 2020.

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JAMES BOND - From Variety:  Bond25, the twenty-fifth James Bond film, now has an official title, "No Time to Die."

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ANIMATION-STREAMING - From ShadowandAct:  Tommy Davison says "The Proud Family," the beloved Disney animated TV series in which he starred, is being revived - likely for one of Disney's streaming services.

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CELEBRITY - From YahooEntertainment:   Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson marries Lauren Hashian in Hawaii.

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MOVIES - From Deadline:  It seems as if Larry Ellison has been able to make a deal to save his daughter, Megan Ellison's film production/distribution compnay, Annapurna.  The company has defaulted on loans totaling as much as $200 million, if not more.  Annapurna has produced or co-produced such films as "Zero Dark Thirty," "Her," and "If Beale Street Could Talk."

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 8/16 to 8/18/2019 weekend box office is "Good Boys" with an estimated take of 21 million dollars.

From Variety:  Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" leads the international box office with an estimate total of 53.7 million dollars in 46 international markets.

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#1619PROJECT - From TMN:   "The Morning News" takes a look today's special issue of the New York Times Magazine, "the 1619 Project," which observes the 400th anniversary of American slavery, when the first enslaved Africans arrived at Point Comfort in the British colony of Virginia in August 1619.

From PBS:  A PBS interview about the 1619 Project.

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STREAMING - From TheWrap:  Kevin Smith said that he will be executive producer and showrunner on a limited “Masters of the Universe” series that Netflix will develop.  Entitled, “Masters of the Universe: Revelations,” the series will focus on the unresolved story lines of the original 1982 TV series, picking up many of the characters’ journeys where they left off decades ago.

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MOVIES - From Deadline:  Kerry Washington and Sterling K. Brown are set to star in and produce "Shadow Force," a hot property.  Bidding for rights have just started on what is described as a fresh take on "Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

OBITS:

From YahooNews:  Former governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, has died at the age of 76, Sunday, August 18, 2019.  Blanco was elected the 54th Governor of Louisiana in 2003 and held office from 2004 to 2008.  Blanco is best known for being Louisiana's first female governor and for having her political career derailed by Hurricane Katrina.

From Deadline:  The comedian Kip Addotta died at the age of 75, Tuesday, August 13, 2019.  Addotta.  He began his career in the early 1970s and by the mid-1970s, he was making appearances on "The Tonight Show" (21) and "The Mike Douglas Show" (14), to name a few.  He also made a few film appearances, and in addition to his comedy album releases, he wrote humorous songs.

From Deadline:  The screenwriter, Patricia Louisiana Knop, died at the age of 78, Wednesday, August 7, 2019.  She was known for her work with her late husband, Zalman King, whose films incorporated sexuality.  She co-wrote King's "Wild Orchid" and was a writer on King's Showtime TV series, "Red Shoe Diaries."  Knop and King were one of three credited writers on director Adrian Lyne's film, 9 1/2 Weeks (1986).  She was also an acclaimed and popular painter and sculptor.

Warner Bros. Announces Fourth Film in "The Matrix" Series

Lana Wachowski to Write and Direct All-New Film Set in the World of “The Matrix”

Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss to Reprise Their Roles

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lana Wachowski—the co-creator of the record-breaking and genre-defining world of “The Matrix”—is set to write, direct and produce an all-new film, returning audiences to the reality-bending universe. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss will star in the film, reprising their roles as Neo and Trinity, respectively. Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures will produce and globally distribute the film. The announcement was made today by Toby Emmerich, Chairman, Warner Bros. Pictures Group.

    “Lana is a true visionary—a singular and original creative filmmaker—and we are thrilled that she is writing, directing and producing this new chapter in ‘The Matrix’ universe.”

“We could not be more excited to be re-entering ‘The Matrix’ with Lana,” said Emmerich. “Lana is a true visionary—a singular and original creative filmmaker—and we are thrilled that she is writing, directing and producing this new chapter in ‘The Matrix’ universe.”

“Many of the ideas Lilly and I explored 20 years ago about our reality are even more relevant now,” said Wachowski. “I’m very happy to have these characters back in my life and grateful for another chance to work with my brilliant friends.”

Wachowski is producing the film together with Grant Hill. The screenplay is by Wachowski, Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell.

The three previous films—“The Matrix” (1999), “The Matrix Reloaded” (2003) and “The Matrix Revolutions” (2003)—have earned more than $1.6 billion at the global box office and were all top-10 domestic hits in their respective years of release. “The Matrix Revolutions” was also the first film ever to release simultaneously in every major country at the same hour around the world.

Special 20th-Anniversary screenings of “The Matrix” are being held at select AMC Theatres locations across the U.S., starting August 30, 2019.

Wachowski is represented by WME, Circle of Confusion and attorney Peter Grossman. Reeves is represented by WME and Ziffren Brittenham. Moss is represented by WME, longtime manager Elizabeth Hodgson and attorney Bob Lange.

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Review: "Pompeii" an Enjoyable Historical Spectacle

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 31 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Pompeii (2014)
Running time:  105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense battle sequences, disaster-related action and brief sexual content
DIRECTOR:  Paul W.S. Anderson
WRITER:  Janet Scott Batchler and Lee Batchler, and Michael Robert Johnson
PRODUCERS:  Paul W.S. Anderson, Jeremy Bolt, Robert Kulzer, and Don Carmody
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Glen MacPherson (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Michele Conroy
COMPOSER:  Clinton Shorter

HISTORICAL/DRAMA/ACTION/ADVENTURE

Starring:  Kit Harrington, Emily Browning, Carrie-Anne Moss, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kiefer Sutherland, Jessica Lucas, Jared Harris, Joe Pingue, Currie Graham, Sasha Roiz, Dalmar Abuzeid, and Dylan Schombing

Pompeii was an ancient Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania.  Pompeii and the surrounding area (including another town) were destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

Pompeii is a 2014 historical drama and disaster film from director Paul W.S. Anderson, perhaps best known for his work on the Resident Evil film franchise.  Theatrically released in 3D, this film is a German and Canadian co-production.

Pompeii is set during the last two or three days before Vesuvius destroys the city.  The film focuses on a slave-turned-gladiator who finds himself in Pompeii and fighting to protect a nobleman’s young daughter from a corrupt Roman Senator, while nearby, Mount Vesuvius rumbles ominously.

Pompeii opens in Brittania in 62 AD.  Roman soldiers brutally wipe out a tribe of Celtic horsemen, and a young Celtic boy named Milo (Dylan Schombing) watches as his parents are murdered.  By 79 AD, the boy is a grown man known as “The Celt” (Kit Harrington), who is a Roman slave and talented gladiator.

Milo is taken to Pompeii during the “Festival of the Vinalia” in order to entertain the crowds.  He has an encounter with Cassia (Emily Browning), the daughter of Pompeii's ruler, Marcus Severus (Jared Harris) and his wife, Aurelia (Carrie-Anne Moss).  Milo and the young woman are drawn to each other.  However, Milo must focus his attention on Atticus (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), a champion gladiator who wants to use “the Celt” to gain his freedom.

Meanwhile, the arrival of Senator Quintas Attius Corvus (Kiefer Sutherland), a close ally of Roman emperor, Titus, changes everyone’s plans.  All that planning might be why Pompeii’s people and visitors are ignoring the noise and rumbles coming from Mount Vesuvius, which towers over the area.

In the history of films set in or during the Roman Empire, Pompeii won’t be memorable.  It’s no Gladiator (2000), nor is it even on the level of a recent favorite of mine, The Eagle (2011).  Pompeii is a sword and sandal film that mixes several genres, including action-adventure, romance, the disaster film, the swashbuckler, and the historical, among others.  Each of those genres offers something enjoyable to watch in Pompeii, but overall this film is not well acted, directed, or written.

It looked to me like some of the film’s actors were struggling not to laugh during scenes when they were supposed to convey anger or pain.  Kit Harrington as Milo the Celt is cute, but he is not much of an actor, at least here.  Emily Browning as Cassia is seemingly quite passionate about this film and gives it her best effort.  Why should you watch this movie?  I don't know.

I found myself enjoying Pompeii.  I have always liked Roman Empire movies, so obviously I was going to give this film a chance.  I am glad that I did, but I won’t lie and pretend that this is an especially good film.

5 of 10
C+

Tuesday, July 08, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "Suspect Zero" is Not All it Can Be (Happy B'day, Henry Lennix)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 171 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Suspect Zero (2004)
Running time:  100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – R for violent content, language, and some nudity
DIRECTOR:  E. Elias Merhige
WRITERS:  Zak Penn and Billy Ray; from a story by Zak Penn
PRODUCERS:  Paula Wagner, Gaye Hirsch, and E. Elias Merhige
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Michael Chapman, ASC (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  John Gilroy and Robert K. Lambert, A.C.E.
COMPOSER:  Clint Mansell

CRIME/MYSTERY/THRILLER with elements of horror and sci-fi

Starring:  Aaron Eckhart, Ben Kingsley, Carrie-Anne Moss, Harry Lennix, Kevin Chamberlain, Julian Reyes, Keith Campbell, William Mapother, and Buddy Joe Hooker

The subject of this movie review is Suspect Zero, a 2004 crime thriller starring Aaron Eckhart and Ben Kingsley.  The film focuses on two characters, a mysterious serial killer who is hunting other serial killers and an FBI agent who suspects there may be more to this unusual vigilante than anyone can imagine.

A traveling salesman is found dead in his car just across the Arizona/New Mexico state line, and the killer performed some kind of ritual on the victim’s body.  The FBI and police wonder if there are others.  A second murder victim, a sixth-grade teacher from Boulder, Colorado, is found bound and gagged in the trunk of the car.  His killer also marked his body, so the police wonder if the two murders are connected.

FBI Agent Thomas Mackelway (Aaron Eckhart) isn’t sure, but he knows that the third murder is a personal message from the killer to him.  The victim is Raymond Starkey (Keith Campbell), a rapist/murder who escaped justice after Mackelway illegally goes to Mexico and does his Dirty-Harry-doesn’t-have-to-follow-the-rules routine that gets his case thrown out and lets Mackelway slip from the crack of Lady Justice’s butt cheeks.

Before long Agent Mackelway believes that the murderer is a man named Benjamin O’Ryan (Sir Ben Kingsley), and O’Ryan is either taunting him or helping him.  Mackelway’s past comes back to haunt him in the form of his ex-partner FBI Agent Fran Kulok (Carrie-Anne Moss).  He’ll need her to support him as the pressure mounts, and mysterious images…or could they be messages start to blossom in his mind as he tries to solve the riddle of Ryan and the next killer Ryan is hunting, the ultimate serial killer, Suspect Zero.

If, as the saying goes, the devil is in the details, it’s those devilish details that keep the mystery thriller, Suspect Zero, from becoming a great mystery thriller, but as the film is, it’s a damn good mystery thriller when all is said and done.  The film’s lone problem is its biggest, the slightly-more-than-paper-thin characters.  The character we get the most information about is Eckhart’s Mackelway, enough to find his plight and mission intriguing.  The script doesn’t give us enough to really enjoy and embrace him, and he’s the good guy, an enjoyable, embraceable kind of guy.  However, concerning Mackelway’s colleagues and the rest of the cast, we get next to nothing, just enough about them to move the plot.  There’s so little chemistry between Eckhart’s Mackelway and Ms. Moss’ Fran Kulok that if the filmmakers had replaced Kulok with a gay lover we still wouldn’t notice the character.

While the plot is the film’s strongpoint, the script isn’t.  It’s more or less a vehicle to move along genre conventions and to move the movie from one mystery, one murder, or one scary moment to the next.  It seems as if writer Zak Penn’s original script that he finished in 1997 was really a novel.  Screenwriter Billy Ray’s revisions tried to bring the novel back down to being a movie that runs just under two hours at the cost of characterization.  Luckily, both writers have made a career of composing actions and thrills for film so the missteps still make for a riveting movie.

When all is said and done and we look past the warts and all, Suspect Zero is not bad or great, but pretty good.  If you don’t mind the intense concentration this film’s oblique concepts and storytelling requires of you, and you accept that this is one of those times when you just can’t sit back and not think, then Suspect Zero will rock your recliner even if it doesn’t rock your world.

6 of 10
B

Updated: Saturday, November 16, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "The Matrix Revolutions" is the Good with the Bad

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 164 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Running time:  129 minutes (2 hours, nine minutes)
MPAA – R for sci-fi violence and brief sexual content
WRITERS/DIRECTORS:  The Wachowski Brothers
PRODUCER:  Joel Silver
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Bill Pope (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Zach Staenberg
COMPOSER:  Don Davis

SCI-FI/ACTION/THRILLER

Starring:  Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Collin Chou, Mary Alice, Tanveer Atwal, Helmut Bakaitas, Monica Bellucci, Nona M. Gaye, Nathaniel Lees, Harold Perrineau, Bruce Spense, Lambert Wilson, and Anthony Zerbe

The subject of this movie review is The Matrix Revolutions, a 2003 science fiction action movie from filmmaker siblings Andy and Larry (now Lana) Wachowski.  It is the third film in The Matrix film franchise, and it is both a direct sequel and continuation of The Matrix Reloaded, which was released six months earlier.  The Matrix Revolutions focuses on two main plots:  the attempt by the human city of Zion to defend itself against a massive invasion of machines and also Neo’s fight to end the human-machine war by battling the rogue Agent Smith.

The Matrix Revolutions end The Matrix trilogy not with a bang but with a whimper, a dud, and a plop.  It’s largely a bore, and, while not as talky as the first, the film drags like a wet rag when it does try to be all philosophical.  Like Once Upon a Time in Mexico, The Matrix Revolutions is an average, meandering, dull film made by very talented filmmakers who know how to use all kinds of gadgets to make movies, but can’t tell a good story.  TMR tries to resolve all the plotlines, while cheekily leaving just enough unresolved to suggest that it is a never-ending story or, at least, that there will be more movies born of this immense cash cow.

The machines finally invade Zion, and human inhabitants of the underground sanctuary are wildly overmatched.  Meanwhile, Neo (Keanu Reeves) not only has to battle Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), who has become a self-replicating virus that is rapidly taking over the Matrix, but Neo also has to travel to the Machine City and make a peace deal with the machine central intelligence.  The Oracle (played by Mary Alice, as the original, Gloria Foster, died during filming of the second film), an important (but minor character), plays a larger role in Revolutions as she tries to save the Matrix from all the various rival programs that are attempting to have their own way in the artificial construct into which most of humanity is jacked.

Press for the film is telling audiences that The Matrix Reloaded was about life and that this last film Revolutions is about death.  There is death here, but it’s mostly in a lame script and poorly executed concept.  The ideas behind The Matrix are grand and interesting.  The writer/directors Larry and Andy Wachowski, however, just don’t always know quite how to find that straight line that goes from concept to final product.

Revolutions is dry and slow, and the mish mash stew of Eastern philosophy and computer jargon is tasteless.  The cinematography by Bill Pope is lush a landscape of rich and sexy, dark watercolors.  The battle between the humans and sentinels in Zion is a spectacular blend of CGI, bravura editing, and human emoting that might not have viewers comparing it to the battles in Braveheart or Saving Private Ryan, but those familiar with video games will recognize this as the most awesome sci-fi battle put on film to date.  The leather bar segment and the final duel between Neo and Agent Smith are also fairly spectacular.

If anything, we can always remember The Matrix films for their groundbreaking and mind bending visual effects.  There truly is no doubt that these films are three of the most important movies films in advancing the technology and craft of movie making.

If you’ve seen the other two, there’s no point in not finishing this.  The Matrix Revolutions, however, is a mediocre movie.  The surface pyrotechnics are just fine, but the meat and bones of the film – the story, is weak and lousy; in the end, this is not a tale, but a collection of cool scenes that would be right at home in a video game.

This is the film result of two indulgent filmmakers who needed to be reigned in before their egos and unchecked imaginations went wild and made crap.  Sometimes, someone, even a studio executive – a suit, needs to harness the madness of young filmmakers.  They owe the audience that much.  It’s not at all acceptable that the price of admission buys the messy product of two directors who needed to take their fantasy back to the drawing board one more time.

5 of 10
C+

NOTES:
2004 Black Reel Awards:  1 nomination: “Film: Best Supporting Actress” (Mary Alice)

2004 Image Awards:  3 nominations: “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture” (Laurence Fishburne), “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Nona Gaye), and “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Jada Pinkett Smith)

2004 Razzie Awards:  1 nomination: “Worst Director” (Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski for The Matrix Reloaded)

Updated:  Thursday, November 07, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "The Matrix Reloaded" a Bold Vision

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 74 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux


The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
Running time: 138 minutes (2 hours, 18 minutes)
MPAA – R for sci-fi violence and some sexuality
WRITERS/DIRECTORS: Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski
PRODUCER: Joel Silver
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Bill Pope (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Zach Staenberg
COMPOSER: Don Davis

SCI-FI/ACTION/THRILLER

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Harold Perrineau, Jr., Adrian Rayment, Neil Rayment, Gloria Foster, Roy Jones, Jr., Randall Duk Kim, Monica Bellucci, Nona M. Gaye, Helmut Bakaitis, Sing Ngai, Harry Lennix and Anthony Zerbe

The subject of this movie review is The Matrix Reloaded, a 2003 American and Australian science fiction action film from The Wachowski Brothers. It is the sequel to the Oscar-winning, The Matrix (1999). In the film, Neo and the rebel leaders race to stop an army of Sentinels from destroying the human sanctuary, Zion, while Neo’s dreams suggest that Trinity will suffer a dark fate.

I liked The Matrix Reloaded so much that I’d like to bow down at the feet of Andy and Larry Wachowski, the creators/writers/directors behind this brilliant science fiction/action cum philosophical film. This must be the most thoughtful, inventive, and entertaining science fiction film since 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s amazing what the brothers did when their studios gave them a bigger budget, and when technology gave them the ability to add even greater mind-bending effects than what they had in the first film, The Matrix. Every time George Lucas got more money and improved technology, he only managed to either make a mediocre film or to actually take away from the wonder of the original Star Wars.

Neo (Keanu Reeves) and his compatriots: mentor Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), lover Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and new crew mate Link (Harold Perrineau, Jr.) have 72 hours to save the day before 250,000 sentinel probes that are digging through the earth to reach Zion. Neo is also trouble Trinity of whom he’s been having bad dreams. The heroes must find The Keymaker (Randall Duk Kim) who knows the way to the Mainframe of the Matrix, the place where Neo might be able to save mankind.

At one point while I was watching this film, I could appreciate the creativity and the urge of the filmmakers to push the boundaries of visual effects, but I found The Matrix Reloaded to be a drag. It seemed to lack the freshness and surprise of the original. I was finding The Matrix Reloaded fresh in its throw-everything-against-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks way. The film seemed to have an awkward rhythm: talk, philosophy, talk, speech, fight, talk, fight, action scene, more talk, etc. This was a story about humans fighting machines, and the entire movie reeked of being artificial, more the result of computer effort than human effort.

I was wrong: human ingenuity and spirit make this film, with the computer as the left hand that helps the human right hand. Suddenly, it all clicked for me, and the film made so much sense. The rest of the way was a breathtaking experience for me. I had to struggle to keep up with the film’s rapid-fire pace. The action is quite intense, and the story is packed with human pathos, intrigue, and mystery. The Wachowski’s really dig into the idea that the Matrix is an artificial intelligence, but an intelligence nonetheless, and it has personalities – multiple personalities with individual agendas.

Great directing, great effects, excellent rhythm, inspired acting – what more do I need to say? This is good. Morpheus is even more mystical and even more frightening. Neo is super cool and super bad, a superman who can unleash his special abilities at the drop of a hat. Trinity is still hot, but she has a purpose; she’s more than just a babe/appendage. She’s the shoulder upon which Neo leans. I was also really surprised by how much the film delves into ideas of and philosophy about freedom, control, and choice.

No kidding, this is great stuff. It does have some weak points. It drags at times before it really gets rolling. Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) is now as much comic relief as he is a cool villain, whereas he was an all-dangerous and lethal adversary in the first film. And the Twins (Adrian and Neil Rayment), with their blond dreadlocks are good, but they ain’t all that.

There have many good sci-fi films, and there have been some very good sci-fi films, including The Matrix. I don’t know how I’ll feel a year later about this sequel, but right now, I think The Matrix Reloaded is one of the truly great sci-fi films, and probably the best action movie ever made. Although The Matrix Reloaded ends in a cliffhanger, it stands on its own, just whetting your appetite for more. There are enough new revelations about the characters and about the Matrix to keep your head spinning until the next chapter.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2004 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Supporting Actress” (Gloria Foster)

2004 Razzie Awards: 1 nomination: “Worst Director” (Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski – also for The Matrix Revolutions-2003)

Review: "The Matrix" Has Staying Power (Happy B'day, Keanu Reeves)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 19 (of 2001) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Matrix (1999)
Running time: 136 minutes (2 hour, 16 minutes)
MPAA – R for sci-fi violence and brief language
DIRECTORS: The Wachowski Brothers
WRITERS: Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski
PRODUCER: Joel Silver
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Bill Pope (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Zach Staenberg
COMPOSER: Don Davis
Academy Award winner

SCI-FI/FANTASY/ACTION with elements of a thriller

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Ann Moss, Hugo Weaving, Joe Pantoliano, Marcus Chong, Gloria Foster, Julian Arahanga, Matt Doran, Belinda McClory, and Anthony Ray Parker

The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction action film. Directed by the brothers Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski (who is now Lana), The Matrix was the first of three films and launched a franchise that includes video games, animation (The Animatrix), and a series of comic and webcomics that were eventually collected in two trade paperbacks. The film would go on to be influential and win four Oscars.

A computer programmer and hacker named Thomas A. Anderson (Keanu Reeves) is in a kind of funk; the world does not seem quite right to him, but he cannot put his finger on what bothers him. He encounters a mysterious band of rebels led by the Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) who tells Anderson that Anderson is really Neo and that he is the Chosen One who will lead humanity out of the bondage in which machines keep them. Morpheus is abetted by Trinity (Carrie-Ann Moss), who believes completely in Neo as the savior.

The year isn’t 1999; it is 200 years later, says Morpheus. The world in which Neo lives is not real; it is instead an elaborate façade called the Matrix created by a malevolent Artificial Intelligence. The real world is a bombed shell of its former self. The ruling cyber intelligence has stored humans in stasis pods and uses humans for the fuel with which it operates itself. The Matrix, a kind of computer simulation of reality into which humanity is plugged, keeps humanity placated while the A.I., to power itself, leeches the energy human bodies naturally generate. Humans think they are living their lives when they are really all asleep and jacked into an electronic version of reality.

Morpheus believes that Neo is the one who will destroy the Matrix. Morpheus and his warriors live in the real world. They can send their consciousness into the Matrix to recruit converts to their cause. Their nemeses are Agents, A.I. who infiltrate and police the Matrix for rebellious humans. Led by the vicious Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), the Agents pursue Neo and his newfound colleagues.

Written and directed by the Wachowski Brothers, The Matrix is glorious eye candy. Others have described the special effects as mind bending, and some audiences may have perceived them that way. The movie is visually dazzling, exciting, and invigorating; it’s a thrill ride in which you sit back and let yourself be entertained. While the Wachowki’s currently lack the skills to stage shots as well as Hitchcock or Kubrick would, they do know how to compose effective visuals. From a city with a sense of wrongness to the abandoned subway system where Morpheus and his rebels fight beautifully designed and wicked looking machinery, the film’s images deliver a coherent message.

Part Terminator and part The Invisibles (a comic book published by DC comics and created by Grant Morrison), the movie pretends at being ideologically and intellectually deep. However, man versus machine isn’t so much an issue in the movie as it is an impetus for violent action scenes. The brothers were smart in that they allowed Neo’s warrior friends to have the job of explaining the situation behind the Matrix.

The acting is very good. Fishburne has deep resonant tones, and he speaks clearly and confidently as explains things to Reeve’s somewhat slow Neo. Reeves, from the Kevin Costner school of wooden acting and halting speech mannerisms, would have lost the audience had he tried to make explanations. However, the camera loves the cool, West Coast looker, so Neo’s ascension from dull hacker to savior is something the audience can buy. Moss’s Trinity is a stand by you man woman and makes an able sidekick/love interest for Neo, and it is she who carries the load in the relationship. She delivers all the passion and provides all the strength while Neo finds his place as the One.

The most impressive, influential, and groundbreaking films usually sweep the technical Academy Awards for the year in which they are released, which The Matrix did while American Beauty won the high-end trophies. However, like Star Wars, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Terminator, and Jurassic Park, The Matrix will stand the test of time as a technical landmark in cinematic history. Besides that, it’s a very good film. What it lacks in subtlety and intellect, it more than makes up for in visual bravado, suspense, and drama. Like the directors of the best films, the Wachowski’s let the images do the talking.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2000 Academy Awards: 4 wins: “Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing” (Dane A. Davis), “Best Effects, Visual Effects” (John Gaeta, Janek Sirrs, Steve Courtley, and Jon Thum), “Best Film Editing” (Zach Staenberg), and “Best Sound” (John T. Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, David E. Campbell, and David Lee)

2000 BAFTA Awards: 2 wins: “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (John Gaeta, Steve Courtley, Janek Sirrs, and Jon Thum) and “Best Sound” (David Lee, John T. Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, David E. Campbell, and Dane A. Davis); 3 nominations: “Best Cinematography” (Bill Pope), “Best Editing” (Zach Staenberg), and “Best Production Design” (Owen Paterson)

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Review: Before "Inception," Chris Nolan Did Trippy with "Memento"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 13 (of 2002) by Leroy Douresseaux

Memento (2000)
OPENING DATE: March 16, 2001
Running time: 113 minutes
MPAA – R for violence, language, and some drug content
DIRECTOR: Christopher Nolan
WRITER: Christopher Nolan (based upon a short story “Memento Mori” by Jonathan Nolan)
PRODUCERS: Jennifer Todd and Suzanne Todd
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Wally Pfister
EDITOR: Dody Dorn
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/THRILLER/MYSTERY

Starring: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Stephen Tobolowsky, Mark Boone Junior, Jorja Fox, and Harriet Samson Harris

Leonard “Lenny” Shelby (Guy Pearce, L.A. Confidential) was an insurance investigator. While intervening in the murder of his wife Catherine (Jorja Fox), Lenny receives a blow to his head. The resulting brain damage causes Lenny to suffer from Anterograde Amnesia, a condition in which Lenny cannot create new memories. Everyday he wakes up knowing who he is, but not remembering anything that happened since the injury. From that day on, he awakes every day, his mind a virtual blank slate. He compensates by taking pictures with a Polaroid camera, tattooing information on all over his body, and annotating pictures and pages of notes as a way to remember important information from previous days.

His current associates are a cheeky friend, Teddy (Joe Pantoliano, The Matrix) and a friendly bar waitress, Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss, The Matrix). They’re either assistance or hindrance as Lenny searches for the man who killed his wife, a search he remembers began the night of his wife’s murder and his injury.

Memento is a combination mystery, thriller, crime drama, and like most of them, the answer comes at the end of the film. However, a twist that can confuse viewers, the movie begins with what is the conclusion of the story. The movie works backwards in time with each succeeding scene taking place earlier in the story than its predecessor. By the time the movie ends, the answer to the puzzle is actually the beginning of the story. If this sounds confusing, it isn’t. Memento is one of the most engaging mystery thrillers in quite a while.

Writer/director Christopher Nolan plays with time the way that Quentin Tarantino does, and he dresses his film in hardboiled film noir in the tradition of Los Angeles crime dramas. Memento’s execution is a mental exercise of the kind found in European cinema. Once you learn that the story works in reverse, you are drawn in and you can’t quit the film until its end. As you watch the story, you see a result of an action, so you must continue to watch to see what caused the action. To the bitter end, or beginning as it is, you want to know how Lenny’s suffering, how his search began, and each scene you watch only makes it more imperative that you see what happened get closer to the beginning of Lenny’s odyssey.

The performances by Pearce, Pantoliano, and Ms. Moss are excellent. Pearce makes an excellent everyman hero, and Pantoliano is the perfect sly trickster. However, Ms. Moss’s character turns are a revelation of her latent talent. Known for playing sexy heroines in sci-fi movies, to see her play a low-end bar hop is shocking.

The most brilliant work comes from Nolan, his brother Jonathan (whose original short story, upon which this movie is based, was published after the film’s release), and film editor, Dody Dorn (the special edition of Terminator 2: Judgment Day). These three creators, in particular Dody and Christopher Nolan, compose a beautiful piece of work that easily could have fallen apart upon its central conceit. They turn a gimmick on its ear. You’re impatient to learn what’s going on, and the film is so beautifully put together that you can never abandon it, lest you never learn the how it all began.

Like the tattoos that cover Lenny’s body, Memento will leave its own mark on your film viewing memory. Words in praise of Memento don’t do it just. Its impact is purely in what you see. Some film lovers see sound as a corruption of the pure visual magic of film, and Memento’s stock in trade is images and memories. The experience of seeing this film is itself a cherished memento.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2002 Academy Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Editing” (Dody Dorn) and “Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen” (Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan-story)

2002 Golden Globes: 1 nominations: “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Christopher Nolan)

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