April 19, 1999. Monday
Well, I saw The Matrix this
weekend. Admittedly, it was only a few weeks ago that I slammed it
for looking really dumb. I thought Keanu just looked idotic, and
the plot seemed like it would drag the whole movie down. But I have
to admit, it was pretty fucking cool. I thought the plot would be
so high-concept that it would just get lost in the jumble of all the special
effects, and I thought that all the special effects would be unimpressive.
I mean, at this point in movie technology, i expect really good effects,
and i thought The Matrix looked kinda cheap. But after seeing an
HBO special on it, I kinda wanted to see it. Plus, i started readng some
good things about it. So Matt
and I went to see it on Friday. We were gonna see the late show, but when
we pulled up to the theatre, the line was down the street and around the
block. I couldn't believe that people were waiting in line that long for
a movie that was in it's third week of release. It sold out pretty quick,
and we were shut out. So that was kinda the deal with Friday.
We went back to his place, called Jed,
and I went home and to bed.
So Saturday, Rodzilla
flew into town, and we went with Matt and his girlfriend to see the Matrix,
odering tickets in adance this time. We got the about an hour and a half
early, and the line was already forming. So we ate at a deli a few
stores from the theatre and when the line got to the deli, Matt went and
stood in line until i finished eating, at which point i relieved him.
So anyway, it sold out again. The theatre itself was pretty impressive.
It has pretty much the best sound and screen in the area. That's
why we were there, anyway, and i think that was largely responsible for
the big crowd. Although on Friday at Union Station, it was sold out as
well. Anyway, The Uptown
theatre in Woodley Park, in case you're curious. A giant wrap-around
screen, and audio so loud my teeth were shaking. As a bonus, they played
the new Star Wars trailer.
A lot of hooting and hollering for that. Actually, a lot of yelling and
cheering during the movie as well, which i find kinda annoying. Anyway,
the movie itself was a marvel. Great effects, but also a suprisingly
interesting plot. Just a bit reminiscent of Total Recall, but barely.
Plus, the effects were impressive because a lot of stuff that would normally
be blue-screened wasn't. Many of ths wall-climbing and 100 foot jumps
were done with the actors on wires, and they did all their own stunts.
The slow-motion "bullet-time" stuff was pretty amazing too. It's
like that Gap "swing" commercial, where a frame freezes and the camera
rotates around, except here the people keep moving in slow motion.
The cinematography was really stylish too. Rodzilla is always quick to
point out really good cinematography, and she did so here. The whole movie
was just really stylish. Especially the action sequences. You could tell
that the directors used to write comic books. I could see a lot of the
character's poses and a lot of the shots as coming right out of a comic.
The violence was done very fashionably. I know it's a dumbass kinda
comment, but the best way to sum it up is to say that it was really fucking
cool movie. Everything and everyone looked so damn good.
The cool thing was that in the world of the Matrix, the sort of imaginary
world, the characters can make themselves appear how they want. So of course,
they're gonna make themselves wear leather and vinyl and cool shades. But
it really works. Even the fight scenes were great. I heard that all hte
actors trained for almost a year for the scenes, and they sold them really
well. The only bad things I can really say was that the audience didn't
buy some of Keanu's fighting "skills," and the rather grotesque scenes
in the first hour. Don't take kids to see this movie. Anyway, all
this writing about it makes me kinda want to see it again. And maybe i
will, god dammit. By the way, if you've got Shockwave, i highly recommed
that you check out the movie site.
Anyway, the rest of the weekend was pretty good. As I said, Rodzilla
was here on Saturday. Even though she was here for 23 hours, we got
a lot done, i think. After we got back from the movie on Saturday,
we had a long debate/argument/discussion as a result of the movie. It was
mostly about violence and porn and other "ills" of society. Basically,
Rodzilla's main point, at least what I got, was that she wished people
would take more responsibilty for their actions and creations. I
didn't really agree. But she was pretty passionate about it, and
for some reason emotion goes a lot further with me than calm and composed.
Sometimes at least. I can't even really remember what exactly her
pont was. I guess it started out as a logical argument that turned out
as an impassioned plea to all of humanity. It was an odd yet not
unusual transformation from cool and collected to and emotion filled rant.
I suppose the bottle of red wine we -mostly she- drank had a lot to do
with that. I mean, I could see her points, but i was tired and i
didn't really agree with her and i think we ended up being a little too
rowdy for 3am, especially when the lamp crashed onto the floor and when
Rodzilla kicked me onto the floor a little later. But it was
still all kinda fun.
I was disappointed that Jed never made it though. It woulda been
nice to see him, especially since I was expecting him on Thursday.
But the fact that he didn't make it isn't really a surprise at this point.
Still, woulda been nice. Anyway, all in all it was a really god weekend.
Rodzilla and I went to lunch at a restaurant near the Archives, and drove
around for and hour looking for parking. When we finally got to the restaurant,
our waiter almost ignored us completely. He took our order and gave us
out check. That was about it. He had someone else bring our food, and didn't
even do the obligatory "So how we doin here?" Even more insulting
was the fact that he was chatting it up with the tables right next to us.
Anyway, that was particularly annoying. I drove her to Dulles to
meet her ride back to Lexington, and that was about it. I also inexplicably
loaned her my acoustic guitar for SIX WEEKS. I miss it already. But
she really wants to learn to play. SO what the hell, it's be cool
if I could hang out with someone who knows how to play the guitar again.
But I'm giving her odds of about 5-1 that says she doesn't really stick
with it. I'd like it if she did, but a lot of people, myself included,
become either annoyed or frustrated or bored of it the first time they
try to learn. So we'll see. But all in all, a great weekend.
Things with Rodzilla i'd say are going pretty well. Although it kinda
just hit me for the first time last night that she's going to France for
a year. I mean, I've known this for 9 months now, but the harsh reality
is just starting to sink in. I guess after seeing her and talking to her
so much lately, I'm really gonna miss her. But at least I'm used to not
seeing her everyday. I can't imagine what it'd be like to have to see go
from seeing her everyday to not seeing her or even talking to her for weeks
at a time. But i suppose I'll find out after this summer.
anyway, i thought this would be an interesting entry, but it's turned into
a jumbled, boring mess, and I don't even have cool effects to blame.
DA&R
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