The Matrix

[00:00:01] Blank Check with Griffin and David, Blank Check with Griffin and David

[00:00:09] Don't know what to say or to expect

[00:00:13] All you need to know is that the name of the show is Blank Check

[00:00:20] Do not try and ban the podcast. That's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth.

[00:00:27] What truth?

[00:00:28] There is no podcast.

[00:00:30] There we go. Nice and clean.

[00:00:32] There we go. That was our second take of an intro.

[00:00:35] I'm David Sims.

[00:00:37] I'm Griffin Newman. Welcome to Blank Check with Griffin and David.

[00:00:42] This is episode two of a new miniseries. We do miniseries.

[00:00:47] We're classy like HBO. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:00:50] It's a limited series event that just never ends.

[00:00:53] One stacked on top.

[00:00:55] Event after event.

[00:00:56] This is a miniseries called The Podchowski Pastors.

[00:01:03] That's right.

[00:01:04] We're a couple of podcasters. We're also two friends.

[00:01:06] We are the capital T, two friends.

[00:01:09] And what are you hashtagged that shit?

[00:01:11] Hashtag the two friends.

[00:01:12] We like to talk about directors. We like to talk about movies.

[00:01:16] We do these miniseries where we go into a director's oeuvre.

[00:01:19] They're filmography.

[00:01:21] And we go through film by film.

[00:01:23] And what we're really fascinated in is when someone early on has a massive success,

[00:01:28] the game has changed and they keep on getting this blank check.

[00:01:33] That's the name of the podcast.

[00:01:34] To make whatever they want.

[00:01:35] And today we're talking about one of those massive successes.

[00:01:38] This is the movie that changes the game.

[00:01:40] This is the one.

[00:01:41] Everything hinges on this film right here.

[00:01:44] Not just for these directors, but also for maybe just like American film making it large.

[00:01:50] Totally.

[00:01:51] This is one of those seismic shift movies.

[00:01:53] It's the kind of movie that not just this studio and these directors are going to try and make over and over,

[00:02:01] but all studios are going to try and make.

[00:02:04] It's one of those movies that everyone's like, oh we got to get ourselves one of those.

[00:02:08] Yeah.

[00:02:09] And I think I said this last episode, but it's one of those movies that's like a pre and post movie.

[00:02:12] We're like anything made after The Matrix.

[00:02:15] The Matrix is the movie we're talking about today.

[00:02:17] Oh, The Matrix.

[00:02:18] The Matrix.

[00:02:19] The Matrix.

[00:02:20] Yes, the Matrix.

[00:02:21] Anything that was made after The Matrix is either consciously deciding to not do what The Matrix did.

[00:02:27] You're either copying it or you're trying not to do it.

[00:02:30] Right.

[00:02:31] The year is 1999.

[00:02:34] 1999.

[00:02:35] Y2K on the horizon.

[00:02:37] We were all terrified.

[00:02:38] Oh, Bill Clinton.

[00:02:39] The Lewinsky scandal begins to fade.

[00:02:41] Yeah.

[00:02:42] The...

[00:02:43] What else is going on?

[00:02:45] Can we just talk about this for a second?

[00:02:46] Okay.

[00:02:47] Y2K.

[00:02:48] Okay.

[00:02:49] The thought was, correct me if I'm wrong.

[00:02:51] Yes.

[00:02:52] The thought was that computers ran on a two-digit year system.

[00:02:56] The Millennium Bug.

[00:02:58] Right.

[00:02:59] But what's the idea that it was like, oh 96, 97, 98.

[00:03:02] Like it only looked at the last two digits.

[00:03:04] Yeah.

[00:03:05] And that if we went to the year 2000 and it went to 00, then the computer would tell

[00:03:10] itself it didn't exist because it was 1900 and would shut down.

[00:03:13] It was because of the need for a bit conservation.

[00:03:16] Most computers, yeah, like I don't know.

[00:03:20] I can't read this whole Wikipedia entry.

[00:03:22] But the logic I remember, maybe I was just a kid and someone told me something

[00:03:25] false and I believed it, was that like the computer would be like, wait,

[00:03:28] it's the year 1900?

[00:03:29] I'm a computer.

[00:03:30] I don't exist.

[00:03:31] And then we'll just turn off.

[00:03:32] I think that's a little simplified.

[00:03:33] I think it's more just that old computers just could not accept the date

[00:03:38] and it would just cause all these weird problems.

[00:03:40] Yeah.

[00:03:41] Yeah, well thought the world was going to end.

[00:03:42] I remember like watching New Year's Eve TV with my parents and just like

[00:03:47] country by country.

[00:03:48] It was like Dan rather being like, okay, Russia, the lights are still on.

[00:03:52] We're good in Russia.

[00:03:54] I think that it was a real concern.

[00:03:57] It was widely publicized and addressed.

[00:04:01] But then the media just kind of held onto it and was like, why 2K?

[00:04:06] You know, like, but I think like we identified the problem.

[00:04:09] Yeah.

[00:04:10] We got to it.

[00:04:11] Yeah.

[00:04:12] And nothing happened and it was like generally, it wasn't one of those things where it's like,

[00:04:16] you guys were all fussing about nothing.

[00:04:17] No, I think there was something, but they fixed it.

[00:04:19] They fixed it pretty quickly.

[00:04:21] But this is, look, David, why 2K was just starting to percolate in the public consciousness

[00:04:27] when the Matrix came out early March?

[00:04:29] I think it was close to my sister's birthday.

[00:04:31] They know March 31st, March 31st.

[00:04:34] Oh, so late March, the absolute opposite of what I said.

[00:04:37] Correct.

[00:04:38] Yeah.

[00:04:39] Yeah.

[00:04:40] Rather than Caesar like still being alive, he's dead if we're going by like March.

[00:04:45] Sure.

[00:04:46] Sure.

[00:04:47] Post-Ides.

[00:04:48] Post-Ides.

[00:04:49] I remember the Friday this movie came out going to the Union Square 14 movie theater.

[00:04:58] You were 10 years old?

[00:04:59] Would have been 10 years old.

[00:05:00] And I went to the Union Square theater with my brother Jamesy and our babysitter,

[00:05:03] Michelle.

[00:05:04] Wow.

[00:05:05] And I was like, man, the theater is so crowded.

[00:05:07] I can't believe this many people want to see 10 things I hate about you.

[00:05:10] Is that what you were going to see?

[00:05:11] 100%.

[00:05:12] Came out the same day.

[00:05:13] It did.

[00:05:14] Yes.

[00:05:15] We were amped for 10 things.

[00:05:17] Uh-huh.

[00:05:18] And I was like, 10 things I hate about you is going to be the number one movie at the

[00:05:21] box office this weekend.

[00:05:22] People are riled up for this movie.

[00:05:24] Here's my question.

[00:05:25] Why were you so amped for 10 things I hate about you?

[00:05:27] Did it have a star in it that you were interested in or did you like the whole

[00:05:30] teen Shakespeare craze?

[00:05:32] Had a couple stars of tomorrow.

[00:05:33] I mean, Julia Siles and Ledger were popping from that trailer.

[00:05:36] Yeah, but they hadn't been in anything.

[00:05:38] Yeah, but from the trailer I'm saying I saw a pop-

[00:05:40] I was on board for Alex Mack and Joseph Gordon-Ledger from-

[00:05:43] Yeah, those are probably my two favorite stars.

[00:05:45] David Krumholz also as well.

[00:05:47] I'm not sure that I knew David Krumholz was in it, but sure.

[00:05:50] I knew from David Krumholz at that point.

[00:05:53] David Krumholz is a major Griffin Newman fan, isn't he?

[00:05:55] Or are we not allowed to talk about that on the podcast?

[00:05:57] We can talk about that.

[00:05:58] He saw one show I did and was very complimentary to me afterwards and then tweeted-

[00:06:04] He was taking a UCB class or something, right?

[00:06:06] He was. He was taking a UCB sketch class.

[00:06:08] He came to one of my sketch shows and then afterwards was like,

[00:06:11] Hey man, what's your name again?

[00:06:13] And I was like, again, with the first time-

[00:06:15] Well he probably heard you introduced on the stage.

[00:06:18] I don't think it was a sketch show.

[00:06:20] I was so deep in character, David.

[00:06:23] Okay, okay.

[00:06:24] I played the physics professor who thinks he was in an English class by accident.

[00:06:30] Sounds like a great sketch.

[00:06:32] And it blew Krumholz away.

[00:06:34] And so he comes up, he asks for you yesterday and he was like really good work

[00:06:38] and I was like, thank you very much.

[00:06:39] He walks away and I was like, huh, David Krumholz.

[00:06:41] And that night he tweeted at me publicly, not like a DM.

[00:06:44] He didn't slide into my DMs like Garfield.

[00:06:46] He fucking publicly tweeted at me, hey, met earlier tonight,

[00:06:52] went up and introduced myself after the show, really great work transcendently funny.

[00:06:57] And I was like, great.

[00:06:58] Krumholz just tweeted at me.

[00:07:00] So you follow him?

[00:07:01] I follow him, he's gonna follow me back and then I'll slide into his DMs like Garfield

[00:07:05] and we'll organize to get him on the podcast.

[00:07:07] Yeah, nothing.

[00:07:08] Nothing, he never followed back.

[00:07:10] Well, whatever.

[00:07:12] You had a nice interaction with David Krumholz.

[00:07:14] I wanted to get him on the show.

[00:07:16] I dare you to name the director of 10 Things I Hate About You.

[00:07:19] Ready?

[00:07:22] I'm trying to remember how to pronounce his name.

[00:07:24] Well just go with it.

[00:07:25] Gil Younger?

[00:07:26] That's correct.

[00:07:27] How on earth did you do that?

[00:07:28] I don't know.

[00:07:29] I dare you to name the other two movies he directed.

[00:07:31] I couldn't do that.

[00:07:32] The Night starring Martin Lawrence.

[00:07:34] Marty Laws?

[00:07:35] And something called If Only, which I've literally never heard of, starring Jennifer Love-Hewitt.

[00:07:40] And that's it.

[00:07:41] Wow.

[00:07:42] He moved into like lifetime movies after that.

[00:07:45] Yeah.

[00:07:46] Anyway, so you're a 10 year old, you're going to see 10 Things, which is the first movie

[00:07:49] I ever went on a date to see.

[00:07:51] With whom?

[00:07:52] I'm not gonna talk about it but you know.

[00:07:54] But I was 13.

[00:07:56] I was more of a teenager as he might say.

[00:07:59] You were wise at that point.

[00:08:00] One could call you a teenager.

[00:08:01] We were three years apart but at that age, 10, 13, that's a wide gulf between us if we

[00:08:09] had known each other.

[00:08:10] As Donald Trump would say?

[00:08:12] Big.

[00:08:13] Huge.

[00:08:14] So you go to see 10 Things with your babysitter and Jamesy?

[00:08:18] Yeah and I couldn't even process that people would want to see The Matrix.

[00:08:21] You get there and you're like A Matrix?

[00:08:23] Yeah because it was really crowded and I was like everyone has to be here for

[00:08:26] 10 Things.

[00:08:27] The Matrix seemed like some fucking March Programmer.

[00:08:30] Uh huh.

[00:08:33] And then I remember the one cool kid at school telling me that he had seen it and I was like

[00:08:38] he was like it's really good and I was like what's it about?

[00:08:40] He was like I couldn't even tell you.

[00:08:42] It's fair, fair point.

[00:08:43] Yeah and then he described to me how he'd seen on the news they did a segment where

[00:08:47] people were walking out of The Matrix.

[00:08:48] New York local news was doing a segment where people were walking out of The Matrix

[00:08:51] and they just asked them can you describe to me the plot of The Matrix

[00:08:54] and no one could do it.

[00:08:56] That's sort of a weird joke.

[00:08:57] Yeah and my mom was like very against guns and violence and stuff.

[00:09:01] Yeah so she didn't like me seeing stuff like that and so I just like the whole time

[00:09:05] I internalized it to a point where I was like I don't like movies like that.

[00:09:09] You know it went from being like you're not allowed to see them to meet

[00:09:11] going to school and be like I don't see movies like that.

[00:09:13] I don't respect movies like that.

[00:09:15] Sure just cheap, cheap guns and no thank you.

[00:09:18] But by the time The Matrix had come out on DVD it was already such a

[00:09:21] cultural phenomenon where it was clear that it was like something more than

[00:09:24] that.

[00:09:25] Yeah.

[00:09:26] That my mom like happily rented it from me from Couch Potato video.

[00:09:29] It was rated R.

[00:09:30] It was rated R.

[00:09:31] So you couldn't rent it yourself.

[00:09:33] Yeah.

[00:09:34] You couldn't rent it your damn self.

[00:09:35] Right I couldn't rent it my damn self.

[00:09:36] I mean you were also probably like 11 years old so you probably just did

[00:09:38] not routinely rent videos by yourself anyway.

[00:09:40] I think I was going to start.

[00:09:41] Our video store was like directly across the street.

[00:09:43] Sure.

[00:09:44] So I was like maybe starting to do it but I was still maybe 10 at that point.

[00:09:46] Our video store would come bring you the video and then come collect it.

[00:09:50] Isn't that insane?

[00:09:51] Cool.

[00:09:52] I mean when I was like a kid.

[00:09:53] There was a site called Cosmo.com that did that.

[00:09:55] It was like online.

[00:09:56] This is not a website.

[00:09:57] There was no websites when this happened.

[00:09:59] This is the early 90s.

[00:10:00] They would come bring it to you and then you would call them and say like

[00:10:03] I'm done with the video now and they'd be like work it will come get it.

[00:10:07] Do you have to tip the guy?

[00:10:08] Yeah.

[00:10:09] Crazy.

[00:10:10] Yeah.

[00:10:11] And you better rewind.

[00:10:12] You better be kind of rewind.

[00:10:13] Oh you had to be kind.

[00:10:14] No this was I will say this was within that year.

[00:10:16] I was still 10 because I had seen The Matrix by the time the Oscars

[00:10:19] happened.

[00:10:20] Okay.

[00:10:21] So it was out in March.

[00:10:22] I probably saw it that October, November.

[00:10:24] Sure.

[00:10:25] The Oscars were the subsequent March.

[00:10:26] Right.

[00:10:27] The American Beauty Oscars.

[00:10:28] By the time the Oscars happened.

[00:10:30] You were on board.

[00:10:31] I was both very excited that it won those awards.

[00:10:33] I think it won the most of any film that year.

[00:10:35] No no.

[00:10:36] In American Beauty Tide.

[00:10:37] But I think American Beauty only won four.

[00:10:39] No.

[00:10:40] It won more.

[00:10:41] Because it won Picture Director, Actor, Screenplay, Cinematography.

[00:10:43] Oh right.

[00:10:44] So it won five.

[00:10:45] Yeah.

[00:10:46] It might have even won more than that.

[00:10:47] I just know it won those five.

[00:10:48] Yeah.

[00:10:49] But it had the second most Oscars that year.

[00:10:53] It was big and it was like it yeah it was people kept like accepting awards

[00:10:57] and it was all these like weird little pale guys and they'd be like there is no

[00:11:00] spoon and you'd be like the Matrix.

[00:11:03] It was very similar to the Mad Max run at the Oscars this year

[00:11:08] where like Mad Max was winning like every award in a row and all these like

[00:11:11] characters are coming up.

[00:11:13] Except right, right, right.

[00:11:14] Yeah.

[00:11:15] When the Mad Max wins were great.

[00:11:16] Yeah.

[00:11:17] And then the Mad Max won and they'd be like, ah George in the light.

[00:11:20] But you sort of went like wait is Mad Max going to win Best Picture

[00:11:23] because it's getting all this below the line stuff?

[00:11:25] The Matrix was nominated for Best Picture.

[00:11:26] Unfortunately.

[00:11:27] I'm saying that's the big shift is like I think to a degree.

[00:11:29] These days the Matrix would have been nominated for Best Picture.

[00:11:31] Yeah.

[00:11:32] And I think like Mad Max being nominated was almost people realizing

[00:11:35] like oh we should have nominated the Matrix at the time.

[00:11:37] In the Dark Knight.

[00:11:38] Yeah.

[00:11:39] Like we should recognize when these movies excel.

[00:11:41] Totally.

[00:11:42] You know their genre limitation.

[00:11:43] But the Matrix was weirder.

[00:11:44] Well, Mad Max is pretty weird.

[00:11:46] Whatever.

[00:11:47] We're not comparing the Matrix and Mad Max.

[00:11:48] But it comes out opening weekend and does like a huge number.

[00:11:51] It did.

[00:11:52] Well, it came out on the 31st and the weekend was the second.

[00:11:56] So it came out on a Wednesday.

[00:11:58] Oh, interesting.

[00:11:59] And it may have been like I don't even know what holiday it was.

[00:12:03] I'm not sure why it came out on a Wednesday but it did.

[00:12:05] So over the five days it made $37 million, $37.3 million.

[00:12:10] Which today would be like over 50 and close to 60 something

[00:12:14] I think like that.

[00:12:15] I can do it right now.

[00:12:18] Yeah, so just before we get to the, yeah, $63.9 million.

[00:12:22] Sorry, good job.

[00:12:23] Thank you.

[00:12:24] Thank you.

[00:12:25] This is the only kind of math I understand.

[00:12:26] We'll get back to the box office because I love playing that game.

[00:12:28] But we'll do that back into the podcast.

[00:12:30] But I, no, no, are you done?

[00:12:32] No, I was just going to say.

[00:12:33] So it comes out, it does a weirdly big opening weekend.

[00:12:35] I think people viewed as like a fluke and then it was number one

[00:12:38] for like five weeks in a row.

[00:12:39] It just stayed.

[00:12:40] Oh, it fell 20% in its next weekend.

[00:12:42] And then it fell 20% the weekend after that.

[00:12:45] It would life beat it in its third weekend.

[00:12:47] But then it came back to the weekend after that?

[00:12:49] It did.

[00:12:50] Yeah, see I knew that happened.

[00:12:51] Yeah.

[00:12:52] Yeah, it just, it was like an avatar like phenomenon where it just,

[00:12:56] you know, kept dropping very little and you know word of mouth was like huge.

[00:13:00] And much like the sixth sense which we discussed extensively on this podcast.

[00:13:04] It was this thing where like...

[00:13:05] Which would come out later that year.

[00:13:07] Yeah, well we talked about 99 is this weird fucking year, David.

[00:13:11] But it was one of those movies where you like had to see it.

[00:13:15] There was like a conversation happening, you know?

[00:13:17] I mean that was because you know what comes out like six or seven weeks

[00:13:21] into the Matrix's run.

[00:13:22] And we talked about this.

[00:13:24] Yeah, Star Wars.

[00:13:25] Episode one.

[00:13:26] Eight weeks into the Matrix.

[00:13:27] The Phantom Man.

[00:13:28] So you know, it was just a year of must-see movies

[00:13:31] but the Matrix was the surprise.

[00:13:33] Yeah.

[00:13:34] And it was this weird R rated action sci-fi movie.

[00:13:39] With counter eaves who had dipped a little at that point.

[00:13:42] With counter eaves who had more than dipped.

[00:13:44] Yeah.

[00:13:45] And it cost $63 million to make.

[00:13:49] So like a good size budget but not like a Star Wars level budget by any means.

[00:13:55] Well I think it was a weird thing where like when it came out

[00:13:57] they were like Warner Brothers spent $60 million on that.

[00:13:59] Right, what is this?

[00:14:00] It starts with counter eaves and Lawrence Fishburne

[00:14:02] who are kinda you know mid-range stars like not...

[00:14:05] And then when you saw it you're like,

[00:14:06] I can't believe they made this for only $60 million.

[00:14:08] Well then it's flipped.

[00:14:09] Yeah.

[00:14:10] You know what, Kiana was doing okay.

[00:14:12] The Devil's Advocate had been a somewhat of a hit.

[00:14:14] Two years earlier he had had a phone for tears.

[00:14:16] And before that it had been speed.

[00:14:18] Bad work.

[00:14:19] Like you know he'd made a lot of like...

[00:14:20] He had not had any hits in between those two.

[00:14:22] In between speed and Devil's Advocate.

[00:14:24] You've got Johnny Momenic my favorite movie.

[00:14:26] But not a hit.

[00:14:27] Oh no.

[00:14:28] You've got The Walk in the Clouds which has been $50 million.

[00:14:31] That's so weird.

[00:14:32] And you know Chain Reaction which is a famous bomb

[00:14:35] and feeling Minnesota.

[00:14:37] You know like yeah, Kiana was definitely on the...

[00:14:40] And this movie was offered to Will Smith

[00:14:42] and he almost took it.

[00:14:44] I think it was offered to a lot of people.

[00:14:45] Johnny Depp I think to which house he's wanted very badly.

[00:14:47] But I think Will Smith was like actually...

[00:14:49] Close.

[00:14:50] Close-ish.

[00:14:51] Yeah.

[00:14:52] And then decided not to make Wild World West instead.

[00:14:54] I mean this is one of those movies where like for the three lead roles

[00:14:57] they offered it to like all the big people

[00:14:59] to everybody.

[00:15:00] And everyone turned it down.

[00:15:01] And then Gregor was considered for Morpheus I think

[00:15:04] as was Val Kilmer.

[00:15:05] There's like a lot of different Morpheus.

[00:15:07] Yeah, I heard Val Kilmer for Neo as well.

[00:15:09] Oh well.

[00:15:10] I mean I think they just offered it to anybody who would like...

[00:15:13] So if you...

[00:15:14] Headlined the movie and then it was one of these weird instances

[00:15:17] where like everyone turned it down

[00:15:19] and then the three people they got were the only three people

[00:15:21] who possibly could have played those roles.

[00:15:23] Totally.

[00:15:24] It's so hard to imagine anyone else.

[00:15:25] It's crazy.

[00:15:26] You can imagine Will Smith as Neo

[00:15:28] but it's a totally different movie.

[00:15:30] It's just a totally different movie.

[00:15:31] Yeah, yeah.

[00:15:32] Like they found three people who somehow like were...

[00:15:35] Had just enough sort of like...

[00:15:37] I mean Kareem Moss was pretty much unknown at this point.

[00:15:40] Kareem Moss is nobody.

[00:15:41] But like Fishburne and Reeves had just enough

[00:15:43] like sort of movie star iconography to have that way.

[00:15:45] You could put their names above the title.

[00:15:47] But like they weren't big enough that they overpowered the thing.

[00:15:50] Right.

[00:15:51] And they just...

[00:15:52] And these became...

[00:15:53] This is the iconic role for both actors.

[00:15:55] And both actors have done plenty of other iconic roles

[00:15:58] but certainly...

[00:15:59] But this is the definitive...

[00:16:00] When they die they'll go Morpheus from the Matrix trilogy.

[00:16:02] Neo from the Matrix trilogy.

[00:16:03] Yeah.

[00:16:04] Yeah, so...

[00:16:05] Kareem Moss is forever gonna be Trinity.

[00:16:07] Yeah.

[00:16:08] Yeah.

[00:16:09] That's true.

[00:16:10] Nicholas Cage.

[00:16:11] Yeah.

[00:16:12] Tom Cruise was considered but Tom Cruise was considered for literally every part in every movie of the 90s.

[00:16:16] Right, right.

[00:16:17] They went to like every guy who was like an A-list leading man.

[00:16:19] Gary Oldman and Samuel L. Jackson were considered for Morpheus.

[00:16:22] Yeah.

[00:16:23] Right, it makes sense.

[00:16:24] Yeah.

[00:16:25] It goes on and on.

[00:16:26] If you go through like this sort of trivia on this shit, it's like any actor basically from the 90s.

[00:16:32] So...

[00:16:33] But they made Bound as we talked about last week.

[00:16:35] Mm-hmm.

[00:16:36] The Wachowskis.

[00:16:37] Yes.

[00:16:38] They're in Hollywood.

[00:16:39] They've like written a couple scripts.

[00:16:40] They've got this script, the Matrix.

[00:16:42] Right?

[00:16:43] Yeah.

[00:16:44] As we talked about last week...

[00:16:45] Keep talking while I eat on mic.

[00:16:46] Gross.

[00:16:47] As we talked about last week, Warner Brothers was like,

[00:16:50] Crazy script guys!

[00:16:51] Uh, what is this?

[00:16:53] What's going on?

[00:16:54] What are you doing here?

[00:16:56] Huh?

[00:16:57] They make Bound, and I guess Bound is impressive enough.

[00:17:00] It gets critical acclaim, and it looks cool.

[00:17:04] Doesn't make any money.

[00:17:06] That Joel Silver, who's a producer, he has silver pictures at Warner Brothers.

[00:17:11] Wait, I'm sorry, he's a what?

[00:17:13] He's a producer.

[00:17:14] Oh, here we go.

[00:17:15] Like producer Ben?

[00:17:17] Who?

[00:17:18] The Ben Deucer?

[00:17:19] Wow.

[00:17:20] Produer Ben?

[00:17:21] The Harriet, the Haas, Mr. Positive, birthday Benny?

[00:17:23] The tiebreaker?

[00:17:24] The peeper?

[00:17:25] Not the fuckmaster?

[00:17:27] No, he is the fuckmaster.

[00:17:28] I'm the fuckmaster, yes.

[00:17:29] He's not Professor Crispy.

[00:17:30] Nope.

[00:17:31] Perhaps one day.

[00:17:32] They call him Ben Ichamala.

[00:17:34] They do.

[00:17:35] They call him Kylo Ben.

[00:17:36] Ben, Obi-Ben Kenobi, I can't...

[00:17:38] Obi-Ben Kenobi.

[00:17:39] Obi-Wan Benk.

[00:17:40] I call him Ben Haasley, my good friend.

[00:17:41] Obi-Ben Kenobi.

[00:17:42] Yes!

[00:17:43] And I say...

[00:17:44] Hello, Fenol!

[00:17:45] Hello, Fenol!

[00:17:46] All right.

[00:17:47] You like this movie, Ben.

[00:17:48] How old were you when this came out, Ben?

[00:17:50] I was 47.

[00:17:51] I was 47 years old.

[00:17:52] No, I guess I was a freshman in high school.

[00:17:56] Sure.

[00:17:57] I figure you're like a year older than me, Ben.

[00:17:59] Yeah.

[00:18:00] So what do you remember seeing this in theaters?

[00:18:03] I do.

[00:18:06] It was a big movie for me.

[00:18:08] I got super into smoking weed around this time of my life.

[00:18:11] We were talking about this off mic.

[00:18:13] We're recording...

[00:18:14] You'll hear this later.

[00:18:15] It's 420 guys.

[00:18:16] 420.

[00:18:17] 420.

[00:18:18] It was an article about time traveling bong for the Atlantic.

[00:18:21] And Ben smoking that dink where you left and went...

[00:18:23] Hell yeah, hell yeah.

[00:18:24] No, so this was definitely a movie me and my friends were like,

[00:18:27] yo, the Matrix though if you think about it?

[00:18:30] But that's my memory of the Matrix.

[00:18:34] Because I was going to say, I mean, I snuck into this movie.

[00:18:37] We bought tickets...

[00:18:38] With a lady friend.

[00:18:39] No, no, the lady friend was 10 things I hated about you.

[00:18:42] Oh right, yes.

[00:18:43] Me and like a bunch of my friends from school.

[00:18:46] You know, a bunch of little 13 year olds.

[00:18:49] We went to the Odeon Lester Square I believe.

[00:18:52] This is in England.

[00:18:53] We bought tickets to She's All That.

[00:18:55] Which I guess was the counter programming in England.

[00:18:57] And really States are different there.

[00:18:59] Especially back then.

[00:19:00] And we snuck into the Matrix.

[00:19:01] It was rated 15.

[00:19:02] You know, we had to be 15.

[00:19:04] That was just formative.

[00:19:06] It was formative.

[00:19:07] It was like the beginning of me deciding to see movies by myself

[00:19:10] and you know, having my own interests.

[00:19:13] Rather than just like being taken to the movies.

[00:19:15] Well, I mean the thing I remember is sort of parallel to that is

[00:19:18] it was one of the first movies where I watched it

[00:19:20] and then had to explain to my mom how good it was.

[00:19:22] Sure.

[00:19:23] Like I had to convince my mom to watch it.

[00:19:25] And it was like you're not recommending me to meet.

[00:19:26] My mother's never seen this movie.

[00:19:27] Yeah, no I think my mom saw it and liked it.

[00:19:30] If we're tiptoeing around talking about this movie right now.

[00:19:34] It's hard to talk about it.

[00:19:35] We were like talking about it before we got in here.

[00:19:37] You guys have all seen it.

[00:19:38] This is like...

[00:19:39] It's the Matrix.

[00:19:40] Because okay look, we had to talk about Star Wars.

[00:19:42] Like the original Star Wars.

[00:19:43] True.

[00:19:44] But at that time we were doing it under the auspices of like a bit.

[00:19:47] Well also we did 10 episodes per movie.

[00:19:49] So we could really dig in.

[00:19:50] Yeah, but this is like how do you fucking talk about the Matrix

[00:19:53] where it's like A, I mean this is the other thing we were saying

[00:19:56] and this is a really simple stupid thought.

[00:19:58] But it's like watching it, rewatching it last night.

[00:20:02] Like any other time we have a movie, watch it with a close eye.

[00:20:06] I kind of watch it with...

[00:20:07] Yeah, you're like ooh I never noticed that before.

[00:20:09] Right and with a mind towards like what are we going to talk about in the podcast.

[00:20:11] This is the Matrix.

[00:20:12] It's so ingrained in our DNA at this point.

[00:20:14] Yeah, I know every frame of it.

[00:20:15] Right, that you like kind of can't watch it fresh.

[00:20:17] We were talking about it's like one of the first DVDs I ever owned

[00:20:20] so I'd watch it over and over just because I liked it

[00:20:23] but also because I didn't own a lot of DVDs

[00:20:25] so it was like easy to watch it over and over again.

[00:20:27] So I know like every action beat to this movie.

[00:20:29] Yeah, like all of it.

[00:20:30] I mean there were scenes I used to watch over and over and over again.

[00:20:32] I mean I guess we should just go through the plot right?

[00:20:34] Well let me just finish on it's...

[00:20:36] Joel Silver, producer Joel.

[00:20:38] Yes, sorry.

[00:20:39] They're called.

[00:20:40] Yeah.

[00:20:41] You know he had his shingle...

[00:20:42] That's that fucking the ice cream color.

[00:20:43] Yeah, exactly, exactly.

[00:20:44] He had his shingle silver pictures at Warner Brothers

[00:20:48] and he liked the movie.

[00:20:49] Yeah, he liked the script.

[00:20:51] So he encouraged it and I think this other guy,

[00:20:54] you know but and so the Mach...

[00:20:56] The Wachowskis got together with this guy Jeff Darrow

[00:21:00] who I think was the guy who drew like a trans-metropotin maybe?

[00:21:05] Okay, that makes sense.

[00:21:06] I can't remember.

[00:21:07] Yeah, the War and Elves book.

[00:21:08] I don't think it was that.

[00:21:10] It was a graphic novelist or whatever.

[00:21:12] And they storyboarded like the whole movie, like 600 pages.

[00:21:16] They brought that to Warner Brothers and Warner Brothers was like alright,

[00:21:19] like 60 million dollars.

[00:21:21] If you can do that, then you can do that.

[00:21:24] And they had to shoot it in Australia.

[00:21:27] Here's another way that this movie fucking like changed everything.

[00:21:30] Yeah.

[00:21:31] This was like one of the first big movies to shoot in Australia.

[00:21:33] Totally.

[00:21:34] And then that became the thing for the next 10 years.

[00:21:36] The Village Roadshow which is the production company that produces...

[00:21:39] That's an Australian production company.

[00:21:41] And they became like a powerhouse.

[00:21:43] Yeah and they started pushing everything to Australia.

[00:21:45] Australia suddenly had all this land, really good cruise

[00:21:48] and like insane tax rebates.

[00:21:50] You know a lot of different landscapes you could use.

[00:21:52] Yeah.

[00:21:53] And yeah, like I mean the city is Sydney I think in the sort of the city

[00:21:59] of the matrix is actually Sydney.

[00:22:01] Oh interesting.

[00:22:02] I mean obviously it's supposed to be kind of Chicago-y.

[00:22:04] Yeah.

[00:22:05] But it's using the Sydney backpacks.

[00:22:08] It's a versatile country.

[00:22:09] There's a lot of different landscapes there.

[00:22:12] Yeah and big studio, you know big warehouses and shit.

[00:22:15] And a wealth of good actors.

[00:22:18] Totally.

[00:22:19] And like half of this cast is Australian.

[00:22:21] Is that right?

[00:22:22] Because the thing about the matrix that's fascinating is you've got Keanu and Lawrence.

[00:22:26] You know and those are your two stars.

[00:22:28] You have Carrie Ann Moss who was like a TV actor.

[00:22:30] And I think you know who they just like the look.

[00:22:32] And they're like you got Joey Pants, Manta Leano coming back from Bound.

[00:22:35] He's the returning player from Bound.

[00:22:37] Yeah.

[00:22:38] And you've got Hugo Weaving who is an Australian.

[00:22:40] He'd been in like he'd been in the adventures of Priscilla Queen of the desert.

[00:22:44] He you know he was like and then you've just got a bunch of like who the fuck are these guys?

[00:22:49] Like they are only in the matrix.

[00:22:51] They're a bunch of like Australian smokes.

[00:22:53] It's like crazy.

[00:22:54] You have Gloria Foster who she's a real actress who plays the Oracle who's great.

[00:22:57] But like the rest of the ship those guys.

[00:23:01] Those are tank switch.

[00:23:03] Yeah, apoc.

[00:23:04] Apoc.

[00:23:05] I love them.

[00:23:06] They're great.

[00:23:07] I love that they all have their own little kind of matrix look.

[00:23:10] You know they all got their own sunglasses.

[00:23:12] But I mean there are just a bunch of dweebs.

[00:23:15] Like it's great.

[00:23:16] Well those are the guy who ends up being like the main plug-in guy right?

[00:23:20] No that's Tank.

[00:23:21] Tank is played by Marcus Chong.

[00:23:24] Right who is Tommy Chong's son.

[00:23:26] Yeah and is a handsome boy.

[00:23:28] And was fired from the sequels because he was apparently...

[00:23:30] He has like three million dollars or something I think.

[00:23:32] And I was already very difficult to work with.

[00:23:34] It sounds like he was one of those actors.

[00:23:36] He's really charming in this movie.

[00:23:38] I like him a lot in this.

[00:23:39] Yeah he's good, he's good.

[00:23:41] He's not like I think that Harold Perrono is objectively better in the...

[00:23:44] He's a better actor in the grand scheme of things.

[00:23:46] But no, no I mean he's you know he's the one in the matrix so he's good.

[00:23:49] He's good.

[00:23:50] No Dozer is his big brother.

[00:23:52] Played by a guy called Anthony Rae Parker.

[00:23:54] Yeah who like didn't do other stuff.

[00:23:55] Yeah I mean obviously a lot of the cast gets killed off in this movie.

[00:23:59] So you don't need them to do a lot.

[00:24:01] But it's just funny like sometimes you'll see a movie like say like the Star Wars prequels.

[00:24:05] And you'll be like oh hey look in the background like there's Rose Byrne.

[00:24:08] Like oh someone who got famous.

[00:24:10] This one's like hey nobody.

[00:24:12] Hey look at nobody.

[00:24:13] Except for Hugo Weaving.

[00:24:15] And who else went on to something big?

[00:24:17] You're not gonna...you mean Mouse, you mean uh...

[00:24:19] Went on to play Elan Sleaze Bagano in Attack of the Clones dad.

[00:24:24] But it is weird.

[00:24:25] Matt Doran.

[00:24:26] Matt Doran yeah but he's Australian too.

[00:24:28] All the other people on the crew are Australian.

[00:24:30] Yeah and I think the other agents are Australian maybe.

[00:24:32] They suck.

[00:24:33] Oh my god I love how bad they are.

[00:24:35] Because Hugo Weaving is like masterful in this movie.

[00:24:38] And then the other two agents are they can barely speak their lines.

[00:24:41] They're so basic.

[00:24:42] It's great.

[00:24:43] They're like only human.

[00:24:46] It's like literally like they are machines who can't talk.

[00:24:49] So it doesn't that strike you as probably Australian actors who hadn't mastered the accent.

[00:24:53] No totally.

[00:24:54] They're cast on look.

[00:24:55] They're just cast because they look like bland white guys.

[00:24:57] There's also this thing.

[00:24:58] They're both Australian yeah.

[00:24:59] A galaxy quest.

[00:25:00] Robert Taylor who played Agent Jones is now the lead of Longmire.

[00:25:06] What?

[00:25:07] Who knew?

[00:25:08] Is he Australian?

[00:25:09] Yeah.

[00:25:10] Weird.

[00:25:11] Longmire?

[00:25:12] Yeah that like western show.

[00:25:13] Yeah weird.

[00:25:14] Anyway.

[00:25:15] What I was gonna say was...

[00:25:16] Take it back.

[00:25:17] One of the ensemble got famous.

[00:25:19] Big success.

[00:25:20] Galaxy Quest a movie I love which I believe I've referenced several times before.

[00:25:23] Yeah also 99 film.

[00:25:24] Yes.

[00:25:25] Yeah and my single favorite movie of all time arguably comes from 1999.

[00:25:30] Your single...

[00:25:31] Oh Toy Story 2.

[00:25:33] Yep.

[00:25:34] The best movie of 1999 is Eyes Wide Shut.

[00:25:36] Toy Story 2.

[00:25:37] Anyway.

[00:25:38] Galaxy Quest.

[00:25:40] They cast what's his name?

[00:25:43] Enrico Colantoni.

[00:25:44] Colantoni.

[00:25:45] Yes.

[00:25:46] Or how do you say his name?

[00:25:47] The Canadian actor from Veronica Mars and just shoot me and shit.

[00:25:49] He's great.

[00:25:50] They cast him...

[00:25:51] So good in Galaxy Quest.

[00:25:52] So good.

[00:25:53] They cast him to play the lead Thurman right?

[00:25:54] They you know all...

[00:25:56] That the vocal the sort of movement...

[00:25:58] The way he holds himself.

[00:25:59] All of that.

[00:26:00] Just one of the greatest pieces of like quote unquote like alien acting ever.

[00:26:04] Yeah it's amazing.

[00:26:05] So funny.

[00:26:06] But on a par with Vincent De Nofrio in Men In Black.

[00:26:08] But they cast that part first.

[00:26:10] He came in with all of that develop that wasn't like in the script.

[00:26:14] Oh I see.

[00:26:15] And then they went when they were casting the other roles.

[00:26:17] They were like copy him.

[00:26:18] And that's like the other people are like Rainn Wilson and Missy Pyle and a bunch of great character actors.

[00:26:21] Missy Pyle and that other guy who was in Deadpool this year.

[00:26:23] The...

[00:26:24] And Jed Reeves.

[00:26:25] Yeah that sounds right.

[00:26:26] Yeah and there's another guy Patrick something who's a really good stage actor.

[00:26:29] But we're not talking...

[00:26:30] My point is they went to like all of them and they went hey we cast this guy.

[00:26:33] Copy.

[00:26:34] He's the leader.

[00:26:35] This is the template.

[00:26:36] And it feels like what the Matrix they did the same thing.

[00:26:38] Yeah like we cast Hugo Weaving.

[00:26:39] Watch him.

[00:26:40] Watch him.

[00:26:41] Listen to his voice.

[00:26:42] And these people were like that's very simple.

[00:26:43] He's doing straight arrow.

[00:26:44] That's easy.

[00:26:45] And then it's a master class in showing how hard it is to be that focused, that restrained.

[00:26:50] You know?

[00:26:51] That sparse.

[00:26:52] Yeah because okay so let's get into this movie.

[00:26:54] Yeah let's get into this movie.

[00:26:55] So this movie is like a classic...

[00:26:58] It's like all these things coming together right?

[00:27:01] Yeah.

[00:27:02] It's like all these different influences.

[00:27:03] Like you've got this sort of comic book-y thing.

[00:27:07] You've got this steampunk look.

[00:27:09] And you have these like cyberpunk themes like about hackers and like you know reality versus

[00:27:16] virtual reality.

[00:27:17] Well this sort of like deep sci-fi thinking.

[00:27:19] Like hardcore sci-fi thinking.

[00:27:21] Yeah and then you're mixing...

[00:27:23] They're also mixing in like philosophical ideas of the 20th century.

[00:27:27] Right but you're getting like this Arthur C. Clarke, like Philip K. Dick, Ray Bradbury

[00:27:30] sort of area but for the first time being able to realize this stuff on a massive

[00:27:34] visual scale.

[00:27:36] And then they're also mixing in like their love of like anime which I know shit about.

[00:27:40] Yeah.

[00:27:41] You know and Japanese like cool like Japanese serialized stuff and like kung fu movies.

[00:27:47] Yeah right.

[00:27:48] Like which and they hired this legendary Chinese choreographer, Yuan Wo Ping I don't know

[00:27:53] who's like does all the fight sequences.

[00:27:56] They crash on Tiger.

[00:27:57] And that's why people coming out of the movie like the audiences couldn't tell you

[00:28:01] what it was because it's like well they...

[00:28:03] It's martial arts but it's also like guns and it's like they're hackers but it's like

[00:28:08] a computer movie but then it's like it's just so many things at once.

[00:28:11] There's this weird...

[00:28:12] It shouldn't work at all.

[00:28:13] It shouldn't work at all.

[00:28:14] There's this weird phenomenon that happens very rarely where something like it comes

[00:28:18] along that just sort of crystallizes all these things that were in the air that

[00:28:21] someone hadn't pulled down to the ground yet.

[00:28:23] You know?

[00:28:24] They just managed to get like Johnny Mimonic, a movie that had come out four years

[00:28:28] ago which is like a cyberpunk movie and it has a lot of these themes of like

[00:28:32] hacking and like that's a movie that totally bombs.

[00:28:35] It's trying to do the same kind of thing and like totally blows it.

[00:28:38] It sucks.

[00:28:39] Like as much as I love that movie for how weird it is, it sucks.

[00:28:41] But I also think it's...

[00:28:42] The Matrix is a weird case where it's like unsuccessful movies that had come out

[00:28:47] before with similar elements set the stage for people to understand what this

[00:28:51] movie was.

[00:28:52] The story I love that Dick Havett went to see Woody Allen at like Cafe Wa one night.

[00:28:59] Okay.

[00:29:00] And silence, right?

[00:29:01] Uh huh.

[00:29:02] And he was doing his shtick.

[00:29:04] Uh huh.

[00:29:05] And Dick Havett was like, I thought this was the funniest guy I'd ever seen and

[00:29:08] no one was laughing.

[00:29:09] No one was getting it.

[00:29:10] And I saw him a couple times and then about a year later I went, I saw him

[00:29:14] and the audience just loved him.

[00:29:16] It was just like the right moment.

[00:29:18] The moment had come.

[00:29:19] The next day he was written up in the New York Times and he was Woody Allen.

[00:29:22] It was permanent.

[00:29:23] And he said, I realized the first night I saw him there was no context for what

[00:29:26] he was doing.

[00:29:27] And it was like a year in to some degree what he had been putting out there

[00:29:32] had sort of dripped into the culture.

[00:29:34] Even people didn't know it where it's like the people who saw him that

[00:29:37] night and didn't laugh at it then had that in the back of their minds

[00:29:40] and then transferred to us most of the other things.

[00:29:42] I get what you're going for with this.

[00:29:45] And with the Matrix is just sort of like...

[00:29:46] It just came at a perfect time.

[00:29:47] Like Kung Fu movies were a thing that were enough in our DNA as Americans

[00:29:51] whether or not we had seen them.

[00:29:52] So not be like totally niche.

[00:29:54] Yeah.

[00:29:55] Like all these pieces made sense.

[00:29:58] Okay, so the movie starts out with what is called Digital Rain.

[00:30:03] That's right.

[00:30:04] Yes.

[00:30:05] The green code of the Matrix.

[00:30:07] The green code of the Matrix.

[00:30:09] Yeah.

[00:30:10] And you hear a woman on the phone with a guy and they're like,

[00:30:13] you know, obviously surveilling someone.

[00:30:15] It's all very noir-y.

[00:30:17] It starts like inaction, right?

[00:30:20] Like mid-action.

[00:30:21] They are being tapped by like an unknown force that we don't understand.

[00:30:24] We see like a trace.

[00:30:27] Yeah.

[00:30:28] Like a phone trace.

[00:30:29] Yeah.

[00:30:30] And they're not using garbage made up language, right?

[00:30:32] Which we've talked about a lot on movies that take place in like

[00:30:34] weird crazy worlds.

[00:30:35] If you start with a prologue about what fucking happened,

[00:30:37] it's like really hard.

[00:30:38] That's a good point.

[00:30:39] That's one thing that really works about this movie even versus

[00:30:41] a movie like Inception.

[00:30:42] Yeah.

[00:30:43] Where it's like we even, they obviously sometimes they spout jargon

[00:30:46] and whatever but mostly it's all very, very grounded language.

[00:30:50] And it's pretty conversational.

[00:30:51] Yeah.

[00:30:52] So things like plug and unplug, things we get.

[00:30:54] Well, and it's all the scenes are mapped pretty clearly on to like

[00:30:57] the objectives are always very, very clear, right?

[00:30:59] And you hear these two people talking and it's like,

[00:31:01] are we being spied on what's going on here?

[00:31:03] Yeah.

[00:31:04] And they're talking about this, they're also talking about this guy

[00:31:05] where the guy is like, she's like, the guy's like,

[00:31:07] do you believe in this thing?

[00:31:08] And she's like, I don't know, you know, like.

[00:31:10] So you have no idea what they're talking about,

[00:31:11] but here's what you know.

[00:31:12] They're in danger and they're looking for a guy.

[00:31:14] Easy.

[00:31:15] This is, and this is the thing.

[00:31:16] I got it.

[00:31:17] And I think, and as I just said, and we'll talk about the sequels

[00:31:20] when we talk about the sequels, but I mean,

[00:31:21] even when you think about a movie today like Batman versus Superman,

[00:31:24] whatever, like the fact that they storyboarded this out

[00:31:27] also clearly.

[00:31:28] Yeah.

[00:31:29] Like probably really helped with that.

[00:31:30] Like let's like ground every scene something someone can understand.

[00:31:33] Well, and this is a movie that costs 10 times more than Bounded

[00:31:36] but has the exact same economy of storytelling.

[00:31:38] Like there's not a wasted frame in this film.

[00:31:41] But you start like mid-action with that intensity.

[00:31:44] The two actors are doing good work just voice only, right?

[00:31:48] Totally.

[00:31:49] The digital reigns.

[00:31:50] Carrie and Moss and Joey Pence.

[00:31:51] Yeah.

[00:31:52] It's still like a compelling visual.

[00:31:53] And then you jump straight into this crazy action sequence

[00:31:55] that's unlike anything you've ever seen before.

[00:31:56] This is the thing.

[00:31:57] It leads with this, you know, Trinity,

[00:31:59] this like hacker lady who's like dressed in PVC

[00:32:01] and has like this crazy like slick back, like short black hair.

[00:32:05] God, I wanted her hair cut so badly.

[00:32:07] I feel like what the fuck is that, you know, like look at this person.

[00:32:10] Like it's beyond any forget the action for a second.

[00:32:12] Just look at this person.

[00:32:13] She's very striking.

[00:32:14] And she's in this like cat suit, you know.

[00:32:16] And like a cop tries to arrest her or whatever

[00:32:20] and she like jumps in the air and like does a crazy kick.

[00:32:24] Like a spider kick.

[00:32:25] And the camera spins all the way around her,

[00:32:27] which now I guess is old hat but then was like completely bonkers.

[00:32:30] Like the camera freezes and spins 180 degrees around her.

[00:32:34] This is a pre-shrek world.

[00:32:36] I know that Princess Fiona could do that.

[00:32:38] This was uncharted territory.

[00:32:39] That scene in Shrek is so inferior.

[00:32:41] Remember how funny we all thought Shrek was?

[00:32:44] We're not talking about Shrek because the internet talks

[00:32:46] way too much about Shrek as it is.

[00:32:48] Can we do a mini series called Blank Shrek?

[00:32:50] Oh fuck!

[00:32:52] It's too good, we have to do it.

[00:32:54] Because there are five films to talk about.

[00:32:56] We would have to get pilot on board.

[00:32:57] Oh, because you want to talk about the amusement park film?

[00:33:00] Or do you mean Puss in Boat?

[00:33:01] Puss in Boat.

[00:33:02] I just want to restate.

[00:33:03] Shrek 4D is a shitty movie.

[00:33:05] The bullet time thing, the spin is the best.

[00:33:10] Yeah, it's the best and that's minute 2, second 15.

[00:33:13] So good!

[00:33:14] It's so early on.

[00:33:15] You're cutting to Hugo Weaving, this agent Smith guy telling the cops

[00:33:20] your men are already dead.

[00:33:23] He's like, you know, are these like feds?

[00:33:26] What is this?

[00:33:28] But here's this bigger.

[00:33:29] Then she does that and you're like, oh she's crazy.

[00:33:31] And I just want to get to it.

[00:33:32] And then they start chasing her and she jumps from one building to another,

[00:33:36] which is in great, you know, cool.

[00:33:38] And then one of the agents does too.

[00:33:41] And the cop does, there's like a great Spielberg face of the cop watching it

[00:33:45] and he just goes, that's impossible.

[00:33:47] Which I love!

[00:33:48] He doesn't say like, holy shit or like, whoa!

[00:33:51] He says like, I just won't, I refuse to believe what I just said.

[00:33:55] But it's like high angle camera with the cop looking up

[00:33:58] so you have that Spielberg look you're saying where the eyes are wide

[00:34:01] and you know, and gazing upward.

[00:34:02] Yeah.

[00:34:03] And there's this like amazing sign on one of the buildings

[00:34:06] that just says like guns and ammo.

[00:34:07] Yes!

[00:34:08] And it's a billboard with a gun smoking out.

[00:34:10] But look at this movie, it's raining, it's dark, the buildings look,

[00:34:14] everything's real.

[00:34:15] Yeah.

[00:34:16] And it's all green.

[00:34:17] That's the other thing, it's like all super green.

[00:34:19] Everything's green, it's crazy green filters on everything.

[00:34:20] Which is my favorite color.

[00:34:21] Because we're using the Matrix.

[00:34:22] My number one favorite color.

[00:34:23] We're in the green shirt right now.

[00:34:24] As are you!

[00:34:25] And I have beautiful green eyes.

[00:34:26] Okay, I mean.

[00:34:27] No, go on.

[00:34:28] Ladies.

[00:34:29] I look at this as a case study of the positive opposite of something we've identified as

[00:34:36] the problem with a lot of other movies we've talked about on this show, right?

[00:34:39] Yeah.

[00:34:40] Which is like when a movie starts the way that after Earth does.

[00:34:42] Where it's like in the year 2074.

[00:34:44] Talk about the opposite of a good idea.

[00:34:47] You know, the Earth says where.

[00:34:49] Yeah, no.

[00:34:50] Imagine if this movie started that way where it's like humans and machines fought

[00:34:53] a war and then the Matrix was created.

[00:34:55] Or what, you know, like that would be the worst movie ever.

[00:34:58] You'd just tune right out.

[00:34:59] So filmmaking is like a magic trick, right?

[00:35:01] Yeah!

[00:35:02] You're trying to get the audience to believe in this thing that you're doing.

[00:35:04] You're getting them to look at this hand so they don't notice the other hand.

[00:35:06] They don't see the plot machinations because they're engaged with the action.

[00:35:09] It's so good!

[00:35:10] Right?

[00:35:11] I love it.

[00:35:12] So if you start out by going like, the Earth says could smell fear.

[00:35:14] I go, you're panicking.

[00:35:15] Yeah, right.

[00:35:16] Do you know what I'm saying?

[00:35:17] Like if you spend the first 10 minutes of your movie explaining to me everything

[00:35:20] I need to understand the rest of the movie.

[00:35:22] You seem scared and I don't trust you.

[00:35:24] But the Matrix starts out and they're just like, we expect you're going to keep up with this.

[00:35:27] We're not going to feed you anything?

[00:35:29] Yeah, it's that argument.

[00:35:30] Right, an argument that a lot of good things have made which is like, yeah, audiences are intelligent

[00:35:34] if the thing is good then they'll be interested.

[00:35:36] And the confidence of this movie, the way it starts, this movie is just such a clearly realized vision.

[00:35:40] Even watching it today but it just drops you in.

[00:35:43] You have no idea what the fuck is going on.

[00:35:45] It's arguably overwhelming, right?

[00:35:47] Yeah.

[00:35:48] But these filmmakers seem so like strong-minded and like we're going to make this make sense to you.

[00:35:53] Right, I'm just going to run with this.

[00:35:55] Stick with us.

[00:35:56] Look at my hand, you know?

[00:35:58] There's nothing up the sleeves like stick with me.

[00:36:00] So there's this great chase sequence which is what you're talking about.

[00:36:03] Which is where it's just like, look, we don't know who she is.

[00:36:06] We know you don't know who the guys in the suits are.

[00:36:09] That digital text thing, you have no idea what that was.

[00:36:11] You don't know what that opening thing was with the trace and the conversation with the other, with Joey Pants.

[00:36:16] But admitted it's pretty cool.

[00:36:17] But it's really cool.

[00:36:18] Stick with us.

[00:36:19] And then like she is running, she gets on a pay phone and she like whatever.

[00:36:26] She escapes.

[00:36:27] She gets sucked in.

[00:36:28] And the agents are like, you know, we've got a target.

[00:36:32] So yeah.

[00:36:33] Alright, so then we cut to Keanu Reeves as like a hacker.

[00:36:38] And let's just say what a handsome face.

[00:36:39] Handsome, handsome man.

[00:36:41] I forgot like watching this movie.

[00:36:43] So this movie is a very pale movie.

[00:36:45] Yes.

[00:36:46] Which is crazy because it's also, and this is especially true in the sequels.

[00:36:51] Like one of the most racially diverse and conscious like movies of its kind in history forever.

[00:36:57] Yes, but it's got a sort of washed out look.

[00:37:00] Oh no, totally.

[00:37:01] But like with this movie, like the two of the three heroes are these like drawn white,

[00:37:07] like sort of almost a ghost-like people.

[00:37:09] Yeah.

[00:37:10] And Keanu, that's why Keanu is perfect for this part.

[00:37:13] He looks like a ghost.

[00:37:14] Yes.

[00:37:15] And sometimes when you say white, we mean it literally.

[00:37:17] Like he's not like a peach skin man.

[00:37:19] The way they film him is white as a sheet of paper.

[00:37:22] I mean he is like, apart from the fact that he's like so freaking handsome and he knows how to dress himself.

[00:37:27] He's so beautiful on that.

[00:37:28] He's a beautiful person but he looks like kind of like a hacker.

[00:37:31] Like he looks like someone who like spends his days looking at a screen.

[00:37:34] It's never seen something.

[00:37:35] Yeah.

[00:37:36] And yeah, you never like in these beginning scenes it's always nighttime and it's always raining.

[00:37:40] Yeah.

[00:37:41] And he's like.

[00:37:42] And it's always green.

[00:37:43] He looks like he's going to vomit.

[00:37:44] You know?

[00:37:45] Yeah.

[00:37:46] So he's a hacker and there's this whole thing where he has like the computer talks to him

[00:37:50] and tells him to follow the white rabbit.

[00:37:51] We can't do the whole plot of this movie but you know.

[00:37:53] It's so dense.

[00:37:54] Yeah, but yeah.

[00:37:55] I mean he's let he's.

[00:37:56] The computer talks to him and it's the moment.

[00:37:57] It feels like he's talking to his computer and the computer is saying like what is the

[00:38:00] matrix.

[00:38:01] But this is also like fucking minute four of the film.

[00:38:04] Ten.

[00:38:05] Whatever.

[00:38:06] I mean early on.

[00:38:07] Oh right because the trace is a little bit longer but like you know minute seven

[00:38:10] or eight whatever it is.

[00:38:11] You have this moment that's like the key moment for any good hero's journey type film.

[00:38:18] Totally.

[00:38:19] And these are movies about the hero's journey.

[00:38:20] Right.

[00:38:21] And subverting them.

[00:38:22] And they established the entire dynamic in like 15 seconds.

[00:38:25] Here's a guy sleeping on a keyboard.

[00:38:28] Right?

[00:38:29] His life is he's asleep.

[00:38:30] He's right.

[00:38:31] Through his life he's asleep.

[00:38:32] We know that from the first.

[00:38:33] It's like he's in a dream.

[00:38:34] That's the first fucking shot of this character.

[00:38:37] What's he doing?

[00:38:38] He's indoors in a cramped dark apartment.

[00:38:40] He's sleeping on a keyboard.

[00:38:41] This guy doesn't have it going together.

[00:38:43] No but it's not just that.

[00:38:44] It's like he's a walking dreamer.

[00:38:46] And of course that's the idea of the matrix.

[00:38:48] He lifts his head up.

[00:38:49] The person's talking to him.

[00:38:50] Don't you think there's something out there Neo?

[00:38:52] You know that sort of problem is it's the Luke looking at the two sons.

[00:38:55] There has to be something better out there for me.

[00:38:57] They make the reference to Alice in Wonderland and again it makes it really clear.

[00:39:00] It's easier to follow.

[00:39:01] Yeah.

[00:39:02] To follow the white rabbit.

[00:39:03] And you know that's right.

[00:39:04] And he follows this girl with a white rabbit tattooed and he goes to a club

[00:39:09] and Rob Zombie is playing and Trinity is there.

[00:39:11] Dragula.

[00:39:12] Yeah.

[00:39:13] Dragula.

[00:39:14] I forgot how much new metal there was in this movie.

[00:39:15] That's the other thing with the matrix.

[00:39:16] They had this crazy influential soundtrack

[00:39:18] and that influence was maybe not so good.

[00:39:20] Yeah.

[00:39:21] Couple bad years there.

[00:39:22] Yeah it doesn't really age well.

[00:39:23] I own the soundtrack.

[00:39:24] Yeah really?

[00:39:25] Yeah.

[00:39:26] I mean because it's like half new metal and half like just techno music.

[00:39:30] The techno stuff's not bad.

[00:39:31] The score in this movie is also amazing.

[00:39:32] Don Davis I believe.

[00:39:33] It's one who did Bound as well.

[00:39:35] Yeah.

[00:39:36] Well that's the thing.

[00:39:37] They brought over Bill Pope and Zach Stainberg and Don Davis.

[00:39:42] All the guys who worked on their little indie movie just come right to this big thing

[00:39:46] and they do great.

[00:39:47] You know what else they brought?

[00:39:48] A pair of pants.

[00:39:49] I don't know what that means.

[00:39:51] Joy pants.

[00:39:52] Oh god.

[00:39:53] A tailor made pair of pants.

[00:39:55] And I said Pallion pants.

[00:39:57] They put it right over the genitals of this movie, that pants.

[00:40:00] So Keanu.

[00:40:03] Yeah.

[00:40:04] He meets with Trinity at this bar for a second.

[00:40:06] And it almost feels like they're at a fetish club and it's like a seduction thing.

[00:40:09] Totally fetish club.

[00:40:10] There's people in cages and shit.

[00:40:12] You don't say their conversation is so charged that it's like, is this just some sex thing

[00:40:16] she's trying to rope him into?

[00:40:17] That's what the matrix is.

[00:40:20] Yeah.

[00:40:21] And then there's this, to me when I was a kid such an iconic thing where it's

[00:40:25] like oh yeah he's a grown up and his job is that he goes into an office building and

[00:40:30] it's boring.

[00:40:31] Yeah.

[00:40:32] And like there are cubicles.

[00:40:33] Yeah.

[00:40:34] Cause like he's a slave.

[00:40:35] He wears black leather and he wears a white shirt.

[00:40:37] And like there's this scene where his boss is lecturing him and is like you know you have

[00:40:41] to be on time and like you're asleep, it's like you're sleepwalking.

[00:40:45] And then he says how about I give you the finger and then he flips it.

[00:40:48] No no that's later.

[00:40:49] That's the agent's name.

[00:40:50] Yeah.

[00:40:51] And then Neo gets, he gets a FedEx package and it's a Nokia phone with like a slidey

[00:40:56] thing.

[00:40:57] Ben do you remember this phone?

[00:40:59] Of course.

[00:41:00] This is the hottest phone in the world.

[00:41:01] It's spring loaded.

[00:41:02] He hits a button and the thing like sticks out.

[00:41:04] Yeah.

[00:41:05] Wasn't this like the start of like cell phone advertising?

[00:41:08] Absolutely.

[00:41:09] Absolutely.

[00:41:10] It was the first cell phone that anyone had ever, except for One Fine Day they have the

[00:41:14] star tax in One Fine Day.

[00:41:15] Hey can I talk about One Fine Day for one second?

[00:41:17] You'd better be one second.

[00:41:18] Whoever did the original song for One Fine Day that was nominated for an Academy Award

[00:41:22] that year.

[00:41:23] Was it Dine Warn?

[00:41:24] Yeah I don't remember who sang it right but there was like the One Fine Day song.

[00:41:26] Not the song One Fine Day but there was an original song.

[00:41:29] The great song One Fine Day.

[00:41:30] Written for One Fine Day at the Academy Award.

[00:41:32] It was the first time and it was sung by Kenny Loggins.

[00:41:36] Hey.

[00:41:37] It was a James Newton Howard joint.

[00:41:38] Anyway go ahead.

[00:41:39] At the Academy Awards that year they performed the song and they did like a montage of

[00:41:43] famous couples in movies over on the screen behind them so it was like they were playing

[00:41:48] that and then they showed like Bogey and Bacall.

[00:41:50] Okay what's your point?

[00:41:51] You know and they showed like whatever.

[00:41:52] And then one of the couples they showed was Luke and Leia.

[00:41:55] Oh dear.

[00:41:56] And I remember being an Oscar part of my parents everyone being like.

[00:42:00] Their brother and you guys know that.

[00:42:02] It goes like Kenny Loggins singing like and the moment where it happens and then it was

[00:42:07] just Luke and Leia smiling at each other.

[00:42:09] Well whatever.

[00:42:11] Moving on.

[00:42:12] That's crazy.

[00:42:13] Good impression of what I think that song sounds like.

[00:42:15] Yeah it was pretty good.

[00:42:16] And the moment where it happens.

[00:42:18] Where your sister in space.

[00:42:22] So he gets a phone call.

[00:42:25] Yeah.

[00:42:26] From Lawrence Fishburne.

[00:42:27] A spring phone.

[00:42:28] And he seems to be telling him he's Morpheus and he seems to be telling him like anticipating

[00:42:33] what's happening in the world.

[00:42:34] Can we talk about another moment that like at that point you're just like this I can't believe how cool this is.

[00:42:39] What?

[00:42:40] Zip.

[00:42:41] Open FedEx package.

[00:42:42] It's just a phone.

[00:42:43] Cell phone immediately starts ringing.

[00:42:44] It rings.

[00:42:45] It's great.

[00:42:46] Immediately.

[00:42:47] It's great.

[00:42:48] Like at that point you're like wait what?

[00:42:49] It's great.

[00:42:50] I mean it's the sort of postmodern whatever cyber punky version of the fucking Harry Potter

[00:42:55] thing.

[00:42:56] Yeah.

[00:42:57] And we found you.

[00:42:58] Like you know like you are the one person who sees the world for what it is which is like

[00:43:03] dull as dishwater.

[00:43:05] And you immediately know how special you are because of how special the way we're communicating

[00:43:10] with you is.

[00:43:11] Yeah cause you're in a movie.

[00:43:12] Yeah.

[00:43:13] Cause cool shit's happening.

[00:43:14] That's why The Matrix works because they are in a movie.

[00:43:16] It's called The Matrix.

[00:43:17] That's what their reality is.

[00:43:18] That's what our you know that I could just talk about The Matrix for my whole

[00:43:23] life.

[00:43:24] It's so much more difficult to talk about The Matrix for one episode than it would be

[00:43:27] to talk about it for forty episodes.

[00:43:29] So then I want to cut ahead to the next iconic scene after this sort of chase with the phone

[00:43:33] which is very fun.

[00:43:34] He gets, Neo gets captured by the agents.

[00:43:37] Hugo Weaving gives this fucking Oscar monologue where he's like you know in one life

[00:43:42] you know you're Thomas Anderson and you pay taxes and then he goes like.

[00:43:47] Mr. And.

[00:43:48] And he says you help your landlady carry out garbage.

[00:43:51] You know like he has these great like this way great way of talking what are you.

[00:43:55] David that is an incredible impression.

[00:43:57] I've watched The Matrix way too many times.

[00:43:59] But Ben I'm not alone in this right.

[00:44:01] That's like really strong.

[00:44:02] Very solid.

[00:44:03] I've watched it too many times.

[00:44:04] But you'd be better as one of the backup agents than the guys at fucking Hype.

[00:44:07] I should have been one of them because you could have done it.

[00:44:08] You can't just do Hugo Weaving.

[00:44:10] That's the problem.

[00:44:11] He's got that weird American accent that's not quite right which is perfect.

[00:44:14] Yeah.

[00:44:15] Right but like everyone I feel like should have their own version of that like

[00:44:18] rather than just doing a Hugo Weaving.

[00:44:20] I mean look all I'm going to say is at the very least put that in a real submitted to

[00:44:23] mad TV.

[00:44:24] That's you got you got at least one.

[00:44:27] Did you hear they're bringing mad TV back.

[00:44:29] Yeah that's why I'm saying it.

[00:44:30] You gotta strike David.

[00:44:31] Gotta do my agent Smith.

[00:44:33] Yeah.

[00:44:34] And that's when Neo gives agent Smith the finger.

[00:44:37] Yeah.

[00:44:38] Yeah.

[00:44:39] Fuck the man.

[00:44:40] I give you the finger.

[00:44:41] I give you the finger.

[00:44:42] Yeah.

[00:44:43] And you give me my phone call or whatever and then they they they say how could you

[00:44:47] make a phone call if you're unable to if you're unable to speak.

[00:44:50] Yeah.

[00:44:51] And his mouth closes up.

[00:44:53] It's the craziest.

[00:44:54] People still talk to me about it when I mentioned the Matrix.

[00:44:56] How much that freaked them out.

[00:44:57] Can I do a merchandise spotlight for a second?

[00:44:59] Sure was there a mouth closing up Neo toy.

[00:45:02] Yeah.

[00:45:03] So there's probably a lot of Matrix toys right.

[00:45:04] Yeah.

[00:45:05] After the fact.

[00:45:06] A lot of like collectibles.

[00:45:07] Here's what's weird they actually and it's like a moment where I think Warner

[00:45:10] Brothers didn't know how big this movie was going to be obviously no one could

[00:45:14] have but they had some weird foresight because they actually did have like a

[00:45:17] full line of action figures that were released when the movie was out like in

[00:45:21] theaters for an already movie that was like a pretty bold but I mean when you see

[00:45:24] this movie it's a it's a why you know why not we know like this movie is that

[00:45:29] Morpheus color.

[00:45:30] Ben are you have to take that call.

[00:45:32] I don't know should I pick it up.

[00:45:34] Pick it up.

[00:45:36] It's too.

[00:45:37] I don't know.

[00:45:38] He's in a different room.

[00:45:43] Keep going.

[00:45:44] Sorry.

[00:45:45] Sorry guys.

[00:45:46] Is everything okay.

[00:45:47] Ben.

[00:45:48] Actually not a bit.

[00:45:50] Just it's just that's just the glitch in the Matrix.

[00:45:53] Okay but if this now what what if this wasn't a bit and then the next thing we saw was

[00:46:00] Ben on the fire escape.

[00:46:01] He drops the phone.

[00:46:03] Yeah.

[00:46:04] We're probably cutting this out but no but so the thing where his mouth closes up

[00:46:08] is like a perfect nightmarish like image merchandise spotlight.

[00:46:12] Oh yeah.

[00:46:13] The action figures was just like Neo Trinity Morpheus Seifer agent Smith and switch.

[00:46:21] Hey she's cool.

[00:46:23] She's got the blonde hair.

[00:46:24] They sound great.

[00:46:25] White suit she's cool.

[00:46:26] And then the second series of toys they were like we're going to do moments.

[00:46:29] Oh they should have been like apoc.

[00:46:31] I just want to say apoc.

[00:46:33] No they were like we're going to do moments so they did a tank with like the gun shooting

[00:46:39] at the side of their electric gun thing.

[00:46:40] They did Trinity and the kick the flying kick thing and then the one that I bought that I

[00:46:44] was like I thought that was the coolest one was Mr. Anderson and it's just Keanu in a

[00:46:49] nice white shirt and slacks like screaming with his mouth closed.

[00:46:53] The image of his mouth closing like of the little sort of like tendrils locking together

[00:46:58] on his mouth is great.

[00:46:59] Yeah he's basically just got like a patch over his mouth.

[00:47:03] I had that toy proudly on my shelf but I just loved that if you covered up the face

[00:47:06] it was just like there's some guy.

[00:47:07] So let's say something.

[00:47:09] This whole scene probably is about 20 minutes into the movie.

[00:47:12] So so far we've seen like a lady do crazy like spider kicking and jumping around buildings

[00:47:17] and we've seen this like cell phone sequence where someone's predicting the future and

[00:47:21] still like then we have an interrogation scene where they close his mouth up and then

[00:47:25] they put a bug in his belly button.

[00:47:27] And like I mean how are you not flipping out at this point just being like what

[00:47:30] is this movie?

[00:47:31] We also haven't seen Larry Fishburn at this point.

[00:47:34] We've only heard his voice but I mean it's like the idea where you're like

[00:47:37] I get it these are feds.

[00:47:38] This is like the government.

[00:47:40] These are men in black and they're going to torture him or something or they're going

[00:47:43] to imprison him.

[00:47:44] It's like no what they're going to do is they're going to take out a mechanical object

[00:47:47] that turns into a bug.

[00:47:49] Like a big gross like I don't know earworm, what an earwig or what.

[00:47:54] It'll force itself into his belly button.

[00:47:57] It is the greatest like sort of like reversal or you know like you think you're watching

[00:48:02] an action movie or something.

[00:48:03] It's like no this is like a Kronenberg movie all of a sudden.

[00:48:06] And then he just wakes up.

[00:48:07] He wakes up.

[00:48:08] It's a hard cut to him waking up and he doesn't know if the whole thing was a dream.

[00:48:11] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:48:12] But he's and then he gets picked up by the team Morpheus, Trinity, Switch.

[00:48:19] Yeah, it's Trinity and Switch and Apoch.

[00:48:22] Apoch.

[00:48:23] And they take the bug out of him with this crazy machine which is fun.

[00:48:26] Yeah, which came with the action figure.

[00:48:28] You know what it was like well he's not going to hold it.

[00:48:30] Well it's a later scene but you know maybe you could buy a Trinity to have it.

[00:48:33] Have her do it.

[00:48:34] Yeah.

[00:48:35] And then he meets Morpheus.

[00:48:37] Cool guy.

[00:48:38] Can I say this?

[00:48:39] He's got a lot of style.

[00:48:41] He's a cool guy.

[00:48:42] So Morpheus is in an abandoned house.

[00:48:45] There's like a thunderstorm outside.

[00:48:47] He's wearing a floor length leather coat, leather fucking cape.

[00:48:52] I don't know how you know like and he's got pins like sunglasses.

[00:48:57] Yeah they have no arms on them.

[00:48:59] They just pinch on his nose and like it's all reflective.

[00:49:02] You know they're...

[00:49:03] And let's say this too, okay?

[00:49:04] Morpheus sitting in a chair right?

[00:49:06] Like a comfy like sort of like armchair.

[00:49:09] Yeah like a red leather armchair yeah.

[00:49:11] Now that might sound like an inactive choice.

[00:49:13] Oh boring sitting in a chair that's a lazy man's position.

[00:49:15] This guy is sitting the shit out of that chair.

[00:49:19] Do you know what I'm saying?

[00:49:20] He totally is.

[00:49:21] No one's ever fucking sat in a chair.

[00:49:22] There's always a lot of sitting in this movie.

[00:49:23] He does it well.

[00:49:24] He sits so fucking hard in this film.

[00:49:27] Yeah.

[00:49:28] And he gives a speech.

[00:49:30] It gives a speech where he...

[00:49:31] It's a lot of like you know what if you were dreaming like and then you couldn't tell the difference between the dream and the real and like yeah.

[00:49:37] It's a lot of circular language.

[00:49:39] Yeah.

[00:49:40] But I mean his basic choice is like you can either take this blue pill and you just forget about it or you take this red pill and you like you know you go down the rabbit hole you know whatever.

[00:49:50] And this is one of my favorite things in the entire movie.

[00:49:52] You're talking about the shot where the hands are reflected in his sunglasses?

[00:49:55] Well that's crazy.

[00:49:56] That's crazy and it's great.

[00:49:58] They did that.

[00:49:59] There's like green film on his glasses to pull it off for him.

[00:50:01] Right.

[00:50:02] It's a confidence shot.

[00:50:03] Yeah.

[00:50:04] No but what I love more than that is you expect Alice in Wonderland style that if he swallows the pill he'll immediately go into a crazy world.

[00:50:10] Yeah sure.

[00:50:11] And instead he swallows the pill and they're like okay good follow me into this room.

[00:50:14] Right.

[00:50:15] And they were like what was that?

[00:50:16] And he was like that pill stabilizes your blood pressure so we can put you into the major.

[00:50:19] Yeah it's like that it removes your output carrier signal.

[00:50:22] They start babbling it and then they sit him down.

[00:50:24] But the pill wasn't like just a...

[00:50:26] No no right.

[00:50:27] Then they have to do a bunch of phone shit.

[00:50:29] The pill was like means to an end.

[00:50:31] Like A it wasn't a placebo.

[00:50:32] Yeah what's the blue pill do?

[00:50:34] Is it just like rehyphenol to just knock you out or something?

[00:50:37] Yeah it's like bringing back to his apartment.

[00:50:39] It's like Nyquil or something.

[00:50:40] Yeah exactly.

[00:50:41] Yeah it just was a straight up Nyquil tablet.

[00:50:43] And do you think he has like a lot of those pills?

[00:50:46] Like does he have like a pill box?

[00:50:48] How many people take the blue pill?

[00:50:50] It's so many questions.

[00:50:51] Yeah.

[00:50:52] In the world of the matrix we're called blue pills that's like a muggle and like matrix people are called...

[00:50:56] People are free or called red pills.

[00:50:58] Yeah so you already hinted at like the new metal thing was like kind of a pox on culture after this.

[00:51:03] A little bit.

[00:51:04] You know matrix did a lot of this where it was like the matrix is great.

[00:51:07] Like any great influential film it created a lot of crap in its wake.

[00:51:11] Yeah and one of them is the MRA movement, the men's right activists.

[00:51:16] Oh okay.

[00:51:17] The scum of the earth.

[00:51:19] Yeah of course.

[00:51:20] The scourge of Twitter and all social media.

[00:51:23] You know they're like really into the red pill theory.

[00:51:26] I see they see themselves as red pills is that because they're like woke you know they like understand the truth.

[00:51:30] You wake up and realize that men are forced into roles that benefit women and that if we're going to actually live our lives you have to...

[00:51:36] I'm gonna venture you've spent too much time of your own personal time like looking into this stuff.

[00:51:41] Correct.

[00:51:42] Yes.

[00:51:43] I like staring into the sun.

[00:51:44] I do too but I've never done that.

[00:51:47] I've never gone down that rabbit hole is it?

[00:51:49] Yeah it's horrible.

[00:51:50] I've spent a lot of time.

[00:51:51] And I hope that they realize that these movies were made by awesome trans women who are the best and think they suck.

[00:51:58] Yup.

[00:51:59] Because this is the thing about this movie it's very utopian in its vision of its heroes and its villains and things like that.

[00:52:06] Yeah it's also a movie about realizing the real body you're supposed to be.

[00:52:14] Claiming your real body and not accepting the reality that other people put upon you but finding the truth.

[00:52:20] And there's all these ideas.

[00:52:21] I mean everyone was made to read this book Simulacrum Simulacrum by Bodriard.

[00:52:25] Now when I was in college I took a cyberpunk literature class which was really cool and shout out to my professor Stacy Gillis who I believe still teaches at Newcastle.

[00:52:38] And it was the greatest fucking class I took the whole my whole time at Newcastle because she was a genius.

[00:52:44] But so we had to read at least part of that book.

[00:52:48] Which is a lot of this French guy going like I go to Disneyland and I think this is reality or whatever but it's great.

[00:52:55] The book has the accent written in like that right?

[00:52:57] Yeah absolutely.

[00:52:58] I go to Disneyland and then the...

[00:53:00] Yeah that's a perfect impression.

[00:53:02] Great.

[00:53:03] So...

[00:53:04] It's part of my mad TV reel.

[00:53:05] Yeah you know great job.

[00:53:07] Thank you.

[00:53:08] So anyway the Matrix.

[00:53:11] Oh yeah the book, the book, the book.

[00:53:13] Right right and so there's also all this stuff like you're saying about accepting that the world around you is not and the body you're in is not real.

[00:53:19] But also this free will versus fate shit.

[00:53:22] That's like the major theme of this right?

[00:53:24] Yeah.

[00:53:25] It's like you know...

[00:53:26] Is this happening because it's supposed to happen because it's a movie?

[00:53:29] Right.

[00:53:30] Or are you making these choices you know and like you know accepting creating your own hero's journey?

[00:53:34] Well and this idea of the one.

[00:53:37] Right.

[00:53:38] There's one who's going to be balanced who's going to free the people who's going to be able to defeat the machines.

[00:53:44] And this entire idea of like...

[00:53:45] Or is that right?

[00:53:47] Is the prophecy itself like that?

[00:53:49] Isn't that its own form of like controlling kind of crappy or can you turn that into something real?

[00:53:54] So can we talk, I mean I know we're skipping ahead but can we talk about the best scene in the movie?

[00:53:58] Yeah.

[00:53:59] The best scene in the movie is The Oracle's Kitchen.

[00:54:01] Love that scene.

[00:54:03] I think should have gotten an Academy Award nomination for a Stuart.

[00:54:08] Like one of the best one scene performances in history.

[00:54:12] It is so layered there's so much going on.

[00:54:15] I mean we're skipping over anything major they bring them into the matrix.

[00:54:18] They bring them into the real world rather.

[00:54:20] We're skipping some major stuff so let's just briefly because yeah like yeah there's this you know he touches this mirror like covers him in like mirror goo.

[00:54:28] Which once again is Alice in Wonderland imagery it's through the looking class.

[00:54:31] He wakes up in a pink pod.

[00:54:33] He's naked.

[00:54:34] He's bald.

[00:54:35] He's hairless.

[00:54:36] He's covered in holes.

[00:54:37] But let's just say he still looks really good.

[00:54:39] He's pretty fuckable.

[00:54:40] He's pretty fuckable and more fuckable than ever actually because he's got more holes to fill.

[00:54:45] Do you know what I'm saying?

[00:54:46] Oh dear.

[00:54:47] I don't know if he looks his best but it's like...

[00:54:49] From a utilitarian perspective he is the most fuckable he's ever been.

[00:54:53] Just continuing this body horror thing.

[00:54:55] Fuck the back of his neck.

[00:54:56] It's so horrifying.

[00:54:57] He could fuck his forearms.

[00:54:58] When all the tendrils that he's strapped to like snap off of him.

[00:55:02] A couple spots he could fucking his spine I think.

[00:55:04] This is a 60 million dollar movie Griffin.

[00:55:06] Yeah.

[00:55:07] And like that vision he has when he like wakes up in the real world and there's like millions of pods or whatever.

[00:55:14] Being harvested by like robot tentacles and shit.

[00:55:17] Humans as batteries which is a recurring theme in the Wachowski uvra.

[00:55:21] That's true you're thinking of a jupe ascend.

[00:55:24] Yeah.

[00:55:25] Yeah.

[00:55:26] Jupe sends.

[00:55:27] This is so cool looking though it's like very HR Geiger.

[00:55:31] Yeah.

[00:55:32] Of course.

[00:55:33] Yeah and I'm sure the production designer they worked with Owen Patterson I think had a lot of those influences.

[00:55:38] I'm going to look him up.

[00:55:39] It's like HR Geiger but with like more fuckability you know what I'm saying?

[00:55:42] HR Geiger is very much about fuckability I think.

[00:55:45] Yeah but I could never find a hole on those xenomorphs that was the thing.

[00:55:48] You know they're like they're very sexual looking but like I couldn't find a hole.

[00:55:52] And Keanu it's like they're having a fire sale on holes.

[00:55:55] Enough.

[00:55:57] I beg you.

[00:55:59] Ben agree or disagree?

[00:56:00] I agree.

[00:56:01] Great moving on.

[00:56:02] So yeah so then he gets picked up by the crew of a bimorphous in the crew.

[00:56:08] Switch.

[00:56:09] And in the real she's there.

[00:56:11] Switch.

[00:56:12] And you know while in the matrix the computer world that we all live in currently to this day by the way guys we're all living in the matrix.

[00:56:19] Yeah yeah yeah.

[00:56:20] They all look like the hottest shit in the universe and they're like perfectly airbrushed perfectly dressed all wearing sunglasses.

[00:56:26] In the real world they're all like they all wear rags.

[00:56:28] Yeah.

[00:56:29] And they look like crap.

[00:56:30] Yeah.

[00:56:31] And they have fucking holes everywhere and like plugs in the back of their necks.

[00:56:34] Yeah and Keanu has shaved head like he's just going to stubble back because he's a baby.

[00:56:38] He's just got out of the pot yeah he's a baby.

[00:56:39] Yeah they like rebuild his muscles he's a little baby.

[00:56:42] Yeah.

[00:56:43] They give him a bunch of programs to learn stuff.

[00:56:45] Well yeah well first they tell him what the matrix is.

[00:56:47] Oh yeah.

[00:56:48] It's a fake like reality created by machines after a war with artificial intelligence to use our bodies as batteries.

[00:56:54] A TLDR version it's bullshit.

[00:56:57] It's a bunch of bullshit matrix.

[00:56:59] It's the wool pulled over our eyes.

[00:57:02] Yeah.

[00:57:03] And then they start to I mean this movie is so this is the thing and this is what we're talking about where it's like the movie is just like people can jump across buildings got that great people can like put bugs in your belly button got that.

[00:57:17] All right we're moving through.

[00:57:19] Yeah you touch the mirror you enter the then it's like sitting this chair you're going to do a kung fu scene.

[00:57:25] Lawrence Fishburne.

[00:57:26] But there's 30 or 40 minutes before we get to the scene where Morpheus explains the matrix.

[00:57:30] You're on board at that point because everything's so cool.

[00:57:32] Right.

[00:57:33] And then they have one scene explain what the matrix is.

[00:57:35] Yeah perfectly.

[00:57:36] And it is of course it's a tricky scene like you say because it is just exposition and explanation but it's very visual because it takes place in this weird space.

[00:57:44] It's basically like a tutorial.

[00:57:46] It's like it's like a video game and like Lawrence Fishburne is sitting in his red leather chair again.

[00:57:51] Sitting in shit out of that chair.

[00:57:52] And he's like here we are in the real world.

[00:57:54] Oh look this is the real world.

[00:57:57] This is the matrix and it's controlling you and you know and yeah a million minds are were woke at the same time.

[00:58:04] Hey talk about being woke for 20 van.

[00:58:07] Hell yeah bro.

[00:58:09] But then and so you're like OK crazy sci-fi get it cool.

[00:58:13] And then they're like OK now we're going to be a kung fu movie.

[00:58:16] Yeah so they put him in a chair and our friend our friend tank our friend tank Marcus Chong has like a bunch of like floppy disks.

[00:58:24] And he's like these are programs supposed to give you if you ask me most I'm pretty boring.

[00:58:28] So let's just go straight to this and just starts loading shit into his head.

[00:58:32] And then Keanu wakes up and anyone who says Keanu is a bad actor can go eat a dick.

[00:58:37] I hate them.

[00:58:38] Yeah because he delivers the line I know kung fu like better than anyone ever could.

[00:58:43] Yeah I could I just say something to that point because all right he listen he's you know he's got that reputation as being a bad actor.

[00:58:51] Being wooden yes but I will say this I think he's just bad at asking questions.

[00:58:58] I think it's just like a flaw of his because like anytime he has to question it's always very Keanu.

[00:59:03] Yeah and it's you know a little distracting sometimes.

[00:59:07] I think he's an incredible movie star.

[00:59:09] Mm-hmm.

[00:59:10] He's got like a presence and a charisma that you cannot teach.

[00:59:14] No that you can't and then if you cannot replicate.

[00:59:17] And it goes beyond just the fact that he's like fuck it's such a good looking guy right.

[00:59:21] Oh Jesus boy oh boy.

[00:59:23] And then he moves really well that he's like a great physical actor because I saw an interview with him where they were talking about John Wick

[00:59:28] and they were like so you do a lot of your stunts in this movie and he's like I don't do stunts stunts are done by stuntman.

[00:59:33] I do physical acting.

[00:59:35] He has a lot of respect for stuntman.

[00:59:36] Yes he does.

[00:59:37] And he's very close to his stunt performers on the Matrix who then went on to direct John Wick.

[00:59:42] Mm-hmm.

[00:59:43] But go on.

[00:59:44] Nobody he's like a really good physical actor like he sells all these sort of motions and he's expressive in his body in a way that a lot of actors are not.

[00:59:51] Is he the most nuanced actor?

[00:59:54] No.

[00:59:55] You know.

[00:59:56] What do you mean Griffin?

[00:59:58] He's got a very specific.

[00:59:59] He needs the right director and he needs the right script and he needs a lot of the right situations.

[01:00:03] And yeah and he needs you know he fits into certain parts well he fits into other parts like Jonathan Harker and Dracula significantly less well.

[01:00:10] His worst acting job is in Friendsport.

[01:00:12] Yeah one of the worst acting jobs ever I would say.

[01:00:15] Very good.

[01:00:16] And like you know it's hard to think of a guy who has had a couple like films as iconic as him.

[01:00:23] Yeah I mean the three biggest would you agree?

[01:00:27] What would you say his biggest ones are?

[01:00:29] He had this incredible thing where it's like he would get big then he'd like squander it and people would be like Keanu's out and then he'd come back.

[01:00:35] But he wouldn't be squandering he'd just be doing whatever he wanted to do.

[01:00:38] And then he'd come back and then they'd be like oh Keanu's back.

[01:00:40] Love Keanu.

[01:00:41] And then he'd like shit out again in the eyes of the public.

[01:00:43] Yeah no totally.

[01:00:44] And then he'd come back again like twice as strong.

[01:00:46] Yeah because it's like he got Bill and Ted.

[01:00:48] Which he should have won an Oscar for.

[01:00:49] And his like adorable sort of early kind of cute pothead he kind of you know like parenthood these sorts of movies you know.

[01:00:55] Right and my own private Idaho.

[01:00:56] Well that's a great performance.

[01:00:58] That's a great performance.

[01:00:59] Yes yeah.

[01:01:00] And then right and then he kind of reinvents himself in Poit Break.

[01:01:02] Yeah.

[01:01:03] As like action like square jawed.

[01:01:06] Yeah.

[01:01:07] Kind of like lunatic calm like weirdo who you just sort of love.

[01:01:11] Yeah.

[01:01:12] I love you to death.

[01:01:13] I love you so good at that.

[01:01:16] Really?

[01:01:17] I've never seen that.

[01:01:18] Not a movie I've seen.

[01:01:19] It's like this weird movie that I was obsessed with as a kid.

[01:01:23] It's really good.

[01:01:24] That's right in between parenthood and Poit Break.

[01:01:27] Tracy Olman, Kevin Klein.

[01:01:29] Oh yeah right Tracy Olman.

[01:01:30] Is it the pizza one?

[01:01:31] Yes.

[01:01:32] And but just to carry on.

[01:01:34] Sorry.

[01:01:35] No it's fine.

[01:01:36] I just wanted to speed.

[01:01:37] I got very excited.

[01:01:38] How do you feel about speed?

[01:01:40] Great movie.

[01:01:41] Got to keep that bus going.

[01:01:44] And then after speed it's like Keanu you're a movie star.

[01:01:48] Yeah what do you want to do?

[01:01:49] What are you gonna do?

[01:01:50] He's like not do a sequel to speed.

[01:01:52] Right.

[01:01:53] Go on tour with my band.

[01:01:54] Dog star.

[01:01:55] Yeah my band dog star where I'm like the bassist.

[01:01:57] He's not even like his like he's not even like the lead guitarist and the singer.

[01:02:01] And just kind of hang out.

[01:02:03] Yeah.

[01:02:04] Which mind you he did an earlier thing like maybe before Poit Break in like the

[01:02:09] my own private Idaho days.

[01:02:11] They were like what do you want to do?

[01:02:13] World is your oyster and he's like I want to do Hamlet in Canada.

[01:02:16] Yeah right.

[01:02:17] He played Hamlet in Canada.

[01:02:19] He was throughout the right age for it too.

[01:02:21] It's good choice Keanu.

[01:02:22] I wish I could have seen it.

[01:02:23] But he's done a lot of like weird left turn moves like that.

[01:02:25] And then this movie it's like.

[01:02:26] Right and then you know so after speed he's kind of floating around

[01:02:29] and making mostly bad movies.

[01:02:30] And I was just reading by the way that Wachowski's wanted Depp.

[01:02:33] I didn't know this.

[01:02:34] He was the first choice.

[01:02:35] They could have gotten him.

[01:02:36] I mean himself is also in kind of a weird sort of valley at this point

[01:02:39] in his career.

[01:02:40] He's like astronaut's wife.

[01:02:41] Nick of time.

[01:02:42] Yeah.

[01:02:43] But the studio pushed for Reeves which is weird because it's not.

[01:02:46] They wanted to show that.

[01:02:47] I mean I guess they just it was only five years after the speed.

[01:02:49] So I guess they were just like he's still great.

[01:02:51] Like you know we need a Reeves movie.

[01:02:53] He also might have been cheaper at that point in time.

[01:02:55] It's possible.

[01:02:56] Which they could put the money like he was a name and a face

[01:02:58] but they also could have put money into the effects and everything.

[01:03:01] Now like what would you do without him in this movie?

[01:03:03] I mean no one else could have played this part.

[01:03:05] It's like one of the most just to look at him.

[01:03:07] One of the most him in the sunglasses like is one of the most iconic

[01:03:09] like movie figures.

[01:03:11] And there's that thing with Keanu where it's like hard to read him

[01:03:14] which is why a lot of people pegging as being stupid

[01:03:16] because there's like a vacancy there that also I think is more

[01:03:19] just a sort of like an intangible unknowable quality.

[01:03:22] Right.

[01:03:23] And his best movie roles use that to their advantage.

[01:03:26] So Bill and Ted it's like is this guy brilliant or is he a fucking

[01:03:29] idiot you know?

[01:03:30] Yeah.

[01:03:31] And in this it's like you need someone who you can't really read.

[01:03:33] Right.

[01:03:34] And who you can project a lot of things onto.

[01:03:36] Like Morpheus can be like this guy's the one he's the future

[01:03:39] he's gonna save us all.

[01:03:41] And you go like really?

[01:03:42] And Cypher can be like this guy's like a fucking lost sheep

[01:03:45] he's a nobody and Trini can be like this guy is

[01:03:48] one way ticket to Bone Town.

[01:03:50] Yeah.

[01:03:51] This guy is a dick for me to jump bomb.

[01:03:54] I mean she's like you know she falls for him like she's like

[01:03:57] this guy's hot.

[01:03:58] I think we all do I think America falls for him.

[01:04:00] America falls right for him.

[01:04:01] Yeah.

[01:04:02] You know it's all right.

[01:04:03] It's all relative.

[01:04:04] Yeah.

[01:04:05] And the Oracle sees him and she's just like ah you'll figure

[01:04:08] it out.

[01:04:09] It's such a good scene.

[01:04:10] She's making cookies.

[01:04:11] Yeah so you know he learns kung fu he has this great kung

[01:04:14] fu fight with Lawrence Fishburne is amazing.

[01:04:16] Yeah.

[01:04:17] And then he's supposed to try and do the jump across

[01:04:19] buildings and he can't do it.

[01:04:20] He fucks up.

[01:04:21] And so there's the lady in red also comes with that one.

[01:04:23] There's the lady in red scene.

[01:04:24] Yeah.

[01:04:25] Where it's he's being taught like the agents are everywhere

[01:04:27] and if you're in the matrix like computer programs

[01:04:29] can find you.

[01:04:30] Yeah.

[01:04:31] And then with the lady with the red dress there's that I

[01:04:33] don't remember the character's name.

[01:04:35] Mouse mouse mouse mouse mouse.

[01:04:36] He's like basically just like hey if you want to fuck

[01:04:38] him.

[01:04:39] I was saying this on Twitter last night.

[01:04:41] You like mouse but he's like a little gamer gate freak.

[01:04:43] He's like he's like designed her and she fucks you.

[01:04:47] Yeah.

[01:04:48] And um death sticks.

[01:04:51] He has he has I mean this movie is tapping into this

[01:04:54] is the other thing that's her ex files conspiracy

[01:04:56] theory shit.

[01:04:57] Yeah.

[01:04:58] Because that's what the matrix is so good at is

[01:05:00] it's an explanation for all conspiracy theories.

[01:05:03] It's like oh the government's always there at the

[01:05:05] right time and they're always like oh that's

[01:05:07] because it's the matrix and they're just computer

[01:05:09] programs like it's everything works.

[01:05:11] It's also like an explanation for like depression.

[01:05:13] Well that's the thing.

[01:05:14] Like do you like do you have more in reloaded

[01:05:16] in revolutions but yeah you like do you just

[01:05:18] like any aspect of being a human being right

[01:05:21] in the fucking matrix.

[01:05:22] Yeah.

[01:05:23] Yeah.

[01:05:24] It's because you are dissatisfied because you

[01:05:25] know something's wrong but you don't know

[01:05:27] what right and then in reloaded in revolutions

[01:05:29] they do this thing where it's like oh there are

[01:05:31] all these exile programs and that's like angels

[01:05:33] and you know monsters and aliens and ghosts.

[01:05:36] Yeah.

[01:05:37] But I mean this movie has a thing where deja vu

[01:05:39] means like that the matrix is being like

[01:05:41] fiddled with.

[01:05:42] Yeah.

[01:05:43] And you have a moment like of like oh I realize

[01:05:45] this isn't working yeah so good.

[01:05:47] Clutch in the matrix.

[01:05:48] Can we talk can we talk about the oracles.

[01:05:50] So after training them they take an awesome kung fu

[01:05:52] battle and we're told like okay the oracle

[01:05:54] is some kind of magic person and she

[01:05:56] has told Morpheus like the one the prophecy

[01:05:59] of the one who will save us all.

[01:06:01] And we've seen so much crazy shit in this movie

[01:06:03] that the point they build up to the oracle you're

[01:06:05] like who's this going to be.

[01:06:06] Sure yeah I guess it's hard for me to remember

[01:06:08] now a time where I didn't know that the

[01:06:10] oracle was like a nice like older black lady

[01:06:13] who makes cookies but sure.

[01:06:15] But I do I mean I think that's we have

[01:06:17] to force ourselves to try to like remember

[01:06:19] right through fresh eyes.

[01:06:21] The oracle could be fucking anything at

[01:06:23] this point and they just go to like like

[01:06:26] a six floor walk up apartment.

[01:06:28] Yeah they go to like I mean the design of

[01:06:30] this movie is perfect and they go to this

[01:06:32] kind of cool dilapidated housing project

[01:06:34] basically.

[01:06:35] There are a bunch of little kids there with

[01:06:36] their parents.

[01:06:37] Yeah this is objectively one of the

[01:06:39] goofiest scenes in the movie.

[01:06:41] I love it.

[01:06:42] I do too but I mean you got to admit

[01:06:44] like in another movie this would fall flat

[01:06:46] the like cute little bald kid who's

[01:06:48] bending a spoon with his mind he's

[01:06:50] not the greatest actor and he goes

[01:06:52] like you know he tells the line that

[01:06:54] you have to realize the truth.

[01:06:56] Can I disagree for there is no spoon

[01:06:58] disagree with you on one point his voice

[01:07:00] just bugs me go on.

[01:07:01] I think he is the greatest actor.

[01:07:02] I think this kid might I think he might

[01:07:04] literally be the greatest.

[01:07:05] That is Meryl Streep.

[01:07:06] Right that's what I'm saying.

[01:07:07] Yeah.

[01:07:08] They go in.

[01:07:09] You know who's a great actor is Gloria

[01:07:11] Foster.

[01:07:12] Jesus Christ plays the oracle.

[01:07:14] And what a what a fuck up this role

[01:07:16] could be because it is a magical

[01:07:18] black lady.

[01:07:19] 150 percent.

[01:07:20] Yeah.

[01:07:21] And like it is like loaded with

[01:07:23] cliche because she's baking

[01:07:25] cookies you know like this idea of

[01:07:27] like oh the fountain of all knowledge

[01:07:29] and it's like wait what it's a nice old

[01:07:31] lady reverse but she's also

[01:07:33] chain smoking she's

[01:07:35] cynical that's the thing she makes

[01:07:37] it work.

[01:07:38] Gloria Foster is like a great

[01:07:40] Broadway actress which has

[01:07:42] he's very good at casting yeah like

[01:07:44] smaller roles yeah and really good

[01:07:46] at finding cool talented actors but

[01:07:48] she says the thing where it's like don't

[01:07:49] worry about the vase and he's like what

[01:07:51] vase and then knocks over a face in the

[01:07:52] process and he's like how do you know

[01:07:54] and she's like what will really bake

[01:07:55] your noodle bake your noodle is

[01:07:57] is what you have knocked it over if I

[01:07:59] told you yeah.

[01:08:00] You know it's really gonna bake your

[01:08:02] I love her love her amazing

[01:08:04] but every single line reading she has

[01:08:06] has like five different layers to

[01:08:08] it going on and it is like

[01:08:10] what's the hardest thing to convey in

[01:08:12] the world that you are the most all

[01:08:14] knowing all powerful creature in

[01:08:16] the world.

[01:08:17] You know what I'm saying yeah and you

[01:08:19] look at her and she's got this

[01:08:21] world-wearingness but also this kindness

[01:08:23] like running simultaneously that's

[01:08:25] like this person just fucking gets

[01:08:27] and she sees through it and she very

[01:08:29] casually just goes like you're not

[01:08:31] yeah you're a nice boy but you're not

[01:08:33] the one.

[01:08:34] Yeah and you know maybe it's all part

[01:08:36] of a larger thing that's going on but

[01:08:38] in the moment you're like yeah

[01:08:40] yeah okay he's just a guy yeah

[01:08:42] right.

[01:08:43] Angel Angel Lee won this year for girl

[01:08:45] Gloria Foster.

[01:08:46] Oh we're giving it to Catherine Keener

[01:08:47] which is one of the greatest

[01:08:48] supporting performances of like the

[01:08:50] decade.

[01:08:51] I think this is maybe the most

[01:08:52] astonishing one-scene performance

[01:08:54] I've ever seen.

[01:08:55] It's a great one-scene performance for

[01:08:56] sure.

[01:08:57] It's insane.

[01:08:58] So good yeah and helps the movie

[01:09:00] like you know it's the hinge of

[01:09:02] the movie and like yeah it makes

[01:09:03] everything forward.

[01:09:04] I think it elevates it to a whole

[01:09:05] different level yeah because

[01:09:07] we're getting so steeped in the

[01:09:09] Matrix stuff right now that to

[01:09:10] have a scene where someone's like

[01:09:11] just like a warm presence like a

[01:09:14] human being you know.

[01:09:15] Yeah.

[01:09:16] And feels so messy and like

[01:09:18] specific and real.

[01:09:19] I love it.

[01:09:20] Now we got to talk about another

[01:09:22] great one-scene piece of work

[01:09:24] although the actors in many other

[01:09:25] scenes that's happened

[01:09:27] like maybe 10 minutes before this

[01:09:29] Cypher talking to Aidan Smith

[01:09:31] at the steak restaurant.

[01:09:32] Just hold on one second.

[01:09:33] Oh you just oh boy.

[01:09:34] You gotta slip on a new pair of

[01:09:35] pants.

[01:09:36] Hold on.

[01:09:37] You're disgusting.

[01:09:38] Okay yeah go on.

[01:09:39] So concurrent with Morpheus's

[01:09:40] whole thing of trying to figure

[01:09:41] out if Neo is the one.

[01:09:43] Yeah.

[01:09:44] Oh and by the way Neo is an

[01:09:45] anagram of one guys.

[01:09:46] Wait what?

[01:09:47] Oh shit.

[01:09:48] Maybe he could have just

[01:09:49] this movie is like

[01:09:50] lead in with imagery.

[01:09:51] I might have said lead in just

[01:09:52] five seconds ago so.

[01:09:53] David it's a little dangerous

[01:09:54] for you to throw a concept

[01:09:55] set of that baby because you

[01:09:56] have to remember.

[01:09:57] What?

[01:09:58] Yeah.

[01:09:59] Ben's been talking out so

[01:10:00] hard right now.

[01:10:01] Ben has just been just

[01:10:02] gorging himself on a pot

[01:10:03] edible confections.

[01:10:04] I know all about

[01:10:05] marijuana guys.

[01:10:06] That's so crazy man.

[01:10:07] And you know what I

[01:10:08] think is the best

[01:10:09] thing about this movie

[01:10:10] is that it's like

[01:10:11] easy man.

[01:10:12] No anyway.

[01:10:13] So Cypher.

[01:10:14] Yeah.

[01:10:15] Cypher we haven't really

[01:10:16] talked about him.

[01:10:17] Cypher rage.

[01:10:18] Not Cypher rage it's not

[01:10:19] after Earth's Will Smith.

[01:10:21] No.

[01:10:22] It is Joey Pants.

[01:10:23] Uh huh.

[01:10:24] Who did great work in

[01:10:25] bound.

[01:10:26] Yeah.

[01:10:27] We love him.

[01:10:28] Love him.

[01:10:29] In this he's bald.

[01:10:30] He's got like a devilish

[01:10:31] little goatee

[01:10:32] like a little.

[01:10:33] Like a long mustache

[01:10:34] and then one long strip.

[01:10:35] One long strip.

[01:10:36] One long soul pet strip.

[01:10:37] And he is the you know

[01:10:38] the cynic.

[01:10:39] Yeah.

[01:10:40] Because you got you know

[01:10:41] you got Neo.

[01:10:42] He's the new guy.

[01:10:43] It's the babe in the woods.

[01:10:44] You know you got Trinity

[01:10:45] she's like the right hand

[01:10:46] woman to Morpheus

[01:10:47] who's the boss.

[01:10:48] She's the babe in the trench coat.

[01:10:49] You know switch is the

[01:10:50] you know the comic relief.

[01:10:51] Right the best action figure.

[01:10:52] I really wanted to make

[01:10:54] that switch just.

[01:10:55] Switch.

[01:10:56] Uh no so

[01:10:57] Cypher's he's kind of

[01:10:58] the like eh come on

[01:10:59] this is all bullshit.

[01:11:00] Five comedy points.

[01:11:01] Thank you.

[01:11:02] Uh but right like

[01:11:03] the minute we meet Cypher

[01:11:05] he's like the one who's

[01:11:06] maybe.

[01:11:07] Yeah.

[01:11:08] You know he talks to

[01:11:09] Neo and he's like man why

[01:11:11] didn't I take the blue pill.

[01:11:12] You know like does all that

[01:11:13] probably wondering that

[01:11:14] and they hard cut

[01:11:15] they go from that scene where

[01:11:16] he's like I bet you're

[01:11:17] wondering right now what

[01:11:18] happened.

[01:11:19] They hard cut to him in the

[01:11:20] Matrix.

[01:11:21] Yeah.

[01:11:22] Talking to agent Smith.

[01:11:23] Yeah.

[01:11:24] And eating the most

[01:11:25] beautifully photographed steak.

[01:11:27] I honestly think this is

[01:11:28] that scene is what made me

[01:11:30] like steak.

[01:11:31] I may I maybe had not

[01:11:32] eaten a steak before

[01:11:33] seeing this movie.

[01:11:34] And then afterwards

[01:11:35] I like went to my dad

[01:11:36] and I was like steak good.

[01:11:38] Steak good.

[01:11:39] Can I try some steak?

[01:11:41] It's just

[01:11:42] you know you always hear

[01:11:44] like it's tough when you're

[01:11:45] an actor and I'm sure you

[01:11:46] know this is like to eat in

[01:11:47] a scene because then you have

[01:11:48] to eat the same thing over

[01:11:49] and over and over again.

[01:11:50] Weirdly the hardest thing.

[01:11:51] Right.

[01:11:52] And I just probably

[01:11:53] maybe this was the one

[01:11:54] time where it wasn't true

[01:11:55] like Joey Pence just got

[01:11:56] to eat like eight perfectly

[01:11:57] cooked steaks.

[01:11:58] And the centerpiece of

[01:11:59] the scene is that he cuts

[01:12:00] this perfect little piece

[01:12:01] and spends most of the scene

[01:12:03] delivering it to this piece

[01:12:04] only has to take one bite.

[01:12:05] Yeah.

[01:12:06] And he says like you know

[01:12:07] I know this isn't real.

[01:12:08] And I know it's just telling me

[01:12:10] that it's delicious and juicy

[01:12:12] and perfectly cooked or

[01:12:13] whatever.

[01:12:14] But I don't care anymore

[01:12:15] because you know what I say

[01:12:16] to that ignorance is bliss.

[01:12:18] It's a great it's a great

[01:12:19] scene.

[01:12:20] And you know what else

[01:12:21] he's got the Duke

[01:12:23] I got the Duke.

[01:12:26] It's a midnight run

[01:12:27] reference for you guys.

[01:12:29] J. Grim is just nodding.

[01:12:30] Great movie.

[01:12:31] So Cypher is working

[01:12:32] against them.

[01:12:33] Right.

[01:12:34] He got to do it.

[01:12:35] And so when they

[01:12:36] go see the Oracle

[01:12:37] he betrays them.

[01:12:38] Yes.

[01:12:39] And so this is the sort of

[01:12:40] this is like where it all

[01:12:41] falls apart.

[01:12:42] This is the beginning

[01:12:43] the end of the second act

[01:12:44] throws the cell phone in the

[01:12:45] garbage can lets the

[01:12:46] agents find them.

[01:12:47] Yep.

[01:12:48] And the agents

[01:12:50] kidnap Morpheus

[01:12:51] in a big crazy action scene

[01:12:52] where they like have to

[01:12:53] escape through the walls

[01:12:54] and then Morpheus has this

[01:12:55] big dirty fight

[01:12:56] in a like bathroom

[01:12:57] with agent Smith.

[01:12:58] Yeah.

[01:12:59] That is awesome.

[01:13:00] And a lot of our best

[01:13:01] friends get killed.

[01:13:02] You know

[01:13:03] Cypher plugs back into the

[01:13:05] real world.

[01:13:06] Yeah.

[01:13:07] And he starts unplugging people

[01:13:08] and it kills them.

[01:13:09] That's how Apoch goes.

[01:13:10] Mouse.

[01:13:11] Mouse gets shot to pieces.

[01:13:13] Yeah.

[01:13:14] He's the he's the first to go.

[01:13:15] I think the Wachowskis are

[01:13:16] like I know you think this

[01:13:17] guy's cute but he's a little

[01:13:18] gross and we're going to kill

[01:13:19] him off first.

[01:13:20] Our dearly departed

[01:13:21] switch.

[01:13:22] Switch her.

[01:13:23] You remember her last

[01:13:24] lines.

[01:13:25] Not like this.

[01:13:26] Not like this.

[01:13:27] Not like this.

[01:13:28] She like Danish or

[01:13:29] something.

[01:13:30] What is that woman?

[01:13:31] I think she's Australian.

[01:13:32] I looked her up her voice

[01:13:33] is very odd in the phone.

[01:13:34] She has a couple lines

[01:13:35] because she also has that like

[01:13:36] our way or the highway or whatever

[01:13:38] like.

[01:13:39] Not like this.

[01:13:40] Yeah she's Australian.

[01:13:41] Yeah.

[01:13:42] All right.

[01:13:43] Yeah so they all get unplugged.

[01:13:44] Dozer gets shot in the

[01:13:46] real ship.

[01:13:47] They maybe implied.

[01:13:48] Cypher kills him.

[01:13:49] They maybe implied that

[01:13:50] a switch and Apoch had a

[01:13:52] thing.

[01:13:53] No they're a couple.

[01:13:54] They're a couple.

[01:13:55] For sure.

[01:13:56] Yeah.

[01:13:57] Because she's so upset when

[01:13:58] Apoch dies.

[01:13:59] This is everybody.

[01:14:00] I mean the audience is not

[01:14:01] a dry eye.

[01:14:02] I don't accept that.

[01:14:03] Not Apoch.

[01:14:04] I don't accept that characters are

[01:14:05] dating unless I see them fuck on

[01:14:06] screen and it's unsimulated.

[01:14:08] Anyway.

[01:14:13] Should we leave that in?

[01:14:14] Yeah leave that in.

[01:14:15] Okay.

[01:14:16] And so Cypher kills the two guys

[01:14:18] in the ship.

[01:14:19] Dozer and tank.

[01:14:20] Except turns out he doesn't

[01:14:21] you know he's because he's

[01:14:22] about to unplug Nio.

[01:14:23] Right.

[01:14:24] And he's like all right

[01:14:25] if he's really the one

[01:14:26] something's gonna happen to

[01:14:27] stop me from doing this.

[01:14:28] Oh he also gives the whole

[01:14:29] monologue to Trinity where

[01:14:30] explains that he was in love

[01:14:31] with her.

[01:14:32] Yeah he does.

[01:14:33] It's really again just great

[01:14:34] Joey pants because he's

[01:14:35] delivering it to sleeping

[01:14:36] people.

[01:14:37] He's delivering it to a

[01:14:38] sleeping Trinity and they're

[01:14:39] cutting to Trinity on the

[01:14:40] phone but like he like jumps

[01:14:42] on her on her like her

[01:14:44] sleeping body and you like

[01:14:45] delivers it to her face.

[01:14:46] It's great.

[01:14:47] So what you're saying is

[01:14:48] it's a fine pair of pants.

[01:14:50] It's a fine pair of Italian

[01:14:51] pants.

[01:14:53] And then yeah they're

[01:14:54] gonna unplug Nio.

[01:14:56] And he's like and he

[01:14:57] literally is like hey man

[01:14:58] if Nio's the hero of this

[01:14:59] movie I can't do this.

[01:15:00] Can I?

[01:15:01] Yeah.

[01:15:02] And then Tank shows up

[01:15:03] and kills Cypher.

[01:15:04] It's great.

[01:15:05] Yeah.

[01:15:06] Cypher goes no I don't

[01:15:07] believe it.

[01:15:08] I can't do him.

[01:15:09] Yeah.

[01:15:10] No I don't believe it.

[01:15:11] Yeah.

[01:15:12] You got the dope.

[01:15:15] Okay.

[01:15:17] Yeah.

[01:15:18] Right?

[01:15:19] Yeah.

[01:15:20] It's a good scene.

[01:15:21] It's a great scene.

[01:15:22] He gets the gun is weird.

[01:15:23] It's like an engineering

[01:15:24] gun or something.

[01:15:25] Like shoot electricity.

[01:15:26] Yeah it's got like a blue

[01:15:27] bolt that stuff.

[01:15:28] Makes a cool noise.

[01:15:29] You know what else is

[01:15:30] I'm sorry.

[01:15:31] No I was gonna say you

[01:15:32] know what else is cool.

[01:15:33] The Matrix.

[01:15:34] The Matrix.

[01:15:36] Everything about it.

[01:15:37] Ben what were you gonna say?

[01:15:38] Well I don't know if we've

[01:15:39] really touched upon too much

[01:15:40] but their ship and just like

[01:15:42] the Nebuchadnezzar.

[01:15:43] Oh you talking about that

[01:15:44] fucking Nebuchadnezzar though?

[01:15:45] Yeah I love the like

[01:15:46] the set design of that.

[01:15:47] And I think it's so cool

[01:15:48] that they justify the

[01:15:49] future world that all the

[01:15:50] humans are underground.

[01:15:51] They kind of reference

[01:15:52] the city that exists.

[01:15:53] City of Zions the last

[01:15:54] unplugged city.

[01:15:55] Yeah they don't we don't

[01:15:56] see it but we hear about

[01:15:57] it's like in the deep in

[01:15:58] the core of the earth.

[01:15:59] Oh and then

[01:16:00] Tanken-Dozer are like

[01:16:01] pure human they've never

[01:16:02] been plugged in.

[01:16:03] They can't plug in

[01:16:04] because they are born in

[01:16:05] Zion.

[01:16:06] It's all that little stuff

[01:16:07] that's just like

[01:16:08] you don't need much of it

[01:16:09] it's just like enough

[01:16:10] information it's so great.

[01:16:11] I fucking love this movie.

[01:16:12] It's so good and we

[01:16:13] and as you're saying

[01:16:14] cool we should talk about

[01:16:15] how cool everyone looks

[01:16:16] in the Matrix.

[01:16:17] It's a

[01:16:18] your digitalized self

[01:16:19] or whatever

[01:16:20] Morpheus puts it

[01:16:21] where you just look

[01:16:22] like a badass.

[01:16:23] You look perfect.

[01:16:24] Yeah it's a great excuse

[01:16:25] for them to all look

[01:16:26] perfect all the time.

[01:16:27] Movies are like

[01:16:29] the Nebuchadnezzar also

[01:16:30] looks like

[01:16:31] like what another

[01:16:32] spaceship would shit out.

[01:16:33] Do you know what I'm saying?

[01:16:34] Totally it's this weird

[01:16:35] like misshapen turd

[01:16:36] it's like a turd.

[01:16:37] It's engines are these

[01:16:38] weird little pads all over

[01:16:39] it that like

[01:16:40] zap out electricity.

[01:16:41] It looks like the

[01:16:42] Millennium Falcons do do.

[01:16:43] It's a good metaphor.

[01:16:44] Yeah it kind of looks

[01:16:45] like a

[01:16:46] I don't know it looks

[01:16:47] like some sort of tool

[01:16:48] like only like a plumber

[01:16:49] would have where he'd be

[01:16:50] like oh for this

[01:16:51] you need to hold down

[01:16:52] like this is a

[01:16:53] like a little

[01:16:54] like a little

[01:16:55] like a little

[01:16:56] like a little

[01:16:57] like a little

[01:16:58] like a little

[01:16:59] you see

[01:17:04] the Devin

[01:17:08] Nebuchadnezzar

[01:17:09] then

[01:17:10] then

[01:17:11] then

[01:17:12] and then

[01:17:13] Then

[01:17:14] Nebuchadnezzar

[01:17:15] I have never

[01:17:16] probably

[01:17:17] but

[01:17:19] so

[01:17:22] like

[01:17:23] just

[01:17:24] yeah

[01:17:25] away

[01:17:26] This is kidnapped by the agents.

[01:17:28] Trinity and Neo are back in the real world.

[01:17:29] She and Neo got home with Tank,

[01:17:31] and they are like, we have to kill Morpheus

[01:17:34] because he could give up the secrets of Zion,

[01:17:36] he could get, you know, they're gonna torture him.

[01:17:38] We have a skeleton crew now.

[01:17:39] It's a tight crew of three trying to get one.

[01:17:41] And P.S., like the Oracle told Neo,

[01:17:43] like, Morpheus is crazy, he's really devoted

[01:17:46] and he's gonna sacrifice himself to save you.

[01:17:48] He won't think twice about it.

[01:17:50] Yeah, she says poor Morpheus.

[01:17:51] So Neo's got a lot of guilt

[01:17:52] because he's like, I'm not the one,

[01:17:53] this isn't worth it.

[01:17:54] Right.

[01:17:55] Do I die and let him, yeah.

[01:17:57] Right.

[01:17:58] So they say we're gonna need guns, lots of guns.

[01:18:01] And boy do they get them.

[01:18:02] Yeah.

[01:18:03] And then it's that and then it's basically

[01:18:06] the action happens.

[01:18:08] I mean there's been lots of action.

[01:18:10] Talk about a movie that knows how to dole out action

[01:18:12] at like perfect beats.

[01:18:14] Like not like, say Batman versus Superman,

[01:18:17] where it's like, oh fun opening two minutes,

[01:18:20] hour and a half of nothing

[01:18:22] and then all the actions at the end, you know.

[01:18:24] We always talk about nothing,

[01:18:25] Holly Hunter drinks urine.

[01:18:26] There's a lot of stuff going on in that movie.

[01:18:29] Yeah.

[01:18:30] Hope you guys all enjoyed the bonus episode by the way.

[01:18:33] Yeah.

[01:18:34] Talk about negative influence of The Matrix.

[01:18:37] Stupidly, this film was blamed for the Columbine killings.

[01:18:41] Oh, because they were like wearing trench coats and shit.

[01:18:43] They were wearing trench coats

[01:18:44] and they had a bunch of guns

[01:18:45] and they thought it like fetishized this thing, right?

[01:18:47] Wait, is that true?

[01:18:48] No, Columbine was before The Matrix.

[01:18:50] Columbine happened April 1999.

[01:18:52] Yeah, April 20th.

[01:18:53] Thank you.

[01:18:54] Yeah, you're right.

[01:18:55] Okay, so it's like right before.

[01:18:57] Which like makes it all the more ridiculous,

[01:19:00] but whatever.

[01:19:01] Columbine's a huge bummer guys.

[01:19:02] Yeah, Columbine fucking sucks.

[01:19:04] I'll go on the record saying I don't like Columbine, right?

[01:19:07] The town, but also I thought the shootings were bad.

[01:19:11] I have always had a gripe with this sort of thing.

[01:19:15] I think it's like a fundamental problem in our country.

[01:19:17] It's cheap.

[01:19:18] It's also fucking how we talk about like mental health,

[01:19:22] where it's like if someone wants to do that,

[01:19:24] there's a bigger problem here

[01:19:25] that we're not taking care of

[01:19:27] because we stigmatize mental health.

[01:19:29] Sure, sure.

[01:19:30] Cause guess what?

[01:19:31] We saw The Matrix and we didn't shoot people.

[01:19:33] Oh, well, no, no, no.

[01:19:35] Okay, I saw The Matrix and I didn't shoot people.

[01:19:37] No, I'm kidding.

[01:19:38] It's a terrible thing to kid about.

[01:19:39] No, but you know what I'm saying?

[01:19:40] Okay, yes, maybe they got the idea from that movie,

[01:19:43] but also if you see a movie and go,

[01:19:45] oh, I should do that?

[01:19:47] Then you're someone who needs help.

[01:19:49] Let's move on.

[01:19:50] Yes, please.

[01:19:51] Jesus Christ.

[01:19:53] I mean, if you feel like you wanna shoot someone,

[01:19:56] get help guys.

[01:19:56] Don't do it, yeah.

[01:19:57] That's our message on Blank Check Pod.

[01:19:59] But I also, I mean, it's fascinating.

[01:20:01] No, no more.

[01:20:02] It is fascinating that this film spawns

[01:20:04] the red pill movement.

[01:20:05] Yeah, a lot of bad things.

[01:20:07] It also spawned the great Jet Lee movie, The One.

[01:20:10] Yeah.

[01:20:11] No, but like a lot of that.

[01:20:12] You know, it made martial arts kind of like

[01:20:14] a hip thing to have in a Hollywood movie.

[01:20:16] Yeah.

[01:20:17] After like the sort of first wave of that,

[01:20:19] which I guess is sort of the Bruce Lee era.

[01:20:21] Also shooting the fight scenes,

[01:20:23] I feel like it was really influential.

[01:20:25] Yes.

[01:20:25] The way they shot, yeah.

[01:20:26] Well, the bullet time thing was a game changer.

[01:20:27] The bullet time thing was crazy.

[01:20:29] Then you know, this whole action scene plays out

[01:20:31] where they have to break into an office building

[01:20:33] like a crazy big tower to get Morpheus back.

[01:20:36] It's a tower heist.

[01:20:37] It's a classic tower heist situation.

[01:20:40] Yeah, KC Athletics there, playing fifth fiddle.

[01:20:41] Yeah, you know, Gabri Sittabay, yeah.

[01:20:43] And Michael Pena.

[01:20:45] Do you wanna keep naming the cast of Tower Heist?

[01:20:46] Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller, Alan Alda,

[01:20:48] Talione.

[01:20:52] Is that all of them?

[01:20:53] Matthew Broderick.

[01:20:54] Matthew Broderick, right, that's the worst thing.

[01:20:56] All of the above the line, above the title players.

[01:20:58] Anyway, so you know, there's this, I mean,

[01:21:01] when I was 13, I just thought it was the coolest thing

[01:21:03] in the world.

[01:21:04] He walks through the metal detector

[01:21:05] and he like, we need to, do you have any loose change?

[01:21:07] And he opens his coat and he's covered in guns?

[01:21:10] Yeah, cool.

[01:21:10] Yeah, it's a little creepy

[01:21:12] when you think about it the wrong way.

[01:21:13] You know, like you've got Columbine in my head now,

[01:21:16] for sure.

[01:21:17] But I was just so cool.

[01:21:19] As a movie is a cool moment.

[01:21:20] I remember,

[01:21:21] they've also set up at this point that it's not real.

[01:21:23] Like it's like a fucking...

[01:21:24] Well, that's the interesting thing about it

[01:21:25] because they murder with impunity.

[01:21:28] But I think it is this idea of like,

[01:21:29] look, the matrix is kind of fake?

[01:21:32] It's sort of, it's weird tricky territory.

[01:21:35] They don't get into it at all.

[01:21:37] Yeah, I mean, there's an interesting thing

[01:21:38] they keep on doing.

[01:21:39] What happens when you die in the matrix?

[01:21:40] Do you just die?

[01:21:41] You do.

[01:21:42] Yeah, well they say that.

[01:21:43] You do.

[01:21:44] They say that and they show that.

[01:21:45] But it's like you're just a slave to a digital world

[01:21:47] so who cares?

[01:21:48] I don't know.

[01:21:48] There is an interesting thing they keep on doing

[01:21:50] in the film where like, they all shoot an agent

[01:21:52] and then after they die,

[01:21:53] they'll turn back into another person.

[01:21:55] Like the agent took over their body.

[01:21:58] I do like that they cut to that.

[01:22:00] Like it makes it dark but they're also not pretending

[01:22:03] like there aren't consequences to their actions.

[01:22:05] Sure, no, agreed, I agree.

[01:22:06] And they do explain that with the dead

[01:22:09] they turn them into black goo that feed babies.

[01:22:12] Yes, they do.

[01:22:13] They liquefy the dead.

[01:22:15] So you feed the living.

[01:22:17] They never explain where the babies come from

[01:22:19] and I always wondered about that.

[01:22:20] But you stick a penis in a vagina

[01:22:22] and then a bunch of cum goes into a bag.

[01:22:25] Oh my God.

[01:22:26] Into a bag?

[01:22:27] Cum goes into an egg.

[01:22:28] Oh, you said egg bag.

[01:22:30] You make eggs all of cum.

[01:22:33] You haven't heard about eggs all of cum?

[01:22:35] It's a really good baby recipe.

[01:22:36] Oh my God.

[01:22:38] Okay, it's getting a little hot in here.

[01:22:40] Yeah, it's getting really hot in here.

[01:22:41] No, it's getting hot in here too.

[01:22:43] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[01:22:45] Eggs all of cum.

[01:22:46] Wait, the action scene is just cool.

[01:22:48] I remember watching some crappy

[01:22:50] I Love the 90s type thing a million years ago

[01:22:52] on the BBC or whatever.

[01:22:53] And Simon Pegg, the actor who you know,

[01:22:56] spaced his great show, ripped off The Matrix a bunch.

[01:23:00] Talking about how cool it is that they

[01:23:01] like they shoot people with their guns

[01:23:03] and then they just drop the guns

[01:23:04] because they have more guns.

[01:23:05] So that's like, where is Simon Pegg?

[01:23:06] He's like keep the guns.

[01:23:07] Like that's a good gun.

[01:23:08] You just shot someone with it

[01:23:09] and it's like no, no, no, no, no.

[01:23:10] They've got more guns.

[01:23:11] More in The Matrix.

[01:23:12] They do all this cool bullet time stuff.

[01:23:15] I don't know, again, this is now we're hung up.

[01:23:17] It's like The Matrix is great.

[01:23:19] There is no spoon.

[01:23:20] They blow up an elevator.

[01:23:21] Yeah, they parody that scene from Scary Movie.

[01:23:26] I don't even know what you're talking about.

[01:23:27] I was trying to do a backwards joke.

[01:23:28] I know, I get it, but I don't even know which scene it is.

[01:23:30] There's a scene where the killer throws a knife

[01:23:33] at Anna Ferris and then she goes into bullet time.

[01:23:34] Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

[01:23:36] That was a backwards joke.

[01:23:37] Classic backwards joke.

[01:23:39] And then parallel to this, you've got,

[01:23:40] again, Hugo Weaving just having

[01:23:42] so much fun chewing scenery.

[01:23:44] Delivering monologues to Lawrence Fishburne's

[01:23:47] drugged corpse of a body.

[01:23:51] As I said this, I realized there's a lot of that

[01:23:52] in this movie.

[01:23:53] There is a lot of one-way monologuing

[01:23:55] and it shouldn't work.

[01:23:57] It really shouldn't work.

[01:23:59] Because he got Morpheus talking to Neo about The Matrix.

[01:24:01] He've got Smith talking to Morpheus

[01:24:03] about how he hates The Matrix.

[01:24:04] He hates people.

[01:24:06] You've got Cypher.

[01:24:07] It shouldn't work, but it totally works.

[01:24:09] Yeah, this movie works.

[01:24:12] You said last week we were talking about Bill Pope

[01:24:13] and his work on Bound.

[01:24:15] And you said he's one of the most underrated DPs

[01:24:17] and in fact he's never nominated for an Oscar is insane.

[01:24:19] It's outrageous.

[01:24:20] Crazy he wasn't nominated for this.

[01:24:21] Well, so that's, I heard what you were saying last week

[01:24:23] and still watching this movie was like,

[01:24:25] well, he must have, who beat him

[01:24:26] for the Oscar that year?

[01:24:27] Conrad Hall won for American Beauty,

[01:24:29] which is a great piece of cinematography

[01:24:31] and a crappy movie.

[01:24:32] And it was a posthumous work.

[01:24:33] No, no, that was Road to Prediction.

[01:24:35] Oh, you're right, yes.

[01:24:36] But you know, he was like an old hand

[01:24:38] and it was cool that he was like,

[01:24:40] but the other nominees that year, let's do it.

[01:24:42] Yeah, let's do this.

[01:24:43] These are all really good nominations.

[01:24:44] He wasn't even fucking nominated.

[01:24:46] Like, I mean, A, it's an incredible piece of work

[01:24:48] and B, it's one of the most influential,

[01:24:50] most influential shot films, yeah.

[01:24:52] You've got Dante Spinotti's work on The Insider,

[01:24:54] which is phenomenal.

[01:24:55] Yeah, agreed.

[01:24:56] Michael Mann's, the insider.

[01:24:57] You have Emmanuel Lubezki, Chivo himself.

[01:25:00] And this might have been his first nomination

[01:25:02] for Sleepy Hollow,

[01:25:03] which is a gorgeously photographed movie.

[01:25:05] Incredible looking film, yeah.

[01:25:06] You have Robert Richardson,

[01:25:08] you know, Quentin Tarantino,

[01:25:09] Martin Scorsese collaborator

[01:25:11] for Snow Falling on Cedars,

[01:25:12] which is that weird rare solo cinematography

[01:25:15] nomination at the Oscars.

[01:25:17] Gorgeous movie, not a good movie.

[01:25:19] Boring as shit.

[01:25:20] Oh boy, you know, who's that?

[01:25:22] Ethan Hawke, Scott Hicks movie, not a good movie.

[01:25:25] That's the best joke and horrible bosses though.

[01:25:27] Yeah, the Jamie Foxx rented.

[01:25:28] Pirated, yeah.

[01:25:30] That's what he got arrested for it, yeah, okay.

[01:25:32] So, and then you have Roger Pratt's work,

[01:25:35] I mean, Conrad Hall from American Beauty Center,

[01:25:37] Roger Pratt's work on The End of the Affair.

[01:25:38] You could've dropped Pratt or Richardson.

[01:25:41] That's what I would've done.

[01:25:43] I mean, you know, it's crazy that he wasn't nominated.

[01:25:45] Yeah, and let's talk about like Best Picture

[01:25:48] and Best Director, okay?

[01:25:49] Cause these are categories where the Matrix

[01:25:50] should have been nominated

[01:25:51] and Wachowski should have been nominated

[01:25:52] and Screenplay, right?

[01:25:53] So for Best Picture, I believe that year

[01:25:55] we have The Insider, deserves to be in there.

[01:25:57] 100%.

[01:25:58] Right?

[01:25:59] We have The Sixth Sense.

[01:26:00] We both obviously back up that decision.

[01:26:03] I wouldn't nominate it,

[01:26:04] but it's a good movie and I get it.

[01:26:05] I don't protest the nomination.

[01:26:07] I get it.

[01:26:08] We have The Cider House Rules.

[01:26:12] Kick that.

[01:26:13] That's the Miramax entry.

[01:26:15] There's Lasse Halstrom.

[01:26:16] We have The Green Mile.

[01:26:21] And then the fifth one is American Beauty, right?

[01:26:24] Correct.

[01:26:25] Yeah, so there's room to put the Matrix in there.

[01:26:28] Yeah, I mean, here's some movies that came out in 99.

[01:26:30] Eyes Wide Shut.

[01:26:31] Toy Story 2.

[01:26:33] The Iron Giant.

[01:26:34] Toy Story 2.

[01:26:35] Rosetta, the Dardanne's movie,

[01:26:36] which is incredible.

[01:26:37] Toy Story 2.

[01:26:38] The Blair Witch Project.

[01:26:39] Toy Story 2.

[01:26:40] Dean John Malkovich.

[01:26:41] Toy Story 2.

[01:26:42] Princess Mononoke.

[01:26:43] Toy Story 2.

[01:26:44] Galaxy Quest.

[01:26:45] Toy Story 2.

[01:26:45] American Movie.

[01:26:46] Toy Story 2.

[01:26:47] Three Kings, Election.

[01:26:48] Toy Story 2.

[01:26:49] All About My Mother, Office Space,

[01:26:50] Bringing Out the Dead, Magnolia, Fight Club.

[01:26:53] Dugs first movie.

[01:26:55] The Down to Mr. Ripley,

[01:26:56] Some of Us Sam.

[01:26:57] It's crazy how many big movies.

[01:26:59] It's a great year.

[01:26:59] It's a great year for film

[01:27:00] and you have like two real basic movies

[01:27:04] nominate for best picture.

[01:27:05] Yeah.

[01:27:06] Yeah.

[01:27:07] Even if we dislike American Beauty now,

[01:27:11] there's a big difference between American Beauty

[01:27:13] getting nominated and like fucking

[01:27:15] Cider House Rules being nominated.

[01:27:16] No of course.

[01:27:17] I mean it's crazy that they're nominating the Matrix

[01:27:19] but of course then it's also not crazy at all

[01:27:20] because it was like a weird sci-fi movie

[01:27:22] and it also come out in March which is, you know.

[01:27:25] Best Director, I feel like they got much closer

[01:27:27] getting right because they go Michael Mann,

[01:27:30] M Night Shyamalan, Sam Mendes.

[01:27:33] Then they nominate Spike Jones

[01:27:35] for Being John Malkovich

[01:27:36] which is a cool nomination

[01:27:38] and then the fifth person is...

[01:27:41] Actually good question

[01:27:42] because I think it might be Lassie Halstrom.

[01:27:44] Lassie? Jesus Christ.

[01:27:46] Because they didn't nominate Darabont,

[01:27:48] Shaman, Mendes, Jones.

[01:27:54] You looking it up?

[01:27:55] The wifi's bad.

[01:27:56] Oh okay yeah, whatever.

[01:27:57] They should have put the Wachowskis in there.

[01:27:59] Also Gloria Stewart should have been nominated.

[01:28:01] Also Joey Pans should have been nominated.

[01:28:03] Also they should have given

[01:28:03] Kana Reeves a Lifetime Achievement Award.

[01:28:07] I will find that, I'm just like...

[01:28:08] Excellent to be in Kiana.

[01:28:10] The end of the film they...

[01:28:12] Sorry, yeah go ahead.

[01:28:13] Oh they escape, they get Morpheus.

[01:28:16] Morpheus breaks out of chains.

[01:28:18] So many cool things.

[01:28:19] They not gonna have a helicopter

[01:28:21] and they shoot everyone to death with a big minigun.

[01:28:23] Right, they do the scary movie scene

[01:28:25] and then Morpheus jumps.

[01:28:27] Backward joke, it's a backwards joke.

[01:28:29] Yeah he jumps and he catches Kiana.

[01:28:32] Yeah and then they're hanging from the helicopter

[01:28:34] and then they go down to a subway station

[01:28:35] and they're like I think we're all good.

[01:28:37] Let's all go back in.

[01:28:38] They get Trinity and Morpheus out

[01:28:39] and then Keanu has another...

[01:28:41] And also wait, Keanu has that showdown

[01:28:43] with the one agent where he shoots the guns at him

[01:28:45] and the agent just goes like...

[01:28:46] Oh it becomes like six bodies at the same time.

[01:28:48] Oh so cool.

[01:28:49] And then the agent tries to shoot Morpheus

[01:28:50] and Morpheus almost dodges the bullets himself

[01:28:53] with the most iconic bullet time where he's...

[01:28:56] Yeah where it's literally the bullets flying by.

[01:28:58] Yeah where he's like laying down almost.

[01:29:01] And yeah, Lasse Alstrom was the fifth.

[01:29:03] Jesus Christ.

[01:29:06] Oh boy.

[01:29:08] And...

[01:29:09] They think they're in the clear

[01:29:10] and then agent's...

[01:29:10] And then there's one last amazing...

[01:29:13] Well no, there's like more than one

[01:29:14] because yeah he has a big fight

[01:29:15] with Agent Smith in the subway train.

[01:29:17] Dies, they kill him.

[01:29:18] Well no then there's a big chase

[01:29:20] and then Agent Smith shoots him to death

[01:29:23] and then he's dead.

[01:29:24] Like Jesus died, our savior.

[01:29:27] I knew this was gonna come up.

[01:29:28] Well I mean it's very...

[01:29:30] Talk about bad things that the Matrix inspired.

[01:29:33] Jesus.

[01:29:33] Do you know that Christianity didn't exist before the Matrix?

[01:29:35] Of course, of course I knew that.

[01:29:37] People took all the wrong lessons from the Matrix.

[01:29:40] And then he wakes up because Trinity gives him a little kiss

[01:29:44] which doesn't happen in a good Bible.

[01:29:46] Yeah, the Bible needed like one more pass.

[01:29:49] I feel like it was so close to being like...

[01:29:51] It's a good book but it's not great.

[01:29:53] You wanna talk about blank checks?

[01:29:54] I will say that and we'll talk

[01:29:57] about the Matrix reloaded later

[01:30:00] but the core point of what's going on in the Matrix,

[01:30:03] I just wanna say, I'm so nerdy about the Matrix

[01:30:06] is that Neo has fallen in love with a person

[01:30:10] whereas the one is supposed to fall in love with humanity

[01:30:13] because the one will want to save humanity.

[01:30:15] So it's crucial that he is revived by one person.

[01:30:18] Anyway, doesn't matter.

[01:30:20] That's not in this movie.

[01:30:21] So let's move on.

[01:30:22] Cool.

[01:30:23] She gives a great speech about how the Oracle told her

[01:30:25] that she would fall in love with the one

[01:30:27] so she knows that he can't be dead

[01:30:28] because she's in love with him.

[01:30:29] So you've got this general sense

[01:30:31] that the Oracle is pulling everyone's strings.

[01:30:34] Yeah.

[01:30:34] Like it's all very vague

[01:30:36] but she's telling Morpheus, go look for the one.

[01:30:38] She's telling Trini you're gonna find the one

[01:30:40] but she's not telling Neo, you are the one

[01:30:42] because of course he's gotta figure that out for himself

[01:30:44] for the whole magic to work.

[01:30:45] Right.

[01:30:46] Then the whole crazy Shazam.

[01:30:47] He's gotta become a ghost.

[01:30:50] Yeah, a holy ghost.

[01:30:50] Like Cypher rage.

[01:30:51] No.

[01:30:52] Yes.

[01:30:53] Cypher is like Judas.

[01:30:56] Yeah.

[01:30:58] Anyway, it's all very, yeah.

[01:30:59] He wakes up and he jumps into Agent Smith.

[01:31:02] Pretty cool.

[01:31:03] Yeah, he jumps inside that body.

[01:31:04] And then he blows him up from the inside.

[01:31:06] Yep.

[01:31:07] And then he's just the one.

[01:31:08] Oh, and then he can see the matrix.

[01:31:10] There's the great fucking shot too

[01:31:12] where like Agent Smith is doing kung fu moves on him

[01:31:14] and Keanu isn't even flinching

[01:31:15] and he's just holding his arms out.

[01:31:16] He's in slow motion.

[01:31:17] He's just like, and he stops the bullets

[01:31:19] with his hand, all that stuff that's great.

[01:31:20] He does like four of the coolest things

[01:31:22] that anyone's ever done in a movie.

[01:31:23] He's just like, ah, ah, ah!

[01:31:24] Whoa, this is cool.

[01:31:25] I'm having a fun time.

[01:31:26] And then he blows them up from the inside.

[01:31:28] Yeah.

[01:31:29] And then he can see the matrix.

[01:31:30] Like he can see the world's code, essentially.

[01:31:32] Yeah.

[01:31:33] You know?

[01:31:34] And then like a movie over.

[01:31:37] They celebrate.

[01:31:38] He stops the sentinels.

[01:31:39] We forgot to mention the sentinels.

[01:31:40] Sentinels are like really cool.

[01:31:42] They're robot squids.

[01:31:43] Squids, yeah.

[01:31:44] He doesn't stop them.

[01:31:45] Morpheus does.

[01:31:46] Or Tank does.

[01:31:47] They just needed him to come back.

[01:31:48] They needed him to come back

[01:31:49] so they could shoot the EMP.

[01:31:50] And then the final moment is like

[01:31:51] a voiceover of him on the phone telling,

[01:31:53] you know, he's got his cool monologue

[01:31:55] at the end of like, you know,

[01:31:57] things are about to change this and that.

[01:31:58] And he walks out of a phone booth

[01:31:59] and he flies into the sky like Superman.

[01:32:01] While Rage Against the Machine plays.

[01:32:03] Yeah.

[01:32:03] Dun-nut, dun-nut.

[01:32:05] That's great.

[01:32:07] Yeah.

[01:32:08] Good movie, Woodwatch again.

[01:32:10] Yeah, it's about two hours 15 minutes.

[01:32:13] I mean, it flies by.

[01:32:14] A good runtime.

[01:32:15] Maybe my favorite runtime?

[01:32:18] We're talking RTs.

[01:32:19] So now let's talk about it.

[01:32:22] It was a hit.

[01:32:23] Yeah, people went to see it

[01:32:25] and they paid money to go see it in theaters.

[01:32:27] So the first weekend, can you tell me the top five

[01:32:31] in April for the April 2nd weekend, 1999?

[01:32:34] Well, I know that 10 things I hate about you

[01:32:36] open that weekend.

[01:32:37] Number two.

[01:32:38] That's number two.

[01:32:39] Number three, I believe if I'm not mistaken.

[01:32:43] Yeah.

[01:32:44] Because I think I saw two of the three films

[01:32:46] released that weekend, The Matrix was the one I didn't see.

[01:32:48] That tells you a lot about what my interests were

[01:32:50] at this time.

[01:32:51] Correct.

[01:32:51] Five movies.

[01:32:55] Five movies came out this weekend.

[01:32:57] Okay, I think I...

[01:32:58] Three major.

[01:32:58] I think, was there another comedy in the top five?

[01:33:00] Yeah.

[01:33:01] Was it The Out of Towners?

[01:33:02] Correct.

[01:33:03] I saw that with my mom.

[01:33:04] Yeah, with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn.

[01:33:05] Yeah.

[01:33:06] And John Cleese.

[01:33:07] Not good.

[01:33:08] No, bad movie.

[01:33:10] But so yeah, 10 things in Out of Towners

[01:33:13] both make about eight mil Matrix...

[01:33:15] No, Matrix collects 37 mil.

[01:33:18] Okay.

[01:33:19] 10 things makes 11.5 over the longer weekend.

[01:33:22] That's not a good number.

[01:33:22] And Out of Towners makes eight.

[01:33:25] Yeah, okay.

[01:33:26] So that's one through three, right?

[01:33:27] In order?

[01:33:29] Yeah, can you do number four?

[01:33:30] Yeah, you got number three.

[01:33:32] Okay, number four.

[01:33:33] 10 things ends up with a total gross of 38 mil.

[01:33:36] Yeah, that's...

[01:33:37] It was very much a long lasting sort of...

[01:33:40] Hey, I just looked something up through the day.

[01:33:41] Do you know what the final domestic total

[01:33:43] was on Zoolander 2?

[01:33:45] What?

[01:33:46] $28 million.

[01:33:48] That's insane how low it is.

[01:33:49] Probably costs a lot more than that, right?

[01:33:50] Yep, I mean that movie was bomb.

[01:33:52] I didn't see it.

[01:33:54] So number four.

[01:33:55] Give me a hand.

[01:33:56] It's comedy.

[01:33:58] It's in its second week of...

[01:33:59] No, it's in it.

[01:34:00] Oh, I'm sorry.

[01:34:01] It's in its fifth week of release.

[01:34:02] Interesting.

[01:34:03] Falls from number two to number four.

[01:34:05] It's made 80 mil at this point, which is its budget.

[01:34:08] I know what it is.

[01:34:10] Wow.

[01:34:10] Analyze this.

[01:34:11] Correct.

[01:34:12] Because I was thinking, what's on track to make 100?

[01:34:14] Yeah, oh it makes 100, yeah.

[01:34:15] I think it makes 100.

[01:34:16] I think it cracks 100 because I remember...

[01:34:17] That one or six.

[01:34:18] Lisa Kudrow hosts the MTV Movie Awards that year.

[01:34:22] And the opening as a parody of Awesome Powers,

[01:34:25] The Spy Who Shagged Me.

[01:34:26] Dr. Evil reveals himself to be Billy Crystal.

[01:34:28] And she's like, Billy we just crossed 100 million.

[01:34:30] I remember that, that's funny.

[01:34:32] I remember that very thing.

[01:34:33] Did you watch Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt?

[01:34:36] I haven't watched this season yet.

[01:34:38] You talk about Unbreakable.

[01:34:40] Unbreakable guys.

[01:34:41] And number five, falling from number one

[01:34:44] in its third week of release.

[01:34:45] Okay, give me a hand.

[01:34:46] It's a weird fucking movie.

[01:34:50] It's a nominally romantic comedy

[01:34:52] but very dark for a boring rom-com.

[01:34:56] Interesting.

[01:34:57] Weird, strange movie.

[01:34:59] More T-Renies in it?

[01:35:00] The Great Mora T.

[01:35:02] Was it like an Oscar type movie?

[01:35:04] No.

[01:35:05] More T-Renies, but is she Tom Bill?

[01:35:08] No, no, she's like the third or fourth.

[01:35:10] It's a weird dark romantic comedy.

[01:35:12] It had been number one?

[01:35:14] Uh yeah.

[01:35:16] Uh...

[01:35:16] No, no.

[01:35:19] It had, it had.

[01:35:20] It had been number one.

[01:35:23] Yeah, I don't know.

[01:35:24] I don't know what else to tell you,

[01:35:25] so I'm just gonna...

[01:35:26] What's the total right now?

[01:35:27] What's the domestic total as of this weekend?

[01:35:30] 36 million dollars.

[01:35:32] Interesting.

[01:35:33] And since fourth week of release?

[01:35:37] Third.

[01:35:39] You mean one more hand?

[01:35:40] Then Affleck's in it.

[01:35:41] Oh, Forrest is in nature.

[01:35:42] Yeah.

[01:35:44] Yeah, that was a weird movie.

[01:35:45] And that was number two,

[01:35:46] number one for like two weekends in a row or something?

[01:35:48] I guess so.

[01:35:49] Really successful.

[01:35:50] Yeah, I mean, Affleck was hot back then.

[01:35:52] He was hot.

[01:35:53] It was the year after Armageddon.

[01:35:54] He was a hot guy.

[01:35:55] And Bullock was hot, you know?

[01:35:56] Armageddon, getting it on with Ben,

[01:35:58] our love affair with Ben was...

[01:36:00] I mean that's a weird movie, right?

[01:36:01] That's a very weird movie.

[01:36:02] Yeah, it's an odd one.

[01:36:03] Yeah.

[01:36:04] It's kind of that weird late 90s

[01:36:06] where the rom-coms get dark, like bounce.

[01:36:09] Yeah.

[01:36:09] Yeah, I also remember them being like Ben and Sandy.

[01:36:11] They might be the new...

[01:36:13] Like I remember them like threatening

[01:36:14] to make four more Affleck and Bullock movies.

[01:36:17] Oh, no thank you.

[01:36:18] Yeah, I don't know more of that.

[01:36:19] I saw some other movies floating around.

[01:36:21] Ed TV, the great Ed TV which I adore,

[01:36:24] which predicted all reality television

[01:36:26] almost exactly, which is crazy.

[01:36:28] And also has a long monologue devoted to

[01:36:30] Rob Reiner's penis implant.

[01:36:32] Penal implant.

[01:36:33] Right at the end, that's like the climax of the movie.

[01:36:35] Is Ellen DeGeneres talking about Rob Reiner's dick?

[01:36:38] You've got...

[01:36:39] No, it's McConaughey mostly talking about it.

[01:36:41] Ed TV, one of the great McConaughey performances.

[01:36:44] I see it now.

[01:36:44] I'm sorry.

[01:36:45] That's the true detective prequel, right?

[01:36:47] Correct, yeah, I know it is.

[01:36:49] Shakespeare in Love, Life is Beautiful,

[01:36:51] some of the Oscar leftovers.

[01:36:52] You got Doug's first movie in there as you were...

[01:36:54] Good pull.

[01:36:56] Baby Geniuses, one of the worst films ever made.

[01:36:58] Saw that in theaters.

[01:37:00] And just the other two new releases

[01:37:02] which are both indie, tiny six screen releases.

[01:37:05] Cookie's Fortune, the Robert Altman movie.

[01:37:07] And the Dream Life of Angels.

[01:37:09] So...

[01:37:10] I don't know if I've ever even heard

[01:37:11] of the Dream Life of Angels.

[01:37:13] It's a tiny little indie movie.

[01:37:14] Okay.

[01:37:16] Well made a lot of money.

[01:37:17] Anyway, yeah so you know,

[01:37:18] as we said it just, it never went away.

[01:37:20] Yeah.

[01:37:20] You know, Weekend number two, it made 22.5 mil.

[01:37:23] Like you know, it was one of those phenomenons.

[01:37:26] Here's the thing I remember distinctly.

[01:37:27] I was a big Entertainment Weekly reader growing up.

[01:37:31] Entertainment Weekly would usually like,

[01:37:33] bet their money on what was gonna be

[01:37:34] the biggest movie coming out that week.

[01:37:36] And that would be the cover story.

[01:37:37] Like here's the biggest film.

[01:37:39] The Matrix, even though

[01:37:40] Entertainment Weekly was owned by Warner Brothers,

[01:37:41] they just like didn't anticipate it.

[01:37:43] And so the Matrix was the cover

[01:37:45] of like Week 5 of its release.

[01:37:47] Oh, the big surprise in the summer.

[01:37:49] We have to catch up with it.

[01:37:51] But it was that thing where it was like no one really,

[01:37:53] I mean other than the company

[01:37:55] that manufactured Switch action figures

[01:37:56] and clearly anticipated the amount of love

[01:37:59] the film was gonna get.

[01:38:00] People weren't ready for what it was gonna be.

[01:38:02] At the very least they'd be like,

[01:38:03] I might be a little hit as just an action movie.

[01:38:06] But it changed again.

[01:38:08] I remember like, but I remember like the TV spots for it.

[01:38:10] I was in America, I think when it was around being advertised.

[01:38:15] There was this spot that was just like,

[01:38:18] it was a shot of one of the people turning into an agent.

[01:38:22] You know that weird thing where their face

[01:38:23] kind of presses into a new person's face.

[01:38:26] And then like a shot of someone jumping over a building

[01:38:28] and then Keanu just going, whoa.

[01:38:30] And it just sang the Matrix.

[01:38:31] And I was just like, what is this movie?

[01:38:33] I gotta see this.

[01:38:34] What is this fucking crazy movie?

[01:38:35] But that's a confident advertising campaign too.

[01:38:38] That's like, we'll trust that you are curious enough

[01:38:42] that you'll come in with us telling you nothing.

[01:38:45] Can I tell you some trivia?

[01:38:46] Okay, so Warner Brothers balked at the budget,

[01:38:49] gave him 10 mil and they used it to, apparently,

[01:38:52] this is all IMDb, so who knows.

[01:38:54] They used it to shoot the opening.

[01:38:56] You know, all the stuff with Trinity and stuff.

[01:38:58] And showed that to Warner Brothers

[01:39:00] and Warner Brothers was like, okay, okay, cool.

[01:39:02] Cool, cool, cool.

[01:39:04] You know, Yui Mo Ping, the classic Wu Ping,

[01:39:07] I don't, you know, the classic action choreographer

[01:39:10] refused, he asked for an exorbitant amount of money

[01:39:13] and they were like, fine.

[01:39:14] And he was like, I really don't wanna do this movie.

[01:39:16] All right, I have to have total creative control

[01:39:18] over all fights and they were like, fine.

[01:39:20] And he was like, all right, I guess, you know,

[01:39:21] he kept making crazy demands and they were like,

[01:39:23] we want you.

[01:39:24] Cool.

[01:39:27] Can I tell you guys about the influence

[01:39:28] of this movie on me?

[01:39:30] Please.

[01:39:30] Okay, so I was a bit of a prankster.

[01:39:33] What?

[01:39:34] I can't believe that.

[01:39:35] Yep, so yeah, I love making prank phone calls.

[01:39:39] Yeah.

[01:39:40] And so this...

[01:39:41] Like a crank anchor?

[01:39:42] Sort of a crank anchor.

[01:39:44] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[01:39:45] But this movie influenced me,

[01:39:49] let's say I developed a particular bit

[01:39:51] where I would call strangers and I would basically play

[01:39:54] the Morpheus kind of role.

[01:39:57] Okay, okay.

[01:39:58] And I did it a lot.

[01:39:59] You know, again, definitely was under the influence,

[01:40:02] token that green.

[01:40:04] The wacky debaki?

[01:40:05] Yep.

[01:40:06] But me and my friends would hang out

[01:40:07] and we would call people and just be like,

[01:40:09] is this John Smith?

[01:40:11] John, we've been watching you.

[01:40:12] And just like yeah, and they'd usually hang up.

[01:40:14] Sometimes you'd get maybe an old person

[01:40:16] that would stay on the line because they're lonely.

[01:40:20] Well, that's a sad note to end on, Ben.

[01:40:22] Yep, just wanted to share that with you guys.

[01:40:24] Thanks, Ben.

[01:40:26] I'm trying to see if there's any other cool...

[01:40:29] Ooh, okay.

[01:40:31] Belinda McClory who plays Switch.

[01:40:33] Hey!

[01:40:34] If we were doing a 10 episode mini series

[01:40:36] about The Matrix, I feel like there'd be

[01:40:37] a lot of Switch materials.

[01:40:39] She would be our Grah Grah.

[01:40:40] Yeah, she's like a Grah Grah or a TC14.

[01:40:43] Switch was originally gonna be played by androgynous actors,

[01:40:47] a male actor in The Matrix

[01:40:49] and a female actor in the real world.

[01:40:53] Hence the name Switch.

[01:40:55] Very interesting.

[01:40:56] Warner Brothers said no.

[01:40:58] Yeah.

[01:40:59] So McClory was gonna just play the female version,

[01:41:01] like Dia, but that's the kind of ideas

[01:41:04] that the Wachowskis are sort of fucking around with.

[01:41:07] But she is a very androgynous performer.

[01:41:08] No, absolutely.

[01:41:09] I mean, and a lot, I mean, so is Trinity.

[01:41:12] Yeah.

[01:41:13] So is Keanu sort of, you know, everyone's kind of...

[01:41:16] Keanu's got pretty feminine features.

[01:41:18] I mean, he's a pretty man.

[01:41:22] Do you have any more trivia facts there?

[01:41:24] Because I'm getting something here in my earpiece.

[01:41:26] No, no, no, not just yet, not just yet.

[01:41:28] Let's see, Carrie Ann Moss had never seen a movie before

[01:41:30] that she was in before she watched this one.

[01:41:32] Oh, I thought the fact was gonna be

[01:41:33] she'd never seen a movie.

[01:41:34] She'd never seen a movie before.

[01:41:35] She showed up on set and she was like,

[01:41:36] what is this we're doing here?

[01:41:38] Is this like a book?

[01:41:40] Yeah, by the end, by the middle of 2002,

[01:41:43] the bullet time sequence had been spoofed

[01:41:45] in over 20 different movies.

[01:41:47] Yeah, that sounds about right.

[01:41:48] Oh boy.

[01:41:49] I mean, like there was Max Payne, which is a video game

[01:41:52] in which you could enter bullet time.

[01:41:54] Like that was the whole premise of the game.

[01:41:56] You had to get enough pills.

[01:41:57] You could go like,

[01:41:58] You know, and like dive around shooting people.

[01:42:01] Like that's how cool bullet time was.

[01:42:03] The coolest.

[01:42:05] Yeah, there's a, oh, this trivia page is a fucking mile long.

[01:42:09] Yeah, not worth doing.

[01:42:10] Oh, the other crucial thing is that this movie

[01:42:12] used a lot of the sets of Dark City

[01:42:14] and filmed in the same place in Sydney.

[01:42:16] Yeah, yeah.

[01:42:17] And like, I think borrowed a lot of the designers

[01:42:20] from Dark City and stuff like that.

[01:42:21] Wait, David, excuse me.

[01:42:24] Yeah, go ahead.

[01:42:24] I'm forgetting something here in my earpiece.

[01:42:26] That's what I thought it was.

[01:42:28] Do, do, do, do, do, do, do.

[01:42:30] Time for Berger Report.

[01:42:31] Berger Report.

[01:42:32] Ben, last week you teased.

[01:42:34] I haven't even eaten a burger in the last week or so.

[01:42:37] I went to three burger places last week, zero FAMOS.

[01:42:41] Damn it.

[01:42:42] I'm putting in the legwork.

[01:42:43] FAMOS, you know, just get out there, eat a burger.

[01:42:45] Help me out.

[01:42:46] So Ben, who did you tease last week?

[01:42:47] John Mayer.

[01:42:48] John Mayer, yeah.

[01:42:49] Oh, I've never heard a story about him being a jerk.

[01:42:54] Oh man, all right.

[01:42:54] So I'm trying to remember the particular event

[01:42:58] that he was attending

[01:42:59] because there were a bunch of FAMOS.

[01:43:02] I feel like it was a Jennifer Aniston film.

[01:43:06] He was dating her for a while.

[01:43:07] Yeah.

[01:43:08] He was, he was.

[01:43:09] So this is probably around then.

[01:43:10] I'm gonna try to give like a year

[01:43:12] so maybe you guys could figure out the film.

[01:43:14] I'm gonna say this was probably 2010, I think, sounds about right.

[01:43:21] Maybe Horrible Bosses?

[01:43:23] Yeah, might have been the first Horrible Boss.

[01:43:24] Maybe it's like a few years then,

[01:43:26] like maybe it's like 2009.

[01:43:27] I think that was 11.

[01:43:28] Correct, it was 11.

[01:43:29] So the bounty hunter with Gerard Butler.

[01:43:32] It was definitely so.

[01:43:33] Or was it The Switch?

[01:43:34] With where Jason Bateman impregnates her against her will?

[01:43:40] Yeah, or there's I believe the 2009 film Love Happens

[01:43:44] with the two-face?

[01:43:45] Literally never heard of that movie.

[01:43:47] Yeah, I think it's like a movie like that.

[01:43:49] Like maybe it is Love Happens.

[01:43:50] I think it's Love Happens.

[01:43:51] But so they had this like kind of like little VIP party

[01:43:54] and so just to throw out some names

[01:43:58] of people who were there.

[01:44:00] Jennifer Aniston was there.

[01:44:03] Actually Dave Matthews was there.

[01:44:05] All right, wow.

[01:44:06] Interesting.

[01:44:07] So a real like high white guitar douchebag quotient.

[01:44:10] Yeah, he got very drunk on Tequila.

[01:44:12] Like very, very drunk.

[01:44:14] Like he basically was just like leave the bottle man

[01:44:16] and was like kind of rude and got wasted.

[01:44:19] But I thought that was cool.

[01:44:20] Yeah, yeah.

[01:44:20] Who else was there?

[01:44:22] Who else was there?

[01:44:22] Ah fuck, well I think Chris Rock.

[01:44:26] I mean honestly there's,

[01:44:27] I have so many of these stories

[01:44:29] they all kind of blend in with each other.

[01:44:30] Can I wager?

[01:44:31] I think I've cracked what movie this is.

[01:44:32] Okay.

[01:44:33] Was this perhaps Just Go With It?

[01:44:35] The Adam Sandler film in which Dave Matthews appears.

[01:44:38] Yes, that's what this is.

[01:44:40] That was 2011.

[01:44:41] Okay.

[01:44:42] So maybe it was the rap party or something.

[01:44:42] Yeah and Rock is obviously a happy Madison crony.

[01:44:46] Yeah right, he'll be at any Sandler party.

[01:44:49] So anyway with all that said

[01:44:52] this was like happening probably at like 10 o'clock

[01:44:54] when people were showing up.

[01:44:55] John Mayer shows up like a couple hours early, okay?

[01:45:00] And he's just hanging out at the bar, right?

[01:45:03] And he gets a burger.

[01:45:05] Yeah.

[01:45:07] Okay.

[01:45:07] And he's just hitting on women the whole time.

[01:45:11] What a creep.

[01:45:12] And I'm pretty sure yeah like maybe him and Jen

[01:45:15] were just friends but it was super gross

[01:45:17] and like he even was like hitting on some of the people

[01:45:20] in the staff.

[01:45:21] Allegedly, I always have to say this now.

[01:45:23] Allegedly that was what was happening with John Mayer.

[01:45:25] And he was just a total

[01:45:28] I don't know if you can find exactly when he dated Jennifer.

[01:45:30] Yeah, I remember him being her day to the Oscars one year.

[01:45:34] Yeah, the problem is if you Google it

[01:45:36] it's just lots of articles that are like

[01:45:38] John Mayer is a jerk to Jennifer Anno's center.

[01:45:40] He said a mean thing in an interview.

[01:45:42] Did he like the burger though Ben?

[01:45:44] It seems like around early 2011.

[01:45:46] Okay.

[01:45:47] So you know, it's the right time.

[01:45:48] Did he like the burger?

[01:45:49] He did like the burger.

[01:45:50] Oh my God.

[01:45:51] It's a good burger.

[01:45:51] It's a fucking really good burger.

[01:45:54] Well that's been the burger report as always

[01:45:56] but if you have any burger reports of your own

[01:45:58] feel free to tweet us, email us, open invitation to all.

[01:46:02] I'm gonna keep on hitting on burger joints.

[01:46:04] Hopefully I'll get a good scoop one of these days.

[01:46:05] You know, I love Famos and yeah.

[01:46:08] You love it's what everyone knows about you

[01:46:09] is that you love Famos.

[01:46:11] I love Famos.

[01:46:13] Okay, just add one thing.

[01:46:14] Please.

[01:46:15] I had a brief interaction with Jennifer Aniston

[01:46:18] and she called me cute.

[01:46:20] Ben.

[01:46:21] She said, yeah, you cutie

[01:46:22] and like kind of touched my arm a little bit.

[01:46:24] So.

[01:46:25] What a sweetheart.

[01:46:26] People magazine's most beautiful person this year.

[01:46:28] Ben.

[01:46:29] Yeah.

[01:46:30] Jennifer Aniston called you a cutie.

[01:46:33] Well, she is a cutie.

[01:46:34] Yeah, of course he's a cutie.

[01:46:35] He's our little cutie.

[01:46:36] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[01:46:37] Wait, uh-oh.

[01:46:38] Do I smell, do I smell another nickname coming on?

[01:46:43] Oh.

[01:46:45] The cutie?

[01:46:46] Little cutie?

[01:46:47] Please don't.

[01:46:48] No, I don't think so.

[01:46:49] It's nothing sticking.

[01:46:50] Nothing sticking.

[01:46:51] It's less of a nickname and more just a title.

[01:46:54] You're a cutie.

[01:46:55] All right, great.

[01:46:56] Well.

[01:46:57] You're a real cutie.

[01:46:59] Probably shouldn't have shared that.

[01:46:59] All right, we're not.

[01:47:00] No, no, it was great.

[01:47:01] The cute tricks?

[01:47:02] Enough.

[01:47:04] Basta.

[01:47:05] The cute tricks.

[01:47:07] Thank you.

[01:47:08] So the matrix.

[01:47:09] So it goes on to be kind of a big influence.

[01:47:12] Yeah, and they make two sequels

[01:47:13] and we'll be covering those

[01:47:14] in the next two episodes of the show.

[01:47:16] Which is very exciting.

[01:47:17] Now I love the two sequels

[01:47:18] but I will admit I hated them when I saw them.

[01:47:21] I hated them when I saw them

[01:47:22] and I have not seen either one since they came out.

[01:47:24] And I was just thinking about this

[01:47:26] because the sequels have such a bad reputation

[01:47:29] to this day that even I think now

[01:47:31] in today's Hollywood culture of like,

[01:47:33] hey if it's a thing, give it a sequel.

[01:47:35] Give it a reboot.

[01:47:36] Whatever, let's do another one.

[01:47:38] I think if you announced the matrix four

[01:47:40] people would be like, eh.

[01:47:42] I don't think there'd be any enthusiasm.

[01:47:44] It's fascinating how much they don't want

[01:47:45] to revive this property.

[01:47:46] As much as there's so much nostalgia for the matrix.

[01:47:48] Yeah.

[01:47:49] I saw an interview with,

[01:47:50] I was going on a YouTube rabbit hole last night

[01:47:52] and Quentin Tarantino did a piece for like,

[01:47:54] Sky movies maybe?

[01:47:56] A couple years ago where he was picking

[01:47:57] like the 20 best movies made in the 20 years

[01:48:00] since he started making films,

[01:48:01] whatever self aggrandizing thing he was doing.

[01:48:03] Sure, sure.

[01:48:04] And he said the matrix would be my number two

[01:48:06] but the sequels left such a bad taste in my mouth

[01:48:09] that it's now nebulously somewhere on the 20.

[01:48:11] Interesting. Without being number two.

[01:48:12] Sorry Quentin.

[01:48:13] He said like only Battle Royale was

[01:48:15] numeralated at number one

[01:48:16] and the rest of them were alphabetical.

[01:48:17] And he's like, Matrix would have been too-

[01:48:18] Battle Royale, come on!

[01:48:20] It's Quentin Tarantino.

[01:48:21] I mean that's what, of course

[01:48:22] that movie is like the most overrated movie ever made.

[01:48:24] It's fine.

[01:48:25] It's pretty good.

[01:48:25] It's fine, yeah.

[01:48:26] God.

[01:48:28] I'm excited to re-watch the Matrix 20.

[01:48:29] I bought the Blue Ray set,

[01:48:31] the ultimate matrix collection.

[01:48:32] Oh nice.

[01:48:33] I own all three on iTunes

[01:48:34] and watch them all the time.

[01:48:35] No, the Blue Ray's got like a lot of crazy stuff on it.

[01:48:39] That's cool.

[01:48:40] I'd like to check it out.

[01:48:41] I got a weird one-owned stuff on this Blue Ray set.

[01:48:42] Well guys we are planning

[01:48:43] on probably doing an animatrix bonus

[01:48:45] just so that you know.

[01:48:46] I think there'll be a Bobobobon set for us.

[01:48:47] Yeah kind of like the very secret was

[01:48:48] for our Shyamalan series.

[01:48:49] And adjacent work, yeah.

[01:48:51] Yeah, and you know,

[01:48:52] we were just talking about

[01:48:53] what we used to both own the Matrix Revisited

[01:48:55] which was like a feature-length documentary

[01:48:57] about the Matrix.

[01:48:58] Yeah, because the first Matrix DVD

[01:49:00] was pretty bare bones

[01:49:02] and instead doing what we call a double dip

[01:49:04] and releasing a special dish

[01:49:05] when we have to buy the whole thing over again

[01:49:06] they were like, here's another disc of special features.

[01:49:09] Yeah.

[01:49:10] And you just bought that as a separate thing.

[01:49:11] Right now feels like it's like, oh.

[01:49:14] But that was like.

[01:49:15] It's a bit of a cash grab but you know.

[01:49:16] But it was the peak of the DVD thing

[01:49:18] like it sold really well.

[01:49:19] No, it was good.

[01:49:20] I think the Matrix was the highest selling DVD

[01:49:21] for a long time.

[01:49:22] I used to own this big book called

[01:49:24] The Art of the Matrix,

[01:49:25] like a big hardcover book that was so cool.

[01:49:27] I don't know what happened to it.

[01:49:27] I don't think I have it anymore.

[01:49:29] Well if you find that book,

[01:49:30] please send it back to David.

[01:49:32] Thanks.

[01:49:32] If you borrowed his copy, please send it back.

[01:49:34] Come on jerks.

[01:49:35] As always, rate, subscribe.

[01:49:37] Are you paying to review?

[01:49:40] Yeah, we're still waiting on a book report by the way.

[01:49:43] Yeah well a couple people have sent me pictures.

[01:49:44] I have evidence including a friend of the show,

[01:49:47] former guest Rachel Lang.

[01:49:49] I know she checked the book out

[01:49:50] or got it on her Kindle.

[01:49:51] Some people sent me pictures of the book on their shelf.

[01:49:53] They checked it out at the library.

[01:49:55] Rachel, you crazy.

[01:49:56] Rachel, Rachel crazy.

[01:49:58] It's a hearty tome.

[01:49:59] So perhaps it's taking people time to dig through

[01:50:01] but people are definitely reading it.

[01:50:02] So we'll hopefully have a book report soon for you.

[01:50:05] Remember to keep it under 100 words.

[01:50:08] Cause we here at this show hate being verbose.

[01:50:13] Any other follow-ups?

[01:50:14] Next week we'll be back with The Matrix Reloaded.

[01:50:18] We're gonna talk about The Matrix Reloaded.

[01:50:20] Yeah, we're doing all these Matrix episodes,

[01:50:22] Sounds Gasque just cause we're scheduling stuff.

[01:50:25] Well also cause I love these movies

[01:50:26] and I don't want some guests pissing on them.

[01:50:28] David's very protective of The Matrix equals.

[01:50:31] But as always.

[01:50:32] It's okay guys, I know they're hard to watch.

[01:50:34] What the hell is-

[01:50:35] It's okay, we'll talk about it.

[01:50:35] We'll talk about it.

[01:50:36] We'll re-watch them together, it'll be fine.

[01:50:37] Trust me, it'll be fine, okay?

[01:50:38] I trust you, it's fine.

[01:50:39] I trust you.

[01:50:40] As always.

[01:50:42] Thank you for listening.

[01:50:43] Yes.

[01:50:43] A big ups to producer ban.

[01:50:45] Love him.

[01:50:46] And as always.

[01:50:47] Make sure to order your eggs all at home or else

[01:50:51] they're not worth the end.

[01:50:55] This has been a UCB comedy production.

[01:51:00] Check out our other shows on the

[01:51:01] UCB Comedy Podcast Network.