November 06, 2003
late start
i got a late start this morning. i saw the matrix revolutions last night, which was very long, and therefore didn't get to bed until after 1am. the bad news is that it was hard to get up at 7 this morning. the good news is that i got to sleep in until about 9:30, and had the house to myself once i got out of bed. mornings like these are great because i can crank up the record player with something like the beatles blue album. what a beatiful collection of songs...
the other bad news is that the third installment of the matrix was awful; even worse than the second. it was disappointing on so many levels i don't know where to begin. nearly all the philosophy of the first film has vanished, along with most of the redemption themes. the dialog is so bad its painful. the action is impressive, but nothing awe-inspiring as we've come to expect from this series. any sense of coherency, and maintaining the rules and scope of the first film has gone out the window. programs now enter the "real world" and neo's powers extend beyond the matrix? i hate to be a wet blanket when it comes to action films because they typically accomplish what they set out to achieve - entertainment. perhaps the wachowski brothers just set the bar too high with their first film.
in other news... i recently signed up over at photoblogs.org, seeing as my site has essentially become a photoblog. please send traffice their way ->
Geez man, the blog post is one of those posts that's nearly impossible to respond to. You'd think that movie like, knocked up your sister and then slapped you in the face or something.
You're not allowed to do film reviews like that for the 'zine we're gonna do.
Posted by: JosiahQ at November 6, 2003 02:52 PMSo here's my Big Thought O'the Day: We need to sit down this next week (not at the usual small group time) and brainstorm some sort of concrete plan for this culture 'zine. A name, what topics we'll feature, how often we'll update, what kind of columns, layout, etc. Time to get off our asses and create something worthwhile. You boys down?
Posted by: mesh at November 6, 2003 03:08 PMvery true mesh. i'm eager to write more film reviews for JosiahQ... maybe wednesday evening?
Posted by: andy at November 6, 2003 03:22 PMi agree the movie sucked but no more then i expected. i disagree on the redemption theme however, i though it was way to heavy-handed. if i saw another cross pose (or a literal cross coming out of neos body) i was going to kill someone. "he saved us! he saved us! he saved us!"
Posted by: cannon at November 6, 2003 04:38 PMAlready put the vibe out. Check yo e-mails. Lunch sometime next week. I'll be outta town this weekend so be puttin' together ideas of who to get involved.
Andy, I'm eager for you to write a film review too.
Posted by: JosiahQ at November 6, 2003 09:23 PMHey have you crazy kids checked out "catapult magazine" at "culture is not optional" ?
http://www.cultureisnotoptional.com
http://www.catapultmagazine.com
or
Are you guys familiar with the whole "christian counter-culture" thingy?
http://www.christiancounterculture.org/web_offerings.html
Then there's always the main stream approach:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/books
or the theonomist(ic) approach:
http://www.razormouth.com
http://www.newchristendom.com
I'd be interested to hear what yous come up with. Gideon and I could always use more contributers to NeoCalvinism Today when we get it back up and running.
Posted by: Baus at November 7, 2003 04:17 AMAndy, I love your new photo diary! it's beautiful. I fantasize about having just one morning one time with a late start. this mornin gi wasn't sure i would make my 25min commute alive, eyes closed on the dark road more than open. but i made it, early no less!
Posted by: MG at November 7, 2003 07:53 AMI didn't think it was as bad as all that. Like cannon, I don't think the themes were absent, but rather handed over to everybody on a silver platter. Since I like having to work a little for my symbolism, that was disappointing, but who knows? Maybe a lot of people were complaining about all the thinking they were having to do in an otherwise enjoyable action movie.
Maybe I already had my expectations bar low, but I enjoyed the movie, and actually found a scene or two quite powerful.
Posted by: Phil at November 7, 2003 08:58 AMokay, vanishing redemption themes is probably not the best way to put it. allow me to clarify. like phil and cannon, i felt the neo-as-Christ element was far too heavy handed, and i guess that's where my frustration lies. much of the genius of the first film, lay in its subtlety. subtlety on many levels - technically in the way it was filmed, philosophically in the implicit statements about reality, and even theologically (intentional or not) in its redemptive, even "christ centered" paradigm. SO... that's why the new film is such a disappointment. like i said before, if they hadn't done such a good job originally i'd probably not be complaining.
Posted by: andy at November 7, 2003 09:23 AMwell said
Posted by: cannon at November 7, 2003 10:55 AMI loved the movie. I saw it two nights in a row. Everyone I went will liked it as well (but April Roe and I loved it the most). I thought it was fabulous. Of course not as good as the first but much better than the 2nd.
Posted by: charity at November 7, 2003 03:10 PMOmg thats right! Please come see me and my friends! ;)
Posted by: watch moi at March 17, 2005 01:48 AM