This topic is realtive Matrix 2 & 3 making.Please look out "(*** Spoilers ***)" in the title.And all of news items are here.

June 29th, 2002

It's coming. The first sequel related poster. Sooner rather than later. Look for the first teaser poster to THE MATRIX sequels in theaters over the July 4th weekend. For those who want to see it ahead of the pack, we're putting it up at TheMatrix.com a few days early. For those interested, you might want to click back on July 1st.
Other news has our web team continuing to sit with cast and crew. A cluster of three new interviews will be released midweek. Among them, Kym Barrett, the costume designer for all three MATRIX films.
More shortly...

Laurence Fishburne is making $10 million on “Matrix” sequels.

Date:1-July-2002
From:Newsweek (The detail is here)

[snipped for Matrix]

If race is the No. 1 obstacle for Bassett, age is a close second. “She doesn’t work much because most actresses over 25 don’t, and that certainly applies to black actresses even more,” says director Sayles. “It’s a lack of interest and imagination by the studios.” At 43, Bassett still doesn’t look much over 30—and she’s proud of it. “Black don’t crack, honey. Do you see a wrinkle?!” she says, offering her face up for close inspection. That hasn’t stopped studios from relegating her to supporting parts in films like “Contact” and “The Score,” even as “What’s Love Got to Do With It” costar Laurence Fishburne is making $10 million on “Matrix” sequels.

Steve Bastoni revealed on TV cooking show Fresh that he plays Capt. Soren

Date:27-June-2002
From:Newsweek (The detail is here)

Steve Bastoni revealed on TV cooking show Fresh that he plays Capt. Soren who helps Morpheus.

quote: (It's from Matrixfans.net)

I played a character named Captain Sorren (or Sorron). I'm a comrade of Morpheus. Basically all I can say is that I'm helping them save the world. I can't say more than that, with all the confidentiality contracts I had to sign.

I'm pretty sure the correct pronounciation was the first one.. I'm not sure if he said it (i think he might of) but obviously he is a character of another hovercraft.

A year from now actress Carrie-Anne Moss will engage in a gritty chase scene in the sequel to the science fiction thriller "The Matrix." She'll be driving a Cadillac Escalade EXT pickup, pursued by bad guys in a Cadillac CTS sedan.

"Putting Cadillacs in front of an aspirational crowd is exposure you can't buy," said Susan Docherty, marketing director for the Escalade, Cadillac's hot-selling SUV.

"You can't get a teenager to sit down and watch a bunch of Cadillac commercials," she said. But the chase in "The Matrix Reloaded," which will be released in spring 2003, amounts to an extreme commercial teens are likely to eat up.

'LordZer0' found a mistake in the article: The LA Times quote states that Trinity is driving the pickup and badies driving the sedan. But if you look at the trailer for the two sequels the drivers are reversed. Trinity is driving the sedan and the badies are driving the pickup. Please look at the trailer and see for yourself.

Music Events [06-20-2002] more news

"Matrix" Composer Don Davis To Chair Young Film Composers Competition Final Judging Event

LOS ANGELES -- (Film Music NewsWire) -- Film composer Don Davis will serve as judging chairman in the final judging of the Third Annual Young Film Composers Competition to be held on Friday, June 21. Serving with him will be a special blue-ribbon judging panel including studio and industry executives and film composers who, together with Davis, will select this year's competition winners. The annual film scoring competition is presented by Turner Classic Moves (TCM), Film Music magazine and MP3.com, and is sponsored by The Guitar Center.

Emmy winning composer Don Davis ("The Matrix," "The Matrix: Reloaded," "Jurassic Park 3," "Behind Enemy Lines") is a native of Anaheim, California and began playing trumpet at age nine. He majored in music theory and composition at UCLA, and continued to study composition with Henri Lazarof and orchestration under Albert Harris. With his foot in the door of the music industry, Davis began to land an increasing number of high profile jobs, including orchestrating for Mark Snow ("The X Files") and writing for television series including "Beauty and the Beast." After "Beauty and the Beast", Davis found his career as a composer soaring and he was commissioned to compose scores for dozens of top television movies and series. To date, Don Davis' television work had garnered eight Emmy nominations and two wins. In 1997, Davis composed the score for Larry and Andy Wachowski's off-beat thriller "Bound", and the directing brothers immediately formed a close working relationship with Dav!
!

is. Later, the Wachowskis and Davis again collaborated on "The Matrix" - the high-tech, virtual-reality action thriller starring Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne, and most recently Davis scored the second in the Matrix trilogy of films, "The Matrix: Reloaded."

Serving with Davis on the Judging Committee will be Dennis Millay, Sr. Project Manager at TCM; Tony Barbon, VP of Studio Production for TCM, Lon Bender, President of Liberty Livewire; film music agent Jeff Kaufman; composer and winner of the First Annual Young Film Composers Competition Vivek Maddala, and veteran film composers James Venable ("The Powerpuff Girls Movie," "Dexter's Laboratory"); Alex Wurman ("Hero," "No Vacancy"), Mark Holden ("The Protector," "Beyond Desire") and Mark Adler ("Above Suspicion," "The Rat Pack"). The judging phases of the competition are overseen by Film Music magazine publisher Mark Northam.

Prizes in this year's competition include a paid assignment to score a restored classic silent film to air on the Turner Classic Movies cable network, music equipment provided by The Guitar Center, and the Music for the Media distance learning course provided by Deepwater Blue and The Film Music Institute.

AGE 34

WHY HER? A double threat, she's an action star who can actually act. Even when the Canandian-born Moss isn't leaping tall buildings in a skintight bodysuit as ''The Matrix'''s cooler-than-a-cucumber Trinity, she pulls off jaw-dropping performances -- like her turn as a shockingly excellent liar in ''Memento'' (which earned her an Independent Spirit Award) or as a stuck-up mom in ''Chocolat'' (let's see Keanu Reeves try to hold his own opposite Dame Judi Dench). Not bad for a girl whose previous biggest starring role was on Aaron Spelling's failed 1994-95 series ''Models Inc.'' (that is, if you don't count a small part in a 1993 cable drama, eerily titled・''Matrix''). ''Carrie's got this hard exterior -- this strength -- and then there are moments where she shows a much softer side,'' says ''Memento'' director Christopher Nolan, who cast Moss after being smitten with her kickboxing character in ''The Matrix.'' ''It's very easy to underestimate a role like the one she played in that movie because of all the hardware and flying around and kung fu, but something like that is extremely difficult to do. It requires an enormous versatility.'' In other words, among actresses, she truly is the One.

WHAT SHE'LL REVEAL ABOUT THE NEXT TWO 'MATRIX' MOVIES ''Nothing. Not a word. I'm sworn to secrecy. Sorry.''

CAREER LOW Every time she gets on a motorcycle. ''I have to ride one a lot in the new 'Matrix' and I'm scared to death of them. I rode one for a bit in the first 'Matrix' -- all I had to do was pull away from the curb -- but I fell off every single time.''

CAREER LOW, PART 2 ''The second week of rehearsals [for the sequels], I was on wires doing a stunt and I took a bad landing. Broke my leg. During the first 'Matrix,' I screwed up my ankle really badly, but this was much worse. I had to rehearse with a broken leg for six weeks.''

WHAT CLINT TAUGHT HER ''I watched a lot of Eastwood movies when I was first thinking about my character in 'The Matrix.' I like the way he could be so still and so powerful at the same time. I'm kind of squirmy myself, always moving around a little, and that just wouldn't work for Trinity.''

DREAM COLLABORATORS Angelina Jolie, Cate Blanchett, Jodie Foster. ''And Darren Aronofsky. 'Requiem for a Dream' was an amazing movie.''

CREATIVE CRUTCH ''Music. Right now I'm listening to a lot of Diana Krall -- it makes me feel happy and safe and doesn't tax my emotions.''

WHAT SHE CAN REVEAL ABOUT THE NEXT TWO 'MATRIX' FILMS (SECOND TRY) ''Well, the clothes are even cooler than the first one. Very much the same vibe, but even more so. Does that help?''

LAST QUESTION, RED PILL OR BLUE? ''Oh, definitely the red one. Once you've seen life from a truthful place, there's no going back.''

Montez Added to Matrix Sequels Cast

According to the Canterbury Express, Australian singer & dancer Monique Montez will have a small role in The Matrix sequels. No info was provided on what character she will play

Warner Bros. Consumer Products and the ``Looney Tunes'' are Back in Action with New Feature Film Starring Brendan Fraser and Series of ``Looney Tunes'' Theatrical Shorts

[Snipped for Matrix]
"The Matrix"

Producer Joel Silver and Writers/Directors Larry and Andy Wachowski are currently completing production on the sequels to their groundbreaking, Academy Award-winning blockbuster "The Matrix" in Australia. Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss and Hugo Weaving reprise their roles from the original film. The highly acclaimed action-thriller won four Academy Awards and became the fastest-selling DVD on record at the time of its release. "The Matrix" sequels will be presented by Warner Bros. Pictures in association with Village Roadshow Pictures and NPV Entertainment. "The Matrix Reloaded," scheduled for release in May 2003, and "The Matrix Revolutions," scheduled for release later in 2003, will be supported by a licensing campaign geared towards the adult collectible market.

Infogrames, a leading global publisher of interactive entertainment software, announced that its highly anticipated video game, "Enter The Matrix" (working title), developed in conjunction with the upcoming sequels to "The Matrix," will be created for all next-generation platforms, including the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system, the Microsoft(R) Xbox(TM) video game system, the Nintendo GameCube and the personal computer. Developed by Infogrames' Shiny Entertainment, "Enter The Matrix" is currently scheduled to be released simultaneously on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in conjunction with the theatrical release of "The Matrix Reloaded" from Warner Bros. Pictures in May 2003.

Last month, Warner Bros., Monolith Productions and EON Entertainment announced the production of a massively multiplayer online video game based on the "The Matrix" franchise. Able to accommodate tens of thousands of players in a single shared environment, the game will be a re-creation of the virtual world of "The Matrix," employing cutting-edge 3-D graphics, networking and server technology. The game will combine the best elements of the action-adventure genre and character building/role playing games with the social interaction/community of an ongoing online game.

Matrix casting agents were still on the hunt for extras last week, with filming of the sequels still nowhere near completion. Sydney-based extras have already been involved in underwater scenes.

A-list stars hit town

FAMILIES enjoying the public holiday in Sydney would be forgiven for thinking they had accidentally slipped onto the back lot of a Hollywood film set as extras. Casually strolling along Bondi Beach's Hall St was pin-up girl and The Practice star Lara Flynn Boyle, 32.

Enjoying an afternoon cruise on Sydney Harbour were her Men In Black II co-stars – Oscar winner Tommy Lee Jones, 55, and Oscar nominee Will Smith, 33, – as well as Smith's wife Jada Pinkett-Smith, 31, and her Matrix co-star Nona Gaye, 27.

Gaye, daughter of late singer Marvin, also had her children, her mother and godmother with her.

Boyle, who is famous for her on-again off-again relationship with Jack Nicholson, blended into the crowd by wearing sunglasses and puffing on a cigarette.

After stopping in an internet cafe where she merged with backpackers typing to loved ones back home, she happily chatted with people who recognised her on the street and stopped to pat two white puppies.

Meanwhile those sleeker than sleek black-sunglass and black-suit wearing agents in Men in Black II, Jones and Smith, looked quite different to their characters in the much hyped sequel by donning jeans, T-shirts and sneakers for the occasion.

All three actors are here for the launch party (the film is not ready to be premiered) of the alien film tonight at The Summit Restaurant's Orbit Bar, with a black carpet as opposed to a red one.

Smith, who has been here for the last six months with his wife Jada and their two children Willow and Jaden, is no stranger to Sydney.

Pinkett-Smith has been shooting The Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions on Sydney's "futuristic'' streets with Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne and Gaye – who also starred with Smith as Muhammad Ali's second wife in the Oscar-nominated film (Pinkett-Smith played his first wife).

The group boarded the motor cruiser, Yarranabee, from the wharf at their Rocks hotel in the afternoon and spent some hours cruising.

Jones is most famous for playing southern style authority figures, exemplified in The Fugitive and Double Jeopardy.

Boyle, who plays the evil alien Serleena in the sequel who charades in the film as a Victoria's Secret lingerie model, came to attention in the 90s cult television series Twin Peaks.

City shuts for Matrix

ONE of the world's busiest cities will shut down for two days, all in the name of show business.

But don't look to Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo or London, instead focus your gaze on Sydney.

The producers of The Matrix Reloaded plan to fly a helicopter below roof-tops across the east of the city and over Martin Place for the movie's dramatic final scene.

The Daily Telegraph has learned the helicopter will include a camera mounted in the pilot's seat, giving the moviegoer a bird's-eye-view as the aircraft whizzes across the city.

It will fly west along Bridge St to George St before turning left towards Martin Place, passing the Intercontinental Hotel, the AMP Centre, the Royal Exchange building and Macquarie Place, at times less than 600 feet above the ground.

The movie's producers will meet with officials from the Premier's Department, the Environment Protection Authority and State Transit today to discuss specifics of the filming.

Discussions will include whether office blocks will be evacuated and which streets will be blocked to pedestrians and traffic.

Road closures are expected to effect some of the city's busiest streets including Macquarie, Phillip, Pitt and parts of George St.

The meeting will also discuss the the amount of disruption caused to people visiting the city for the day and public transport in and out of the area including trains, buses and taxis.

Also to be worked out will be how much it will cost the movie's producers to "rent'' the city for the shoot and insurance costs to stage it.

Lord Mayor Frank Sartor yesterday welcomed the stunt but said business owners should not be inconvenienced by its filming.

"It is exciting that the CBD will be used for such an important scene but there must be a balance between the needs of the filmmakers and businesses trading on the weekend.''

He said under the council's Living City policy, the city cannot be empty on weekends, or business owners prevented from trading.

The 14-minute sequence -- which took months to plan -- has been described by producers as "the most complicated sequence ever made''. "The effect is to get the audience in the pilot seat rather than showcase the buildings,'' an insider yesterday told The Daily Telegraph.

It is understood the shooting is scheduled for two weekends in July, to minimise the number of people normally in the city.

Sources working on the movie set yesterday told The Daily Telegraph the set will "definitely be closed to the public''.

Matrix helicopter stunt revealed

A HELICOPTER will fly at low level through Sydney's CBD next month in one of the most spectacular aerial movie scenes ever filmed.

The stunt for the $200 million sequel to the 1999 blockbuster The Matrix will take at least two days to film. The helicopter will fly below rooftop level from the eastern end of Bridge St towards George St in what insiders say is the climactic scene of The Matrix Reloaded.

The scene will be shot over at least one, and possibly two, weekends in July.

Stars Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne, who have been fixtures in Sydney's social scene for almost a year, are not expected to be involved in the shoot, which is reminiscent of the jaw-dropping helicopter sequences in the first Matrix.

Details of the stunt are being closely guarded, with directors Larry and Andy Wachowski fearing other studios could steal their ideas.

Producer Joel Silver last month said filming was about to enter a critical stage.

"The most complicated sequence of the movie will not start shooting for two or three weeks," he said.

"That is a 14-minute sequence that is the most complicated sequence ever put on film."

The Wachowskis will meet officials from the Premier's Department on Tuesday to discuss safety details.

Most of the streets surrounding the stunt will be closed to the public.

"We want to keep encouraging international film-making in Sydney, but we have to balance that with ensuring the safety of the public," a spokesman for Premier Bob Carr said.

It is not the first time the area around Bridge St has been used for helicopter stunts – Tom Cruise (or, at least, his stunt double) rappelled from a helicopter on to Governor Macquarie Tower for one scene in Mission: Impossible II.

The Matrix Reloaded shot several scenes around the tower in May, as well as at other locations around Sydney including St James Station and White Bay power station.

The film will be released in May next year, with a second sequel, The Matrix Revolutions, released seven months later, in December.

The first film was a huge "sleeper" hit. Made in Australia for about $100 million, it grossed almost $1 billion worldwide after video and DVD sales.

'Matrix' is latest in movie-sequel trend

Keanu Reeves in The Matrix Reloaded, one of two sequels to the 1999 hit that are scheduled to hit theaters in 2003.

Sequels seem to spawn faster and faster these days. Star Wars' current Attack of the Clones attacked just three years after The Phantom Menace arrived. The second Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings movies come out later this year, 12 months after the first installments. But now things are switching into overdrive. Warner Bros. will release the next two (possibly final) Matrix movies in the same year. The Matrix Reloaded is scheduled for release in May 2003, while The Matrix Revolutions is tentatively scheduled to follow a few months later.

Teaser trailers in theaters already are tantalizing fans of the science-fiction franchise.

Top 20 hottest sequels

From Star Wars to StarTrek, film franchise fans already are feverishly foreseeing the future. Here's a list of the movies that inquiring sequel devotees are most curious about, according to Internet Movie Database. Sequels, in fact, dominate the list of films moviegoers want to see. (Opening dates are subject to change.)

1. Star Wars: Episode III (May 25, 2005)
2. The Matrix Reloaded (May 2003)
3. Spider-Man 2 (May 7, 2004)
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Dec. 18)
5. X-Men 2 (May 2, 2003)
6. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Nov. 15)
7. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (July 2, 2003)
8. Austin Powers in Goldmember (July 26)
9. Star Trek: Nemesis (Dec. 13)
10. Men in Black 2 (July 3)
11. Die Another Day (20th MGM/UA James Bond movie; Nov. 22)
12. Indiana Jones (third sequel)
13. The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
14. Halloween: Resurrection (July 12)
15. Red Dragon (a remake of original prequel Manhunte, it's the third Hannibal Lecter sequel; Oct. 4)
16. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Dec. 17, 2003)
17. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
18. Batman: Year One (No date set)
19. True Lies 2 (sequel not certain, but fans are clamoring)
20. Once Upon a Time in Mexico (second sequel to El Mariachi; March 2003)
Source: Internet Movie Database

There haven't been two movies in the same series released in a single calendar year since Dean Martin twice played secret agent Matt Helm in The Silencers and Murderers Row. And that was 36 years ago. More recently, the second and third Back to the Future films and first two Pok駑on movies came out within a year of each other, though not literally in the same year.

"After the success of the first Matrix, we felt confident that audiences would welcome the chance to see the next two Matrix episodes in a single year," explains Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros., which also distributes the Harry Potter films. "The recent response to our trailer for the two upcoming movies has been tremendous and indicates that we're on the right track."

That track could well be headed to Hitsville, according to the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com), which indicates that Reloaded is next year's most inquired-about sequel; Revolutions ranks fourth.

Fans are definitely fired up.

"I am very excited about it because the previous film will be fresh in my mind when I see Revolutions," says Jon Cline, 25, of Pasadena, Calif., the owner and editor of fan site thematrixonline.com. "People emulate this concept by watching the DVD of a film before watching its sequel."

Adds Brian Linder, 26, from Columbia, S.C.: "I don't think fans could stand it if the filmmakers waited any longer." As editor of the site IGN FilmForce, he monitors Matrix fans and is one himself.

"My wife and I saw Attack of the Clones on opening night, and the crowd just went insane when the Matrix preview played," Linder says. "The only thing that drew audible disappointment was the 2003 release date at the end. We're ready for these sequels now."

As a result, the accelerated release plan promises a gigantic payoff, says Tom Borys, president of box office tracker Nielsen EDI. And he doesn't forsee any plausible pitfalls. "If the second leads right into the third, why not put them together for momentum and continuity?"

There actually is a good reason, says Russell Schwartz, president of domestic marketing for New Line Cinema. The studio wanted the Rings films to come out each year. ("It's actually one movie in three parts, so it didn't make any sense to sit on them," he explains.) But the studio decided that releasing two in the same year would be going too far.

"We briefly discussed it, but when you factor in the video release, you're on top of yourself," Schwartz says. "Where is Warners going to put the Matrix video? Is it a three-month window?" In order to make sure that Rings had its moment in each format, Schwartz says, a year break between films was the minimum.

If the Matrix films do well individually, other studios will nevertheless try the unorthodox approach, predicts Barnaby Dorfman, a trend tracker for IMDb. He says it's an idea that peaked in the '40s with frequent appearances of Charlie Chan, Sherlock Holmes, The Saint and Tarzan.

"The studios will be watching the box office results very closely," Dorfman says. "There is a certain logic that spacing a film by six to nine months allows you to keep the marketing and publicity spin up, bridging the two releases."

Borys agrees that other studios will do it if they can — but he doubts that many can. "It's an enormous logistical challenge to pull it off," Borys says. "It requires that they are made at the same time. You need all the people to stay together a long time to make it."

Furthermore, Borys says, Hollywood honchos are rarely so confident about a movie that they would greenlight the movie and its sequel at the same time. They need to wait for box office results. (The Rings trilogy and the current Star Wars trilogy are the rare exceptions.) Even shooting the second and third sequels at the same time requires a lot of confidence and a lot of time, Borys says.

However, Bret Ratner, the red-hot director of Rush Hour 2 as well as the upcoming Hannibal Lecter prequel Red Dragon, says the Matrix matrix has its advantages.

"When I did the first Rush Hour, I ended it so the plane was headed for Hong Kong," Ratner says. "If it worked, the plane would land in Hong Kong (at the start of a sequel)."

It worked. But Rush Hour was history by the time Ratner got the go-ahead to make the sequel, so he had to start all over again.

"I would love it if I could make Rush Hour 3 and 4 back to back," he says. When you're on a roll, it's easier to keep going instead of starting up again."

That doesn't mean Ratner would want the movies to come out the same year. Some sequels are more likely to work if audiences have to wait awhile to see them — whenever or however they were shot.

In other words, how can movie fans miss a franchise if it won't go away?

And then there's one other little problem with the dream scenario of sequel after sequel, Schwartz says.

"There will come a time when the sequels will go out of favor," he says. "I have no doubt about it.

"And suddenly, everyone is going to wake up."

Village's dividend rides off into the sunset

Investors reacted savagely yesterday to Village Roadshow's decision to scrap its dividend, sending its shares to a 16-month low and slicing $61 million from its market value.

Shares in the cinema group fell 26 cents, or 15 per cent, to close at $1.47 soon after the company revealed its plan to suspend the dividend for an "extended period of time".

The suspension was treated as an ominous sign and provoked strong speculation that the company was in financial peril and faced a cash crisis.

Village Roadshow chairman Robert Kirby said the drastic move would help sharpen the company's balance sheet and align its growth trajectory to the level of its international peers.

He also said the suspension would provide more financial flexibility and help out with the group's long-term lease obligations on exhibition properties.

"It will improve the internal reserves as well as access to external resources available to pursue inherent growth opportunities in our core businesses of exhibition, theme parks and production," Mr Kirby said.

Village will retain the dividend on A-class preference shares but warned this policy would be reviewed annually.

Last year, the directors proposed a dividend of 7.175 cents on the ordinary shares and 10.175 cents on the A-class preference shares.

A media analyst, who declined to be named, estimated the company would save $41 million annually.

He speculated that production costs flowing from the two Matrix sequels contributed to the decision to cut dividend payments on ordinary shares.

Village's agreement with Warner Bros is structured so that its 50 per cent contribution to production costs coincides with the movies' release.

Under this equity arrangement, the analyst speculated that the cinema group faced costs of up to $200 million for each of the two sequels, with the first instalment due at the end of the year.

Mr Kirby has previously said he expects the films, now in production at Sydney's Fox Studios, to be a significant contributor to profits in coming years. They are central to Village's new strategy of capitalising on brands or franchise films to soften the impact of cinema cycles.

The Matrix has so far taken $US460 million ($A798 million), of which Village reaps half, and will bear more fruit in the home video and DVD markets.

Village's movie production division, which is expected to drive profits from 2003 on, suffered a 55.2 per cent fall in pre-tax profit to $16.5 million in the six months to December as a result of a thinner film schedule.

Last year, the company reported a 27 per cent drop in net profit to $55 million as its cinema division plunged into the red for the first time.

It has $313 million in the bank and is carrying $60 million in net debt.

Matrix Casting Info
Tuesday, June 4, 2002 9:09 CDT

's3rantum' sent this:


Che Timmins, and Australian actor, will be playing "Radio Man" this role is equivelant to the role of Doser in the first Matrix.

I met him recently and explained his role, he'll be on one of the first hovercrafts created to fight in the rebellion against the machines.

It's almost enough to drive a cinephile outdoors

Date:05-June-2002
From:Sydeny Morning Herald (The detail is here)

It's almost enough to drive a cinephile outdoors
June 5 2002

Sydney's obsession with film festivals, writes Sacha Molitorisz, means that movie goers now have more choice - good and bad - than ever.

Now here's a funny thing. I was at a party recently and after meeting a grip, two gaffers, seven actors and Keanu Reeves, I met someone who didn't work in the film industry. Or, to put it in another way ...

INT: A DARLINGHURST TERRACE HOUSE - LATE NIGHT

A thirtysomething journalist walks into a crowded room. It's a party, and everyone is wearing black, talking film and drinking vodka.

Keanu: Dude, do you, like, like Tarkovsky?

Sacha: To be honest, I prefer Stolichnaya.

Bystander: Hey, you know what? I don't work in the film industry.

Keanu: Whoa, dude!

My point is that Sydney has become film-obsessed. In Sydney, while big-name directors are filming everything from The Matrix and Star Wars to Dirty Deeds, everyone else is shooting a short.

Look at the explosion of film festivals. In 1954, a bunch of Sydney Uni undergraduates staged the first Sydney Film Festival, screening local and foreign fare over three days in freezing lecture halls. Borrowed projectors often teetered on piles of books.

Not so in 2002. When the 49th Sydney Film Festival opens on Friday with a glittering, self-important bash at the State Theatre, it's the start of two weeks of cinema saturation, with almost 150 films in two venues .

Even apart from the SFF, film festivals have become more common in Sydney than parking meters. Some are Jewish, Italian, French, Spanish and Asian. And then there are Tropfest, the Sour Grapes Film Festival, Flickerfest, the Science Fiction Film Festival, the (now hibernating) Goat Island Film Festival, the Shoot Out Film Festival, the travelling St Kilda Film Festival, a doco fest called REAL:life on film, the Mardi Gras Film Festival, the Short Black fest in Manly and the World of Women festival at the Chauvel.

Further, on Wednesday nights the Valhalla hosts Popcorn Taxi, and sporadically you can catch free features at Olympic Park. Over summer, Victoria Park in Glebe and Wylie's Baths in Coogee host occasional swim-and-screen nights, while the Moonlight Cinema in Centennial Park and the OpenAir Cinema in the Botanic Gardens draw big crowds. Meanwhile, Paddington's Chauvel, with its excellent Cinematheque, screens classics such as The Seven Samurai and The Apartment all year round.

Emerald City? Hardly. The Olympic City? Yeah, sure, two years ago, for about five minutes. Rather, Sydney in 2002 is Cinema City: the city of the never-ending session.

And what does this mean? Most significantly, it means if you're a movie lover, you have more choice than ever. Just as Hollywood gives new meaning to formulaic, an increasing number of outlets are screening independent, unusual and daring new films. But be warned: there is more garbage out there, too, because not every kitchen hand can write Chopper, and not every advertising executive has the subtle precision of Peter Weir.

Me, I think I'll stick with the journalism caper. Unless ... hmm, I've just had an idea...

He was stubborn; she was beautiful. He was a loner; she was a temptress. He was a writer; she was Sydney, the city about which he wrote. Coming soon, it's The Reluctant Screenwriter!

Anyone got Mel Gibson's phone number?

The Italian-born actress has already shot her scenes as queen of the world in Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions - sequels to the successful original which starred Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne.