The Matrix: Betting on the guys

Warner Bros. aims to whet young male appetites with two sequels, DVDs and a new video game.

May 15, 2003: 12:05 PM EDT
By Joseph Lee, CNN/Money Staff Writer

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Warner Bros. is hoping young testosterone, and a marketing blitz deliberately aimed at it, will turn its new "Matrix" sequels into money magic.

"They made a bigger, better, badder sequel," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, a box office tracking firm. "I think it's the most anticipated movie of the year, and it's going to play big."

The producers of The Matrix: Reloaded are looking for more than just ticket sales. Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibit Relations, talks about movie studio investments and the profits generated.

"The Matrix: Reloaded," the second installment of the Matrix trilogy, opens Thursday around the world. "The Matrix: Revolutions" follows in November.

Much like teenage girls drove "Titanic" to a $600 million box office success, college-age boys are likely to drive the "Matrix" sequels, said Ray Richmond, entertainment columnist at The Hollywood Reporter.

"My 17-year-old son is planning to see the 6:00 p.m. screening on Thursday in a suit and tie," Richmond said, alluding to the Matrix characters' penchant for suits and ties. "He said he's planning to go to another screening immediately after...He wants to see the movie twice on the same night."

Unveiled four years ago, "The Matrix" was a $65 million sci-fi flick that Warner Bros. expected little from, created and directed by writer-director brothers Larry and Andy Wachowski.

"It was released on March 31, 1999, a Wednesday," Dergarabedian said. "It got off to a slow start because the plot was a little complicated and nobody knew what it was."

But its special effects, particularly the "bullet time" fight sequences created by Yuen Wo Ping (the mastermind who later choreographed the fight scenes in Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), started to generate a lot of buzz.

"The Matrix" opened with $28 million in ticket sales, but went on to earn about $450 million at the box office globally and won four Academy Awards.

The magic of timing

To protect the franchise, Warner Bros. picked the two best seasons to release the sequels. It's also likely that the DVD of "Reloaded" will be out in time for the holidays, around the time "Revolutions" comes out, Coleman said.

"The two times people go to movies the most are the summer and before Christmas," said Jay Coleman, CEO of entertainment marketing firm EMCI. "I could see them (Warner Bros.) spending a lot on advertising for the theatrical release for the third installment, and that would help sales for the DVD of the Matrix 2."

Actor Keanu Reeves, above, returns as "Neo" in "The Matrix: Reloaded."

Warner Bros. also plans to release on June 3 a separate DVD collection of nine short animated films called "Animatrix" -- essentially prequels to the first movie. The release of the DVD set, which took three years to complete and was also created by the Wachowski brothers, was deliberately positioned between the two theatrical releases to further whet moviegoers' appetites for the movies, said Coleman.

Some of the shorts were available on the Matrix's official site earlier this year, and the reception was astounding, said Ronnee Sass, a spokeswoman for Warner Home Video.

The first episode, "Second Renaissance Part 1," which debuted in February, received 3.5 million downloads, while the second episode "Program" yielded 1.2 million downloads, according to WHV.

In addition, Warner Bros. Interactive said its "Enter the Matrix" video game will be in stores on May 15, the same day "Reloaded" opens.

Hollywood does it better the second time around

Warner Bros. has planned a 3,600-theater opening on Thursday, and despite an R-rating limiting audiences, "Reloaded" is expected to break the R-rated opening record of $58 million set by "Hannibal," in 2001, said Dergarabedian.

"It's probably going to be bigger than X2," Dergarabedian added. "X2: X-men United," which opened May 2, took in $86 million in its opening weekend.

The two "Matrix" films will also mark the first time two sequels have been released in the same calendar year.

Two "Back to the Future" sequels, like the "Matrix" sequels, were shot together by Universal after the success of the original. But the two films were released in separate years, November 1989 and May 1990.

"The first 'Back' sequel earned $119 million, but the second only took in $88 million," Dergarabedian said. "The third one wasn't that well reviewed," he recalled.

Although a 1-2 punch of two sequels in one year might normally run the risk of overkill, the Matrix's built-in audience are unlikely to feel oversaturated, Richmond said.

"I don't think the fans can possibly get overloaded," said Richmond. "The sci-fi crowd has gotten behind this movie, and once that happens, you've got a Star Wars kind of situation."

The Matrix fans have a ravenous, unquenchable appetite for this film, he said. "There are enough of them out there to push this to $300, $400 million, even with their eyes closed."

Warner Bros., owned by CNN/Money's parent AOL Time Warner (AOL: Research, Estimates), declined to comment on its marketing strategy for the Matrix franchise. Warner Home Video, another sister company of CNN/Money, said they have not set a date for the DVD release of "Reloaded."

Life inside The Matrix

Life inside The Matrix
By Michael Bodey
15may03

THE Matrix sequels, Reloaded and Revolutions, are the single biggest project ever filmed in Australia. All up, they cost more than $600 million and threaten to be the movie phenomenon of 2003.

Obviously, there's an audience for the science fiction trilogy but on a visit to Fox Studios last year, there was a hint Larry and Andy Wachowski had also created a cult of some sort. (Who are the Wachowskis?)

Stars Keanu Reeves, Hugo Weaving, Laurence Fishburne and others raved about The Matrix phenomenon. (Audio)

But it was left to its effusive producer, and official spokesman for the reclusive Wachowskis, Joel Silver, to push the hyperbole to its extreme.

"We all are aware of the fact we are involved in something that is absolutely history-making in terms of cinema in the world and so it's a great, great honour and opportunity for all of us," he said. "How will it be remembered? Fondly, let's hope.

"The things they're creating are really going to change the way that we're able to make films. Twenty-five years from now it will be a completely changed medium, or the potential exists for the medium to change radically. So it's going to be remembered as a monumental event in the history of filmmaking, I believe.

"From first viewing of The Matrix Reloaded, it is clear the Wachowskis have pushed both their movie genre and cinematic technology to another level.

"Yeah, you're talking about the role of the camera being changed enormously and also the role of the actor," said Weaving.He would know. His character, Agent Smith, is a central figure in the films, a digital revolution able to morph copies of himself, Terminator -like. The fight scenes with the Smith clones are unlike anything seen on film.

"And I think 30 years from now this movie will still be very impactful [sic] because of the foundation of what this movie is about," said Jada Pinkett-Smith, the rebel ship leader, Niobe.

"We're constantly challenged by our choices and constantly spiritually challenged, so it's a timeless piece."

Fishburne talks of the philosophies underpinning the films and Reeves fumbles through his research material – Plato, Schopenhauer and Nietsche – before admitting: "In terms of doing an academic discussion, I don't actually have the facility to do that . . . Larry Wachowski can do that."

Pinkett-Smith brings the cultishness back to earth.

"You have all the eye candy and the cool fights and all that but at the same time you have something to think about, and that's rare," she said.

Keanu dip it?

By Duane M. George
Pacific Daily News; dgeorge@guampdn.com,

What do you call someone who has no real range of acting skills but yet manages to be a part of some of the top movies? There are only two answers: 1. Extremely lucky and 2. Keanu Reeves. He's set to repeat that feat twice, with "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix: Revolutions" soon to hit the big screens. Reeves reprises his role from "The Matrix" of Thomas "Neo" Anderson, who happens to be The One to lead the humans against the machines.

It's not Reeves' acting abilities that made "The Matrix" the huge success that it was -- it was the story line and the special effects. The reason that Reeves plays a human grown in a pod by the machines so very well is his savant-like ability to seem totally inhuman, indeed almost robotic. If they ever remake "Westworld," he would easily fill Yul Brynner's shoes.

The only roles in which he turned in any kind of believable acting performances were the ones in which he played essentially the same character every time: the Valleyboy doofus. He was a Valleyboy doofus drag racer in "Parenthood," a Valleyboy doofus time-traveler in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" and its weak sequel, a Valleyboy doofus cop in "Speed," a Valleyboy doofus killer-for-hire in "I Love You to Death," a Valleyboy doofus quarterback in "The Replacements," and a Valleyboy doofus ex-quarterback turned cop turned surfer in "Point Break."

When Reeves gets roles that require him to be anything other than that, it is pathetic. His attempts at expressing emotion are wooden, at best, and painful in most circumstances. I had the unfortunate experience of sitting through "Sweet November" on DVD one night with some friends. It was excruciating. One of his recurring lines from that movie is my answer to the question, "Do you think Keanu Reeves is a good actor?" -- "You gotta be kidding me!"

I saw only about 30 seconds worth of "Little Buddha" while flipping through channels one day, and that was 30 seconds of my life I knew I would never get back. It's pretty sad when you're out-acted by both Ice-T and Dolph Lundgren, as was Reeves in "Johnny Mnemonic."

Duane M. George is editorial editor of the Pacific Daily News.

Love, interrupted

Part of a love-making scene in The Matrix Reloaded in Singapore has been snipped to avoid imposing an R(A) rating on the film, says the Board Of Film Censors

By Clarissa Oon

FANS of The Matrix sci-fi franchise will be thrilled to know that romantic leads Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss consummate their characters' relationship in The Matrix Reloaded sequel.

NO DISAPPOINTMENT?: Despite the snip, the love scene between the movie characters, played by Carrie-Anne Moss and Keanu Reeves stays sizzling, says film distributor Golden Village. But Singaporeans will not get to watch their love-making scene in its entirety because of a cut made by the Board Of Film Censors here.

The long-awaited sequel to the 1999 hit movie The Matrix opens here on Friday.

The censorship board said the film's distributor Golden Village had requested for a PG rating for the film and 'keeping the sexual scene intact would have required a higher rating'.

A PG-rated film carries with it a Parental Guidance advisory. The other option for the film was the R(A) rating, which admits only audiences aged 21 and above.

According to Golden Village, the love-making between Reeves' character Neo and Moss' Trinity is not a continuous scene but spliced alongside a dance sequence at a party.

Ms Maria Lorenzo, the company's general manager of film distribution, said it wanted a PG rating so the movie could reach the widest possible audience.

She added that despite the snip, 'the scene is extremely exciting and the passion between the couple is still there. Fans will not be disappointed'.

In the United States, where the movie will be released tomorrow, it was passed uncut under an R-rating for violence and some sexuality.

The rating in the US is a voluntary one advising that audiences under 17 require an accompanying parent or adult guardian.

In response to the cut here, Matrix fan Karen Teo, 28, a communications executive said she had not yet seen the movie and would 'watch it with an open mind'.

But Mr Benjamin Tan, 33, an IT freelancer and avid movie-goer, felt that if there was no nudity in the love-making scene, the censors may be overreacting.

The Matrix Reloaded is the second instalment in The Matrix trilogy of movies, directed by American film-maker brothers Larry and Andy Wachowski.

Reeves reboots

Jamie Portman
CanWest News Service

Wednesday, May 14, 2003

(Keanu Reeves)

Hugo Weaving (left) Laurence Fishburne in The Matrix Reloaded

Keanu Reeves remains guarded about his private life, but is at no loss of words when it comes to discussing his passion for the Matrix films. The Matrix Reloaded previews tonight and opens Thursday at the Capitol Theatre.

BURBANK, Calif. -- Keanu Reeves admits the stories are true. There were days when he was screaming with pain in preparing for The Matrix Reloaded.

But he'll insist that it was all in a good cause -- that it was necessary to up the ante for new instalments of the genre-busting trilogy that began its historic journey four years ago with The Matrix. He'll tell you that he shared the determination of The Wachowski Brothers, the filmmaking visionaries who dreamed up the Matrix story, to deliver audiences fight scenes even more complex and demanding.

He was also conscious of the huge gamble that was being taken in making the final two movies together with an eye to releasing both in the same year -- The Matrix Reloaded arrives Thursday and The Matrix Revolutions on Nov. 7 -- so his adrenaline was already racing. But it was still tough -- very tough.

"It was just basically practice and learning," Reeves explains. "Because of the experience of the first one, I had some body memory. I knew what I was going into, and my body knew. I could pick up the choreography quicker. And I knew where I was in the wire work."

But the Wachowskis and fight choreographer Yuen Wo Ping wanted Reeves and his costars to perform even more daunting feats -- not only on the invisible wires, which were used with such revolutionary brilliance in the first film, but also on the ground. Reeves became acutely conscious that he was pushing 40 during those days when he was asked to add something new -- perhaps a back flip or a cartwheel. It wasn't just abusing his system with take after take of an intricate few seconds of fighting. It was also the preliminary training, forcing reluctant limbs to be far suppler than nature ever intended. That's why the stretching exercises had him crying out.

"It's no joke. It's 20-pound sandbags on your legs. It's people pushing down on you." That and the unsettling sound of stubborn joints popping.

"You do it if you want height in your kicks and clean lines and things like that," he says flatly. Still, things got so bad that between scenes, he immersed himself in a tub full of ice.

"You're basically tearing micromuscle tissue every day, so you get inflammation -- and I'm not 22 anymore! So ice and epsom salts just help the recovery. I also get cramps. So cold water tends to help alleviate that so you can sleep or walk upstairs."

Reeves, 39, isn't especially sequel-friendly. He had no hesitation in turning down a hefty seven-figure offer to do the follow-up to Speed, the movie that brought him major stardom. "I would have done Speed 2 had there been a better script," he says. "I actually would have loved to play that guy again, but I didn't respond to the script and I had just done Chain Reaction which was a really bad experience for me. But these Matrix projects were great scripts."

On matters such as these, Reeves is affable and communicative, and the media does have an easier time with him than in the past: he's taken leave of the unwashed, unshaven young rebel who used to lurch into the interview room in a layer of motorcycle grease and thought it was funny to belch into the microphone instead of answering a question. Today he's Hollywood Cool -- neatly dressed in faded jeans and fashion jacket. His passion for The Matrix shines through when he talks about the three films and the role of Neo, chosen messianic saviour of a human race under siege from the tyranny of machines who have turned the world as he knows it into a computer-generated lie.

Reeves can discourse at length about the metaphysical underpinnings of the Matrix universe, about the comic and computer game influences, about the echoes of Alice In Wonderland, about the mixture of religion and mythology tossed into the brew. If you let him, he'll even discuss the importance of philosophers Schopenhauer and Hume in the Matrix mix.

Yet he remains an enigmatic figure. True, he does talk to the media, which is more than can be said for Andy and Larry Wachowski, the reclusive brothers who made the movie. But the barriers go up if he finds a question too personal -- even Newsweek Magazine was gently but firmly rebuffed recently when it asked Reeves a family-related question.

"What is the real Keanu like?" he's asked. "It's really an impossible question to answer," he smiles. "So you enjoy being enigmatic?" a reporter persists. This time, there's friendly sarcasm. "No, I just want to sit here and cry and reveal myself to you crazy guys." The accompanying smile neuters the sting of the response, but there are signs of patience wearing thin.

"I can't tell you a thing about Keanu," chuckles Laurence Fishburne, who returns as Morpheus, Neo's mentor and defender in the film. "I've been working with him for five years and I still don't know a thing about him. All I can tell you is that after I've spent that much time with him, I love him."

Jada Pinkett Smith, who plays a rebel hovercraft commander in the film, finds Reeves a "complicated" colleague. But she adores him. "He's very guarded, very generous, very sensitive, very quiet. He's also a really intuitive person. He has this quality about him that gives you your space and he expects you to give him his space."

Pinkett Smith is also expressed by his Reeves's generosity. She cites the day that he purchased 12 Harleys as gifts for the 12 stuntmen who worked with him in one of the most gruelling scenes. "He didn't make a big deal of it," she stresses.

"Keanu is shy but he has a big heart," reports costar Monica Bellucci. "There's something mysterious about him. Sometimes you want to know more about him, but he doesn't let you approach him." She finds Reeves's personal qualities are "really close" to the character of Neo in the movie.

But producer Joel Silver does produce some insights into his guarded superstar.

"He's incredibly passionate about this piece, so he has worked very hard to do what the boys expected of him," Silver reports. "I have never seen somebody train and be as committed to a character. He almost had a religious existence in Australia. He was never really out, he was never running around. He would just train every day when he wasn't shooting. He would be quiet and to himself. He loved Neo and he wanted the audience to as well."

Reeves has now spent so much time filming in Australia that he now knows Sydney as intimately as Los Angeles or his home town of Toronto. "I just loved the city -- great people, beautiful weather and beautiful architecturally," he reports. But he unbends sufficiently to admit it was lonely. "I was in Australia for a year, basically my whole 37th year, working on The Matrix. And yeah, it was really hard to be away from family and friends that long."

But against that, there was the commitment he felt to the world of the film and to the role of Neo, the computer hacker who discovers his destiny and the truth about The Matrix. Above all there was his loyalty to the brothers. "What Larry and Andrew are trying to achieve in their storytelling, the physical action they present, the elements of new cinema and technology they have invented to create images, is unparalleled. "

Moreover, he believes the film raises profound moral issues in depicting the battle between the humans and the 250,000 Sentinels in the Machine Army who are programmed to destroy them. He talks about "that whole aspect of free will and choice, the whole nurture-nature aspect" and suggests the trilogy raises some pointed questions. "What is fate? What are you compelled to do? What is free will?"

He's proud of the showcase action scenes -- perhaps most spectacularly a confrontation with Neo's old nemesis, the relentless Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) -- a confrontation that becomes a nightmare when Smith is joined in battle by 99 lethal facsimiles of himself, all equally determined to extinguish Neo.

The action here shifts between extreme slow-motion and supersonic speed; during the extended shooting of the scene, nine stuntmen also portraying Agent Smith were brought in, and they in turn were multiplied tenfold by computer technology.

There are even moments of a computer-generated Neo. Reeves jokes that the digital Keanu in the movie is "fantastic" but says he doesn't worry about actors in Hollywood eventually being replaced by computer images. He notes that in his recent movie, Sweet November, the computer technicians put tears in his eyes. "But if they do digitally alter my performance, what I want is performance approval," he grins."

Review-"The Matrix Reloaded": Keanu Reeves returns with virtual visions

Posted on Wed, May. 14, 2003

Matrix Reloaded review

"The Matrix Reloaded": Keanu Reeves returns with virtual visions

By DAVID FRESE
The Kansas City Star

Warner Bros.

Neo (Keanu Reeves) stands above his vanquished foes in 'The Matrix Reloaded'.

3 stars out of four. Editor's note: Attention, "Matrix" fans. You will love "The Matrix Reloaded." Drop the paper in the nearest recycling bin and sprint for the cineplex where you and your "Matrix" buddies can decode the meaning of Merovingian. Read no further. Go. Go. Go.

OK. Are they gone yet?

Good. Now, let's talk about this movie.

This is the second "episode" in a trilogy of "Matrix" films. If you haven't seen the first, it will do you good to rent it before you see this one. If you stick around after the lengthy credits of "Reloaded," you'll get to see "bonus footage" for the third, "Revolutions," which is scheduled for release in November.

The first film showed a future in which humankind has been enslaved by machines. The world as we know it is actually the Matrix, a virtual-reality program pumped into the brains of humans kept in suspended animation. A small band of rebels freed Neo (Keanu Reeves), the man they believed to be the prophesied messiah who will eventually defeat the machines and free the humans.

In "Reloaded," Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Neo are still fighting the good fight, but the machines are drilling through the earth to wipe out the free people in the hidden underground city of Zion.

Neo, meanwhile, has become something of a haunted messiah who is troubled by a recurring dream of Trinity's death -- not to mention the desire to get her in the sack.

And then there's that pesky Agent Smith (the excellent Hugo Weaving), who has freed himself from the Matrix and learned how to make copies of himself.

There's a lot of lightweight intellectualism and hokey mysticism floating about. The first "Matrix" turned a generation of fledgling philosophers on to such sophomore-year topics as the nature of reality and free will. It's the cinematic equivalent of a Rush album.

The sequel's characters still wonder aloud if they have any real choice or if they are destined to failure. Others spout labored dialogue such as "We are here to do what we are here to do." Fishburne's delivery of Morpheus' tautologies is especially yawn-inducing. God of dreams, indeed.

But it's not all sugarcoated Immanuel Kant and leather-bound John Stuart Mill. There are also the love/sex scenes, which are passionless, and the fight scenes, which are nothing short of outstanding.

One would expect people who dress as fetishists to be a bit more sexually adventurous. What you see is only slightly more provocative than an afternoon of MTV. Scenes that require emotional spark play as if they came out of an online chat room.

But the reason to see "Reloaded" is the action. The rebels lead a breakneck freeway chase that crashes more vehicles than John Landis did in "The Blues Brothers." Neo fights 100 copies of Agent Smith in a battle that dares you to find the seams in the effects. (The scene also answers the age-old question regarding action films, namely, why don't the bad guys bum-rush the horribly outnumbered good guy?)

The fight choreography is awesome in its speed, athleticism and wire work. The problem of gravity has been troubling for recent effects-heavy films -- see "Spider-Man," "Attack of the Clones" or "Monsters, Inc." for evidence -- but "Reloaded" nails it. Which is ironic, considering the "Matrix" characters defy gravity in all new ways.

The effects are not all grand. Sometimes the directors, Andy and Larry Wachowski, emulate "Star Wars" guru George Lucas and get a little carried away with their toys. Just because you can show a spaceship land in port doesn't mean you should. The first 20 minutes of the film is flabby with such moments.

Serving as a middle chapter, "Reloaded" fails to stand alone -- and intends to by ending in a cliffhanger.

As a film, it's a pretty good amusement park ride. At times it's a little like watching someone else play a really cool video game, but, to their advantage, the Wachowskis have nestled enough density amid the fun to encourage repeat viewings.

It's basically review-proof, serving no other mission than to further its own mythology -- and sell tickets and spin-off products.

Box office, baby.

Keanu Chat The Rave At 'Matrix' Premiere'

By Robert Kahn
STAFF WRITER

May 14, 2003

They must've all swallowed the same red pill because all anyone could do at last night's midtown premiere of "The Matrix: Reloaded" was chat about their favorite Keanu Reeves flick.

Laurence Fishburne, "The Matrix's" Morpheus, said his favorite Reeves movie was "My Own Private Idaho."

"But Theodore is my favorite character," Fishburne said, digging deep into the Keanu canon and referencing "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure."

"It's not like he was just some good-looking guy who was naturally given everything," Fishburne said. "He has brilliant comic timing and you can see it in Theodore."

Jada Pinkett Smith, meanwhile, chose "Point Break," Reeves' 1991 cop-surfer work with Patrick Swayze.

"He was so yummy in that," Smith said. "When I first came out to L.A. I was looking for an agency that could get me in a movie with Keanu. I had such a crush on him. And now that I'm 37 years old and married, I finally get to meet him. It's too late for me now."

Hugo Weaving, who plays bad guy Agent Smith in "The Matrix" films, took the politically correct route last night and selected "The Matrix" as his favorite Reeves effort. Carrie-Anne Moss opted for the 1997 indie flick "The Last Time I Committed Suicide."

Keanu wants to return to the stage

'The Matrix' star Keanu Reeves has said he want his next project to be a play.

He has told reporters he's ready for a change and has started preparing for a return to the stage, hopefully next year.

"I've got to get back on stage for a little bit, because I love it! I love it and I really want to play as an actor - just to go through the process of doing a play," he said.

"To be able to act on stage and go play like that, you know, the continuity aspect of it, the live aspect, is really for me home. I love it! I've been learning sonnets!"

The sequel to 1999's sci-fi box office hit, 'The Matrix Reloaded' is due to hit screens in the US this Friday - and in Ireland on 23 May.

More to 'Matrix' than three movies

By Bob Strauss
Film Writer

"The Matrix Reloaded" is not only the most anticipated movie sequel of the year.

It's also the first of two simultaneously shot sequels ("The Matrix Revolutions" opens worldwide -- at exactly! the same moment, we're told -- on Nov. 5). But to get the full vision of Larry and Andy Wachowski's dystopian future cyberworld, you'll also have to play the brothers-directed video game "Enter the Matrix" ($49.99, available in stores the same day "Reloaded" hits theaters, May 15) and watch "The Animatrix" (released June 3, $19.98 for VHS format and $24.98 on DVD), a collection of nine short, "Matrix"-related cartoons directed by the cream of cutting-edge U.S. and Japanese animators.

Quite a pricey saga to keep up with. But Joel Silver, producer of the whole "Matrix" megillah, says that it could have been worse.

"The studio wanted to put out a big (DVD) reissue of 'The Matrix' with added features, and we wouldn't let 'em do it," says Silver, noting that anyone wanting a refresher course before seeing the sequel could have caught the original movie, for free, on Fox last Friday. "It wouldn't have been fair to ask our fans to run out and buy it. We're asking them to see the new movie, to buy a video game, to buy 'The Animatrix,' to see another movie and to, maybe, buy two DVDs (of the new films). That's a lot of money. Anything else would be greedy."

Whatever they think about "Reloaded," those inclined to purchase the extra products are likely to feel their money was well spent. They're lavishly produced. The video game cost around $20 million to make, nearly 10 times the industry average. And "Animatrix" tells nine terrific stories in wildly different, graphically striking ways, while over an hour's worth of live footage using the new movies' actors and sets kicks the video game's visual pleasures way higher than the medium's norm.

"In Japan, animation is usually created on very low budgets," anime auteur Mahiro Maeda notes through an interpreter. Asked how he liked the comparatively luxurious funding he got for the two "Animatrix" segments he directed, Maeda grins and nods vigorously.

Another inducement: Both products' multiple story lines can be somewhat integral to the films' convoluted plot.

"I don't think 'somewhat' is the right word," Silver corrects. "It's not promotion. It isn't lunch boxes and Happy Meals. It really is story related. Some of the stuff that you see in the game directly relates to the movie. Now, if you don't see the game, it doesn't matter, you'll still enjoy the movie. The same when, in the movie, a kid and Neo are talking about being set free, that's a story in one of the animes."

Whatever their pleasures, the video and video game are clearly here to feed off "The Matrix," not the other way around.

Says Michael Arias, the cartoons' American producer: "I've always felt that we, 'Animatrix,' have a lot more to gain from the promotional muscle of a movie like 'The Matrix' than they from us. I mean, I don't know if people are going to see 'The Animatrix' and then say, 'Oh yeah, maybe I'll go see "Reloaded." ' If you're thinking of 'The Animatrix' as a big commercial for the franchise, it's a very, very, very ambitious commercial."

Getting with the program

By Elizabeth Snead
Tinseltown Spywitness

Free your mind. And, apparently, your closet. The cast of "The Matrix Reloaded" stuck to basic black-and-white at Wednesday night's premiere in Westwood.

Keanu Reeves was somber in a black Nehru jacket, shirt and pants. Jada Pinkett Smith and Carrie-Anne Moss were also funereal: a black dress with a leather jacket and a sexy strappy gown, respectively. Even Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) went casually dark in an open-collar black shirt and slim trousers. Only Monica Bellucci added a hue, shimmering in a snug pale mauve satin gown.

But it was Laurence Fishburne and the film's dreadlocked albino twins, Neal and Adrian Rayment, who brightened the black carpet with stunning cream-and-white Ozwald Boateng custom-made suits.

Boateng, who dressed Daniel Day-Lewis for the Oscars and the SAG awards (remember that cool purple suit?) had only a month to make 12 suits for the three actors for "Reloaded" premieres in L.A., New York, Cannes and London.

Boateng is a close pal of Fishburne's and designed his wedding suit. It was at his wedding last year that Boateng met and bonded with the twins. "I was like, Brits! Great! Those guys are absolutely amazing. They're like one person." His new menswear collection, available at his London Savile Row studio, Selfridges in London and Les Galeries Lafayette in Paris and soon in his new Manhattan shop, has a futuristic "Matrix" theme. But he's no newcomer to Hollywood. As well as dressing actors such as Sam Jackson, Graham Norton, Russell Crowe and Will Smith, he's also done custom suits for Anthony Hopkins in "Hannibal," the British gangsters in Guy Ritchie's "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," and some bad guys in "Tomorrow Never Dies."

Now he's got his eye on Bond. James Bond. "Traditionally Bond wears Savile Row suits," Boateng says. "But Pierce (Brosnan) has been wearing Italian suits. We need to get him back to Savile Row. But I'm optimistic."

The mood was more than optimistic for the film, as hundreds of fans screamed for the download of stars, including Sandra Bullock, Tori Spelling, Heidi Klum, Alyssa Milano, Katie Holmes, Jamie Kennedy, Amber Valetta and musicians like Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit. "I think this one is going to raise the bar, as far as special effects and what we can do with cinema," said Durst, whose band contributed to the soundtrack.

Always a man of few words, Reeves expressed one simple Neo-like wish: "I just hope the fans like it."

Reeves it and weep

Reeves it and weep

Wyndham King

Monica's up to her old Matrix Matrix Reloaded scorcher Monica Bellucci has been singing the praises of Keanu Reeves' tongue-sarnie prowess.

And the 34-year-old Italian ex-model, who plays the delectable cyber-temptress Persephone in the forthcoming sci-fi blockbuster, says one particular snog-scene in the sensational sequel ended up having tons of takes - to make certain it was just right.

Well, you can't leave these things to chance, can you?

And she hasn't. In fact, with almost spooky symmetry, it is 11 years since Bellucci made her movie debut in Francis Ford Coppolla's Dracula, in which she was required to indulge in a spot of tonsil-hockey with, you've guessed it, Reeves.

In an interview with America's Jam! showbiz digest Bellucci purred: "We had to do the scene maybe 20 times, 50 times, I don't know, many, many times.

"Keanu is a good kisser, so it wasn't painful. It's so funny because in our work we have to get so intimate with people we don't know."

Do go on.

Oh, you've gone...

Bellucci, meanwhile, promises to be a compelling presence in both of this year's eagerly awaited Matrix sequels.

The Daily Star has kick-started the hype with a centre-spread of Bellucci and the other three members of the babe-tastic Matrix quartet, Carrie-Anne Moss, Nona Gaye and Jada Pinkett Smith. And Bellucci added to the Jam! hack: "It's a film that represents a generation.

"This film is much more than an action movie. It's more than a beautiful visual movie. It's a philosophy of life. It's a deep meaning. There's something very religious about it.

"We're on our knees, love, trust us. We're on our knees...

The reality behind the 'Matrix'

Commentary: What's the market for special effects?

By Bambi Francisco, CBS.MarketWatch.com

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) - This week, "The Matrix Reloaded," a movie in which anything is possible in a computer-simulated dream world, opens in theaters across the country.As audiences take in the illusory thrill ride, many will probably overlook the supporting role played by a tiny German technology company.

Berlin-based Mental Images provided the rendering software, dubbed "mental ray," for the second installment of the sci-fi trilogy.

Rendering software generates images that are indistinguishable from images captured with a camera. "The transitions between sequences taken by the camera and sequences that are synthetic are so smooth ... the actors don't look like rubber," said Rolf Herken, who founded Mental Images in the 1980s while working towards his Ph.D. in quantum theory of space and time.

In the new film, signature shots using the mental ray technology include a highway-chase sequence as well as what's known as the "Burly Brawl," in which the villain Agent Smith multiplies into 100 agents to battle Neo, the hero played by Keanu Reeves.

Mental Images' contribution to technology used in "The Matrix," an AOL Time Warner (SYMB:AOL) film, earned the 35-person company a technical achievement award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences earlier this year.

Fund raiser Herken is hoping that Oscar cachet and affiliation with "Matrix" films can help the company find investment support and move toward its next product development goal, a reality server that would enable people to interact with and manipulate images in three dimensions. He stopped by CBS.MarketWatch's headquarters in San Francisco recently during a trip to meet with prospective investors in Silicon Valley.

Right now, the company is using its cash flow to fund the development of its reality server. However, to ramp up, Herken is in fund-raising mode.

Although the company hasn't announced investors yet, Herken said he's looking to raise less than $10 million for a double-digit percentage stake in the company.

Mental Images generates about $5 million to $10 million in sales a year. More than half of it comes from computer-aided design software sold to manufacturers for things like auto designs.

By comparison, Pixar Animation Studios (SYMB:PIXR) makes a competing software that generates about $2 million a quarter. That's about 11 percent of Pixar's first-quarter revenue.

Test markets Herken says the new reality server technology, currently in testing, could be used for at least two notable markets: online gaming and manufacturing.

In the online gaming industry, Electronic Arts (SYMB:ERTS) is already moving in the reality server direction with its Sims Online game. But "EA needs something like reality server, because there is currently no application-development platform that handles arbitrarily complex 3-D data for thousands of interactive users," Herken said.

But that's down the road. For now, Herken says the product's early use will likely be by auto or plane manufacturers.

Original data would sit on the server, but a person at a repair site, say a Boeing technician, could manipulate 3-D images on a hand-held computer, helping to pinpoint problems.

Additionally, the reality server can create new market opportunities for companies like Intel, Herken says.

Of course, to make Herken's reality server, well ... a reality, he may need to find some "Matrix" fans.

"Eventually," says Herken, "what 'The Matrix' depicts is technology we're envisioning: simulate a world to the point where you take advantage that the world exists." He adds: "What you see in 'The Matrix' is [a] reality server in action."

You can get free e-mail delivery of Bambi Francisco's Net Stocks daily and Net Sense weekly. Sign up here for Bambi Francisco's Net Stocks and Net Sense newsletters at MarketWatch.com.

Originally published on May 13, 2003

The kiss of success - Matrix temptress Monica Bellucci

Mon, May 12, 2003

The kiss of success

Matrix temptress Monica Bellucci

By BRUCE KIRKLAND, TORONTO SUN

HOLLYWOOD -- Monica Bellucci made her Hollywood film debut 11 years ago in a small role in Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula. Her job? Kiss Keanu Reeves.

In the Wachowski Brothers' eagerly awaited sci-fi sequel, The Matrix Reloaded (due in select theatres late Wednesday and everywhere on Thursday), Bellucci plays a sexy cyber-temptress named Persephone. Her job? Betray her evil husband (Lambert Wilson) and kiss Keanu Reeves.

"For me, it was funny," Bellucci says of working in Dracula, "because, at the time, I was so far away from the movie business. You know, I never thought I could be an actress. I was just a model who Francis Ford Coppola saw in a picture and I jumped into that movie and all I had to do was to kiss Keanu Reeves, who, at the time, was already a movie star.

"And now I'm back here and I get to kiss him again. It's like a circle." Now the 34-year-old Bellucci herself is a movie star, both in America (Tears Of The Sun and both Matrix sequels) and in Europe, especially in her native Italy and in her adopted country of France, where she moved to expand her career and marry French actor Vincent Cassel.

Kissing Reeves was a bonus reward in The Matrix Reloaded, which shows how Neo tries to lead Morpheus et al to the Truth about the Matrix, the master computer that controls and threatens mankind with extinction.

"We had to do the scene maybe 20 times, 50 times, I don't know, many, many times (she later admits she was 'kidding' about doing the scene 50 times). Keanu is a good kisser, so it wasn't painful. It's so funny because in our work we have to get so intimate with people we don't know."

Bellucci, however, is clearly a strong, passionate woman at ease with her body and her sensuality.

'PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE'

She had the guts to be the naked victim in the infamous nine-minute rape scene in Irreversible, a French film in which she co-starred with Cassel.

Today, for the interview, she is bra-less and her bosoms are ready to burst the one button still holding them into a tight, white shirt. Meanwhile, in The Matrix Reloaded, she is stuffed into a form-fitting but classic ballroom gown.

At the same time, the well-educated Bellucci, who studied law in Italy before branching into modeling and acting, is both philosophical and giddy about the movie trilogy.

"I'm a big fan of Larry and Andy (Wachowski) from when I saw Bound, because Bound was a big hit in Europe. Of course, when I saw The Matrix, I fell in love, like everybody. And to have the chance to be a part of this movie is a big thing for me because The Matrix is a film that everybody is waiting for, not just in America but also in Europe.

"It's a film that represents a generation. This film is much more than an action movie. It's more than a beautiful visual movie. It's a philosophy of life. It's a deep meaning. There's something very religious about it."

As for her own role -- aside from the forced flirtation with Reeves as the Christ-like Neo -- Bellucci sees great sadness in her, just as there was in the Greek goddess she was named for, "because nothing is a coincidence in this movie."

Says Bellucci: "There is something really sad and really tragic about her. It's sensual. She's dangerous, but she's also desperate." And she will be back in The Matrix Revolutions in November. The role is striking but no bigger than in Reloaded. No matter, says Bellucci.

"I'm excited to be part of the film. If you are in the movie for 15 minutes or one hour and a half, to me the most important thing is that I have something to play and (that) I can give life to something. Because the pleasure is to act. The pleasure is to be a part of something that you believe in."

Effects-laden 'Matrix' sequel has Keanu Reeves wondering

Colin Covert, Star Tribune

Published May 11, 2003 HOW11

'I'm getting tired of saying 'groundbreaking.' How many times can you say 'groundbreaking'?" griped "Matrix" producer Joel Silver.

Then again, how many synonyms are available for the kind of pioneering special-effects work being done on the "Matrix" sequels? If the original film raised the bar for integrating live action and photorealistic computer-generated imagery, "The Matrix Reloaded" high-kicks that sucker into orbit.

The sequel calls for speeding semis to crash head-on, for Neo to battle a hundred clones of his nemesis Agent Smith simultaneously, and for new adversaries to phase out of physical form, into a ghostlike cloud of electrons, and back again in a flash.

To realize those unprecedented demands, Oscar-winning visual-effects supervisor John Gaeta had to move beyond cinematography. In order to send the camera slithering under the axles of a thundering 18-wheeler or flying through a skyscraper canyon at 2,000 miles per hour, his team had to create a virtual camera that could go where no Panaflex has ever ventured. They used multiple high-definition video cameras to sample their actors' faces and physical environments, fed the digitized samples into computers and manipulated the results to create unprecedented visuals.

Keanu Reeves grinned as he recalled the process of fighting a regiment of Hugo Weavings.

"It was basically me fighting nine guys, stuntmen with masks," he said. "Then wherever your eye went, they would always put Hugo there" by superimposing his face on the stuntman's head. "My stuntman and I did motion capture, which was the source material" for their movements when the battle was done with computer-graphic imagery.

"There was, like, 6 terabytes of memory in the computers for these digital cameras, and the hum and the heat from the computers and all these guys trying to capture my face," he marveled. "I'm like, 'What are you guys doin'? Why do you want to do this?' And they're like, 'Because!' "

Reeves' experiences as a digitized actor have been mostly positive ("I hear the digital Keanu is fantastic," he joked), but he does have some reservations.

"From the directors, it's like 'Mwa-ha-haaa, now I can control you; I have you!' Where that will go for the actor, I don't know," he said. "For an actor now, you participate even though other people, the director and editor, choose your performance in those takes. With the digital aspect, you're no longer participating in the process. Already in 'Sweet November,' they put artificial tears in my eyes. If you do want to digitally alter my performance, what I want to have is performance approval."

Still, when it comes to a scene that calls for an actor to make a kamikaze dive through the glass wall of a skyscraper and fall 100 stories, most performers will probably be happy to let their digital clones do the dirty work.

"You're seeing scenes that were not photographed, where the camera doesn't exist," Silver said. "The scenes are constructed in a computer."

That's different from the digital filmmaking of George Lucas because "you're dealing with reality-based scenes," he added. "I'm stretching the word there, but it's not 'Shrek' or 'Toy Story.' You're dealing with characters, actors. And it's designed so you really can't distinguish between the real actor and ones and zeroes. Closeups on faces and emotions coming through, some really remarkable scenes that the audience will never know there's nobody in it.

"There's a moment in the very beginning of the movie when Carrie-Anne [Moss]' character dives through the window. You see these two guns go by the camera, and the camera moves past her face. She goes out the window and down, and there is nothing real about that. Nothing. No guns, no girl, no window."

Now that's groundbreaking.

Enter the 'Matrix' – again

Two sequels to the unexpected blockbuster come out this year with one goal: to amp up the original's 'Wow!' factor.

VIRTUAL LOVE: Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) have a serious love connection in the sequels.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By BARRY KOLTNOW
The Orange County Register

Halfway through the filming of "The Matrix," actor Laurence Fishburne was resting in his trailer when there was a knock at the door. It was a messenger carrying a gift from the film's writer-directors Larry and Andy Wachowski.

The gift was a bottle of champagne with a note attached.

"One down, two to go," the note read.

Mind you, this was long before the movie was completed. Long before it went on to make $460 million at the worldwide box office in 1999 and to become the first film to sell 1 million DVDs. Long before "The Matrix" would revolutionize the action-movie genre and influence fashion, TV commercials, music videos and countless other movies that followed. Long before it would transcend into a genuine pop culture phenomenon.

And certainly long before it would spawn not one but two sequels, the first of which, "The Matrix Reloaded," opens Thursday with an anticipation level that rivals an early "Star Wars" sequel. The last part of the trilogy, "The Matrix Revolutions," will hit theaters in November.

"The boys (Wachowski brothers) always intended it as a trilogy," producer Joel Silver said recently in his office on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank. "They had the whole story written out on yellow pads before we even got started on the first movie."

The reason for the brothers' unbridled optimism is anyone's guess. The notoriously press- shy filmmakers aren't talking (see related story on Page 5).

But an informal survey of the trilogy's stars - Fishburne, Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss - indicated that there was a general sense of optimism on the set of the first movie from the beginning.

In fact, all three said they agreed to return for the sequels even before they saw a finished script.

"We all came back for the brothers," Moss said. "We came back for the story. We came back for the movie. You have to be a part of it to understand it. They (the brothers) really inspire people to want to show up for them."

In the new film, Moss returns as the tough, leather-clad Trinity who again teams with Morpheus (Fishburne) to help Neo (Reeves) save the human race from the machines. There also is a serious love connection between Neo and Trinity.

Just in case you came late to the "Matrix" party, the Wachowskis have created a world in which humans have been enslaved by machines. In the first film, Reeves' character is a hacker who learns that the world as he knows it is a computer-generated simulation. Humans, used as an energy source by the machines, are literally hooked into an artificial reality system (the Matrix).

There are a group of determined, unhooked humans fighting the machines, and some of them believe that Neo is their savior. They call him The One.

In the second film, Neo has firmly embraced his role as The One, and he embarks on a desperate mission that he must complete before an army of mechanized sentinels wipes out Zion, the underground city that is home to the unplugged humans.

This film expands on the original in many ways, with "Thunderdome-like" crowd scenes in Zion and "Star Wars-like" scenes aboard the ships. But don't fret; there are still enough stylized fighting scenes, mind-boggling effects and Eastern-inspired philosophy to fill two "Matrix" movies. In fact, they do.

Each sequel is half a film. "The Matrix Reloaded" ends abruptly in a cliffhanger, with a more satisfying ending promised in the next sequel. The sequels were filmed simultaneously in Australia in a grueling 270-day shoot at a cost of more than $300 million.

"It was a tremendous cost- saving to do both movies at the same time," Silver said. "Each film cost about twice what the original cost, but it would have cost at least 50 percent more if we had shot the two sequels at different times."

It wasn't just the actors' salaries that inflated the costs of the sequels, although Reeves' reported $30 million paycheck didn't exactly keep down costs.

A large part of the budget - estimated at more than $100 million - went to pumping up the "Wow!" factor.

MASTER OF EFFECTS

As visual-effects supervisor on the three "Matrix" films, John Gaeta is in charge of the "Wow!" factor.

He won an Oscar for his "Wow!" factor in the first film. For the sequels, he headed an army of about 1,000 people whose sole mission in life is to make audiences say "Wow!" when they see the movie. They created more than 1,000 effects for "Reloaded," compared with 412 effects for the original.

"The "Wow!" factor is pretty much self-imposed," the effects wizard explained in his trailer. "I challenge myself to do something better than I did before. I don't even go to most effects movies anymore because I find them redundant. The way I approach a project is to figure out how I'm going to twist it to make it different."

In the first film, Gaeta and his army created an effect known as "Bullet Time," a revolutionary concept in which 120 Nikon cameras were placed around a scene. They fired in sequence, with digital technology added to fill in the blanks. At the time, it was considered state-of-the-art technology.

For the sequels, Gaeta said, the bar had to be raised considerably, not only to satisfy the expectations of the audience but to motivate the visual effects team.

"The type of people involved in these movies are only interested in doing original work," he said. "Four years after the first movie, they would never consider doing something that went over old ground. They would never take the easy way out."

Because the technology didn't exist to fulfill all the visions of the filmmakers, Gaeta and his team had to invent their own technology.

"Bullet Time" looks outdated compared to the concept of "Universal Capture," a process used in the sequel to create virtual humans so that Neo can battle 100 Agent Smiths. (Yes, he was killed at the end of the first film, but he's back and he's picked up a nifty ability to create more Agent Smiths.)

In reality, Reeves is fighting nine stuntmen. The rest of the Agent Smiths were manufactured.

"When you start a project like this," Gaeta said, "you first take a risk assessment. You need to assess how far out of control the objective is, how long we have to do it and are we going to be financed.

"I have seen a lot of scripts get knocked out of any hope of being done because the writers didn't realize that they were describing something that would cost millions and millions of dollars or would be impossible to do because of the existing technology.

"That didn't happen with the Wachowskis. They had a clear vision of what they wanted, and they gave us total freedom to make that vision a reality."

Gaeta said the Wachowski brothers and the effects people who worked on the films share a philosophy about the movies they make. They also share a philosophy about the people who see their movies.

"From the first movie on, we never thought of our fans as the average mainstream audience. Our audience is the movie audience that has been largely neglected for the last 20 years.

"Because of the movies that Hollywood has been turning out, people have come to believe that big visual effects blockbuster-type movies are light fare. They see them as easy summer popcorn movies.

"That thinking ignores an audience that loves science fiction movies with trippy, futuristic storylines. Hollywood used to make movies like that. They were just called movies - movies that happened to have special effects in them. Now, all people talk about are special-effects movies.

"We set out to make movies that happen to have effects in them. Some people have called them smart movies, but we just call them movies."

ENTER THE MATRIX

Reeves, 38, underwent six months of intense physical training before filming began on the two sequels. That included two hours of stretching each day.

"It wasn't real kung fu, but it was real stretching," the actor said. "And that was no joke. I'm talking about stretching with 20-pound sandbags on your legs and people pushing on you."

Reeves said he already was in pretty good shape from the last "Matrix" film, but concentrated on advanced choreography for the sequels.

Moss also planned to train for six months before the start of the filming, but she broke her leg during the first week of training. She was out of commission for eight weeks.

"It turned out to be a good thing," the actress said, "because it made me aware that even in a movie, you can get hurt."

Moss said the actors on the first film knew they were making something special but no one imagined that "The Matrix" would become a cultural phenomenon.

"I was very proud to be in that movie," she said. "But I wasn't sure it would do anything for my career. I thought I might have to waitress again.

"The first time I realized that it was going to be big was at a Super Bowl party I had at my house. I showed a 10-minute trailer of the movie to my friends and I could tell something was up from the looks on their faces. I felt very cool after that."

In fact, "The Matrix" has defined cool since its release four years ago. That cool factor has only been enhanced by the coming arrival of the two sequels. Last December, Newsweek magazine declared 2003 "The Year of the Matrix."

Such unabashed enthusiasm in the media has led some skeptics to accuse the studio of over-hyping the sequels, a charge that Silver adamantly denies.

"I read about our so-called marketing blitz, and it drives me crazy," the producer said. "There are no lunch boxes or Happy Meals tied to this movie.

"When Newsweek put out that cover, that was their call. We had nothing to do with that. We were very concerned about overexposure. We released one teaser last May, one Super Bowl spot and then the trailers, which started a few weeks ago. That's it.

"We decided right at the beginning that we would make ourselves the cool police. And we kept to that. Anything else out there is someone else's hype."

Barrywood

Barrywood

By BARRY KOLTNOW
The Orange County Register

I have waited four long years to expose Larry and Andy Wachowski as lying, cheating, no-good Hollywood scum.

Unfortunately, I may have been mistaken.

These Chicago brothers, who wrote and directed "The Matrix" and its coming sequels apparently are not the lying, cheating, no-good Hollywood scum that I assumed they were when I interviewed them four years ago in their Sunset Strip hotel suite just days before their groundbreaking movie opened.

Oh, they seemed nice enough on the surface.

Because of their background - writing comic books at night while paying the rent doing construction work during the day - they seemed like regular guys. They didn't appear to take themselves too seriously.

As filmmakers, they were starting to build a cult reputation based on two things - early buzz on "The Matrix" and a lengthy lesbian love scene in the thriller "Bound," their first movie.

They also had a reputation for being painfully press-shy. They let it be known that they didn't like doing interviews.

I suggested to them that if the buzz on their movie was right, they were in for many more meetings with the media.

They looked at each other and smiled.

"Not if we can help it," Andy said.

I asked what he meant, and he said that if "The Matrix" proved to be a big hit, they would have a clause put in their next contract that they didn't have to do interviews.

I asked them if this could be their last interview ever.

"With any luck," Larry said.

People in Hollywood say that all the time, and nobody buys it.

It's usually a ploy. They claim they don't like doing publicity, but they need publicity to sell their movies.

Even rabid media-haters like Bruce Willis and Eddie Murphy eventually relent, although they usually end up doing TV interviews because they can manipulate the fawning interviewer and do shtick long enough to pass for an interview.

Despite their protestations, I think actors like doing interviews. They got into the business to perform in the spotlight, and doing interviews – particularly TV interviews – is a chance to perform in the spotlight.

I assumed the Brothers Wachowski (Larry is 37, Andy is 35) fell into that group. I assumed that they would not be able to resist the lure of the spotlight.

But they resisted just fine. There were rumors that they actually had a no-interview clause in their contract with Warner Bros.

Producer Joel Silver, who worked with the brothers on all three "Matrix" movies, told me the contract clause is pure Hollywood lore.

"There is no clause in their contract," Silver said. "But they did say that if the studio wanted them to do the sequels, they really didn't want to do any more interviews."

Silver, who has been forced to do most of the talking in the directors' absence, said he understands their reluctance to discuss their thoughts.

"I'm not comparing them to Kubrick, but he didn't do interviews, either. Some directors are just uncomfortable talking about their movies and themselves. They don't want to reveal too much, and I respect that."

In Barrywood, we respect that as well. But that won't stop us from revealing a few of their private thoughts from that interview four years ago. Larry does most of the talking.

On the comic-book influence - "We grew up reading comic books and watching movies," Larry said. "It's funny how people separate the two mediums. They're really very similar art forms."

On the idea of "The Matrix" - "We wanted to take four Western actors and put them in a Hong Kong action piece. It's something that had never been done for obvious reasons. The commitment it took, including four months of kung fu training, was not something most actors are willing to make."

On the script - "Joel (Silver) and Lorenzo (Warners' president of production) suggested that we draw the scenes like a comic book. We hired some of our friends in the comic-book business and sat in a room for five months. We literally drew the entire movie as a comic book."

On casting Keanu - "He came in with a stack of notes and started philosophical discussions about the script that only Larry and I thought about," Andy said. "We strongly believe that we probably couldn't have made this movie with anybody else. It took a maniacal dedication and he had it."

On people "getting" their movie - "We have such strange, eclectic tastes that we wanted to make a movie you could get on many levels," Larry said. "We think we've made the best kung fu movie ever with American actors so if you like it on that level, that's fine. But if you want to look a little deeper, there is a lot of stuff there, too."

Barry Koltnow's Hollywood column appears Sundays in Show.

It's the movie to beat this summer

May 11, 2003

BY JEFF VRABEL STAFF REPORTER

In the summer of 1999, an unheralded little sci-fi thriller named "The Matrix" did something then considered unthinkable: It upstaged the bejesus out of "Star Wars." George Lucas' prequel "Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace" was set to bulldoze movie houses nationwide, thundering down the boulevard in a convoy of hype and marketing so thick it kind of made fans forget there was a movie coming. As such, lost in the sea of soft drink and goo-candy tie-ins was the fact that at the end of the day, "Episode I" wasn't half the barn-burning sci-fi blowout that fans were anticipating.

Which is where "The Matrix" came in.

Rather than bearing the disappointment that one of the most anticipated films in the history of humankind was a dud, sci-fi fans quickly turned elsewhere. "The Matrix," released a month and a half before "Menace," was loud, brutal and super-cool--"Star Wars" all grown up, upgrading the corners of sci-fi where Lucas' flick was weakest (and, it should be noted, wisely avoiding the use of a talking Rasta-frog).

With its apocalyptic, hyperdrive vision of a future ruled by machines, its black-leather fashion, mythological characters, nods to Eastern philosophy and kung-fu cinema and effects sequences best described by the terms "kick" and "ass," "The Matrix" truly emerged from nowhere to steamroll the culture and set a new standard in sci-fi. It revolutionized the effects game (winning the Oscar for best visual effects in 1999 in an upset win over "Menace"), introduced "bullet time" into the national vocabulary and made Keanu Reeves more marketable than he had been since the glory days of Bill and Ted.

"The Phantom Menace" easily outgrossed "The Matrix"; "Star Wars" scored $431 million domestically, while "Matrix" clocked in at a healthy $171 million. But "Star Wars," like similar juggernauts "Spider-Man" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, were all rated the far more financially stable PG-13. "The Matrix" was Rated R all the way. But in the more shapeless realm of cultural dominance, box-office represents only a fraction of a movie's influence, which explains why many of your friends still quote "Office Space."

Now, with the sequel ready to drop, the "Matrix" series is as big a slam-dunk as those venerable franchises in terms of cultural madness, Internet presence, hype power and general fan geek-ship.

And this summer, "The Matrix" is the one to beat.

Two to beat, actually. In marketing strategy that would seem riskier if this movie wasn't going to be so ridiculously huge, "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions," both shot over a year in Australia, will be released just six months apart. "Reloaded" hits on Thursday on a mammoth 3,200 screens, including one at the Cannes Film Festival. (Locally, a few theaters will start showing it at 10 p.m. Wednesday) "Revolutions" follows on Nov. 5. (Tickets for the former have been on sale via Web sites such as Moviefone.com and Fandango.com since May 1. Fandango reports that at this point, advance sales for "Reloaded" exceed any other May debut ever, which would include "Attack of the Clones" and "Spider-Man.")

Such stunt scheduling is uncharted territory. It's not unusual to shoot multiple sequels simultaneously--that started with "Back to the Future" and continued through "The Lord of the Rings"--but, to date, the shortest wait between franchise installments has been the yearlong gulf separating "Rings" flicks.

That all said, it does make the wait considerably easier, especially since "Reloaded" is rumored to sport an abrupt cliffhanger ending and a sure-to-be-infuriating "to be concluded."

Will that kind of scheduling trick have a negative effect on business? Conventional wisdom says no, unless the films are an ungodly sci-fi disappointment. (Which does not yet appear to be a worry. A review by someone named Neill Cumpston on Harry Knowles' aint-it-cool-news.com site--a review that purports to be the first on the planet--opens with an ecstatic "Jim-Jammity Jesus Krispy Kreme Christ!")

Analysts say no as well; many are betting on "Reloaded" alone clocking $200 to $300 million.

What the trick does do is assign full and complete ownership of Movie Year 2003 to "The Matrix."

The cult of 'The Matrix'

Summer is a cage match, but this year's crop is ridiculously stocked with wannabe blockbusters. May has already seen the $85 million opening weekend of "X2," and it's only a few weeks before "The Hulk" and the third installment in the similar death-by-robots "Terminator" series, "Rise of the Machines."

But "The Matrix Reloaded" seems to be operating on a different level of expectation. Entertainment Weekly called it "the most anticipated movie of the year, if you don't count 'Revolutions,' " and readers of entertainment Web site zap2it.com agreed, ranking "Reloaded" No. 1 in anticipation over runner-up "X2" by a count of 32 percent to 21 percent.

Since the final trailer has been available at thematrix.com, it's been downloaded more than 4.5 million times, putting it on schedule to be Warner Bros.' most downloaded trailer ever. (Once again, that's thematrix.com. Not to pour gasoline on the smoldering hype here, but you gotta see this thing. Bring a fast computer.)

There are plenty of reasons for all this mania. The first "Matrix" was the definition of a sleeper smash, born of word-of-mouth rather than pre-programmed buzz and one that still, thanks to its long tentacles into the comic book and Internet universes, maintains its original pedigree as a "cult hit." And it came complete with a jaw-dropping array of special effects, including that bullet-time business, which you may remember as a revolutionary little gimmick before it became the most exhaustingly parodied ("Shrek," "Scary Movie," "The Simpsons") and copied ("Charlie's Angels") special effect of all time.

But "The Matrix" also got a nice, long second life on home video. Thanks to those brutal action sequences and killer techno-industrial soundtrack, "The Matrix" was the first DVD ever to break the million-sales mark, and has gone on to worldwide sales of more than 15 million copies. It's even gone so far as to spawn "The Matrix Revisited," a supplemental disc that proved successful, especially so considering there wasn't actually a movie on it. (Both the original disc and a two-pack containing both "The Matrix" and "Revisited" were just re-released at lower prices.)

Attack of the clones

And if nothing else, "The Matrix" is a giddy, effects-soaked, sci-fi super-blowout. The sequel is expected to be the same, only with an augmented arsenal of special effects. Where the original "Matrix" boasted 412 effects shots, "Reloaded" and "Revolutions" have closer to 2,500, including, but not limited to:

*Perfect digital clones of actors, including Hugo Weaving as the nefarious Agent Smith(s), dispatched by Neo in the first flick but returned in a Version 2.0 form that can clone itself.

In grossly oversimplified form, here's how those clones are born: FX guys shoot a batch of hi-res images of Weaving from several angles and pour them into a computer, which creates a digital photocopy of Weaving's appearances from every angle the cameras missed. Every angle. All of them. What this trick does is make possible an intense clash between Neo and the clones. (There's a story angle here about a movie about a virtual world being shot with a cast of virtual actors, but it kind of makes our heads lock up, so we'll pass.)

*A trick called "ghosting." More on this later.

*The piece de resistance: a 14-minute monster of a freeway chase scene. This is "Frogger" on about eight pounds of speedballs, shot on a freeway set that the brothers Wachowski had built expressly for the movie on an old naval base in California. Said piece includes one kung-fu battle in the back seat of a Cadillac, one clash atop a speeding 18-wheeler, several examples of that "ghosting" and a jaw-dropping shot (available in the trailer) of an agent landing on and demolishing the hood of a speeding sedan.

To keep up as much of the original vibe as possible, writer-directors Andy and Larry Wachowski have kept all the original parts in place (except, er, for the budget. They had $300 million to play with this time, five times the amount spent on the original "Matrix.") The brothers, ultra-reclusive sorts who like to keep that secret-Svengalis-behind-the-scenes vibe and are duly turning down all interview requests, claim to have envisioned the story's machines-rule-the-Earth framework as a trilogy, and recruited all the surviving characters from the original movie.

In addition to Weaving, back in the cast are Reeves as Neo, monosyllabic last hope of humanity; Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus, the wise general leading the human army against the machines, and Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity, the warrior/love interest who brought Neo back to life with a "Snow White"-style smooch.

This being a sequel, though, the cast also has been upgraded. Jada Pinkett Smith is on board as Niobe, the pilot of another rebel crew and an ex-lover of Morpheus. Monica Bellucci steps in as Persephone, a voluptuous temptress with a shady background and motives (though it might be helpful to note that in mythology, Persephone was a beautiful young goddess who was abducted by the dark lord Hades, forced to become his wife, then allowed to return to Earth for only a few months out of every year). Nona Gaye is in as Zee, the supporting role originally held by Aaliyah, before she died in a plane crash in August 2001.

And there's Adrien and Neil Rayment as The Twins. These are two silver-clad assassins who have been dispatched to capture the Keymaker, a tiny Asian man who, to use a rather clunky metaphor, holds the keys to the humans' success in the war against the Matrix.

Not to take anything away from Smith and Bellucci in tight leather, but of the new characters, the Twins have the coolest powers: They are the guys who can "ghost"--electrify, dematerialize and pass through solid objects, their white dreadlocks crackling and animating like one of those glow orbs at Spencer Gifts. "That's a nice trick," sniffs Trinity.

A virtual mythology

But if the "Rings" flicks and the "Star Wars" prequels taught us anything, it's that all the bullet-time in the world can only go so far in spinning a tale. For all the wonder of their landscapes, both prequels came up bone-dry when it came to the story (and sometimes cringe-inducing when it came to the dialogue). Fans want to see Spider-Man rocketing through Manhattan, sure, but they hate being cheated plot-wise.

This isn't lost on the Wachowskis. Two full-length sequels (and a handful of short films, see sidebar) won't make the story any less complex. The plot, as you might guess, is pretty locked down, and we figure it's probably better that way. That said, if you want to go into "Reloaded" totally cold, you should probably skip the rest of this article. Thanks for reading, enjoy the movie.

WARNING--POSSIBLE (THOUGH LIGHT) SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THOSE WHO MIGHT WANT TO GO IN TOTALLY BLANK:

When we last saw him, Neo had learned to develop godlike powers inside the Matrix. The sequels pick up six months later, in one 48-hour period; "Reloaded" provides the bulk of the setup, "Revolutions" is rumored to be essentially a giant battle sequence, the final showdown between man and machine.

We learned from one of the "Animatrix" shorts that the machines discovered the location of Zion, the last human outpost near the Earth's core, and that the fall of Zion would effectively wipe out humanity. "The machines are digging," Niobe says, referring to hundreds of thousands of "Squiddies" ships that almost shut down Morpheus' ship in the first film. "They're boring right from the surface straight down to Zion."

We know that Neo is troubled by a startling dream he has involving Trinity, and we know that the relationship between those two gets fairly hot and bothered. We know that "Reloaded" offers more background about the machines' initial takeover, a deeper look into the back story of Morpheus, and some jarring revelations about the all-knowing Oracle (played by Gloria Foster, who died in 2001 after filming most of her scenes for "Reloaded").

We know that Agent Smith can now replicate himself at will. We know that the unassuming Keymaker holds a singular power over the master machines, a power he wishes to transfer to Neo. And we know you should try to avoid a bathroom break before that car chase scene.

And we know that you should stick around after the credits roll for an extended trailer for "Revolutions," which, after all, is a scant few months away.

Film editor helps keep the series a well-oiled machine

BY JAE-HA KIM STAFF REPORTER

"No one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself," Morpheus says in "The Matrix" (1999).

Four years later, the world is ready to feast its collective eyes on "The Matrix Reloaded"--the first of two sequels that have already been filmed.

Given the success of "The Lord of the Rings" franchise, which shot all three of its films simultaneously, shooting two sequels at the same time doesn't seem to be as much of a gamble these days. "The Matrix" grossed $459 million worldwide and is all but guaranteed the No. 1 spot on its opening weekend.

With the final sequel, "The Matrix Revolutions," still left to edit, film editor Zach Staenberg doesn't have closure on this project quite yet. Much of the cast and crew worked over a 270-day stretch from 2001 to 2002, with seasonal hiatuses penciled in.

But Staenberg, who won an Oscar for his editing on "The Matrix," opted to work straight through most of the days off.

"It's not that I'm a selfless person," he said, laughing. "There's just so much to do when you're dealing with a film like this."

Which is why many of his seasoned colleagues regard him with awe.

"The one person who has more to do with the success of these movies--other than [filmmakers] Andy and Larry Wachowski--is Zach," said Don Davis, the composer who has scored all the "Matrix" films. "He was there for every moment of the shoot. He was involved with the brothers in planning what would be shot and how it would logistically be put together. He kept everything straight and never seemed to be confused by any of the chaos."

Though filming two complicated, action movies simultaneously would seem to be confusing for anyone, the parties involved say the preparations were so meticulous that it wasn't too difficult to keep track of who said what when.

Keanu Reeves, who plays Neo, told Time magazine: "The first [film] was about birth. The second one is life. The third is death."

In the sequels, Neo has to persuade the machines in the Matrix to set the humans of the real world free. Most of "Reloaded" takes place in the netherworld of the Matrix, while "Revolutions" promises to be set in the darker real world.

"I didn't get confused about which [sequel] I was doing a scene for because the brothers were painstakingly clear about what had just happened and what was coming up," said former Chicago-based actor Harry J. Lennix, who portrays Lock in both sequels. "They took great pain to keep us in the loop about what was going on, which made it easier for everyone. If you read the scripts--and they gave us separate ones for each movie--you knew exactly what was going on."

Speaking of the scripts, each page was watermarked with the actors' names on them--the better to trace back to whomever might to sell the contraband on, let's say, eBay.

Staenberg admits that while the cast may have been fooled by the seemingly seamless operation, even he at times was unnerved by the magnitude of the $300 million project.

"It was a grueling process at times, but [the brothers] and I planned and plotted the sequels out the best we could," he said. "Every now and then I needed to get an explanation from them on the internal workings of a scene, but over all, it went pretty smoothly."

Once he finishes editing "Revolutions," Staenberg has another "Matrix" project on his wish list. He'd like to take the two sequels and turn them into a four-hour feature-length DVD.

"Truthfully, 'Reloaded' and 'Revolutions' are one movie if you take off the tail credits of one film and the opening credits of the other and splice them together," he said.

"Even releasing them as two sequels, I always felt we were working on a four-hour movie, and I'm going to try to make that happen down the line."

Gamers, prepare to 'Enter the Matrix'

BY MISHA DAVENPORT STAFF REPORTER

Hold on to your leather trench coats. Andy and Larry Wachowski--the team behind "The Matrix" films--want to take video-game players to a place they've never been: into the Matrix. Are you game?

"Enter the Matrix," to be released on Thursday--the same day as the first sequel "The Matrix: Reloaded"--isn't just some marketing tool to promote the film. "Reloaded" doesn't really need a game to hype it. Even if half the people who witnessed "The Matrix" jack into it, it's still going to be one of the summer's biggest movies.

Nor is it merely a run-of-the-mill video game based on a movie. Rosanna Sun, the interactive producer for the Wachowskis' film company Eon, said the brothers--both video-game fanatics--had a keen interest in developing something extraordinary. "It became known on the set as the third Matrix film," Sun said.

Games based on movies have typically been hit or miss. Two of the top 10 games from last year were movie titles. Activision's "Spider-Man" scored with gamers, thanks in part to most of the voice talent from the film and its skill at mirroring the look and feel of the film. Electronic Arts' "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" also succeeded by raising the bar even higher, adding film footage and unlockable Easter eggs such as interviews with the cast and concept models as bonuses.

"Enter the Matrix," from Shiny Entertainment, the development team handpicked to make the game, hopes to take things even further. Though Sony's PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox have the capacity to deliver near-cinematic experiences, they've never been as taxed as with the Wachowskis' game.

Both "Enter the Matrix" and "The Matrix Reloaded" were designed to enhance the experience of the other. Plotlines, actions and outcomes weave seamlessly from one medium to the next. Playing the game without seeing the film (and vice versa) means you're missing out on half the fun.

The Wachowskis penned a 244-page script for the game (more than twice the size of the average film script). They also shot a full hour of scenes with the cast, and allowed Shiny Entertainment full access to actors, sets, stuntmen and special effects. They even directed both the film and computer-generated scenes, inventing the word "cineractive" to differentiate the computer-generated scenes from the cinematic ones.

So connected are film and game, the credits of "Enter the Matrix" run as long as the end credits of the film. Nearly everyone involved in the sequels, from the acting talent right down to on-set electricians, also worked on the game.

Eon, Shiny and the game's publisher, Atari, are remaining tight-lipped about the game's plotline. What they would reveal is while the film focuses on the further adventures of Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), the game follows a parallel story line where players can jack into the game as supporting characters Niobe (Pinkett Smith) or Ghost (Anthony Wong).

Though it has been reported that the film and video game start off at the same time frame, that's not exactly true. Sun said the game actually begins where the animated short "Animatrix: The Final Flight of the Osiris" ended.

In "Osiris," the crew of that ship discovers that machines are preparing to attack the last bastion of humanity, Zion. In the final moments before their ship is destroyed, they succeed in uploading a transmission into the computer-generated world of The Matrix. The first mission in the game is to retrieve the package and get it to the Zion command center. The film begins after that data has been uploaded and the various generals have gathered to decide the next course of action.

The game is certainly one of the most ambitious undertakings to date in the video-game industry. David Perry, president of Shiny Entertainment, said it's also possible because of the Wachowskis' involvement.

"It would have easily cost $100 million putting the game together if we had to do it on our own. That's why the collaboration has been so great. It's enabled us to break new ground," Perry said.

It's also a smart business move, said Richard Ow, a video game industry expert for the market research firm NPD Group. "Gamers will want to both play the game and see the movie, and moviegoers just might be compelled enough to pick up a game," Ow said.

Repeat business wasn't really on the Wachowskis' minds. The brothers saw the video-game medium as a way to flesh out the world of "The Matrix" that they couldn't in a motion picture.

"There are things you can do in a digital universe that are cost-prohibitive on film," Sun said. "Just the action sequences alone can take you into a new, exciting level."

For the former Chicagoans, that meant they could realize their dream of using Lower Wacker Drive. Even without the ongoing construction, it would have been nearly impossible to use Wacker in an action sequence on film. So one of the first things they requested was that Wacker be featured in the game.

It was no easy task for Shiny to authentically capture the drive.

"We had to send a location scout to Chicago to make sure we were getting the texture of the concrete right," Perry said.

"We laugh about it now, but it probably wasn't a great idea to send one of our Arabic employees with a video camera to shoot Wacker after 9/11."

Making the music mesh

BY JAE-HA KIM STAFF REPORTER

Don Davis had one advantage working on the "Matrix" films.

Unlike most of the cast and crew that worked on both sequels at the same time, the composer got to work on each separately.

"Composers generally are involved after the filming process is over, so I've only now started working on the second sequel ['The Matrix Revolutions']," he said. "Film music is a medium that is married to a visual, not a script. So you really don't want to write music until you know how the directors are treating a scene and what the pace is. Then you have an idea of how you want to approach a sequence."

Though he didn't have to worry about creating beautiful music for "Revolutions" until recently, Davis did have to keep in mind he also would be scoring "The Animatrix"--nine anime films that serve as prequels to "The Matrix" mythology--and "Enter the Matrix," the highly anticipated first video game of the franchise.

Davis composed more than seven hours of music for "The Matrix" franchise. Forty of those minutes are featured on the two-disc soundtrack of the first sequel, "The Matrix Reloaded," which also includes contributions from the Dave Matthews Band, P.O.D. and Marilyn Manson.

"The stress level was high on this movie, but anything I felt--or the film editor or sound designer felt--was much higher for [filmmakers] Larry and Andy [Wachowski]," he said. "They supervised everything.

"They are perfectionists who don't leave any stones unturned, and you'll see that in the quality of this film. No one is more excited than me about its release and I can promise you right now that you will not be disappointed."

Like many of the behind-the-scenes players on this film, Davis first worked with the Wachowski brothers on "Bound" (1996), which essentially was a test film for Warner Bros. before the studio gave them the go-ahead to make "The Matrix."

Though "Bound" wasn't a box-office smash, critics loved the dark film and the brothers' fresh approach to filmmaking.

"After working on 'Bound,' I was confident they could pull off [the first 'Matrix' film] because I knew what they were capable of," Davis said. "[On 'Bound'] they were flying by the seat of their pants. But what a pair of pants."

'THE MATRIX RELOADED': THE TRACK LIST

DISC 1

Linkin Park--"Session"

Marilyn Manson--"This Is the New S---"

Rob Zombie--"Reload"

Rob Dougan--"Furious Angels" (instrumental)

Deftones--"Lucky You"

Team Sleep--"The Passportal"

P.O.D.--"Sleeping Awake"

Unloco--"Bruises"

Rage Against the Machine--"Calm Like a Bomb"

Oakenfold--"Dread Rock"

Fluke--"Zion"

Dave Matthews Band--"When the World Ends" (Oakenfold remix)

Don Davis--"Main Title"

Don Davis--"Trinity Dream"

Juno Reactor--"Tea House"

Rob Dougan--"Chateau"

Juno Reactor--"Mona Lisa Overdrive"

Don Davis vs. Juno Reactor--"Burly Brawl"

Don Davis--"Reloaded Suite"

BY LISA LENOIR FASHION EDITOR

The action might make the movie but those moves wouldn't have as much impact without kicking threads and tresses.

Get ready to see the style/action synergy with "The Matrix Reloaded." Costumes make a sock-it-to me statement as the returning characters, Neo (Keanu Reeves,) Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) strike against evil fully decked out in combinations of dark crocodile-print leather, shiny leather and skintight latex. Like the first "Matrix" flick, the duster coats get prime exposure on the principal characters as they administer their martial arts theatrics.

A new character, Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith) enters the digital world with nubian knots and head-to-toe brown croc. And let's not forget the finishing touch, shades to die for by Blinde Design. (They can be yours, too, for a whopping $240.)

The trailers give a sneak peak at what to expect. Evil Agent Smith returns in his uniform--a dark suit, white shirt and a black tie with a tie clip. Morpheus forges against evil in knockout suits, dark shirts, a green tie with stud and John Lennon-esque earless shades. (Fishburne told Newsweek he wanted to have an "old-timey 1930s Chicago look.")

Newcomer Persephone (Monica Bellucci) epitomizes the sexy temptress with her second-skin latex halter dress. Bellucci bragged in Entertainment Weekly that she will look better in latex than Pinkett Smith. We'll see.

Look for other characters to sport blond dreadlocks, three-piece suits with matching overcoats and fingernail polish.

And of course, the shades.

WAIT, THERE'S MORE

The May 15 opening of "The Matrix: Reloaded" has been timed to coincide with other fragments of the "Matrix" grid. The first and probably most anticipated is the video game "Enter the Matrix", but also coming is the full and complete "Animatrix," a series of nine animated short films, varying in style from Japanese anime to full-on CGI, that will be released June 3 on DVD.

Portions of the "Animatrix" are already available. A nine-minute short called "The Final Flight of the Osiris," in which the machines find Zion, premiered before the horror flick "Dreamcatcher" in March. Three episodes, "The Second Renaissance Part 1," "Program" and "Detective Story" are available for free download at www.theanimatrix.com; a fourth, "The Second Renaissance Part 2," will be available before "Reloaded" opens, and will detail the origins of the Matrix itself.

Jeff Vrabel

'Mind over Matrix': For Keanu Reeves, it's no pain, no gain

May 11, 2003

BY CINDY PEARLMAN

LOS ANGELES--The only thing more confusing than "The Matrix" is the guy who stars in it. Keanu Reeves is such a puzzle that even when you think you've solved him, there's always one piece missing.

Consider the peculiarities: Here's a guy who got famous playing a moron named Ted, but what he craves is to do "Hamlet" in Canada. He makes $20 million a movie, but he doesn't own a home. No Hummer for this boy (where would he park it?)--he tools around L.A. on a 1974 Norton 850 Commando motorcycle.

He's someone who craves his privacy but stars in two of the biggest films of the year--"The Matrix Reloaded," opening Thursday, and "The Matrix Revolutions," due in November.

You might think this would rattle him a bit, but on Soundstage 16 on the Warner Bros. lot that doubles for the human town of Zion in "Reloaded," Reeves has an almost Zen-like calm. "The whole premise of 'The Matrix' is trying to find an authentic life," he reminds you. "That's all I'm trying to do, too."

That's a big revelation for a guy who doesn't want you to know anything about his life, but unfortunately he's sitting in front of a reporter who's trying to figure him out.

The biggest discovery: He might be a Hollywood star, but the world of Keanu Reeves exists as a parallel universe.

With everything at his disposal, his needs are simple. "I only hope to work. I just want to act and make good films. That's all I can really do."

That's all he has been doing for 270 days over the last 14 months on two continents, where he created all matters Matrix.

*****

He is happy to talk about the pain of filming back-to-back sequels. Take the day when everybody was kung-fu fighting, but none as hard as Reeves. Black overcoat flying as he threw roundhouse kicks at his nemesis Mr. Smith, his Neo character was in a bit of a Matrix mess.

He was cornered in a courtyard, all alone, at the mercy of an enemy who just wouldn't stop cloning itself. Blink, and it's 10 Mr. Smiths. Blink again, and 20 are coming at him. A deep breath later, and hundreds of men are trying to beat Neo--mankind's last chance--into a bloody pulp.

"I was more proficient with the wire work this time around and also it seemed that I was able to catch on to choreography much quicker," he said. "But the fight with all of the Smiths was a lot of moves. It was great. I got to work with 12 of the stuntmen, so for three weeks, we just did that fight. So let's just say I was busy."

Reeves has a saying for the tough moments: "It's mind over Matrix," he said, grinning. "I don't know what happens when I put on Neo's big black overcoat. I think that coat informs the character. I feel like such an icon when I have it on," he said, referring to 23 versions of that coat hang in his dressing room closet, with each one crafted for specific fighting or lighting situations. "I put on that coat and it's Superman time. I become the lone wolf. I'm ready to rock your world."

In four days, he hopes "Matrix Reloaded" rocks your world. It's the first of two sequels to the 1999 hit that hauled in over $400 million at the box office.

"The Matrix Reloaded" takes us back to the dark world where machines are trying to enslave human beings and suck out their power. This time around, we get to see the city of Zion, where the humans are preparing to stage their last stand. Come this fall, things will be even bleaker in "The Matrix Revolutions," when the humans go to war with the hardware.

When it comes to "Reloaded," Reeves reveals, "It's much more ambitious than the first film in terms of how it fractures out and splinters out. There are many more themes."

Having two of the biggest films of 2003 sitting on his thin frame doesn't seem to bother Reeves. "The pressure is on in one way not to disappoint the fans of the first movie. But when that gets to be too much, I just think about how excited people are to have these two movies. I feel like I'm in the middle of something that's really big."

That said, he just has one request: "Please just don't give anything away. People want to be surprised."

Going back into the world of "The Matrix" wasn't so surprising for Reeves, who was hired by Chicago natives Andy and Larry Wachowski to do a trilogy. "It wasn't like someone said, 'Oh, the first one did pretty well, let's do a sequel.' Going into the first movie I knew this was a trilogy.' In fact when we wrapped the first one, the brothers were really excited to show me images of the robot machines that would be in the next one."

Reeves also knew that the preproduction on the sequels--which were shot back to back--would be more grueling than the actual two years he spent in Australia on a soundstage. Let's just say he knew the drill. He took on about six months of training before he shot his first scene.

"It's demanding, but it helped to do the first film because there was no surprises. I knew that my muscles were going to ache every night," he said. "Also, I wasn't a novice when it came to practicing on the wires for the fight scenes. I got new moves and caught on quickly each time. It was like my body had some sort of memory bank to build on from the last time."

The films have spawned such a cult following that there are people who dissect what it all means with almost religious fervor. To those fans, Neo isn't just a movie hero, but almost a holy figure. "I really don't seek out that kind of fan appreciation," Reeves said.

Laurence Fishburne, who plays Neo's boss Morpheus, thinks that Reeves has changed since the first outing. "I think Keanu is a lot lighter. He's grown up. He's a lot less guarded. Of course, in many ways he's always going to be an angst-ridden motherf-----."

Some find all that angst to be sexy. Monica Bellucci, who also plays a new character in "Reloaded," has a lip-lock scene with the actor. "I met him nine years ago when I was a model with a bit role in the 'Dracula' movie. Then in 'Matrix,' I had two days on a soundstage where all I did was kiss him. To break the ice, I said, 'Every time I meet you, I just have to kiss you.' "

"I wasn't complaining," Reeves said, laughing.

Yes, he can be funny. I mention that perhaps he needed something like "The Matrix" to forever erase "I was in 'Bill & Ted' " from his tombstone someday.

"Is 'The Matrix' the second coming of my career?" Then he answers his own question. "What about 'Speed'? What about 'Little Buddha'? Oh, I guess we should focus on the hits, which leaves 'Little Buddha' out.' " Pause. "But it's a good film," he insists in a quiet voice.

Born in Beruit, Lebanon, and raised in Toronto, Reeves grew up loving two things: ice hockey and acting. He left school at age 17 to peruse a career on the big screen. In 1986, he made his debut in "River's Edge" and gained critical acclaim for "Dangerous Liaisons" (1988). He became a teen idol with "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" in 1989, and "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" (1991). Other films include "Dracula" (1992), and "Feeling Minnesota" (1996).

Personally, Reeves has suffered several tragedies. In 1999, his baby daughter with girlfriend Jennifer Syme was stillborn. Syme later died in a car accident in 2001. These days Reeves doesn't have a girlfriend, but it's not like he prefers to be alone. When he talks about the explicit love scene between Neo and Carrie Ann-Moss' Trinity character in "Reloaded," he sounds almost jealous. "I was uncomfortable doing that kind of love scene because it's really deep, but I loved the scene because it's obvious these two characters are in love.

"It's a beautiful day when you can love someone," he said, almost sadly.

Reeves will have to be content loving the work. He just signed on to do a small role in a Jack Nicholson/Diane Keaton romantic comedy, which is shooting in Paris. After that, he'll be back in the States, talking about the third "Matrix" film.

In many ways, he can't believe it's almost the end. "I remember when I got the script for 'The Matrix' and I just knew it was special. It wasn't just going to be an action picture or a sci-fi movie. Those brothers from Chicago had a real vision."

He applauds the decision of the Wachowskis not to do any interviews for this film. "They don't want to have to put a literal spin on their vision. They don't want to reveal themselves for their craft. They don't want to say too much."

From his wistful look, it's clear that Reeves wishes he could also opt out of all this yakking and just shut up.

But there is time for one last question which, of course, revolves around the something he would prefer not to discuss. Ask him for a few clues into "Revolutions" and his brow furrows so hard that you swear he will need an emergency dose of Botox.

"OK, I'll let you in on the fact that the last scene takes place with Neo in Machine City. I filmed the scene in front of 300 people because everyone was sad that we were done. I mean, the caterers and the grips and the office assistants came to watch me to this final close-up. These were cats who worked on this movie 24 hours a day, but you didn't even see.

"Everyone wanted to experience the end together because it was like we were all on this long voyage together, and the boat was finally docking on the shore."

How do you top that kind of journey? Reeves brightens for the first time. "Well, hopefully, I'll get to work with some artists who have another vision. That's always the dream."

Distributed by Big Picture News Inc.

Tickets selling fast; fan Web sites buzzing

Posted on Sun, May. 11, 2003

Tickets selling fast; fan Web sites buzzing
By Sara Steffens
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Round 2 of The Matrix has plenty of punches.

CATHERINE FLORES-ESPINOSA liked "The Matrix" so much, she saw it eight times -- in the theater, that is -- plus another 40 or so at home after she bought the VHS and DVD versions.

"Actually, I just watched it again today," admits Catherine, a high school senior who lives in Fremont. "Every time I see it, I have a new favorite part. There's always something else that's new that catches my eye. The directors, the Wachowski brothers, they're so amazing about detail."

For Catherine and legions of other devout fans, "The Matrix" is more than just a movie, it's a way of looking at the world. Sure, they love the over-the-top, gravity-defying kung-fu battles that helped the movie gross more than $170 million in the United States alone. But the larger story, they agree, is what keeps them coming back. And back. And back.

And finally, their fidelity is being rewarded with a sequel, "The Matrix Reloaded," which opens Thursday (Wednesday night in some theaters).

"It starts with people being fans of the effects and then those fans go away, and the ones that stick around are more philosophical," says Paul Martin, Web master and editor-in-chief of Matrixfans.net, one of the larger fan sites inspired by the movie.

"What I think happened was that this film used a lot of symbolism that people connected to," explains Martin, a 22-year-old computer-design student from Grand Rapids, Mich. "Not only that, but the special effects were like nothing we've ever seen before, and the story was top-notch. The premise was very cool: agents that could take over the bodies of those still plugged in, people doing superhuman things, dodging bullets, and loading up stuff directly into their brains, immediately able to fly a helicopter or do kung fu."

Four years after its release, "The Matrix" remains the subject of a passionate online community that catalogues its every element, debates its philosophy, collects anything bearing its name, and even composes fan fiction stemming from its plot.

Since April, when Warner Bros. released the trailer for "The Matrix Reloaded," the Internet buzz grew into a roar. Fandango.com reports that advance tickets for the sequel are now its top seller, accounting for 65 percent of the online service's current sales.

The movie's stars are now plastered across magazine covers throughout America and Europe. Assessing the expected popularity of "Reloaded," its companion video game, and "Revolutions," the third episode in the "Matrix" trilogy set for release in November, Newsweek went so far as to dub 2003 "The Year of the Matrix."

From what he's learned of the new film, Martin says "Reloaded" won't disappoint fans smitten with the eclectic philosophical underpinnings of the original "Matrix" -- which include not only a recurring Alice in Wonderland motif, but a hefty dose of existentialism, a rumination on the problems of determinism and a bizarre blend of hacker ethic, Buddhist philosophy and not-so-subtle biblical references:

"While I was watching the movie (the first time), I had come from a Christian background, that just stuck out, and it was like, wow ... Neo is 'The One.' He dies and he comes back more powerful ... he comes back glowing like a white light; it's pretty crazy. Cipher betrays him like Judas."

Given the technological bent of "The Matrix" story line, it's not surprising that computer programmers and video-game enthusiasts are strongly represented among its most loyal fans.

"It takes just a lot of elements and puts them together -- kind of like that geek gene that people have that makes them like martial-arts films or science-fiction movies," says Sal J. Barry, Web master of Matrixunloaded.com, a site devoted to Matrix action figures and collectibles.

"It takes that kind of person and it makes them into the hero, instead of being this big, muscular guy trained in special-forces combat; you have the will to do this, in a way you believe you can do it, so you can do it. ... It plays a lot into the power of the mind."

Like many fans, Barry -- who is 28 and works as a Web designer and graphic artist for a Chicago toy company -- says the film's emphasis on self-determination, its "believe the unbelievable" motto, resonates on a deeply personal level, in much the way "Star Wars" junkies latched onto Obi-Wan's directive, "May the Force be with you."

Barry says thinking about "The Matrix" prompted him to trust his instincts, chucking his hopes for a film degree to begin training in computer graphics. "I feel like this was the right thing for me to do, since I got hired right after I graduated," he says.

For Catherine -- better known in Matrix circles by her online handle, "Glitch" -- the film was a beacon of hope after she lost a treasured aunt and grandmother in the same year.

"'The Matrix' kind of helped me keep faith that life can get better again. To see Neo searching, in a way it comforted me. I didn't know what I was going to do because I felt so heartbroken. The movie helped me to realize that anything is possible; there are different ways of looking at the world."

To say that Catherine's excited to see "Reloaded" would be a gross understatement. A full two years ago, she went out to visit the movie's set on the Saturday night that the crew shut down the Webster and Posey tubes between Oakland and Alameda.

"We got there around 10 p.m. or so and stayed until 1 or 2 in morning; they were just setting up the chase scene where they go into the tunnel. We saw the stunt drivers and everybody there, doing the test runs; it was amazing. ... Laurence Fishburne came over; he wanted to thank us for coming out and showing an interest, but he said they couldn't come over and chat because they needed to focus on the stunts. He was really nice."

That particular scene happens to be included in the "Reloaded" trailer -- which her computer animation teacher at Fremont's Washington High School has taken to showing every day at the beginning of class.

Catherine's begun clipping articles about "Reloaded" to add to her collection; she's also ordered the new "Matrix" video game, due for release Thursday and purchased her tickets for Wednesday night's 10 p.m. premiere, for which she plans to don her Trinity costume -- a catsuit, black trench coat and boots that have seen heavy rotation on previous Halloweens.

"My friends keep telling me they don't want to see me get my hopes up for it," she says. "I am scared that it won't be any good, but knowing how much they've pulled off so far, and having seen the new trailer, I feel confident that they will definitely blow the first one away."