GWC Podcast #114

talking about accents in GWC #114, i was wondering why the AWESOME THREESOME don’t have the kind to texan twang they always stereotype on tv, until i heard Audra say “mall”… there you go… texan accent… .otherwise, you guys have a pretty clean mid-western accent.

Having been away for the past 2 weeks, I now have at least 4 podcasts to catch up on. But I’m writing here in anticipation of this podcast, because while the first matrix by any standards was the ‘best’ in terms of new ideas and whatnots, Reloaded is actually my favourite one out of the three. As I’m sure I’m in the small minority of things here (at least, from what I remember of the reviews of Reloaded when it came out, and I thought, “hm. I thought that was a kickass explanation of what Neo is. I love this movie! Why did everyone hate it?”) I thought to say it anyway.

Anyway! YAY! I have like what, 8 hours plus of Audra, Sean and Chuck? YAY!

i thought Audra said she’s from Seattle.

By the way, Galaxy Ranger, can you still do a good English with Germany accent?

In the Podcast they talked about the actor playing the Merovingian speaks English well and had to go back to a thick French accent.

I myself find that very difficult to do, if not nearly impossible. I find it much easier doing Texan accent, Indian accent, Pinoy accent and other accents people do that I see on TV. It almost as if I had to relearn the English language if I want to go back and do a Taiwanese accent.

So, I think the crew was right about how difficult it was for Lambert Wilson to do a thick french accent.

I have to agree, lucky. I’ve listened to the vast majority of the GWC casts, but there was something about this one that made me think love it above most others. I can’t put my finger on it, but about halfway through the 'cast, i was coming up with a list of people I need to email it to. Amazing job, you three… or 4…or however many of you there are.

I love the diversity of these films and I remember being so excited to see Dr. Cornel West as a counsel member. I admire his conviction and willingness to speak frankly about race in America. Putting him in this film was a touch of genius and one of the many reasons I love these movies.

Holy Crap! I didn’t realize that was Dr. Cornel West in that scene! That’s is so cool. The version of the Matrix that I borrowed from the library a couple weeks ago was had two commentary tracks on it—one was with critics talking about the film—the other was two people talking about the philosophical aspect of The Matrix–and one the commentators on that track was Cornel West. Damn, I didn’t bother to listen to it—but now that I know he was actually IN Reloaded, I gotta go and listen to his commentary track.

Or I guess more accurately GRfromKY…

Yeah, I noticed Cornel West when I first saw the movie. He has a great presence. I don’t own the movies yet, but I put The Ultimate Matrix Collection on my Amazon wish list (birthday around the corner). Just checked to see that that version has the ‘Philosopher Commentary Track’. Can’t wait to watch and listen again…

Yes, it was great to finally here GR call in without static. A great call. Okay, okay, I will cease and desist with the New Jersey thing.

Unfortunately, in the far future that static problem is destined to resurface:
http://forum.galacticwatercooler.com/showthread.php?p=36566#post36566

OF COURSE! This also means that GR knows every US soldier that has been stationed in Germany as well as all native German’s. Including Heidi Klum.

Were you in Covington?

Maybe I could phone in an intro sometime with a really thick accent?

That would be AWESOME!

ALso it was great to finally hear you! IYKWIM! Wait, what do I mean?

Crestview Hills. Kenton County.

No, no, no, we’ve annexed him, he’s ours. He said “Cincinatti” first.

I still have about 30 minutes left on the podcast (it’s one of the rare ones that is actually longer than my commute, wow). I know the action shots are really well done, the choreography, the SFX, music etc. - but am I the only person whose mind wanders halfway through them? That chase scene on the highway seems to go on FOREVER. And then a little longer. My favorite fight/action scene in the movie is the one with Neo and Seraph, because it’s flashy, it’s to the point, and it’s relatively brief. I don’t remember how long it took, but it reminded me of the first fight between Neo and Morpheus - they were testing each other, seeing what they could do. I always assumed that Seraph fought Neo to make sure both that it was Neo, and that if he failed in the fight, he wouldn’t get to see the Oracle.

I also want to comment on Audra’s point about how everyone is beautiful in Zion. I think Chuck wasn’t quite getting what she was saying, that it’s downright ODD that every single person in the city is gorgeous. Even though these are primarily people who are grown and not born (as Sean pointed out), there is no need for a human battery to be gorgeous. Outside of the Hollywood perception that audiences only like to watch beautiful people on screen, which is really kind of insulting, I can’t think of a good in-universe reason for the collective hotness of Zion.

Maybe it’s the ankle bracelets. Rawr.

(Seraph - short for seraphim? The seraphim are the highest level of angels in Judeo/Christian mythology, iirc. They sang to the Lord constantly with praise, and I think they burned eternally with fire - gah, I’m digging deep here, but I think it was the fire of their belief, or something like that. Was the character named after the angel?)

Have to totally agree on the fight/action scenes. Even my first watch in the theatre I was distracted by how long it took - and it’s not like there’s just one or two of them - there’s several [Like Grace Park, I lose track after two…] and only the Seraph fight seems to have any deeper meaning. In the first movie, they all did. Ugh, thank god for the fast forward.

I really focused on the dialogue this time, and got a lot more out of it.

The first time I saw this movie I was convinced, CONVINCED, when I walked out of the theatre that in Matrix 3 we would find out that the architect was just a program made by the machines to throw The One off track - and full of lies. I thought in 3 we would find out that it was the ultimate test for Neo and Morpheus and their beliefs. The only proof the architect offers is videos of supposedly former Neos - something the matrix machines could easily have manufactured themselves. As a plot device, I now find it actually interesting, though when I first saw it I was deeply disappointed. The cyclical nature of the Matrix/human rebellion experience brings up new questions: Is it the truth?; what time frame is this all actually occurring in, really?; how many more levels could there be to the matrix???

Okay. THAT was awesome!

Because – despite what we’re led to believe – Zion is also in the Matrix. Everything in the movies is in the Matrix.

And despite having had ten years or so to back it up, I have zero outside reading to support that position. That’s just how I read the movies. One reason Neo can see once his eyes are scorched.

Thank you for posting that. I was just gonna look for it on YouTube today, but you beat me to it.
This bit is actually in the bonus (disk 2) features of the Matrix Reloaded DVD.
And, coincidentally I just watch this at lunchtime today.
I literally had tears of laughter coming out of my eyes, this is so fraking funny.

Great video!

That was a hugely popular theory after the second one, bolstered largely by his taking down the Sentinel. There were a huge number of theories floating around, and it was almost inevitable that the third would disappoint (unfortunately, that sounds like a certain popular TV show.)

That was my initial theory after seeing reloaded as well. A control within the control. Kind of like a back up system in case The One got any other ideas. I think that would’ve been just a fraked up way to end the movie. Neo starting where he began by escaping the Zion Matrix.