4 ms·

It's not mentioned expressly in the article (there's just a link to the movie), but the book is briefly to be seen in The Matrix. Neo uses it to stash cash and

It's not mentioned expressly in the article (there's just a link to the movie), but the book is briefly to be seen in The Matrix. Neo uses it to stash cash and warez. I remember reading about this, and being just astonished how many significant details the Wachovskis hid in those movies, even if they were only visible for a second or two.

cameron_b 6y ago
Cheers! I remember pausing here and there to read little details like this and really appreciating the richness in that movie. It's a shame the visuals don't hold up well.
- the_af 6y ago
  Which visuals don't hold up well? The Matrix's? In my opinion they hold up marvelously. It's the actual content of the movie that has become an overused cliche by now... (it' still enjoyable anyway, in my opinion).
  - nathancahill 6y ago
    Yeah, the trope Seinfeld is Unfunny even lists The Matrix halfway down the page: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SeinfeldIsUnfunny/LiveActionFilms https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SeinfeldIsUnfunny/Liv...
  - uxp100 6y ago
    The scene that sticks in my mind the most is the neo vs. smiths staff fight scene. Appears to referred to as the burly brawl on youtube. But, when I saw it I thought it looked bad, and I haven't watched the movie since release. So it's not that it hasn't aged well, at release I remember being thinking it was bad. Going back and watching the clip again I'm ambivalent. Maybe it's supposed to look like that? But it looks like a cartoon. It's a good "looking" scene but about every 5 seconds the character's motion is jarringly strange. Sometimes it's rubbery and haha funny, and I respect that to a degree. Like it's supposed to lighten the mood maybe? But sometimes it is just distracting.
    - the_af 6y ago
      Ah! I just watched it. The CGI from the staff part looks bad, agreed. The whole scene though looks pretty good, a homage to fight scenes from some Hong Kong flicks. I hope you're not implying there's anything bad with Hong Kong action flicks ;) Besides some bad CGI like the staff fight, Matrix still has many awesome scenes with SFX that have aged pretty well, though. One movie whose bad CGI is painful to see is The Lord of the Rings. Once you notice how bad the tiny "dolls" running around Moria look, you just cannot unsee it. And that cave troll and Legolas fight... :( A shame because when LotR did actual makeup and practical effects, they were awesome.
      - uxp100 6y ago
        heh, no. And I think some of the humorous to me "bowling ball" like effects that I don't like in that scene are very much in the spirit of some hk movies. But I think the homage tries to add interest by being over the top, when a crowd of 10 actors with different bodies and approaches to doing the scene is going to be more interesting. But that isn't what the plot calls for.
js2 6y ago
More than that, the book was required reading for principal cast and crew.
- kordlessagain 6y ago
  But then, they cut the heart of the book out to stash warez.
ghostpepper 6y ago
I remember from some behind-the-scenes footage that the Wachowskis (the two directors) had asked studio execs and the actors to read it fully before they even started reading the script for The Matrix
mikorym 6y ago
Well, The Matrix Reloaded taught me about nmap...
huac 6y ago
baudrillard was not particularly amused by that placement: https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/24/opinion/editorial-observer-a-french-philosopher-talks-back-to-hollywood-and-the-matrix.html https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/24/opinion/editorial-observe...
- throwanem 6y ago
  I'm not surprised. You don't need to look very far into The Matrix, and especially into the trilogy as a whole, to find what amounts to a direct refutation of Baudrillard's thesis in Simulacra.
grp 6y ago
For a point of view of Baudrillard about matrix: https://baudrillardstudies.ubishops.ca/the-matrix-decoded-le-nouvel-observateur-interview-with-jean-baudrillard/ https://baudrillardstudies.ubishops.ca/the-matrix-decoded-le...
dmos62 6y ago
I really enjoy all Matrix movies. I recently rewatched them and in parallel read and watched all the essays by v/bloggers I could find. Here's a few take-aways: 1) According to mainstream (I disagree), the sequels dropped the ball. It's somewhat popular to make fun of the Matrix movies that are not the first. 2) There's a lot of symbolism in the movies, and it's not less important than the superficial layer. You could say it makes up a second-layer in the movies, and if you don't get it you're missing part of the content. 3) The first movie referenced Baudrillard a lot, but it didn't (fully) follow Baudrillard's philosophy, as Baudrillard himself has said. To be more specific (but simplistic), Baudrillard's work that was referenced represented a supplantation of Plato's allegory of the cave, but The Matrix in many ways is an illustration of Plato's allegory, reaching Plato's conclusions, not Baudrillard's. Baudrillard was approached to work on the sequels, but rejected it. 4) The badly-received Matrix sequels examined non-western philosophies (which are hardly familiar to mainstream audiences). The well-received first The Matrix movie examined the ever-so-familiar Plato's allegory and Christian themes. The sequels broached a lot of new ground and required intellectual effort; the first movie by comparison was easy watching. 5) Some people think that The Matrix has badly aged CGI (not me).
- yarrel 6y ago
  Regarding 4, the dialog and plotting of the sequels seemed to build only on the flaws of the original. That some of that dialog was monolog about different philosophical themes was a problem, but the problem was the monolog not the philosophy.
  - dmos62 6y ago
    I took it that the monologues were a problem because they were confusing to people. They serve as a major bridge between what I called the superficial and symbolic layers. For example the dialogue/monologue with the architect was great. I found it very stimulating, but most bloggers made fun of it.
throwanem 6y ago
Warez on minidiscs [1], even! And long before Hi-MD, which suggests some kind of acoustic steganography resilient to ATRAC compression. For all the interest that went into Simulacra among the writing and production crew, I feel like it's not without significance, accidental or otherwise, that that was the book selected to be hollowed out for Neo's shelf safe, to have its substance removed in order to make a place for the stuff of the movie moment in which it appeared... [1] https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_675,pg_1,q_80,w_1200/ujnh7lx73k8jeksytn5d.jpg https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_a...
- partomniscient 6y ago
  It was preceded by Strange Days (1995) - which no doubt contributed to that moment in the film.
cykablyatebat 6y ago
Fun fact: The Matrix producers tried to get Baudrillard to consult them for the sequels but he refused

cameron_b 6y ago

Cheers! I remember pausing here and there to read little details like this and really appreciating the richness in that movie. It's a shame the visuals don't hold up well.

the_af 6y ago
Which visuals don't hold up well? The Matrix's? In my opinion they hold up marvelously. It's the actual content of the movie that has become an overused cliche by now... (it' still enjoyable anyway, in my opinion).
- nathancahill 6y ago
  Yeah, the trope Seinfeld is Unfunny even lists The Matrix halfway down the page: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SeinfeldIsUnfunny/LiveActionFilms https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SeinfeldIsUnfunny/Liv...
- uxp100 6y ago
  The scene that sticks in my mind the most is the neo vs. smiths staff fight scene. Appears to referred to as the burly brawl on youtube. But, when I saw it I thought it looked bad, and I haven't watched the movie since release. So it's not that it hasn't aged well, at release I remember being thinking it was bad. Going back and watching the clip again I'm ambivalent. Maybe it's supposed to look like that? But it looks like a cartoon. It's a good "looking" scene but about every 5 seconds the character's motion is jarringly strange. Sometimes it's rubbery and haha funny, and I respect that to a degree. Like it's supposed to lighten the mood maybe? But sometimes it is just distracting.
  - the_af 6y ago
    Ah! I just watched it. The CGI from the staff part looks bad, agreed. The whole scene though looks pretty good, a homage to fight scenes from some Hong Kong flicks. I hope you're not implying there's anything bad with Hong Kong action flicks ;) Besides some bad CGI like the staff fight, Matrix still has many awesome scenes with SFX that have aged pretty well, though. One movie whose bad CGI is painful to see is The Lord of the Rings. Once you notice how bad the tiny "dolls" running around Moria look, you just cannot unsee it. And that cave troll and Legolas fight... :( A shame because when LotR did actual makeup and practical effects, they were awesome.
    - uxp100 6y ago
      heh, no. And I think some of the humorous to me "bowling ball" like effects that I don't like in that scene are very much in the spirit of some hk movies. But I think the homage tries to add interest by being over the top, when a crowd of 10 actors with different bodies and approaches to doing the scene is going to be more interesting. But that isn't what the plot calls for.

js2 6y ago

More than that, the book was required reading for principal cast and crew.

kordlessagain 6y ago
But then, they cut the heart of the book out to stash warez.

ghostpepper 6y ago

I remember from some behind-the-scenes footage that the Wachowskis (the two directors) had asked studio execs and the actors to read it fully before they even started reading the script for The Matrix

mikorym 6y ago

Well, The Matrix Reloaded taught me about nmap...

huac 6y ago

baudrillard was not particularly amused by that placement: https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/24/opinion/editorial-observer-a-french-philosopher-talks-back-to-hollywood-and-the-matrix.html https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/24/opinion/editorial-observe...

throwanem 6y ago
I'm not surprised. You don't need to look very far into The Matrix, and especially into the trilogy as a whole, to find what amounts to a direct refutation of Baudrillard's thesis in Simulacra.

grp 6y ago

For a point of view of Baudrillard about matrix: https://baudrillardstudies.ubishops.ca/the-matrix-decoded-le-nouvel-observateur-interview-with-jean-baudrillard/ https://baudrillardstudies.ubishops.ca/the-matrix-decoded-le...

dmos62 6y ago

I really enjoy all Matrix movies. I recently rewatched them and in parallel read and watched all the essays by v/bloggers I could find. Here's a few take-aways: 1) According to mainstream (I disagree), the sequels dropped the ball. It's somewhat popular to make fun of the Matrix movies that are not the first. 2) There's a lot of symbolism in the movies, and it's not less important than the superficial layer. You could say it makes up a second-layer in the movies, and if you don't get it you're missing part of the content. 3) The first movie referenced Baudrillard a lot, but it didn't (fully) follow Baudrillard's philosophy, as Baudrillard himself has said. To be more specific (but simplistic), Baudrillard's work that was referenced represented a supplantation of Plato's allegory of the cave, but The Matrix in many ways is an illustration of Plato's allegory, reaching Plato's conclusions, not Baudrillard's. Baudrillard was approached to work on the sequels, but rejected it. 4) The badly-received Matrix sequels examined non-western philosophies (which are hardly familiar to mainstream audiences). The well-received first The Matrix movie examined the ever-so-familiar Plato's allegory and Christian themes. The sequels broached a lot of new ground and required intellectual effort; the first movie by comparison was easy watching. 5) Some people think that The Matrix has badly aged CGI (not me).

yarrel 6y ago
Regarding 4, the dialog and plotting of the sequels seemed to build only on the flaws of the original. That some of that dialog was monolog about different philosophical themes was a problem, but the problem was the monolog not the philosophy.
- dmos62 6y ago
  I took it that the monologues were a problem because they were confusing to people. They serve as a major bridge between what I called the superficial and symbolic layers. For example the dialogue/monologue with the architect was great. I found it very stimulating, but most bloggers made fun of it.

throwanem 6y ago

Warez on minidiscs [1], even! And long before Hi-MD, which suggests some kind of acoustic steganography resilient to ATRAC compression. For all the interest that went into Simulacra among the writing and production crew, I feel like it's not without significance, accidental or otherwise, that that was the book selected to be hollowed out for Neo's shelf safe, to have its substance removed in order to make a place for the stuff of the movie moment in which it appeared... [1] https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_675,pg_1,q_80,w_1200/ujnh7lx73k8jeksytn5d.jpg https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fill,f_a...

partomniscient 6y ago
It was preceded by Strange Days (1995) - which no doubt contributed to that moment in the film.

cykablyatebat 6y ago

Fun fact: The Matrix producers tried to get Baudrillard to consult them for the sequels but he refused