Comments on: Stephen Tobolowsky Re-Enacts/Reviews “The Matrix Reloaded”

By: krackajap

krackajap — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 21:08:43 +0000

I am genuinely surprised at how much effort Stephen Tobolowsky went through in preparation to this podcast. He didn’t just view it as a way to get some publicity but actually took the time to prepare so he could participate fully. I guess when you’re at home nursing a broken neck you really don’t have all that much to do anyway, but he should still be commended for the amount of time and effort he put into this appearance. That being said, he was y far the most entertaining guest so far and I would love to see him back.

By: Embry

Embry — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:10:02 +0000

Classic! Classic! Classic! I love that mans work but now the respect I have for Steven is Bigger than life now, the most hilarious interview I’ve heard since the 50 Cent interviews on Hot 97 FM and the Ron Burgandy (Will Ferrell) mock Inside The Actor studio stunts.

By: robert

robert — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:46:43 +0000

I think he was being entertaining and pointed out some shortcomings in an entertaining way, so don’t get your knickers in a bunch about it. I have to say, though, that Bob’s comment is at least as hilarious as the person he is trying to insult, when he writes:

this guy is a morons,

If that is what you think constitutes a sentence, I wouldn’t try to throw any stones…

By: Michael Carrig

Michael Carrig — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:11:42 +0000

I am sure if he were in a different position he would choose better roles, but he is obviously not the type of actor who gets a ton of choice. That said, all his points about Matrix Reloaded are spot on, it is an impossibly incoherent film.

By: The Veoh Review

The Veoh Review — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:32:06 +0000

Can I just say, that I loved Matrix Reloaded? Heck! I loved all of the Matrix movies. And they only have one Electro magnetic pulse, because once they set one off, they can’t use any electric device for a while.

By: jesse

jesse — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:32:42 +0000

this guy Stephen Tobolowsky is a joke, this guy is a hollywood whore
here’s some of the gems he’s been in
“WHO THE FUCK WRITES THIS STUFF”

Wild Hogs
Desperate Housewives
Failure to Launch
The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous
Garfield
Freddy Got Fingered.

just a few of the classics that gives this idiot movie reviewing credibility their are a buch more shithole movies this guy was in i just didnt feel like naming them.

he’s been in like 2 good movies and one he played a dumb ass who could remember anything 5 minutes ago…

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:28:08 +0000

I know Matrix Reloaded is complete shit, but I still love it, and will watch it in its entirety whenever HBO plays it.

By: bob

bob — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:22:19 +0000

people who walk away from any of the matrix movies with that kind of interpretation are the reason Hollywood makes movies like The Mummy and tomb raider in the first place. your inability to interpret semi-complex information is sad and not something you should be bragging about over the internet.

this guy is a morons,

“i hate slow motion” who cares what you like..i hate people who wear harry potter glasses in real life, but im sure .

“who writes this stuff” - yeah the wachowski brothers are terrible writers..haha

“one electric bomb” - electric bomb don’t just kill the robots its kills their support lines also.

“throwing a bomb in zion” thats retarded…the machines wanted ZION, it was just a place for the machines to put the disobedient members of society. they had destroyed and filled it 5 times already. if you weren’t brain dead you would have learned this from what the architect says.

By: maremagnum

maremagnum — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:00:19 +0000

… at first glance, pass for deep reflexion on philosophy and life. Oh well.

By: maremagnum

maremagnum — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:59:22 +0000

I’m hoping that dumbed-down movies have become prevalent because people are seeking to disengage themselves from their hard realities in the present climate,

The problem I have with the Matrix sequels is that they are les entertaining at the expense of spewing pseudo-intellectual, vapid aphorisms that can

By: The Jezzus

The Jezzus — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:56:49 +0000

I once visibly noticed Frodo standing about 3 feet above a castle balcony banister. They cut a different scene and came back to Frodo standing in the same spot when and Gandalf walking up to talk to him. Except this time, Frodo was only about 10 inches taller than the banister. It didn’t ruin the movie for me.

By: Pentarix

Pentarix — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:38:56 +0000

I thoroughly enjoyed all three Matrix films although to a small degree I do agree with some of the concerns. However if you know the mythologies used in the stories and take the time to investigate them yourself (I know, it’s a movie… you wouldn’t want to LEARN something!), it’s actually a very well thought out and executed trilogy which I was pleased with. Personally I think it’s pretty silly to just dismiss them outright, it shows a degree of ignorance which has become prevalent in our society as people are more unwilling to engage their brains and instead choose to subject themselves to the moronic Judd Apatow, Ben Stiller, Will Ferrel, Owen Wilson, Adam Sandler, Wayan Brothers “comedies”. What has happened to intelligent film making? With the exception of Iron Man and TDK, two “comic book” movies, I’ve been thoroughly unimpressed with what has passed for “good” this year. With the McG’s and Michael Bay’s in charge of once-loved franchises, the future is pretty damn bleak.

By: maremagnum

maremagnum — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:16:51 +0000

That was hysterical. I agree whole-heartedly with the guy. The Matrix was fantastic; its sequels were rubbish. Too convoluted and pretentious for the limited format of a feature length film, the sequels lacked the visceral impact of the first in most every way.

The franchise that started with a movie that talked about freeing your mind, and had the protagonist tell the antagonists that he would show the people a world without boundaries and where anything was possible, got bogged down by an entirely different take on the character and his world.

I mean, at the end of the original, people were left wondering what other incredible feats Neo would be able to accomplish in the sequels. I expected to have Neo in the sequel continue to grow and defy the rules set by the Matrix. Instead, we got a Neo who was exactly the same as in the previous film, with what seemed to be a specific set of abilities - flight, stopping bullets, fighting skills, and limited precognition. That was it! No bending time, no phasing through solid objects, or whatever. It just gave me the impression that there was no more imagination employed in the character.

It’s just disappointing that a character with so much promise got so neglected and underused. And, on top of that, the action in the sequels was not engaging and the dialogue was as riveting as watching paint dry.

By: khi

khi — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:59:07 +0000

It was a hilarious segment! It’s a real shame the dialogue ruined Reloaded overall but like in the first installment some of the action scenes were fantastic (with particular reference to the 10 min+ car chase freeway sequence).

By: orange cinema

orange cinema — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:19:33 +0000

i really enjoy matrix reloaded, but i cant deny his good points about its silly design & delivery. too funny!

By: Jon

Jon — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:34:08 +0000

I like these short segments much better compared to the full /Filmcast! It really fits in well with my ADD.

By: MonkeyMafia

MonkeyMafia — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:36:13 +0000

Much respect to Stephen for conjuring up such a coherent and hysterical rant! “Negative Entertainment” is now a philosophy I’m permanently adding to my lexicon and when I talk about it with my friends I’m taking all the credit and giving Stephen none, cause I’m a hack.

By: Heftybag

Heftybag — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:17:55 +0000

You can like this filmand think it has bad ass action scenes. Doesnt mean his criticisms of the film are unfounded. I love the transporter films but both have bad dialogue and have explanatory coherence problems just like this film.

You can like a film but also accept criticism from it.

By: Rudi

Rudi — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:56:46 +0000

He should have directed his “waste” to The Matrix Revolutions instead, maybe then I would have considered clicking that PLAY button to listen to his thoughts about the underwhelming ending of the trilogy. Reloaded on the other hand was just as great as the first one in my opinion, it even had better and more thrilling action sequences. So I am not listening to this because ONE I don’t really care about this guy’s thoughts (I only know him from Memento and then Heroes and wasn’t that impressed by him in both of them) and TWO I love The Matrix Reloaded and throughout the dozen times I’ve watched it so far I never felt violated by it.

By: Heftybag

Heftybag — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:43:31 +0000

I loved this live, and now the more I listen to it the funnier it is.

@790 - He makes a very good point. A very big part of movies is the explanatory coherence of the film. Essentially, a movie can be anything but once you set up the world, you have to follow the rules of the world. Think of the previous /filmcasts where future batman villains were discussed and it was state MR Freeze wouldn’t work in the Nolan universe. It is the same thing with Matrix reloaded. If you set up a universe, stick to it. It seems here they were trying to do cool things and make a cool story, but did not follow closely to the set up universe they had already established.

/end rant Already wrote a paper on this idea for my Philosophy of Film class - trying not to do it again >.<