Keanu A-Z News Reports
Saturday, May 31, 2003
Keanu buys his own luxury pad [Femail 31/05/03]
With an estimated £90million in the bank, Matrix Reloaded star Keanu Reeves might be expected to own a string of homes.
But the 38-year-old actor has lived in hotels until now.
In fact, he has only just bought his first property - a £3million bachelor pad in the Hollywood Hills a few doors away from Spider-Man actor Tobey Maguire.
Reeves, who is expected to pocket £70million from the two Matrix sequels, said recently: "One day I'll get a place but I would have to feel a need to have a home, to have a sense of permanence, and I don't feel that right now."
He changed his mind after seeing the 5,000sq ft bungalow, which boasts three bedrooms, a 50ft swimming pool, a courtyard, koi pond and three fireplaces.
One estate agent said: "He has got one of the most stunning properties in one of the trendiest areas."
'The Matrix' reworked [TimesDispatch.com 29/05/03]
Reeves film gets comedy treatment
The funny people at Comedy Alley were looking around for a movie to
poke musical fun at when they realized that the biggest, juiciest target was "The Matrix."
"With Keanu Reeves in it, that's such an easy mark."
Ah, yes. The ever-so-wooden Keanu Reeves. A walking bull's-eye for satirists.
"I know you think my acting's fake/But I'll do better in this than in 'Point Break,'" sings the actor who plays Neo, the character originated by Reeves.
The comedy in Comedy Alley's "The Musical Matrix" is both loving and pointed. The entire Keanu Reeves oeuvre lends itself to skewering, and the players begin with "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" and work their way through his films.
And yet, they must admire "The Matrix" enough to have watched it countless times, pinning down both the plot and the details. The two-hour show repeats the full movie, scene by scene, covering all of the plot points as they occur in the original film.
"A good amount of the audience has been showing signs that they are aware of the movie," Walters said, in an understatement. But just in case anyone does not remember the numerous details of the story, the back of the program has a synopsis called "Matrix for Dummies."
The other level of humor comes from the reworked pop songs with new lyrics relating to the movie. These songs range from the "South Park" movie's "La Resistance" to Duran Duran's "Rio" (restyled, of course, as "Neo") to Don McLean's "American Pie" ("Why, why Mr. Morpheus guy?/I'm a hacker not a slacker/Am I living a lie?").
"The Musical Matrix" came about after last year's successful musical version of "Star Wars." Walters and co-director David Gau outlined the movie and drew up a list of plot points and dialogue to include.
No script was written. Walters and Gau left that to their cast of 13 improvisers, including Gau (Walters is running the lights for this show). Together, they came up with the show, including the concept that the Matrix, in this version, is actually the audience. Chase scenes and fights actually occur amid the audience.
The show, which Walters called "a pure camp production," is playing on an extended run through June 20. The shows are either Friday or Saturday (it changes with each week), and already the show is getting repeat customers.
"We've actually had a person dress in costume and come here as Trinity," Walters said.
"The Musical Matrix"
Where: Comedy Alley, 7115 Staples Mill Road
When: 10 p.m. tomorrow (the day of the show alternates between Friday and Saturday through June 20).
Tickets: $12
Reservations: Required. Call (804) 266-9377.
"It's so serious and so strait-laced that it gives so much opportunity for comedy," said Comedy Alley owner Christine Walters, co-director of "The Musical Matrix."
'Set for life' Keanu gives away $125m [The Daily Telegraph[Aus] 30may03]
HONORARY Sydneysider Keanu Reeves has earned himself the reputation of Hollywood's most generous star after reportedly deciding to give away $125 million in profits from the two Matrix sequels.
The lucky recipients are said to be the effects and costume designers who worked on the movies which shot in Sydney.
According to the Mirror, under his contract for the sequels, Reeves is entitled to 15 per cent of box office takings or $A50 million (whichever is the greater) for The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions.
Latest estimates suggest the Matrix movies could earn up to $500 million each, putting Reeves take at $175 million.
"Money is the last thing I think about," Reeves said. "I could live on what I've already made for the next few centuries."
Among those who could benefit from Reeves' largesse is Australian costume designer Kym Barrett, who was recently tagged in the US as the "fashion world's most influential unknown" for her Matrix work.
She designed the costumes for the all three Matrix movies.
Given her designs for the inhabitants of Zion are now finding their way on to the streets, Confidential hopes she's been well looked after.
His co-star Jada Pinkett Smith has described Reeves generosity as "overwhelming".
Reeves reportedly surprised the stuntmen working on the film by giving them each a Harley Davidson. Not only that, when production on the sequels wrapped, he gave each crew member a bottle of vintage '93 Dom Perignon.
The Glastonbury effect [The Guardian 30/05/03]
It would be a mistake to regard Glastonbury audiences as a model of blithe, stoned compliance. There's always something else to see, and it frequently has no clothes on, so they are just as likely to get up and wander off if an artist doesn't cut it. Hype without substance is detected pretty quickly, as both Gay Dad - who played to a virtually empty field - and Keanu Reeves, whose band Dogstar ended up on the receiving end of a rare Glastonbury pelting, could testify. Similarly, superstar egotism doesn't really wash with a crowd who have spent the last three days enduring the unique misery that is the Glastonbury lavatory.
Father doesn't know best [San Francisco Examiner 30/05/03]
Keanu Reeves' dad, a longtime heroin addict, says he tried to get in touch with his estranged son -- they haven't spoken or seen one another in almost 24 years -- while Keanu's band Dogstar was in town but Keanu gave him the cold shoulder. "I dropped off a note with my phone number (but) I didn't get any response."
Size doesn't matter
More Keanu news ... the "Matrix" star just bought his very first home. Keanu has until now resisted settling down anywhere, preferring instead to stay in hotel suites or crash with friends. Unlike his Hollywood peers, Keanu prefers to keep things simple. In fact, when he showed up to the set of "Matrix Reloaded" and found a giant trailer with his name on it, he told the studio to get rid of it and give him a smaller trailer like his costars'. So, naturally, his Hollywood Hills home isn't some giant multi-acre estate. In fact, it only has three bedrooms.
Kindly Keanu: [Empire Online[UK] 31/05/03]
Good old Keanu Reeves, while many Hollywood stars hoard their millions and live a life of opulence, Reeves has given £50 million of his Matrix sequel profits to the effects and costume people who worked on the movies. Having secured a deal that guarantees 15 per cent of the box office for both films, Reeves has nonetheless risen hugely in our estimations with an act of largesse that will likely see him receiving Christmas cards well into the next millennium. "Money is the last thing I think about," he said, "I could live on what I’ve already made for the next few centuries."
Keanu's dad is still a heroin addict [Irish Examiner 30/05/2003 - 10:10:59 am]
The Matrix star Keanu Reeves' father, who has spent time in prison for drug offences, admits he is still addicted.
Samuel Reeves, 60, told Us Weekly magazine: “I never stopped for very long. Drugs for me is about having fun. I still love heroin. I use it daily. I’m an addict.”
The elder Reeves, who lives in Hawaii with his 79-year-old mother, has not seen his son in 24 years.
“When his band was playing in Honolulu near where I used to get my methadone, I dropped off a note with my phone number,” he told the magazine.
“I didn’t get any response.”
Kindly Keanu: [Empire Online [UK] 31/05/03]
Good old Keanu Reeves, while many Hollywood stars hoard their millions and live a life of opulence, Reeves has given £50 million of his Matrix sequel profits to the effects and costume people who worked on the movies. Having secured a deal that guarantees 15 per cent of the box office for both films, Reeves has nonetheless risen hugely in our estimations with an act of largesse that will likely see him receiving Christmas cards well into the next millennium. "Money is the last thing I think about," he said, "I could live on what I’ve already made for the next few centuries."
The Night I Jammed With Neo [NME.com May 2003]
It all came out of nothing one night in the early 90s. I was in a band called Fabulous at the time. One night, James our manager and our singer Simon went down to this club and got chatting to Keanu. He was in London filming, had a few days on his hands and was basically up for anything. Fabulous were on a roll so they told him we were the cutting edge of British rock'n'roll and understandably he wanted a piece of the action. He has his own band, Dogstar, and said he wanted to come down to our rehearsal the next day and jam with us. So the next day, Simon and James pull up at my flat and tell me they've got Keanu downstairs in the car.
Now the car in itself was something it had the words 'Arrest Me' sprayed in huge letters across the back but when I got down there, there was no sign of Keanu. When I turned around I heard this stifled laughter and realized that he was in the boot (trunk)! He'd just got in there when they picked him up because there was nowhere else to sit. I think he was used to it because of the times he’d dodged the paparazzi. The drummer in Dogstar was there and a girl he was seeing at the time: I think she was from Neighbours. Anyway, we drove off with Keanu still in the trunk. It must have been a half-hour drive. You could hear him giggling in the back every now and then. He looked a bit dishevelled but he got out like nothing had happened and said something like 'Awesome!'
Then we handed him a bass and he started playing really, really loud. He had all the moves too, but he wasn't much good. He couldn't play any of our songs because they were way too fast: he couldn't really keep up. In the end we just started playing the Velvet Underground's 'Sweet Jane'. It was pretty boring but he liked it. Every time we did a good version he'd say something like 'Awesome dude!', just like Bill and Ted.
He'd brought four cans of really weak lager with him but he only had one. There was no sign of his future life as Neo. I must say, I don't think you'd call it one of the greatest rock n roll jams but I hear the tapes are now going for thousands on the internet.
By: Paul Moody/Martin Goodacre
How Much Will Keanu Earn from The Matrix Sequels? [Source: VarietyFriday, May 30, 2003]
Wondering what kind of money Keanu Reeves is pulling in from The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions? Estimates are that Reeves will make anywhere from $90 million to near $200 million, with the latter figure probably more accurate, says Variety.
Reeves agreed to reprise his role in back-to-back sequels in 1999. Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures paid $30 million against 15% of the gross for both films. Because "Reloaded" made so much when the theatrical split was weighted toward the studio that Reeves has burned through his $30 million advance and is already collecting 15% of the gross. Not bad, eh?
Since the first film grossed nearly twice as much abroad to get to $350 million, estimates are that the first sequel could reach $700 million worldwide. When box office is added to revenues from the videogame, DVD, TV sale and other ancillaries, Reeves' earning potential is massive.
It gets better on "Revolutions," because he earns 15% of everything the moment the film opens!
Movers & Shakers
Matrix Mansion [Forbes.com by Betsy Schiffman 29/05/03]
Who's buying, who's selling in the world of high-end real estate:
Reeves Finally Settles
Are his new digs "Neo" classic?
Keanu Reeves, the leading man in The Matrix Reloaded, is buying a flashy Hollywood Hills home to match his flashy box office success, according to the Los Angeles Times. Reeves bought a $5 million three-bedroom house, which spans 5,000 square feet, and has a 50- foot infinity pool, three fireplaces and a courtyard. The home is in a gated community, and since it was first built for an art collector during the 1980s, it has large wall space to hang an art collection.
Reeves, 38, had a slew of fairly respectable roles early in his career (including Chevalier Danceny in the critically acclaimed 1988 film Dangerous Liaisons) but he didn't really gain mainstream fame until he established himself as a teen idol playing the blissfully ignorant Ted "Theodore" Logan in1989's Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.
In The Matrix Reloaded, which was produced by AOL Time Warner's (nyse: AOL - news - people ) Warner Bros. studio, Reeves took on the revered role of rebel leader Neo for a second time. Although he was reportedly paid $30 million for both the first and second Matrix films, Reeves was known for living out of a hotel, in order to avoid committing to a home. He once said in an interview, "I guess I'm not the settling type....Someday." Now it looks as if that day will fall quite soon.
WHO WANTS TO BE KEANU'S BUDDY? [STL Today 29/05/03]
Keanu Reeves is planning to give away more than $80 million in profits from the two "Matrix" sequels, Ananova.com reports. The actor, who plays Neo in the smash movie series, will donate most of his pay to effects and costume designers who worked on the movies.
Reeves' contract gives him 15 percent of the box-office draw for "The Matrix Reloaded" and its follow-up, "The Matrix Revolutions." The two films are expected to pull in about $750 million worldwide, netting Reeves more than $100 million.
"Money is the last thing I think about," he explains. "I could live on what I've already made for the next few centuries."
The Matrix: ReSeussed by Tom
The following contains Reloaded spoilers
(If "The Matrix: Reloaded" had been written by Dr. Seuss)
NEO: I am the One and I am free.
The Oracle is fond of me.
I need that dude who makes the key.
MEROVINGIAN: You only dream that you are free,
Look all around -- causality:
It's in the wine, it's in the steak,
It's in this chocolate cake I bake.
See yonder blonde? She sure looks fine.
One bite of cake, and she'll be mine.
Then in the restroom where we're meeting,
You can guess what she'll be eating.
So, goodbye.
NEO: But I am free,
And he is not the boss of me!
PERSEPHONE: He is a pig, she is a whore,
I've seen this scene twelve times before.
The tricks he's pulled, the lies he's said --
I'll shoot his werewolf in the head!
I'll fix him good for being sly;
I'll give you the key maker guy.
But first, a kiss to seal the deal;
Just make me feel that it's for real.
NEO: This bargain does have some appeal . . .
OK, a kiss, and now we're through.
PERSEPHONE: I'm very cute, curvaceous too,
Is that the best that you can do?
It must be true, the things they say --
The tabloid stories that you're . . .
NEO: Hey!
Let's try again, you are a hottie.
Here's a kiss that's really naughty.
(Trinity will hate this night.
She'll bring it up each time we fight.)
PERSEPHONE: Now, that was better, way to go!
I feel a tingle, head to toe.
Let's have another.
TRINITY: Back off, ho!
Or taste a bullet from my gun.
PERSEPHONE: Too bad you're with her, she's no fun.
Well, come with me, we won't get caught.
I'll let you in my secret spot:
A steamy, dark place down below,
A tunnel deep in my chateau.
MORPHEUS: Could this be symbolism?
TRINITY: No.
PERSEPHONE: Come through this door and take a peek.
This little guy is the locksmith geek.
KEYMAKER: I've got the keys to every lock.
I jingle-jangle when I walk!
NEO: And can you get me to the Source?
KEYMAKER: I have that key. Of course! Of course!
I'm on your side, just don't take me
Through airport gate security.
(First published at http://matrixessays.blogspot.com
This poem may be freely reproduced if it is unchanged
and this notice is included.)
Keanu and Kim in Italy
Here's the article in Italian. Then below that is the translation using the online source (which isn't very good) Then after that a cyber friend who knows a bit of Italian transtated the translation.
=======================
È tornato a Capri Keanu Reeves, l'eroe di Matrix ed il protagonista di thriller di successo. Non si tratta però di un tour mondano, ma di una breve vacanza che il bello del grande schermo ha voluto dedicare a sua sorella Kim con villa alla Migliera, che vive ad Anacapri ormai da qualche anno. La giovane sorella dell'”Avvocato del Diavolo” continua ad essere tra le residenti illustri anche se è finita la sua love story con Tonino, il giovane e atletico caprese che aveva colpito il cuore della bella e multimiliardaria americana, oggi rimasta sola nella sua casa con il suo cagnolino. E Keanu, forse, è arrivato con lo scopo di per alleggerire per qualche giorno il volontario esilio della sorella. L'itinerario dei due celebri fratelli è quello della scorsa estate: lunghe passeggiate e tuffi al calar del sole al Lido del Faro di Nello e Renata.
============================
returned at Goats Keanu Reeves, the hero of Matrix and the protagonist of thriller of success. It is not discussed however of a fashionable tour, but of a short vacation that the attractive one of the large screen wanted to dedicate its sister Kim with villa to the Migliera, that lives to Anacapri now from some year. The young sister dell' ”Lawyer of the Devil” continuous to be between the eminent residents even if its love is ended story with Tone, the young and athletic caprese that had hit the heart of the attractive one and American multimiliardaria, today remained alone in its house with its puppy. And Keanu, perhaps, arrived with the purpose of to lighten for some day the voluntary exile of the sister. The itinerary of two famous brothers is that of the past summer: long strolled and you plunge to the calar of the sun to the Beach of the Light of In The and Renata.
=================
Basicly the article says that Keanu was in Capri to spend a short vacation with his sister who owns a house in Migliera, Anacapri since a few years ago in spite her love story with Tonino (like Tony in English), the young and athletic Capri native has ended now, and she continues living there alone with her puppy. Keanu has join her in order to ease for some days his sister volunteer exile. They spent their time there with long walks and swimming in the evening at Nello and Fratella's Lighthouse beach.
Source Club Keanu
KEANU TO DONATE `MATRIX' MONEY [KRT Wire 29/05/03]
Keanu Reeves is planning to give away more than $80 million in profits from the two "Matrix" sequels, Ananova.com reports.
The actor, who plays Neo in the smash movie series, will donate most of his pay to effects and costume designers who worked on the movies.
Reeves' contract gives him 15 percent of the box-office draw for "The Matrix Reloaded" and its follow-up, "The Matrix Revolutions." The two films are expected to pull in about $750 million worldwide, netting Reeves more than $100 million.
"Money is the last thing I think about," he explains. "I could live on what I've already made for the next few centuries."
Keanu - who recently spent $5.4 million on his first permanent home, a luxury pad in the Hollywood hills - is well known for his generosity. While filming the sequels in Australia, he surprised 12 stuntmen by giving them Harley-Davidson motorbikes.
KEANU'S UNLOADED [The Mirror [UK] 28/05/2003]
HOLLYWOOD star Keanu Reeves is giving away an astonishing £50million of the profits from the Matrix sequels.
The 38-year-old actor has signed the money over to the special-effects department and the costume-designing team.
Keanu says: "Money is the last thing I think about. I could live on what I've already made for the next few centuries."
Reeves' contract gives him either £20million or 15 per cent of the gross (whichever is greater) from The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. The two films are expected to gross at least £200million each worldwide.
The Matrix Reloaded alone has already grossed more than £150million in the US and close to £70million in the rest of the world with its total box-office gross predicted to reach a staggering £300million.
Reeves, who doesn't own a home, preferring to live in hotels, has always been very generous with his cash. While filming the Matrix sequels back-to-back in Australia, he surprised the 12 stuntmen by giving them Harley-Davidson motorcycles worth £7,000 each. His co-star Jada Pinkett Smith, wife of Will Smith, said: "His generosity is overwhelming."
Reeves has never married and doesn't have children. The only person he supports is his beloved younger sister Kim, who has battled leukemia for 10 years.
The actor has spent a fortune looking for a miracle cure. A Hollywood source said last year: "Keanu would give away every last penny he has to save Kim."
Reeves spreads his riches [The Age May 30 2003]
Keanu Reeves is planning to give away more than $US80 million ($A122.98 million) in profits from the two Matrix sequels, Ananova.com reports.
The actor, who plays Neo in the smash movie series, will donate most of his pay to effects and costume designers who worked on the movies.
Reeves' contract gives him 15 per cent of the box-office draw for The Matrix Reloaded and its follow- up, The Matrix Revolutions.
The two films are expected to pull in about $US750 million ($A1.15 billion) worldwide, netting Reeves more than $US100 million ($A153.73 million).
"Money is the last thing I think about," he explains. "I could live on what I've already made for the next few centuries."
Keanu - who recently spent $US5.4 million ($A8.3 million) on his first permanent home, a luxury pad in the Hollywood hills - is well known for his generosity.
While filming the sequels in Australia, he surprised 12 stuntmen by giving them Harley-Davidson motorbikes.
- KRT
Mo' money, no problems [The Examiner 29/05/03]
Keanu Reeves says he has more money than he knows what to do with, so he's giving a big chunk of his "Matrix" sequels earnings to the effects and costumes crews, who he believes really deserve it. "Money is the last thing I think about. I could live on what I've already made for the next few centuries."
Matrix sequels reinvent the action genre [Philippine Star May 8, 2003]
Get ready for a jaw-dropping visual experience that will reinvent the action genre as producer Joel Silver and directors Larry and Andy wachowski return with the hotly anticipated Matrix sequels: The Matrix Reloaded which opens May 15 in the US and in the Philippines; to be followed by The Matrix Revolutions, the final film in the trilogy which will be released just six months after Reloaded, in November.
In 1999, writer-directors Larry and Andy Wachowski, whose only big screen credit was the film Bound, came out of nowhere with a film that would flip the concept of an action movie and bring a new style to everything from fight choreography to visual effects to runway fashion. Like the film's unsuspecting protagonist Neo (Keanu Reeves), who has to free his mind to truly see, audiences knew they were glimpsing a brave, new world for the first time-the world of The Matrix, a complex computer simulation created by machines to enslave the human race. Once awakened from his lifelong sleep, Neo discovers that he's a messianic figure known as the One, and that it is his destiny to save the world.
The Matrix grossed $171 million in the US and $200 million internationally before becoming the first DVD, then a relatively new format, to sell a million copies. Over the years since its release, the film's legion of fans have mined the DVD and the groundbreaking website, whatisthematrix.com for layers of meaning in the most arcane details of the film, eagerly anticipating the time they could enter the Matrix again. That time is finally here.
After years of carefully planning, inventing execution, the Wachowski brothers are gearing up to deliver a new Matrix experience. "Our fans would be angry at us if we made them wait any longer", producer Joel Silver says. "Reloaded ends, I promise you, at a moment of true filmus interrutus".
Following seven weeks of principal photography in northern California, amarathon 270-day schedule commenced in Australia, where both films were shot simultaneously throughout 2001 and 2002. The production has been in secrecy, with even the stars seeing only a few scraps of the film by the end of principal photography. It's a feat that demanded not only far-reaching visions but also intricate planning and coordination between what was live action, computer generated, and an imperceptible fusion of both.
Though fans are divided between clamoring for information and remaining "spoiler-free" on the storylines of the next two films, some plot details have funneled out.
Reloaded begins where The Matrix left off. The machines made a terrifying discovery: They've learned the location of Zion, the last human city, hidden near the earth's core, and the humans have only 72 hours until thousands of Sentinels-the squid-like probes from part one-tunnel down to obliterate it. Their only hope is to track down a mysterious figure known as the Keymaker, who is being guarded by a pair of switchblade-wielding villains known as The Twins (Neil and Adrien Rayment), unnaturally white assassins who can vanish and reappear like ghosts.
In addition to the now-iconic returning cast-Reeves as Neo, Laurence Fishburne as Morpheous, Carrie Ann Moss as Trinity, Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith and the late Gloria Foster as The Oracle-Reloaded introduces new characters including a Buddha-like figure named Seraph (Collin Chou); Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith), a former lover of Morpheous; and Persephone (Monica Bellucci) a deadly temptress who has her eyes on Neo.
The revelations in the next two films are many. Reloaded reveals the dimensions of the Matrix itself- megacity more than ten times the size of New York-for the first time. We also learn of the existence of powerful machines that have been surpassed by newer, more ruthless models, and are ambivalent of what their own generations of innovation have wrought.
Agent Smith has learned to replicate himself like a virus, and in one bravura sequence filmed with a breakthrough technique the Wachowskis call "virtual cinematography", when neo faces off against 100 Agent Smiths. Reloaded ends as a cliffhanger, setting the stage for the final film in the trilogy, Revolutions.
Matrix Revolutions is one all-out war between humans and the machines. While Reloaded is largely set inside the Matrix, Revolutions unfold in the smoking ruins of the futuristic real world. Joel Silver, the titan producer behind the Lethal Weapons series, promises action on par with nothing that's ever been seen before in movies.
(Also printed in the April 2003 edition of Men's Zone magazine)
Monday, May 26, 2003
Menlo design firm puts shades on Keanu Reeves [San Mateo Times 26/05/2003]
By Bret Putnam, STAFF WRITER
MENLO PARK -- Product design firm StudioRED has placed four of its recent creations where they can really be seen -- squarely on the noses of Keanu Reeves and three other stars of this summer's blockbuster movie "The Matrix: Reloaded."
StudioRED produced the futuristic sunglasses that Reeves and three other actors, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss and Hugo Weaving, wear as they battle with an evil race of robots that holds them captive in "The Matrix."
When the original "Matrix" came out in 1999, it set a new standard for action films, with special effects that were revolutionary -- and serious intellectual content to boot.
It was also long on style.
The sleek neo-Gothic fashions worn by Reeves and his co-stars did much to give the film its arresting edginess.
StudioRED landed the job of updating that signature style for "The Matrix: Reloaded," the first sequel in a projected trilogy.
According to StudioRED founder Philip Bourgeois, the update was no easy task.
"The challenge of looking at a piece of white paper and worrying and stressing because I have to deliver something great-looking at the end" is always daunting, Bourgeois said.
Aided by a quartet of designers, and working with plaster busts of the four stars, Bourgeois produced four -- yes, only four -- prototype sunglasses. The cost per pair to create: a cool $4,000. Warner Bros. paid twice that for the glasses, but owns the rights to the prototypes and stands to profit from retail sales.
StudioRED, founded by Bourgeois 20 years ago, has designed a huge variety of products, from surgery instruments to folding chairs. But, not surprisingly, few of those creations get the world-wide exposure that "The Matrix" is providing for StudioRED's sunglasses.
The shades are so coveted that not even Bourgeois has a pair.
The film opened more than a week ago, and already Bourgeois is getting inquires from around the globe -- one just came in from a major Turkish eyewear distributor Friday -- about how to order the shades. Bourgeois directs all such inquiries to Warner Bros., which has a mass marketing strategy in the works -- but no sunglasses yet beyond the prototypes.
Meanwhile, Bourgeois, a resident of Woodside, planned to take in "The Matrix Reloaded" at a local theater over the Memorial Day weekend.
"When you see something come to fruition and have that impact that you desired and looked for -- I believe there is no greater reward," Bourgeois said. You can reach staff writer Bret Putnam at 348-4330 or by e-mail at bputnam@angnewspapers.com .
TV Review -- 'Biography: Keanu Reeves' [Reuters 26/05/2003]
By Marilyn Moss
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - This profile of Keanu Reeves is run-of-the-mill stuff that's just the kind of exploitation you'd expect to see at this precise time, since Reeves' "The Matrix Reloaded" is blowing away current box office numbers.
The A&E bio takes less than an hour, and in that time serves up more whitewashing than Huck Finn could have invented throughout his entire childhood.
The predictable format, focusing first on Reeves' childhood (his father virtually left the family when Reeves was very young, and Keanu and his sister stayed with their mother), then his teenage years (he wasn't exactly interested in grades at school; he had a bigger talent). Next we follow the actor through his apprenticeship years and on to the big time, which it seems didn't take him very long to reach.
The excellent drama "River's Edge" and Gus Van Sant's quirky "My Own Private Idaho" put Reeves on the map of young Hollywood golden boys, a place where he has managed to stay so far.
"Matrix" and its two sequels (which the actor signed on to do at the beginning) have ensured his boxoffice clout, though not necessarily critical praise for his talent as an actor. But if anyone knows how to stay in the movie limelight, it's Reeves.
The profile looks (while not wanting to very much) at his personal and family relationships. But the actor has that aspect of his life so well wrapped up and veiled that even this piece of exploitation can't get in. We're told that there have been questions about his sexuality, and, as if to snuff out those questions, we're informed that he and his late girlfriend had a child on the way but that it died before birth. Later, the girlfriend herself died, but after she and Reeves had split up.
The most annoying part of the bio is the constant praise that gets thrown in our faces about the actor from Reeves' agent and his friends and colleagues, including Laurence Fishburne. All told, Keanu is a great guy. Then there is the perennial "He's a survivor," which is enough to make anyone want to hit the remote.
BIOGRAPHY: KEANU REEVES
Prometheus Entertainment and Foxstar Prods. in association with Fox Television and A&E Network
Credits: Executive producer: Kevin Burns; Supervising producer: Kim Sheerin; Producer: Jack Galworth; Writers: Gary Simson, Jack Galworth; Editors: Troy Bogert, Tim Roche.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
Keanu buys plush new Hollywood pad [Breaking News IE 26/05/2003]
Matrix star Keanu Reeves, who earned a reported €32m for the two sequels to The Matrix, has bought a home in the Hollywood Hills for more than €4m, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Until now the reclusive actor has been renting a small apartment in Santa Monica.
His new home, a gated estate, was built in the late 1980s as an art collector’s residence. It has three bedrooms, a swimming pool, koi pond and a centre courtyard.
Reeves, 38, bought the house before he accompanied his co-stars Carrie-Anne Moss and Laurence Fishburne and producer Joel Silver to the Cannes Film Festival.
NEXT UP FOR KEANU: A PLAY [UPI.com 26/05/03]
Keanu Reeves says he would like to follow up his performances in the "Matrix" trilogy by acting on stage.
"I need to do a play," Reeves recently told reporters. "I want to go do a play. Hopefully next year. I'm trying to find a new play. I've got to get back on stage because I love it. I need to. I really want to play as an actor. Just to go through the process as an actor. It's not short segments of acting. It's the whole experience. It's an interactive medium... It's really for me, home. I love it. I love it."
Asked if he ever worries about being typecast, the action star who has also appeared in comedies like "Parenthood" and "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" and period dramas like "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and "Dangerous Liaisons" says he hopes that will never be the case.
"I can't control who hires me," he reasoned. "It has always been my hope as an actor to work in different genres and play different characters."
Sunday, May 25, 2003
Fight to forgive
[Calgary Sun 25/05/2003]
STARGAZING
Jailbird father hopes to make peace with son Keanu before he dies ‘Matrix Reloaded’ superstar Keanu Reeves’ estranged father, Samuel Reeves, 61, is desperately sick and wants to make peace with his son before he dies.
“I haven’t seen him for 25 years,” says Samuel, who recently got out of jail after serving time for drug dealing.
“I know I’ve done wrong, but I want his forgiveness before I go.” Keanu feels Samuel abandoned him and his sister, Kim, when he left their mother, Patricia, and so far doesn’t want to see his ailing dad. But he’s reunited with his half-sister, Emma Rose, 38, Samuel’s daughter by a second marriage.
Meanwhile, he continues to support his adored sister Kim, 35, in her fight against leukemia. PS: Matrix Reloaded is breaking all box-office records.
Prediction: Keanu won’t forgive his dying father, something he’ll live to regret. More tragedy comes when Kim’s condition worsens.
Saturday, May 24, 2003
MEET KEANU, ANEW [People.com May 23, 2003]
After a tough few years, the Matrix star finds his balance. Love? He's still looking.
"Anything Keanu takes on, he takes incredibly seriously," pal Bret Domrose says of Reeves (in Cannes on May 15).
(George Pimentel/WireImage.com)
What makes Keanu
Reeves happy? A nice bottle of Australian wine, for one thing. "The Mount Mary Quintet Cabernet '90 is good," he says. "And the Penfolds Grange '71 and '76 are awesome." Playing bass with his bands, for another. But on the set of The Matrix Reloaded, what really made Reeves happy was the surprise he pulled off for the 12 stuntmen he worked with most closely. "I wanted to give a bigger thank- you to all those guys," says the motorcycle-loving actor, who bought each one a Harley-Davidson. "That made me smile, man, for months! I'd be in bed and be like, 'Ha ha ha!'"
That's not the only thing Reeves has to be giddy about these days. Reloaded, the second installment of the blockbuster sci-fi trilogy in which Reeves stars as the humanity-saving Neo, earned a whopping $92 million in its opening weekend. "It's great to be a part of something that has the excitement that surrounds this picture," says Reeves, 38, who spent 11 months in Australia filming Reloaded and Revolutions, the series' conclusion, back-to-back. Finishing the project, he says, "was like stepping on the shore after crossing an ocean."
It hasn't always been smooth sailing for the ultraprivate Reeves, whose laidback whoa!-is-me screen persona belies a history of heavyweight personal sorrows. But friends of the actor say that as he approaches 40, Reeves is finally in a good place. "He is a lot lighter than he used to be," says his Matrix costar Laurence Fishburne. "He has become okay with himself." Reeves is reluctant to do much self-reflecting: "I'll just say I'm older and older. With any experience you have, you know more about yourself."
Getting to know Reeves, however, can be almost as hard as cracking the mind-bending Matrix. Despite his $30 million salary for the last two Matrix installments, he continues to live primarily out of hotels. "I guess I'm not the settling type," he says. "Someday." But the star does have three constants in his life. "Wherever he goes, he takes his motorcycle, his hockey stick and his books," says Josh Richman, a pal since costarring with Reeves in 1986's River's Edge. Reeves's friends call him shy, loyal, generous — and a man of expansive appetites. "When we were playing in St. Louis, Keanu came knocking on everyone's door and said, 'We're in the land of ribs! Let's go find America's best ribs!' " says Bret Domrose, his bandmate in the rock group Dogstar. "Keanu makes a point to live it up, not on a five-star level but in a down-home way."
Reeves "is a warm friend," says pal Rob Mailhouse (with him in Glendale, Calif., in '02).
And not in a surfer-dude way either, despite Reeves's breakout role as slacker Ted in 1989's Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. The Shakespeare buff "is deceptively smart," says Alex Winter (a.k.a. Bill), a close pal. "And I don't mean that because people think of him as a Valley goof but because he's fairly quiet." Adds Matrix producer Joel Silver: "He knows everything about politics, music, but he isn't out there trying to show you how smart he is. He's very unassuming."
Especially when it comes to his Matrix work, which included five months of intensive physical training. Despite his cool moves onscreen, "I didn't learn martial arts," notes Reeves. "I learned movie kung fu." Not that the resulting aches were any less painful. On the set "he would just sit in a pool full of ice in full wardrobe because his muscles would hurt so bad," says Silver. By the end of shooting, Silver adds, "he had zero body fat. He looked like a hood ornament."
That sort of discipline is nothing new for Reeves, who has racked up 40 film credits in a 22-year career. "Keanu is clearly a man who has worked very hard for a very long time," says his stepfather Paul Aaron, a producer-director who split with Reeves's mother, Patricia, in 1971. "He started studying acting when he was 16. It's not as if 'Gee, isn't it wonderful you went to work and all of a sudden you're a star.'"
In fact, Reeves's road to stardom has been more colorful and, at times, rockier than most. Born in Beirut to Samuel Nowlin Reeves, who was vacationing in Lebanon when he met Patricia, an English-born showgirl at a local club, Keanu grew up in Toronto estranged from his father after his parents split when he was still a toddler. A convicted drug user, the elder Reeves, who lives in Hawaii and is half-Chinese, half-Hawaiian, says he hasn't spoken with his only son in years. "It's very sad, but I understand," he says. "I sit in the theater and I'm really proud of him. I always want to tell someone, 'Hey, that's my kid,' but who would believe me?" The actor is at peace with the situation, says his friend Richman: "As Keanu has gotten older, he has come to serious, concrete terms with it."
In contrast, Reeves is very close to his mother, sister Kim, 36, and half sister Karina, 26 (Karina's dad is Patricia's third husband, Robert Miller). He is especially tight with Kim, a horse breeder who has battled leukemia for years. They have "an exceedingly deep bond," says Richman. "He loves her so much."
His sister's illness is not the only trauma Reeves has had to cope with recently. Three years ago Reeves's daughter with his then-girlfriend Jennifer Syme was stillborn at eight months. Then in April 2001 Syme, with whom he had remained friendly after their breakup, died in an L.A. car crash. "It's still an open wound," says Richman. "It's not something you put a ribbon on and say, 'I dealt with that.' " Adds Domrose: "Keanu is not one to lean on his friends, so sometimes I have to say, 'Don't take on the world by yourself.' But he's tough."
These days the star "is really doing well," says his friend and bandmate Rob Mailhouse. "He seems comfortable right now." And bemused, say friends, by speculation about his love life (in recent years he has been linked with actresses Amanda de Cadenet and Claire Forlani). "People figure, 'Keanu Reeves, he should be going out with supermodels,' " says Richman. "But Keanu doesn't look at it that way. Does he have a girlfriend? I doubt it very seriously. Does he know how to have fun with women? Absolutely. He adores women."
Currently filming a comedy with Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson, Reeves has at least one idea for what he would like to do next. "Alex and I always wanted to do another Bill and Ted when we turned 40," he has said. "We always talk about where those guys would be now. I think they'd be in a Vegas hotel bar, strumming two guitars. And they'd be drunk and fat."
KEANU IN FIGHT CLUB [Daily Express 22/05/03]
Keanu Reeves had to flee a London nightclub when a fight broke out.
The Hollywood heart-throb, in Britain for the premiere of The Matrix Reloaded, was stunned when two rival gangs started scrapping in Mayfair's Funky Buddha.
He decided to call it a night when they started throwing glasses across the dancefloor. Keanu had slipped into the club's VIP room with co-start Jada Pinkett Smith, wife of Will Smith.
A dozen clubbers were involved in the fight just outside the room.
A friend said: "Keanu heard the commotion and was advised to get out quickly. As he left the gangs were at each other's throats by the door. He looked stunned."
Meanwhile, the gorgeous actor says he's rubbish with computers. He might be able to out-think super computers of The Matrix, but in real life he needs help sending an e-mail.
Keanu said: "I don't even own a computer. The only machine I love is my motorbike."
CARING KEANU'S MERCY DASH [Daily Express 22/05/03]
Keanu Reeves - the saviour figure of the new Matrix Reloaded film - has displayed more heroism in real life. The Hollywood star, we learn, recently flew halfway round the world to save the life of his terminally ill younger sister Kim, who suffers from leukaemia.
Having flown from Australia to Los Angeles to put the final touches to the film which premiered in London last night, Keanu, 39, took a call from Kim who was on the Italian island of Capri. "but a few minutes into the conversation Kim dropped the phoned and there was silence," explains a family friend. "Keanu tried to dial her back but got a busy signal." Concerned, he grabbed his still unpacked bags and caught the next flight to Italy, calling police in Capri to ask them to check on her. Arriving in Rome 15 hours later, police told him they'd found her unconscious on the floor beside the phone and taken her to hospital explains the friend.
Via a connecting flight, Keanu rushed to his sister's bedside, finding her weak but alive. "Kim is Keanu's best friend and companion," says their father, Same.
"He would give his life's blood for Kim and she would do the same for him. They have always been inseparable. For that I am very thankful."
Friday, May 16, 2003
Brothers skip fest
[Calgary Sun 16/05/2003]
Carrie-Anne Moss and Keanu Reeves arrive for the screening of their film "The Matrix Reloaded" ,out of competition, directed by American directors the Wachowski brothers at the opening of the 56th Film Festival in Cannes, France, Thursday, May 15, 2003.(AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau) |
CANNES — As expected, the Wachowski Brothers have wimped out on the Cannes Film Festival.
The two Chicago-born recluses, Larry and Andy Wachowski, chose to stay holed up in Hollywood to work on The Matrix Revolutions instead of showing up to support the European launch of The Matrix Reloaded, which showed as an out-of-competition gala May 15 at Cannes.The brothers, who conceived, co-wrote and co-directed the science-fiction trilogy, left it to Joel Silver, their ebullient producer, to explain their rude absence (unlike moody movie stars, directors always show up at Cannes to present their films.)
“Believe me, they would love to be with us,” Silver told a downbeat and often tedious Reloaded press conference May 15.
“They are buried finishing the next picture. But they wanted to express their thanks. We just hope they get the other movie done on time because it opens wide November 5 (apparently a change from Warner’s original announcement it would open Nov. 7).
“Warner Bros. wants this movie (The Matrix Revolutions) out at a certain time and we all think it’s the right time to do it.”
But it will take “a miracle” to finish Revolutions by November, Silver said, because the showpiece climax of the third Matrix is so technically complicated.
“There is a sequence at the end of Revolutions that is just a staggering visual effect: It is the most complex sequence ever put on film — I think it’s fair to say that — and it just could not be done in time (for a summer release).”
Otherwise, the Reloaded press conference was a reiteration of things the cast and crew were saying in Los Angeles just before they came here.
On hand were 15 actors and tech experts, including Canadian co-stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, plus Americans Jada Pinkett Smith and Laurence Fishburne and the international contingent led by Hugo Weaving, Lambert Wilson and Monica Bellucci.
Most of them groaned and rolled their eyes when North American journalists brought up an American boycott of Cannes.
The boycott was proposed by some Americans because of France’s refusal to support U.S. President George W. Bush’s war in Iraq.
“Personally,” Reeves said of getting pressure to pull out of Cannes, “not at all. But I’ve just arrived. I hope there isn’t.”
Reeves said film festivals should be “a place to come together and celebrate art and humanity and things.
“It would be a shame if there is such a divide. So I hope I don’t experience that — because I’m really glad to be here.”
Brothers skip fest
[Calgary Sun 16/05/2003]
Carrie-Anne Moss and Keanu Reeves arrive for the screening of their film "The Matrix Reloaded" ,out of competition, directed by American directors the Wachowski brothers at the opening of the 56th Film Festival in Cannes, France, Thursday, May 15, 2003.(AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
CANNES — As expected, the Wachowski Brothers have wimped out on the Cannes Film Festival.
The two Chicago-born recluses, Larry and Andy Wachowski, chose to stay holed up in Hollywood to work on The Matrix Revolutions instead of showing up to support the European launch of The Matrix Reloaded, which showed as an out-of-competition gala May 15 at Cannes.The brothers, who conceived, co-wrote and co-directed the science-fiction trilogy, left it to Joel Silver, their ebullient producer, to explain their rude absence (unlike moody movie stars, directors always show up at Cannes to present their films.)
“Believe me, they would love to be with us,” Silver told a downbeat and often tedious Reloaded press conference May 15.
“They are buried finishing the next picture. But they wanted to express their thanks. We just hope they get the other movie done on time because it opens wide November 5 (apparently a change from Warner’s original announcement it would open Nov. 7).
“Warner Bros. wants this movie (The Matrix Revolutions) out at a certain time and we all think it’s the right time to do it.”
But it will take “a miracle” to finish Revolutions by November, Silver said, because the showpiece climax of the third Matrix is so technically complicated.
“There is a sequence at the end of Revolutions that is just a staggering visual effect: It is the most complex sequence ever put on film — I think it’s fair to say that — and it just could not be done in time (for a summer release).”
Otherwise, the Reloaded press conference was a reiteration of things the cast and crew were saying in Los Angeles just before they came here.
On hand were 15 actors and tech experts, including Canadian co-stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, plus Americans Jada Pinkett Smith and Laurence Fishburne and the international contingent led by Hugo Weaving, Lambert Wilson and Monica Bellucci.
Most of them groaned and rolled their eyes when North American journalists brought up an American boycott of Cannes.
The boycott was proposed by some Americans because of France’s refusal to support U.S. President George W. Bush’s war in Iraq.
“Personally,” Reeves said of getting pressure to pull out of Cannes, “not at all. But I’ve just arrived. I hope there isn’t.”
Reeves said film festivals should be “a place to come together and celebrate art and humanity and things.
“It would be a shame if there is such a divide. So I hope I don’t experience that — because I’m really glad to be here.”
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
Matrix all looks, no heart
[Calgary Sun 14/05/2003]
THE MATRIX RELOADED
The Matrix Reloaded is a dazzling technical achievement. Andy and Larry Wachowski have created worlds within worlds and action sequences that are stunning to behold.
As they did in 1999 with The Matrix, the Wachowskis have raised the bar for these fantasy action flicks. They’ve found a way to bring an audience into a video game world where nothing is too impossible, too absurd or too obtuse.
What they’ve failed to do is infuse their worlds with logic or humanity leaving The Matrix Reloaded as cold and distancing as it is visually arresting.
It is essential to have seen The Matrix before viewing its sequel. This is most definitely not a stand-alone film.
The film’s hero is Neo (Keanu Reeves), a reluctant Messiah, who is trying to get into the inner-chamber of the computer that rules existence.
If Neo fails in his quest to shut down the computer, humanity is doomed.
Neo’s closest allies are his beloved Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and the stalwart fighter captain Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne).
Think of them as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia void of humour and whimsy, but with powers that far exceed anything The Force bestowed on the Star Wars trio.
The Matrix Reloaded opens with a grabber, as Trinity crashes her motorcycle into a building, mows down agents of the machine and then goes hurtling into space firing back at a clone who is bombarding her with bullets.
Neo is the kung fu fighter and he has several encounters that surpass anything in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
His first, which has been dubbed the Burly Brawl, sees Neo fighting hundreds of replicas of his ginning, smarmy nemesis Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving).
It’s a mesmerizing ballet, but it is void of any genuine tension or drama because Agent Smith just keeps replicating himself and Neo just keeps spinning, leaping and tumbling faster and faster.
When a whole army of Agent Smiths come to the aid of the dozens already fighting Neo, our hero goes into warp speed and zips away into space.
As Neo’s operator back at base remarks, the Messiah has gone into his Superman mode and that’s exactly what it looks like. This battle points up the glaring lack of logic that pervades The Matrix Reloaded.
If Agent Smith can replicate himself he should have just brought his horde with him right away instead of easing them into the battle.
If Neo can fly faster than a speeding bullet, he should have done so instantly instead of playing Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan for 15 minutes.
Neo has a second battle in a weapons chamber that’s a yawner because it’s just a variation of the Burly Brawl.
Trinity and Morpheus get their big action moment during the film’s car, truck and motorcycle chase sequence. It’s almost 15 minutes of road rage.
It’s a stunner to watch but it has the same minimal emotional impact of watching a demolition derby.
For all the technical wizardry and stunt drivers the Wachowski brothers dragged out for this sequence they don’t come anywhere near achieving the breathtaking exhilaration of the car chase in the 1968 Steve McQueen cop thriller Bullitt.
The action is fun to watch but it doesn’t get the old heart pumping which pretty much sums up how The Matrix Reloaded plays out as a movie.
The Matrix Reloaded, like Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, is the middle chapter of a trilogy. It offers no real resolutions just promises of greater things to come.
Tuesday, May 13, 2003
Locked and Reloaded
[Calgary Sun 13/05/2003]
You have to jump back 24 years to find Laurence Fishburne so stoked about a film. A lifetime ago, it was Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, which made its debut at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival and turned out to be an anti-war masterpiece.
ROAD KILL ... Laurence Fishburne returns in The Matrix Reloaded.
Fishburne was Larry then, a wiry teenager. Coppola cast him when he was a 15-year-old. He was 17 by the time it showed in Cannes.
Now the 41-year-old Fishburne is officially Laurence and he is a distinguished veteran actor-writer-director with excellent credits in film, TV and on stage.
Physically fit but stocky and imposing, Fishburne is a man's man. But he is as giddy and goofy as a kid when talking about The Matrix Reloaded, the Wachowski Brothers' sequel to their surprise 1999 science-fiction morality tale hit.
"Nice, nice," Fishburne says of reprising his role of Morpheus, the rebel commander of an inner-Earth spaceship fighting to maintain the safety of free humans. It is Morpheus who believes that Neo, Keanu Reeves' character, is The One who will determine the fate of the human race.
In a "nice" turn of fate, The Matrix Reloaded opened in Cannes on May 15, the same day it officially opened in thousands of theatres across North America.
Fishburne is slated to be on hand in Cannes for both Reloaded and for Clint Eastwood's Mystic River.
Back to Reloaded. Fishburne is still gushing.
"It's wonderful," he says of being part of Larry and Andy Wachowski's world. "It's the chance to play super-heroes. It's wonderful."
Fishburne says that The Matrix trilogy — The Matrix Revolutions is set to conclude the saga on Nov. 7 — is about myth-making for modern youth.
"That's what we should be doing in movie making. That's part of our charge. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. We've created not a new myth so much as we've taken the old myth and we've made it accessible for people in contemporary times. George Lucas did it with the Star Wars movies."
In The Matrix trilogy, Fishburne says, the filmmakers "use some very clear, recognizable archetypes for the characters, in Trinity and Morpheux and Neo." He is talking about biblical references such as the Holy Trinity.
Fishburne says he did not have to spend much time studying or talking about philosophy and religion to get into the role of Morpheus, primarily because he does that in life.
"I have spent a lot of time in my life living that way, or at least trying to live that way. A lot of this stuff, the spiritual and the philosophical, is stuff that I spend a lot of time on myself. I don't think of myself as being a philosopher or as being particularly religious, but I do think of myself as being a spiritual person.
"So, those things (in The Matrix movies) come through me a lot easier than they would with someone who's unfamiliar with any of the principles and any of the ideas.
"All that (stuff), that's what I'm talking about. All of that spiritual, voodoo, mumbo jumbo, ethereal, cereal-eating, (stuff).
"I'm talking about just do unto others as you would have others do unto you; I'm talking about he who has the gold wins. Look, in every doctrine, in every dogma, in every spiritualism and every religion, there are basic truths and all of these things are roadmaps for human beings to use to try to live better lives, to try to make themselves better people. I'm making it up as I go. I'm trying to do the best I can and be the best human being that I can."
Locked and Reloaded
[Calgary Sun 13/05/2003]
You have to jump back 24 years to find Laurence Fishburne so stoked about a film. A lifetime ago, it was Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, which made its debut at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival and turned out to be an anti-war masterpiece.
ROAD KILL ... Laurence Fishburne returns in The Matrix Reloaded.
Fishburne was Larry then, a wiry teenager. Coppola cast him when he was a 15-year-old. He was 17 by the time it showed in Cannes.
Now the 41-year-old Fishburne is officially Laurence and he is a distinguished veteran actor-writer-director with excellent credits in film, TV and on stage.
Physically fit but stocky and imposing, Fishburne is a man's man. But he is as giddy and goofy as a kid when talking about The Matrix Reloaded, the Wachowski Brothers' sequel to their surprise 1999 science-fiction morality tale hit.
"Nice, nice," Fishburne says of reprising his role of Morpheus, the rebel commander of an inner-Earth spaceship fighting to maintain the safety of free humans. It is Morpheus who believes that Neo, Keanu Reeves' character, is The One who will determine the fate of the human race.
In a "nice" turn of fate, The Matrix Reloaded opened in Cannes on May 15, the same day it officially opened in thousands of theatres across North America.
Fishburne is slated to be on hand in Cannes for both Reloaded and for Clint Eastwood's Mystic River.
Back to Reloaded. Fishburne is still gushing.
"It's wonderful," he says of being part of Larry and Andy Wachowski's world. "It's the chance to play super-heroes. It's wonderful."
Fishburne says that The Matrix trilogy — The Matrix Revolutions is set to conclude the saga on Nov. 7 — is about myth-making for modern youth.
"That's what we should be doing in movie making. That's part of our charge. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. We've created not a new myth so much as we've taken the old myth and we've made it accessible for people in contemporary times. George Lucas did it with the Star Wars movies."
In The Matrix trilogy, Fishburne says, the filmmakers "use some very clear, recognizable archetypes for the characters, in Trinity and Morpheux and Neo." He is talking about biblical references such as the Holy Trinity.
Fishburne says he did not have to spend much time studying or talking about philosophy and religion to get into the role of Morpheus, primarily because he does that in life.
"I have spent a lot of time in my life living that way, or at least trying to live that way. A lot of this stuff, the spiritual and the philosophical, is stuff that I spend a lot of time on myself. I don't think of myself as being a philosopher or as being particularly religious, but I do think of myself as being a spiritual person.
"So, those things (in The Matrix movies) come through me a lot easier than they would with someone who's unfamiliar with any of the principles and any of the ideas.
"All that (stuff), that's what I'm talking about. All of that spiritual, voodoo, mumbo jumbo, ethereal, cereal-eating, (stuff).
"I'm talking about just do unto others as you would have others do unto you; I'm talking about he who has the gold wins. Look, in every doctrine, in every dogma, in every spiritualism and every religion, there are basic truths and all of these things are roadmaps for human beings to use to try to live better lives, to try to make themselves better people. I'm making it up as I go. I'm trying to do the best I can and be the best human being that I can."
Monday, May 12, 2003
The Matrix has Monica
[Calgary Sun 12/05/2003]
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.
DANGEROUS ... Monica Bellucci as Persepone in The Matrix Reloaded.
In the Wachowski Brothers' eagerly awaited sci-fi sequel, The Matrix Reloaded (due in select theatres late May 14 and everywhere on May 15), 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."
INTERNATIONAL STAR
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.
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."
Sunday, May 11, 2003
Reloaded
[Calgary Sun 11/05/2003]
Star of The Matrix stoked about trilogy’s second instalment
KEANU REEVES is back as Neo in The Matrix Reloaded
HOLLYWOOD — The twin sequels to The Matrix are among the most eagerly awaited films in years.
Perhaps only Peter Jackson’s final instalment of The Lord Of The Rings — The Return Of The King is due in December — has its fans as wired, as weary of waiting and as eager.
But the mysterious Wachowski Brothers, co-writers and co-directors of all three Matrix films, have two sequels costing an astonishing $310 million ready to explode in quick succession in 2003.
The Matrix Reloaded is due May 15 and The Matrix Revolutions on Nov. 7. So it is easy to argue that, packaged together, this is the film event of the year.
Even the habitually wary actor Keanu Reeves — who is only slightly less reclusive than Andy and Larry Wachowski and often either deadpans or stumbles his way through interviews — is absolutely effusive about the pending release of The Matrix Reloaded.
“I’m very excited about it,” Reeves says in an interview deep in the heart of Stage 16 at Warner Bros. Studios, where set decorators have replicated the rebels’ computer command centre on board Morpheus’ inner-Earth space ship.
Being surrounded by the familiar from the films puts Reeves in a rare willing mood to talk to strangers, all of whom had to show passports or other picture ID to even access the Warner lot.
For Canadian journalists, it was easier to get into the United States on this trip than it was to get into the studio because of paranoid levels of security for the screening of The Matrix Reloaded and for the interviews.
“I can’t wait to see it,” Reeves continues.
“All my friends are excited and my folks are excited to see it. So it’s great to be a part of something like that. It was a great experience acting in them (all three Matrix movies) and to spend time with the great people and artists that I got to go through this with. And I’m stoked that my folks are excited about going to the movies to see The Matrix.”
The first film, The Matrix, was a shocking spectacle that galvanized audiences in 1999 with its heady and potent alchemy.
The Wachowskis blended unlikely elements such as the thoughts of Vancouver-based cyberpunk author William Gibson, Greek mythology, Christianity and the Bible, Eastern philosophies such as Zen Buddhism and Taoism, the fairytale story Alice In Wonderland, pop-culture cliches, science fiction, Hong Kong chop sockey and sophisticated wire work, plus ballet, Japanese anime, multi-culturalism, ironic humour and dazzling special effects.
The F/X included a new invention of “bullet time,” a camera trick to stutter-stop time during elaborate fight sequences.
The Matrix exploded at the box office, earned $460 million worldwide and even launched a Mensa-level lecture series at Harvard University.
The Matrix Reloaded has much more of the same — and lots of new tricks and extra layers of questions in the philosophical musings.
There is also substantially enough of Keanu Reeves embedded in Neo, his Christ-like cyber-human character in the trilogy, to turn a conversation about The Matrix Reloaded into an insight into the reclusive star.
“Well, the platform of the film itself lends itself to that,” Reeves says of finding the layers of meaning in the film, in the philosophical and mythology musings of the filmmakers, and perhaps within himself.
“So the project itself is about that. The platform of the piece itself lends itself to speaking about ideas. Thank God that there is something to talk about because, otherwise, what are they doing? Some other films don’t have that ambition.”
In The Matrix Reloaded, Neo continues his journey both as The One chosen to save what is left of mankind and in his awakening as a more complete human being. Says Reeves, “I think that Neo, in the beginning of Reloaded, is full of a lot of fear about what he has to do and about the responsibilities that the community is asking for.”
In the same vein, Reeves says Neo’s arc is “a development of the birth of a messiah” as well as an exploration of “the identity of a man.”
Reeves elaborates, while trying not to give away important plot details that might spoil the fun for audiences, “I don’t think the character is such — what’s the phrase? — a reluctant hero. He’s accepted it but I don’t think he’s accepted it without question.
"I think Neo is trying to find out, ‘What’s my life?’ And he’s not just taking it, ‘Oh, okay, I’m going to have to make this choice.’ I mean, he says, ‘What if I fail?’ Right? And it’s kind of cool what happens later on. I don’t want to give away the plot but the aspect of what Neo finds out about being The One, I love that!”
Reeves is asked how much he believes in the philosophical basis for the films, especially because the Wachowskis introduced him to a series of serious tomes exploring the “big questions,” such as the meaning of life.
“I don’t have my list in front of me,” Reeves says of what philosophies he believes in that are buried in the text of The Matrix films.
“I could probably make a list but then I’d be doing what The Brothers don’t want to be doing (themselves): ‘Here’s my literal thing.’ They don’t propose a finality to it. They don’t say, ‘Here’s the answer!’ They don’t do that except — and this will be revealed in Revolutions — they do come to something. And I think it sounds really goofy but it’s about love.”
Indeed, in Reloaded, there is more of the romantic-sexual connection between Reeves and his slick, Canadian-born co-star Carrie-Anne Moss. “It’s great,” Reeves says.
“It’s one of my favourite aspects of the piece because I get to love someone and I get to be loved by someone and share that.”
Reeves calls his romantic scenes with Moss “some of my best days working on that project, just because we love and trust each other and enjoy working together. It’s great to feel that. It’s great to be able to give over that loving feeling, that kind of respect and appreciation for somebody else.”
Reloaded is also a far sexier movie than The Matrix, which was more preoccupied with setting up the big picture saga that could be continued in Reloaded and finished off in Revolutions.
Reloaded has some joyous scenes set in the underground human city of Zion, which is fully realized in the new film.
Reeves agrees that Reloaded is sexy and sensual. “I do. I mean, I think (The Brothers) are interested in flesh and blood. They’re interested in the emotions ... of life and I think they exalt in it.”
Reloaded also ramps up the fighting. Reeves’ character Neo no longer needs training. He is the best there is. In one sequence, known on set as the “Burly Brawl,” Neo battles evil uber-agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) and his 99 clones.
In another sequence, he rockets into the sky doing what another character teasingly calls “his Superman thing.” In many more scenes, including a spectacular L.A. freeway car-truck-motorcycle chase, Reeves pushed his body to the limit as he tried to do the majority of his own stunts.
“Recovering was a little harder,” Reeves says, comparing his work on the sequels (which were shot concurrently over an 18-month period) to his work on the original film.
“This one was a much longer time. I had fights interspersed over a long period of time so, in my time off, I was always training and learning another fight. I’ve done five fights for the second one and I have more moves in the fight with the Smiths than I did in the whole first movie. Probably twice over.”
The manner and ease in which Reeves speaks is surprising. In other interviews, stretching back to his early movie roles in the 1980s in fare such as Youngblood, River’s Edge and The Prince Of Pennsylvania, Reeves was monosyllabic, so restrained and awkward he could barely complete a sentence. For The Matrix Reloaded, he is generous with words.
The Sun asks whether his multi-cultural, multi-country background is crucial in playing an outsider-hero (while born in Beirut, Reeves grew up for a brief time in New York and then primarily in Toronto and still travels on a Canadian passport).
“I’m sure it’s influential, definitely,” Reeves says.
“But, I mean, it’s also my nature. Probably just my nature.”
As a young man, he says, “I didn’t have that perspective.” He has matured and is now 38 and more articulate.
“In my quiet,” Reeves says so quietly it is like a reverential hush, “I was working something out.”
• • • • •
THE KEANU REEVES FILE
BORN: Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 2, 1964.
FIRST NAME: Said to mean “cool breeze over the
mountains.”
CULTURAL HERITAGE: Chinese, Hawaiian, British.
FATHER: Samuel Nowlin Reeves, a geologist later jailed for cocaine possession; remains estranged.
MOTHER: Patricia Reeves, a one-time hippie showgirl who, after divorcing Reeves, ended up with director Paul Aaron in New York, then rock promoter Robert Miller and finally hair stylist & movie journalist Jack Bond in Toronto.
SISTERS: Kim & Karina Reeves.
SPORTS: Goaltender in house league midget hockey.
FILM BREAK: Support role in Rob Lowe’s made-in-Toronto hockey flick Youngblood (1986). Moved to Hollywood.
CRITICAL BREAKOUT: River’s Edge (1986).
STAR TURN: Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989).
MOONLIGHTING: Bassist in “folk thrash” band Dogstar.
THE MATRIX: Enthusiastic over original script after Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith and Brad Pitt passed on the project.
Reeves stoked about 'Matrix 2'
[JAM! Movies 11/05/2003
HOLLYWOOD -- The twin sequels to The Matrix are among the most eagerly awaited films in years.
Perhaps only Peter Jackson's final instalment of The Lord Of The Rings -- The Return Of The King is due in December -- has its fans as wired, as weary of waiting and as eager.
But the mysterious Wachowski Brothers, co-writers and co-directors of all three Matrix films, have two sequels costing an astonishing $310 million ready to explode in quick succession in 2003. The Matrix Reloaded is due Thursday and The Matrix Revolutions on Nov. 7. So it is easy to argue that, packaged together, this is the film event of the year.
Even the habitually wary actor Keanu Reeves -- who is only slightly less reclusive than Andy and Larry Wachowski and often either deadpans or stumbles his way through interviews -- is absolutely effusive about the pending release of The Matrix Reloaded.
"I'm very excited about it," Reeves says in an interview deep in the heart of Stage 16 at Warner Bros. Studios, where set decorators have replicated the rebels' computer command centre on board Morpheus' inner-Earth space ship. Being surrounded by familiar things from the films puts Reeves in a rare willing mood to talk to strangers, all of whom had to show passports or other picture ID to even access the Warner lot. For Canadian journalists, it was easier to get into the United States on this trip than it was to get into the studio because of paranoid levels of security for the screening of The Matrix Reloaded and for the interviews.
"I can't wait to see it," Reeves continues. "All my friends are excited and my folks are excited to see it. So it's great to be a part of something like that. It was a great experience acting in them (all three Matrix movies) and to spend time with the great people and artists that I got to go through this with. And I'm stoked that my folks are excited about going to the movies to see The Matrix."
The first film, The Matrix, was a shocking spectacle that galvanized audiences in 1999 with its heady and potent alchemy. The Wachowskis blended unlikely elements such as the thoughts of Vancouver-based cyberpunk author William Gibson, Greek mythology, Christianity and the Bible, Eastern philosophies such as Zen Buddhism and Taoism, the fairy-tale story Alice In Wonderland, pop-culture cliches, science fiction, Hong Kong chop sockey and sophisticated wire work, plus ballet, Japanese anime, multi-culturalism, ironic humour and dazzling special effects. The F/X included a new invention of "bullet time," a camera trick to stutter-stop time during elaborate fight sequences.
The Matrix exploded at the box office, earned $460 million worldwide and even launched a Mensa-level lecture series at Harvard University. The Matrix Reloaded has much more of the same -- and lots of new tricks and extra layers of questions in the philosophical musings.
There is also substantially enough of Keanu Reeves embedded in Neo, his Christ-like cyber-human character in the trilogy, to turn a conversation about The Matrix Reloaded into an insight into the reclusive star.
"Well, the platform of the film itself lends itself to that," Reeves says of finding the layers of meaning in the film, in the philosophical and mythology musings of the filmmakers, and perhaps within himself. "So the project itself is about that. The platform of the piece itself lends itself to speaking about ideas. Thank God that there is something to talk about because, otherwise, what are they doing? Some other films don't have that ambition."
In The Matrix Reloaded, Neo continues his journey both as The One chosen to save what is left of mankind and in his awakening as a more complete human being. Says Reeves, "I think that Neo, in the beginning of Reloaded, is full of a lot of fear about what he has to do and about the responsibilities that the community is asking for."
In the same vein, Reeves says Neo's arc is "a development of the birth of a messiah" as well as an exploration of "the identity of a man."
Reeves elaborates, while trying not to give away important plot details that might spoil the fun for audiences, "I don't think the character is such -- what's the phrase? -- a reluctant hero. He's accepted it but I don't think he's accepted it without question. I think Neo is trying to find out, 'What's my life?' And he's not just taking it, 'Oh, okay, I'm going to have to make this choice.' I mean, he says, 'What if I fail?' Right? And it's kind of cool what happens later on. I don't want to give away the plot but the aspect of what Neo finds out about being The One, I love that!"
Reeves is asked how much he believes in the philosophical basis for the films, especially because the Wachowskis introduced him to a series of serious tomes exploring the "big questions," such as the meaning of life.
"I don't have my list in front of me," Reeves says of what philosophies he believes in that are buried in the text of The Matrix films. "I could probably make a list but then I'd be doing what The Brothers don't want to be doing (themselves): 'Here's my literal thing.' They don't propose a finality to it. They don't say, 'Here's the answer!' They don't do that except -- and this will be revealed in Revolutions -- they do come to something. And I think it sounds really goofy but it's about love."
Indeed, in Reloaded, there is more of the romantic-sexual connection between Reeves and his slick, Canadian-born co-star Carrie-Anne Moss. "It's great," Reeves says. "It's one of my favourite aspects of the piece because I get to love someone and I get to be loved by someone and share that."
Reeves calls his romantic scenes with Moss "some of my best days working on that project, just because we love and trust each other and enjoy working together. It's great to feel that. It's great to be able to give over that loving feeling, that kind of respect and appreciation for somebody else."
Reloaded is also a far sexier movie than The Matrix, which was more preoccupied with setting up the big picture saga that could be continued in Reloaded and finished off in Revolutions. Reloaded has some joyous scenes set in the underground human city of Zion, which is fully realized in the new film.
Reeves agrees that Reloaded is sexy and sensual. "I do. I mean, I think (The Brothers) are interested in flesh and blood. They're interested in the emotions ... of life and I think they exalt in it."
Reloaded also ramps up the fighting. Reeves' character Neo no longer needs training. He is the best there is. In one sequence, known on set as the "Burly Brawl," Neo battles evil uber-agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) and his 99 clones. In another sequence, he rockets into the sky doing what another character teasingly calls "his Superman thing." In many more scenes, including a spectacular L.A. freeway car-truck-motorcycle chase, Reeves pushed his body to the limit as he tried to do the majority of his own stunts.
"Recovering was a little harder," Reeves says, comparing his work on the sequels (which were shot concurrently over an 18-month period) to his work on the original film. "This one was a much longer time. I had fights interspersed over a long period of time so, in my time off, I was always training and learning another fight. I've done five fights for the second one and I have more moves in the fight with the Smiths than I did in the whole first movie. Probably twice over."
The manner and ease in which Reeves speaks is surprising. In other interviews, stretching back to his early movie roles in the 1980s in fare such as Youngblood, River's Edge and The Prince Of Pennsylvania, Reeves was monosyllabic, so restrained and awkward he could barely complete a sentence. For The Matrix Reloaded, he is generous with words.
The Sun asks whether his multi-cultural, multi-country background is crucial in playing an outsider-hero (while born in Beirut, Reeves grew up for a brief time in New York and then primarily in Toronto and still travels on a Canadian passport).
"I'm sure it's influential, definitely," Reeves says. "But, I mean, it's also my nature. Probably just my nature."
As a young man, he says, "I didn't have that perspective." He has matured and is now 38 and more articulate.
"In my quiet," Reeves says so quietly it is like a reverential hush, "I was working something out."
Thursday, May 08, 2003
Matrix reviews mixed
[Calgary Sun 08/05/2003]
Keanu Reeves had better be good at dodging bullets if early reviews of The Matrix Reloaded are any indication.
MIXED REVIEWS ... Keanu Reeves stars in The Matrix Reloaded.
A Time magazine article says a screening of the movie last week netted a tepid response from industry insiders, with some complaining about a slow first 30 minutes and others remarking X2: X-Men United is the better sequel.
In its review, the London Daily Mirror Winter describes the film as â??an orgy of highly choreographed martial arts mayhem.â??
While agreeing that the filmâ??s effects are â??spectacular,â?? the critic concludes: â??If youâ??re looking for something a little more than crash, bang, wallop, then this second installment will leave you cold.â??
The Matrix Reloaded, due out in theatres May 15, is the first of two sequels to the blockbuster 1999 science fiction movie starring Reeves.
Matrix reviews mixed
[Calgary Sun 08/05/2003]
Keanu Reeves had better be good at dodging bullets if early reviews of The Matrix Reloaded are any indication.
MIXED REVIEWS ... Keanu Reeves stars in The Matrix Reloaded.
A Time magazine article says a screening of the movie last week netted a tepid response from industry insiders, with some complaining about a slow first 30 minutes and others remarking X2: X-Men United is the better sequel.
In its review, the London Daily Mirror Winter describes the film as “an orgy of highly choreographed martial arts mayhem.”
While agreeing that the film’s effects are “spectacular,” the critic concludes: “If you’re looking for something a little more than crash, bang, wallop, then this second installment will leave you cold.”
The Matrix Reloaded, due out in theatres May 15, is the first of two sequels to the blockbuster 1999 science fiction movie starring Reeves.
Friday, May 02, 2003
BOUND FOR THE BIG SCREEN
[Calgary Sun 02/05/2003]
CONSTANTINE: HELLBLAZER: Keanu Reeves will play a man dedicated to sending demons back to the fiery depths of hell and could be on screens in the fall of 2004.
