The night was fun. Besides getting to see the three of them again (which is always fun, and we're going to do it again tonight... I wonder if I can have too much exposure to Eve, Wendy & Fran?), we had some interesting experiences. First, we waited on line for over an hour with a bunch of other people -- in an area that has free WiFi access, and some guy there actually had his Powerbook. I was tempted to ask him if we could borrow it for a few minutes so we could blog a quick entry. I'll put my reflections on the movie in the "more" section, that way I won't spoil it for anyone. After the film, we went to Jerry's Famous Deli, where Eve and Wendy were approached by someone apparently in a cult, who asked them to sing "We Are the World." I'm not quite sure how this cult thing works, but apparently, Eve says they keep you out all night and don't let you sleep and they take all your money for these "classes," which is what the guy said he had to do this for. And quite frankly, I didn't know if the others at the table noticed, but this guy reeked... like he hadn't showered in several days. When Eve told us what they do in the cult, Wendy and I both agreed we'd never make it there because after they kept giving us assignments late at night, when we got tired, we'd both say in our best Eric Cartman voices, "Screw you guys, I'm goin' hooooooome." Okay, so The Matrix: Reflections... WARNING: Spoilers ahead. I can't tell if my expectations were too high for this film and that's what ruined it for me. Although Wendy had similar thoughts as I did, so I'm guessing it wasn't just me. I really thought that the first Matrix was mind-shattering. The storyline, the effects, the whole concept of the film... just plain brilliant. This one... not so much. This one had a lot more ephemeral stuff going on that really distracted me from the actual concept of what was going on. Morpheus' speech. That whole sex/dancing scene. The gratuitous fight scenes that weren't necessary. The love drama thing because Locke, Niobe and Morpheus. The annoying kid in Zion who was supposed to make up for the loss of Mouse. The religious overtones that were pounded into your head over and over and over -- yes, Morpheus, we know it's three ships and three captains and surprise! the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are also the Holy Trinity, and Trinity is standing right next to you. This whole thing with rogue programs running through the Matrix. Neo being able to "feel" the machines while outside the Matrix... or is he? Wendy commented that she didn't like the rug being pulled out from under her as far as the Oracle being a program in the Matrix and the Prophecy not being true. That, I disagree with. That I think was an intricate part of the movie, though it was de-emphasized a lot by the fact that as soon as you're dealt that blow, 100,000 Agent Smiths come running in and you don't have time to digest it. The fact that the Prophecy may be wrong and that this is, in fact, the sixth Matrix, is a good twist to the plotline, though I have problems with the whole deal of the One having to choose 14 people to rebuild humanity -- wouldn't they realize what's going on and educate their younger generations so as not to go through the cycle all over again and again? Plus, here are my two burning questions at the moment: 1. How are the Matrix designers/protectors going to explain the immense amount of damage done by Neo while he was doing his warp-speed run through the city to save Trinity? 2. How can a computer program infect a human mind?