The philosophy of making a “Matrix” movie and jetboats.

September 12, 2003

I’ve had an interesting few days, though honestly not a whole lot to write about unfortunately. I’ve backed off from the posting every day because there are only so many ways I can tell you how I spent my day doing nothing, so I think until I start doing things again, the every couple of days approach will have to work.

Right, so my days. Thursday night I drove with my sister over to a part of Portland I’ve never been to and we went to the Baghdad theater, an old movie theater built in the late 1920’s and now turned into a McMenamin’s restaurant/brewpub. And they also show second run movies for only $3, so you can pick up a pizza and some beer and kick back to watch a movie for the same price as one down at Blockbuster. I didn’t get pizza, but hey, I DID have Baghdad Ale at the Baghdad Theater. We saw “Matrix Reloaded” and I have to tell you, I was a bit disappointed with it. I’ve had this discussion with a few people already, but here’s the lowdown: excellent special effects, good martial arts fighting, bad story, bad screenplay. In other words, good eye candy, a little bit of mind candy, but nothing to really rack your brains over. The plot was lining up with information after information, piling it on top of each other like it was leading to something, but unlike “The Usual Suspects” where you get two huge pieces of information in the last five minutes–first from one person, and then from another–that make everything just go “click,” it never happened with “Matrix Reloaded.” Maybe it’ll happen in part #3, but heck, that’s no way to run a movie. The big story goes on between the movies but there still has to be something that gets resolved, a little story, to make the move make sense.

Take “The Empire Strikes Back” and “The Two Towers,” for example. “Empire” has the Luke/Yoda and everyone else subplots that are resolved by the end of the movie (albeit in not a favorable way), but the galactic war is still going on. “Two Towers” has the Helm’s Deep subplot resolved and Frodo and Sam get a little closer to their objective, but the war for Middle Earth is unresolved. THAT’S how to make a movie. Give us SOMETHING to feel satisfied about. Middle chapters of trilogies are meant to expand upon the original and lead us into the third, not redefine the first and make the two most important movies the second and third. Heck, the orginal “Matrix” movie would have stood well as a solo movie, leaving us to imagine the rest of the story. The second and third chapters aren’t anything like I expected them to be. Well, I guess that’s not really a BAD thing, but still. I wasn’t tremendously happy with it, that’s all. Good beer, though.

Today I went on a jetboat ride with my sister and all her coworkers–that’s right, they basically shut down the office for a day. They could all bring a guest, so I got to tag along. We all drove over to OMSI (The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, one of my favorite “tourist” spots in Oregon) where the boats are run from during the summer, and we all piled aboard for a trip up and down the Wilamette River. You know, you go through Portland time and again, year after year, but it’s amazing how it looks so different from another angle. OMSI is right across the river from the main part of downtown Portland, so we started at the heart of “Bridgetown” as Portland is known, and we rode under each of the bridges, getting a history of each. I knew the names of all the bridges, but there are a few things I didn’t know about them, such as how a couple of them, like the Steel Bridge, are unique in the entire world–no other bridge functions like it does.

We travelled all the way up to Swan Island in the north of Portland, then we did a spin (high speed quick turn that generates some splash and spray into the boat) and headed the opposite direction, past OMSI, under the other bridges, and out of Portland altogether. The end of the line was in Oregon City, where the Wilamette Falls prevent passage further up the river–unless of course, you want to take 45 minutes to go through the locks they have there. I wouldn’t have thought this, but the guide said that the locks are free to use, and they will even run them for a kayaker if they want it. Seems like a long time to wait to go up the river, and honestly, it would probably be easier to row to shore, get out, carry your kayak past the falls, and then keep going. Assuming you don’t go right back over the falls, of course.

So we turned back around, and then headed to Clackamette Park where a BBQ lunch was set ou for us. That’s right, Clackamette Park. It’s at the intersection of the Clackamas and Wilamette Rivers, and well, you figure it out. The lunch was OK, but they served some yummy brownies afterwards. Eating food is SO much easier when you don’t look at nutrition labels like I’ve gotten in the habit of doing. After lunch, we headed right on back. Not much else to tell.

I did have a first today, though. A Krispey Kreme doughnut shop opened up about 15 minutes from my house a couple of weeks ago, and so I’ve been meaning to get out there. I lived in the midwest for four years and never had one of those suckers. Dan said that they melted in your mouth, not your hands. Everyone else said they were the best doughnuts they’d ever tasted. I tried to go earlier in the day when I drove over to my sister’s workplace (which is essentially right next door),, but the drive-through lane was 15 deep and there wasn’t a single place to park, so I figured I’d go later. Where was I? Oh yes, so I made her stop and I picked up three doughnuts–two of their famous glazed, and a strwberry-filled powdered sugar one. The prognosis? I don’t know if they are the best I’ve ever had, but they were damn good. The dough is SO soft that they just come right apart. I guess you could call that melting, eh Dan?

The neatest thing, though, was looking at them making the doughnuts through the pane glass as you wait in line. A huge conveyer belt carries dozens of doughnuts down the line as they are cooked, coated, and wraped up. My favorite part is the cascade of glaze that they roll through. I’d sure like to stick my head in there for a few seconds. Bet that would be a little sticky and sweet but heck, let’s face it: if you’re sticking your head in a waterfall of sugar glaze for doughnuts, you probably don’t have much else going for you at the moment. Maybe I *should* do that sine I don’t have much else going for me at the moment.

…whichs lets me bridge right into my next topic. Nothing from the Salem job, yet. They told me they were going to do the second round of interviews this week, and unless they’re really behind on their timetable, I’m going to assume that I didn’t get a second interview. I mailed off my application to the Bridgeport brewery this week, though, so hopefully I’ll hear back from SOMEWHERE. I need to get out more, but I don’t have any money to go anywhere. Kind of a lousy situation, but my flickering master keeps me company most of the time. All hail television and its divine power to sate my desire for human company.

I’m thinking I might rent a movie tomorrow night, though, instead of chancing what’s on TV. I watched my copy of “snatch” the other day, and that got me interested in seeing “Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels” that everyone tells me is so good that Guy Ritchie also directed. I have a $0.99 rental coupons, so I won’t be charged an arm and a leg. Good times. That’s about all I have for now. My flickering master is hailing me again.

Smile and wave to the camera, Andrew.

Posted in Beer, General