Hey folks, Harry here with an observer's reaction to what's going on with MATRIX 2 in San Fran.... Again with the cars and the bullets and the bang bang.... Sigh, I was hoping for less gun action and more... evolved coolness... something more ZU MOUNTAINy... Hmmm... I hope it isn't just 'more of same', but a source inside Warners has told me that the two Matrix scripts are flat out astounding... We'll see, but for now... Here ya go....
I went downtown afterwork to see if there was anything--even lighting equipment--to see. Matrix I is very special to me, and I think it's very cool that some of II is being done in Alameda (where I live) and Oakland (where I work).
Although we didn't see Keanu or Carrie, we were treated to a filming of a black truck-like vehicle (an "Escalade"?) with a camera right in its window, and inside it, a couple of freaky-looking guys with grey dreadlocks (that were white on the bottom) who were wearing silvery-tan suits and wielding automatic weapons. We even got to hear the gunfire as they zipped around the corner (okay--they didn't zip. The whole deal was on a trailer bed pulled by another truck.). I got a better look at one of the guys later--artificially high forehead and Neo-style sunglasses.
The cops, who seemed to be enjoying themselves way too much, were talking about an earlier scene in which a vehicle plunged straight for the newsstand on Broadway street sort of near BART, and how the guys inside dove for cover.
A handler said that the movie people have bought out the entire block (it's not a block, really, more of a wedge) at 16th and San Pablo, where Veronico's cafe was.
I'll cruise around tomorrow after work, too. I probably won't get lucky again, but I *will* have my digital camera with me. And maybe I'll check out the Point (the naval base) eventually... Manex's offices are there, you know, which I thought was cool enough. Even better if they're filming in their own back yard.
Wintersweet
According to information from the City of Oakland, The Matrix II will be filming scenes in downtown Oakland this week. Here are the streets they have requested closed:
March 25-27: 16th Street between Telegraph and Clay; San Pablo between 17th and Frank Ogawa Plaza
March 26: Telegraph between Broadway and 17th
March 27: Telegraph between 17th and 19th; 17th between San Pablo and Broadway
Additionally, warnings about delays in the Webster Tube to Alameda on March 28 may or may not be related.
Yrs truly,
"Wintersweet"
And then in regards to the 'Ferrari' rumors I got this in today....
Harry
The studio is not really using an airstrip, they are building a "highway" on one of the airstrips. They are also filming quite a few scenes in one of the old hangers. It's not too hard to find it, as it's the hanger with the sign truck outside Burlyman Productions with the names of the cast written on it. Word was that filming was to start today on some interior scenes.
In addition, there is virtually no chance of real Ferrari's being used in the film, and Porsches are a dime a dozen for this stuff. Plus, I don't really consider either of those to have futuristic cars. HOWEVER, there have been 4 of the new Cadillac Escalade XLT trucks dropped off (in black, probably Agent's vehicles) as well as one of the Cadillac Evoq prototype cars (in silver, probably Neo's?). Very Matrix, unlike the other cars mentioned.
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