Personally I thought it was one of the best films ever made, and when you put it on a huge screen and blast peoples ears out with a top notch sound system, there is NO compromise.

Just curious if anyone else is snagging this film...

The girl's real name is Belinda McClorey and she was the manager of the cinema I was working at at the same time The Matrix was being filmed.

By day she would be playing opposite Keanu Reeves and Larry Fishbourne and by night she would be scooping Choc Top ice creams behind the concession stand.

Are you getting any coop advertising for Matrix? What are you doing to market it?

Ky is of the opinion that you will not make any money with it. I say, go for it! I'd give you $7 to see it on the big screen again. Ky thinks that because it is on video that you won't do well.

Not many people saw Larry and Andy Wachowski's "Bound" from 1996, but it signaled that these guys can make a great movie. I expect that sometimes in the future, "The Matrix" will be considered one of the finest films to come out of the last half of the 20th Century. Remember too that a sequel is being worked on right now.

But as a booker, I, like Ky, don't think it has many legs ten months after its theatrical release and now that the video and DVD are available. But let us know how it did for you on this forum 'cause bookers are always looking for films that you can bring back and do business. We love being surprised!

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We are going to hang up poster size flyers all over our community letting people know we have it back and for just one week, and that it is an exclusive engagement (not too many times you can say that these days). You put the fear that they may never see it again in the theatres and they swarm like bees on honey.

As for whomever it was that was unimpressed with the Matrix as a film, to each his own. But you have to be in awe of the technical boundaries that it crossed during its creation. It was this film that will inspire an entire new generation of film makers.

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I felt that David Cronenberg's 'eXistenZ' did a far better job at exploring the themes that 'The Matrix' wanted to be about - it was also a more involving and hypnotic experience for me. Of course, the Cronenberg version is not an 'action' film, so...

'The Matrix' was also too derivative. It borrowed heavily from 'The Terminator', 'A Nightmare on Elm St.', 'The Thing', and especially 'Total Recall'. All of these are far superior films in my opinion. They were more original and better excecuted, with more reliance on original ideas.

Also, it suffered from overexposition: the middle of the film featured Lawrence Fishburne in a never-ending explanation of the plot (to the audience and to Kneau Reeves). Don't tell us - show us. By contrast, 'The Terminator' used a page of expository text at the beginning, and a brief scene in the carpark (2 minutes tops?). For the most part, the audience is as much in the dark as the protagonist, which is a very good thing - it's more involving this way.

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Fess up. Matrix has been on your screen a week. How did it do? We want Attendance, Grosses and PerCap, if you can.

1. Our booker decided to overbook our theatre and shoved matrix to only one show per day. This while he still insisted he get his huge fee. We had to refund all of the presold tickets.

2. Our DTS system took a vacation, and we blew out our last exciter bulb. All of our spares turned out to be burned out. Hence the need for a new projectionist. Last I looked we threw the old ones out and ordered new ones. So we lost two shows.

3. As far as total attendance, we had just a mere 315 to date. Just barely enough to pay for the print and delivery. The percaps were great on that particular show. About 3.50 per attendee. So it wasn't a complete loss.

4. I actually got fed up with our company's procedures and packed up my stuff and went out the door. I still have partnership issues to contend with, but for all intents and purposes, "I QUIT THE PLAY" (running gag from a theater production here in SLC, UT). I am still here, but purely in an advisory capacity. We were supposed to open a stage prodution this week, but the owner of the building pulled his support saturday afternoon. Of course I am the one holding the bag.

5. I cannot say if I will actually continue here much longer, other than to produce some stage shows. The stress of trying to compete with a theater that is just 60 feet from my door has totally wreaked havoc on what is left of my brain. I love my work but cant keep up this schedule much longer.

So the matrix did not pay off, but we have much to blame for it, but mostly in hindsite, I blame myself for not insisting on many things and sticking to it. I myself am deciding whether or not to pack it in and give up, with one competitor 60 feet from my door and a megaplex just less than a mile from my back door. Our desire to turn this place into a dinner theater looks promising, but I just wont hold my breath anymore, starting to turn purple I am.

So ramble on I go, into the summer heat, fresh from the winter snow... HOHOHO...

(I REALLY NEED A BEER, WITH A FILM-GUARD CHASER)!!!!!