so i could have gone home after work last night and enjoyed a very packed evening of television goodness. with "american idol", the last "dawson's creek" (gasp! tear!), "the bachelor" AND the season finale of "the west wing", it was a night of much must-see tv. not to mention the opportunity to relax, do some exercising, make some dinner, yadda yadda.

instead, i headed over to the warner theater for the washington premiere of "the matrix: reloaded", since the bossman was unable to attend and there a couple of spare tickets up for the taking. mary kate and i snatched them up and headed over with fellow lucky ticketholder chris (who scored his ticket through his girlfriend) after the close of business.

first of all, i'd never been to the warner before, where normally they hold concerts, comedians, traveling productions of plays or musicals ("rent" and "beauty & the beast" among them) and the like. the thought of seeing a movie there was intruiging, to say the least. and the place was absolutely gorgeous. ritzy lobbies and full gold and crimson curtained, gilded edges type of glamour going on in this place. akin to the style of the palace theater in albany, for those who enjoyed that spectacle at the tori amos show. our tickets were for the mid-balcony, so mk and i found seats almost in the direct center, about four rows back in the mid-balcony area and reveled in the randomness of the opportunity. then, after commenting on how it was nice to see how the ritzier half lives, we headed down to the bar, where i sipped a complimentary chardonnay (wasn't a big fan of that particular bottle - who would have thought i'd be getting a taste for the stuff?) before switching to coffee and then picked up our boxed meals from dean & delucca (bag o' chips, nice, soft cookie (mine was oatmeal raisin - yum!) and sandwich (options included roast beef, turkey, roast chicken and my choice, the vegetarian sandwich) before heading back to our seats to munch on our gifts and chat before the movie started. all was very tasty.

anyhoo, shortly after 7, the aol-time warner people came out and gave a couple of speeches, the most amusing being by one of the heads of the company commenting on how he had seen the movie four times by this point and still didn't fully get it - and asked if anyone can ever truly "get" a "matrix" movie. after the expected thank yous and applause, the movie began. without trailers! whoo hoo!

wow - anyone who enjoyed the first movie definitely should see this one - and see it in on the big screen! one of the things i love and hate about the "matrix" series is how there's an incredibly thought-provoking storyline without there necessarily being a storyline - as if keanu reeves could pull off a storyline, right? but the philosophical aspects of the plot is always so thought-provoking - and this one is no exception. the special effects and fight sequences are, naturally, absolutely amazing - they managed to raise the bar with this one, which i didn't think they'd be able to do, to be honest - although i had to chuckle during each sequence, as i kept thinking about how it reminded me of jackie chan with a much larger budget and slow motion. there are cinematic aspects of it that capture the essence of life and passion that just blew me away - and there's humor! in typical "matrix" deadpan fasion, of course. my "romeo & juliet"-loving self was thrilled to see harold perrineau, jr (who played mercution in "r&j" and was one of my favorite actors in the film), who proved to be one of the film's absolute highlights. and, with all "matrix" experiences, i made my way home wishing i knew kung fu. ;-)

but the good thing about the film is that it stands on its own as a film - you don't need to have seen the first one in order to enjoy the second (a fact confirmed by mk and beth, chris' gf). so i recommend it for everyone who likes a thought-provoking movie experience or a kickass cinematographic experience.

anyway - 'tis thursday - and 'tis nearly someone's birthday! on saturday, everyone must think happy birthday thougths for one imsopredictable ... otherwise known as the delightful paul!!!