Visual Effects
John Gaeta tells us how brilliant he is, I mean the Wachowskis are. Cut to a clip of Larry playing with a half liter water bottle making spaceship noises.
Then, the Brothers W. are on a couch talking about why they needed bullet time technology. Basically Bill Pope is a "pussy that won't strap a rocket to his back" to move the camera at high speed.
Joel Silver tosses around a few names of effects houses that were looked to before the heavens opened up and Gaeta came down. John's not scared. He don't need no steenking rockets, man. He has still cameras…oooooodles of 'em. We see test footage of bullet time and then we get into "The Real World". John Gaeta doesn't remind me of Puck at all as he explains the overall creepiness of it. Perfect segue to Geof Darrow and "the trouble with sentinels".
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"Wo Ping says American actors are stupid and clumsy. He can't fucking believe he agreed to do this. Oh sure, the subtitles make it nice, but I can see it in his eyes."

Scruffy!Keanu in a goofy hat carries his own box of stuff into a building and Laurence takes our picture. It's training time.

Laurence is laughing. Carrie-Ann is looking fierce as she grabs a guy by the hair. Keanu is in a neck brace. We learn later about his neck surgery, fusing and some other stuff that simultaneously completely awes me and makes me want to dote and cuddle him to death.
Wo Ping says American actors are stupid and clumsy. He can't fucking believe he agreed to do this. Oh sure, the subtitles make it nice, but I can see it in his eyes.
The Couch of Wachowski tells us why the actors HAD to do this. As I watch some of the early training footage I raise my beer to Wo Ping. Word, my man. Actors are whining about how hard the first couple days were. Wo Ping starts from scratch. Stretching, Kicking drills. Keanu is wearing a T-shirt from the Viper Room and the funk soul brother knit hat. W's start and Keanu finishes the story about his neck surgery. Two level fusion. Cervical Spine. Painful? I'm sure. He tells us that he WAS GETTING PARALYZED. Whoa. The mere thought gives me a sick feeling in my center. Damned motorcycles. Of course, I would continue to love him even if he were just a head in a jar, but it hurts me to see him in pain like a couple of shots we see here……Carrie-Ann knows what I'm sayin',..this is where the doting and cuddling comes in. Keanu and Wo Ping explain how his training was worked around the injury. When Keanu tells us that was why he didn't do many kicks in the film, his eyes look all apologetic.

Laurence: "You pick a job you love, you'll never work a day in your life" He and Keanu spar as the Hong Kong people laugh…I think it's with them.

Wire work. Wo Ping Clan are choreographing the Smith/Neo subway leap. Wachowskis try to explain what they want in the shot. After the communication breakdown is resolved, we see it's simply a matter of Wo Ping Clan not having enough guys to pull two ropes.
Andrew says "Dude! Is THAT ALL?" and we see the brothers, sans jackets, on a rope. Have I mentioned that I LURRRRRVE the Brothers?

Wo Ping is talking about how he tailored the fighting styles for each actor according to their strengths. Carrie-Ann has a beautiful feminine strength. Hugo is like a robot, so powerful and precise. Laurence was born to bounce. Keanu?…ah…he's very dilligent…yeah. OK, this bothered me at first, "Damn You! He's trying! He's injured!" I scream at the screen. But the more I think about it, "dilligent" is probably a compliment. We close out the American training. The actors feel ready. Keanu now wearing a Reverend Horton Heat T-shirt with the knit hat. He feels ready to go to Australia. I feel the need to make hot chocolate, try to push the word "paralyzed" out of my mind, and get this uploaded.