The Animatrix

[Mark Nornes]

Has anyone seen the recently released "Second Renaissance, Part 1"? 
This is the first of nine (?) installments of animation connected to 
the Matrix sequels. The Brothers Wachowski hired a collection of anime 
directors from Japan to render their own anime supplements to the 
Matrix trilogy. Collectively, they're called The Animatrix. I just 
watched the first one, and aside from the rather stunning animation, it 
was thick with references to everything you'd expect: Buddhism, 
cyborgs, and icons of 20th century political horrors. The piece is 
haunted by Oshii and Ito.

Markus