ANIMATRIX, REDLINE, SPEED RACER @ the Million Dollar Theater

Part of our Let’s Go Back to the Movies series

Saturday, May 16, 2026, Million Dollar Theater

LOCATION: The Million Dollar Theater, 307 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90013

11a THE ANIMATRIX (2003, dir by Andy Jones, Mahiro Maeda, Shinichiro Watanabe, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Takeshi Koike, Koji Morimoto, Peter Chung, Produced by the Wachowskis, animation by Square Pictures, Madhouse, Studio 4C, DNA Productions, Warner Brothers, 102mns, USA, digital presentation)

*2p REDLINE (2009, dir by Takashi Koike, Madhouse, 102mns, Japan, digital presentation, Japanese with English subtitles)

5p SPEED RACER (2008, wri & dir by Lana and Lily Wachowski, w/ Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Warner Brothers, 135mns, USA, digital presentation)

You can get tickets to any individual movie or get the ANIME + SPEED TRILOGY All-Day pass (all movies, best deal).

11a THE ANIMATRIX Ahead of its time like many things the Wachowskis have done, The Animatrix is a 2003 anime anthology movie of 9 shorts from visionary anime directors. Each short tells a prologue or connected story to the original Matrix trilogy and accompanying video games. The Wachowskis understood the interconnectedness of narrative across movies, television, streaming, video games years before everyone else did. Many people consider The Animatrix, though originally made more for the home video market, as the best sequel to the original movie. It’s a thrilling 100+ minutes of anime styles, approaches, narratives. We get shorts that fill us in on the war of the machines that lead to how the Matrix was created. We get a story where Keanu Reeve’s Neo appears (albeit as a shadow) in between the first and second Matrix movies. We also get stories that hint at the rebel city of Zion we’ll learn about in upcoming Matrix movies. The Animatrix rarely gets the big screen treatment it deserves. So we’re giving it that treatment. Come watch one a visionary cult favorite in a movie palace.

Today, we screen three visionary anime and anime inspired 21st century works. You can get tickets to any individual movie or get the ANIME + SPEED TRILOGY All-Day pass (all movies, best deal). Go to next door's historic Grand Central Market for breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks as we take in what an art form can do and inspire.

2p REDLINE One of THE defining anime movies of the 21st century, Redline combines the crazy conceptual science fiction of Akira and Ghost in the Shell with the need for speed breakneck entertainment of the craziest Fast and Furious movie you could ever imagine. . .in space and on alien planets. We start the movie at the Yellowline race on the planet Dorothy which you must win to get to the Redline race-the most popular race in the galaxy. But whenever learns that the Redline race will happen on Roboworld-policed by authoritarian cyborgs-the stakes jump to a million. Add to that, that all the qualifying races are willing to do ANYTHING including merging with bioweapons to best their competitors and you have a pretty dangerous race. Redline is often considered one of the best animated, most visionary anime movies ever made. And it rarely screens. We’re giving it the big screen movie theater treatment. And we’re showing it in the original Japanese with English subtitles. So you’ll get to enjoy this anime masterpiece as it was meant to be seen. This is pure cinema. Buckle up.

Today, we screen three visionary anime and anime inspired 21st century works. You can get tickets to any individual movie or get the ANIME + SPEED TRILOGY All-Day pass (all movies, best deal). Go to next door's historic Grand Central Market for breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks as we take in what an art form can do and inspire.

5p SPEED RACER. And thus we come to the final movie of our ANIME + SPEED triple feature which combines the visionary talents of the Wachowskis with the near sci-fi whiplash of Redline, Lana and Lily Wachowski’s 2008 Speed Racer. Just like The Matrix, this is a movie way ahead of its time. Which is great because it’s based on one of the very first anime/manga cross-over hits from Japan to the United States, the 1960’s anime tv show Speed Racer.

The Wachowskis create a live-action, anime, eye candy, video game, maximalist experience that surprised audiences in 2008. Now in 2026, Speed Racer is a cult classic screened around the world.

Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch), aided by his top notch family and girlfriend team of Pops, Mom, Spritle, Sparky, Chim Chim, and Trixie, is at the top of his game. He races to honor his older brother Rex who was killed in the cross-country Casa Cristo 5000.

But when Speed Racer moves to the biggest races in the world, he must deal with aggressive corporations like Royaltan and its CEO who promise one thing but have a much more sinister agenda. And Speed Racer becomes aware of a mysterious Racer X who may know more than he lets on about brother Rex’s death. Like Lana Wachowski’s later The Matrix Resurrections, Speed Racer is a sly autobiography of the Wachowskis thoughts on making art in a corporate system. But don’t worry, you’re gonna get the special effects, big movie goods. The races in this movie are like an extended psychedelic cinematic trip straight to the dream center of your brain.

The Wachowskis use a combination of special effects, animation, editing, and live action components to make Speed Racer a singular cinematic experience, still not matched since its release.

Maybe more importantly, they retain the family heart and soul and wacky humor of the 1960’s original so that Speed Racer is a cinematic and emotional ride.

Strap in, buckle up, get ready. This is going to be a wild ride in a movie palace.

Today, we screen three visionary anime and anime inspired 21st century works. You can get tickets to any individual movie or get the ANIME + SPEED TRILOGY All-Day pass (all movies, best deal). Go to next door's historic Grand Central Market for breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks as we take in what an art form can do and inspire.

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