When it was published in 2011, Ernest Cline's Ready Player One got a fairly warm reception as a diverting mashup of pop culture, gaming, and accessible quest narrative, wrapped up in a warm, comforting blanket of nostalgia for the ephemera of the 1970s and 80s. Over the past seven years, its reputation has proven much more divisive, in part because of Cline's subsequent work, but mostly because the kind of geek culture he celebrated has become much darker and more complicated. Matt and Ed talk about all that in regards to the film adaptation, directed by Steven Spielberg, as well as Amazon's big-budget TV gambles and the dystopian potential of Birmingham.
00:00:00 - 00:25:48 - Intro & News
00:25:49 - 01:09:15 - Matt & Ed discuss Ready Player One
01:09:16 - 01:17:06 - SRS Recommends & Outro
244. The Matrix at 20
243. Changing Your Mind
242. Awards Season Autopsy
241. All News Episode
240. Ensembles
239. Long Delayed Sequels
238. Special Features
237. Oscar Nominations 2019
236. 2019 TV Preview
235. 2019 Preview
234. Bandersnatch
233. Best Films of 2018
232. Work
231. Roeg Nation
230. Films About Writing
229. Ambitious TV
228. The Other Side of the Wind
227. The State of Cinema
226. Food Movies (with Emily Benita)
225. Misleading Marketing (with Emily Benita)
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