SADDO: THE MOVIE (aka READY PLAYER ONE)

if i were the kind of person who held challenging opinions i might think that preemptive detractors of this movie otherwise happy with franchise decadence are sensing it comes to critique their nostalgia bluntly rather than service it elegantly

As one who openly indulges in franchise decadence, my preceding post should put paid to that notion wrt moi.

I want to believe this thing is a bummer which savages nostalgic escapism but I don't get that impression.

i should admit here i'm back into star wars all of a sudden

i don't rly get that impression either but all i've seen is marketing and it's funner to hope.

i mean it's def not gonna be a bummer, that's the impression i don't get. it seems a certainty that it will engage on some level w nostalgia as emotional+political trap. the bad version of this movie i (+ prob you) imagine isn't one where that angle isn't there, but where it's perfunctory and unconvincing and just tacked onto a giant tv commercial in order to absolve it: that does put it in a different category from stranger things even if it's a failure and the latter's a success.

i don't even care about the recycling of nostalgia- it just looks like the same chosen one story that every big scifi/fantasy actioner has. Just looks like a tedious "thrill ride".

it seems a certainty that it will engage on some level w nostalgia as emotional+political trap.

― difficult listening hour, Wednesday, March 7, 2018

lmao oh you

It's a theme which Steven Spielberg (executive producer of Transformers Universe: Bumblebee, in theaters this December) seems very keen to shine a light on.

Also, the main actor looks as expressive as a pudding

I want to believe this thing is a bummer which savages nostalgic escapism but I don't get that impression.

the thing is, it rewards it. supposedly the world is a dystopian nightmare but that is just superficial flavoring, like so many of the references. it never interrupts the no-lag internet connection you need to play these games. it never interrupts the power cutting the heroes off from their one joy. it never interrupts the convenient hyper-Amazon delivery service. there is nothing at stake outside of the internal stakes of a videogame. the world is only "dystopian" in that it looks that way out the window, the characters are free to pursue their pleasure free of any real hardships. his precious video games are never in jeopardy. in fact the main character states his ultimate dream at one point and it is to take the VR and put it in a spaceship and leave the planet forever. it's entirely about selfish gratification.

you can write "Zorro and Tarzan met up with Buck Rodgers and they went to the Castle of Fu Manchu to fight Godzilla" but that sentence is not a fantasy simply because it contains fantasy-branded characters. nor does it make it interesting because it contains interesting characters. comparing RPO to other genre franchises seems to entirely miss the point of creativity.

i have the same issue w/Tye Sheridan as i do w/Ansel Elgort or Taron Egerton, they all come off onscreen like (vv serious) Poochies.

serious question how do you feel abt miles teller?

is that the li'l fox guy from Sonic The Hedgehog?

No, he’s Penn Jillette’s sidekick

https://www.twitter.com/ZeitchikWaPo/status/973052503498674181

Sound has gone out two-thirds of the way through Ready Player One and instead of getting mad the crowd is supplying its own sound effects and dialogue like it's The Room#sxsw

— Steven Zeitchik (@ZeitchikWaPo) March 12, 2018

That sounds like a slightly more hellish experience than watching this shit normally tbh

Man, imagine how many film critics are ex-drama kids and ex-gifted kids before thinking about the type of “humor” they’re shouting at the screen

or music critics

people who used to be kids are terrible at jokes it’s a fact

They could have just called in Michael Winslow to provide sound fx.

you guys like Luc Besson, right?

READY PLAYER ONE feels like Spielberg watched a ton of Luc Besson movies and decided to outdo them. In terms of pure spectacle, it’s the most astonishing thing he’s done. Never underestimate Steve. #SXSW

— erickohn (@erickohn) March 12, 2018

I'm hardly amped to see this, but I hope it earns $2 billion just to give unperson "conniptions."

i don't like Luc Besson tbf

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Intellectual Properties

what Kohn wrote

http://www.indiewire.com/2018/03/ready-player-one-review-steven-spielberg-sxsw-2018-1201938295/

Also, like, its really something how everyone is lining up to shit to shit in the Salo bowl for this when everyone was practically going WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB about the Lego Movie

Besson is very good at completely hollow spectacle. I'm not sure it's a commendable thing to replicate.

Steve S to fill the hollow

I don't think most people gave a shit about the Lego Movie until it was actually released and revealed to be surprisingly good.

i think i'm nostalgic for an era when nostalgia wasn't defined by children's commodities

I remember trying to watch Lego Movie at home; might've lasted 10 minutes.

I would've been knocked for a loop if your reaction had been otherwise.

it was like an animated Moulin Rouge, and A.D.D. is not part of my aesthetic vibe

(referring to the Luhrmann travesty and not Jose Ferrer as Toulouse-Lautrec)

From that IndieWire review:

It runs too long and drags a bunch in its final third

...

overwhelming CGI pileup

...

There’s nothing particularly unique about Wade, but the movie’s throwbacks extend to its live action scenes as well: He’s the typical white kid ready to rule the world, a Spielberg staple since “E.T.”

...

prolonged setup

...

trips over its exciting momentum

...

it lacks edginess, subtleties or the genuine dread to explore life in a complete technocracy

...

On paper, “Ready Player One” certainly looks like another ill-conceived Hollywood product

...

this is not a completely brainless blockbuster so much as an attempt to elevate the blockbuster form in its own language

...

The bulk of the live action scenes lack the same crisp energy of the Oasis, and Spielberg can’t match the forward momentum with character depth to spare. Wade and his pals have backstories, but they mostly just dangle in the background

...

retrograde gender politics

Translation: It's a piece of shit, but I'm afraid/forbidden to actually say so.

I did not like The Lego Movie at all. Lego Batman was worse tho, made the former look like Toy Story.

I agree, I hated the second Lego movie so much. Especially when they kept making a big deal about the world's most powerful villains being let loose, and they turn out to be the world's most powerful villains ... that Warner Brothers owns the rights to.

such a cherrypicker, unp.

A definition of Hell for me would be sitting for this in a theatre full of pop culture uber-nerds oohing and ahhhing and wooohooing loudly at every reference-come-to-life.

No, I don't hate fun. This would be the complete antithesis of fun.

wasn't there some Spielbro quote about how everyone is supposed to be shouting "I recognize that"?

wouldn't you just be... yelling that constantly the whole movie?

meh i'll just wait for the EVERY EASTER EGG listicles

there are zero easter eggs if every damn thing is a reference

lol

tbh they could have saved a lot of money and just released this direct-to-listicle

"Here Are The 100 Things You Probably Missed In "Ready Player One"!"

An irony is that (I assume) this will be free of superheroes and Star Wars and other iconic (now or previous) Disney properties that would otherwise be formative fuel for the nostalgia factory.

xpost oh, I wouldn't say I've been missing it, Bob...

apparently among the licensed characters are "various characters from the DC Comics universe" according to wikipedia :/

might as well "spoil" (hah) it:

Among licensed characters in the film are the title character from The Iron Giant, the RX-78-2 Gundam from Mobile Suit Gundam, various characters from the DC Comics universe and The Lord of the Rings film series, Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street, Duke Nukem, Tracer from Overwatch, Ryu, Blanka and Chun-Li from Street Fighter, Sonic the Hedgehog, Lara Croft from Tomb Raider, and Chucky from Child's Play. A massive in-game car race includes vehicles such as the DeLorean time machine from Back to the Future (outfitted with KITT from Knight Rider), the Mach 5 from Speed Racer, the possessed '58 Plymouth Fury car from Christine, the van from The A-Team, the modified Ford Falcon used in Mad Max, the monster truck Bigfoot, and Kaneda's motorcycle from Akira. Additional references to RoboCop, Jurassic Park, King Kong, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Halo have also been identified in promotion materials.

kill me now