We know what you’re thinking. Another Spielberg podcast? Really? Yes, two episodes after The Post we’re back for another discussion on the legendary filmmaker. But his latest outing couldn’t be more different.
Ready Player One, based on the novel by the same name, takes place in the year 2045. The world has devolved into a cramped, dirty mess and everyone is looking for an escape. And that’s exactly what they find in a virtual reality world called the OASIS. Every day, the people of the future put on their headsets and travel to a place where they can be who they want, go where they want, and do what they want. But there’s a catch. If they die in the OASIS, all the power-ups and money they’ve acquired die too. There’s also a secret Easter egg embedded in the virtual world which bestows its finder with wealth and total control over the OASIS itself. The film follows Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) and his band of underdogs as they attempt to find the Easter egg before it lands in the wrong hands.
Join Jon and Tim as they discuss the year in film so far, their desert island Spielberg movie, why Fantasia is a better fantasy world than the OASIS, the video game that brought down Atari, Jon’s friendship with John Krasinski, reclaiming artistic nostalgia, why the main characters in Ready Player One are the worst characters, the one 80’s reference Spielberg couldn’t get the rights to, the fundamentalism of fandom, modern-day Gnosticism, the right way to use virtual reality, and how entertainment can become a prison locked on the inside.
