SADDO: THE MOVIE (aka READY PLAYER ONE)

So I listened to the first two episodes of this, but was put off a bit by it being yet another "two bros talking about a thing" podcast, and turned against it basically when they started showing off about how little literature they had read at the end of episode 0, I have never seen MST3K so maybe that's why I don't get it, but still, I don't get it.

i enjoyed the part where they took 30 seconds to come up with ideas for 80's club costume descriptors. the book had gone with "People were dressed like they were at an 80's club". it was they ended up with 6 or so unique looks like "Madonna-style fishnets and gloves" "Multiple leotards aerobics style w headbands" "punked up 50's pompadour", etc. the writer of this book seems incredibly lazy.

Yeah, after listening to the intro episode I have my doubts: like mfktz, their total lack of knowledge and interest in books in general, and pathetically unfuuny jokes about same, makes me think these might be the least qualified guys to comment on anything in this sphere.

I'll try at least once more, because I loathe Cline that much, but it better improve.

why are you trying again? just don't listen to it sheesh

Unlike most Rifftrax, listening to this would take longer than reading RP1.

If there's interesting discussion to be had about RP1, I think it would be less on its obvious flaws, than on why it attracted a readership by word-of-mouth. There can't be that many nostalgic Gen Xers or cyberpunk fans with low standards. There's no shortage of other post-collapse, anti-corporatist screeds. Does the teen/YA market care about Devo and *Wargames*?

It's been a while since I've followed cyberpunk, but I seem to recall other, better written, Willie Wonka in The Sprawl novels. Maybe Vurt could have sold millions had it been grounded in familiar IPs.

There can't be that many nostalgic Gen Xers or cyberpunk fans with low standards.

Pixels grossed $245m, just saying.

Also yeah, a lot of people don't really apply any critical thinking - I've had a lot of pretty 'normy' people say that this is an entertaining book that they really enjoyed.

why it attracted a readership by word-of-mouth

shd've been word-of-mouthbreather, surely?

If there's interesting discussion to be had about RP1, I think it would be less on its obvious flaws, than on why it attracted a readership by word-of-mouth

it didn't though. this is one of the main points of the podcast, that it got rave reviews in the New York Times and AV Club and tons of publications as "book of the year". it's a mass marketed book that got big because that's what mass market books do

If there's interesting discussion to be had about RP1, it seems it will be about the film.

that’s a big ‘if’

I agree with Morbious. I didn't hate this book nearly as much as the rest of you though I do think it is overpraised and has some obvious problems; but if anyone can make a good film out of this and make use of the nostalgia aspects, it is Spielberg.

as for making a good film out of a shit novel, see Jaws

or Die Hard

if anyone can make a good film out of this and make use of the nostalgia aspects, it is Spielberg

he hasn't exactly been on a golden run of late, though, is the thing

he's just made the best film ever according to a poster I saw on the side of a bus

I thought Lincoln and Bridge of Spies were great

I don't rate Crichton much either

Cmon tho everything about this is so unpromising - "killer shark" is a premise that inherently has more potential for an entertaining film than like "what if funko pops" or whatever the premise of this garbage is

I'm not going cos I don't own a blacklight and I will need assurances that the seats haven't been befouled with the loinjuices of Gen X nerds prior to sitting down.

Crichton created some of the greatest compulsively readable sci-fi/thriller nonsense ever imo, love him

he was definitely a grinder when it came to doing research prior to writing his novels

Lincoln was good but BoS was just passable and you couldn't pay me to watch the two that followed

Spielberg movies are like Van Morrison albums; there's one every fucking year and I forget it exists two minutes after I'm told about it.

I'm not even a hater but the guy makes a shitload of films so I usually feel ok skipping over the odd one that appears calculated to be as unappealing to me as possible

that's nice

he'll survive

xp

"what if funko pops" hahaha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNtySt6Fg30

lol

will the movie be better than 2 hours of this

Here's the official trailer for READY PLAYER ONE: pic.twitter.com/0rQnUE5LdK

— Neil Cicierega (@neilcic) July 22, 2017

Dr Morbius, it seems like a thing that would make this interesting would be if it includes some element of reflection or even just commentary, on Spielberg's part, on his movies' place in current culture. Do you think he's got that in him?

I think he did that (sort of) as far back as 1941 (spoofing himself w/ shark/submarine opening).

Yeah and as dlh said above Jurassic park is full of that kinda stuff

I don't think that would be enough for me personally in this case

i like Spielberg but I haven't been super enthusiastic about too many of his post-WOTW/Munich flicks. Lincoln was good but I don't remember much about it beyond DDL and a couple scenes w/Bruce McGill and Michael Stuhlbarg.

Spielberg's biggest contribution to Lincoln was arguably staying out of Tony Kushner and DDL's way. A higher mawkish sentimentality content could have ruined it.

at this stage spielberg is basically a menace

the post and this as a one-two punch of diametrically opposed utter garbage

i kinda judge him a bit harshly on what he chooses to executive produce. leaning real heavy on the Transformers pics there, Steven.

Crystal Skull/Tintin/War Horse/Lincoln/Bridge of Spies/BFG/Post/RPO is about as "inspired" a run as Ridley Scott's having, which is to say kinda boring projects executed w/enough skill to make the best written ones "good" but that's about it.

arguably staying out of Tony Kushner and DDL's way

oh, nuts

jurassic park is about chasing beauty and making art, things spielberg understands better than he does american history. potential themes of this movie: escapism, nostalgia, the artist as opium slinger enlisted by deadening oppressive regime, decadent kids playing in recombinated trash like they're... making indiana jones, i guess there's an absent father figure there too. could still very well be just totally hateful but this is certainly more promising material for this partic artist than the washington post.

pretty dismissive of Hillary Clinton's all-time leading donor

*kisses fingers*
perfection morbz

i kinda judge him a bit harshly on what he chooses to executive produce.

The fact that he seems to be responsible for putting Shia le Bouef in the public eye is pretty damning all by itself

Ah no, I don't mean signs and hints for the people watching these films that have seen Spielberg films, I mean it being (I understand) a feature of the story that the people in this film have seen Spielberg films.

But then, I can't think of any film-maker who's done that except maybe Kevin Smith? I don't watch a lot of Kevin Smith.

goddammit this poster is literally just "HEY REMEMBER THIS STUFF?"

it's too dumb to even get mad at, it's just the silliest and most obvious attempt to appeal to the lowest common denominator of "nerd culture"

and it's gonna work, too. this bullshit is gonne make SO MUCH MONEY pic.twitter.com/oQWcRteDMz

— COOL BEANS (@RikiCreem) February 19, 2018

I don't think it will. The new (to me) trailer before BP got no response at all. Uncle Drew, on the other hand...

I can’t imagine anyone young enough to want to see this is gonna know what Bigfoot is

mainly i’m just annoyed that the poor blameless iron giant, star of one of the best animated movies of the last quarter-century, is getting dragged into this

and the 1978 Gundam. Don't they know these kids grew up on Gundam Wing, which is a totally separate continuity

I don't have my pulse on the finger of the dork community the way I used to but I have yet to encounter a single person who seems excited for this movie, if it totally flops I would not be surprised