Ready Player One

* Ready Podcast One
* Pod Me If You Cast

**Ready Player One** (also known as **Ready Podcast One**) is episode 156 focusing on the movie of the same name, as part of the Pod Me If You Cast miniseries covering the films of Steven Spielberg in the DreamWorks years, despite the fact that the film was not released by DreamWorks. Posted April 1, 2018.

## Summary

Tense!

David thought this movie was fine, and Griffin did not. Also Griffin is sick, which may have played into his mood - you may pick up on the hints and easter eggs that reveal that info, keep an ear out. He's so down on everything that he wants to move to the Andes and just raise a kid without a complex.

This might be a rare example where the book, by Ernest Cline, is worse than the movie. David is definitely down on the book, as it sounded to him like a case where the author's singular viewpoint on the monoculture was a significant detriment. All the pop culture references are sort of the same types of things. Griffin just wishes there was something more freewheeling in the various references, not just 80's action movies and cartoons and videogames. Why not have somebody with an avatar of Tom Hanks in *Sleepless in Seattle*? Or David's choice, Joe Friday from "Dragnet"?

Anyway, Griffin is frustrated that there's practically no satire in this movie, which means it can't or won't examine the sociological dystopian story elements he finds so troublesome. Aha! David brings the disagreement to a point: he is a critic. A critic judges works as they are - dissecting them on the way sometimes, but fundamentally the work is the work. Griffin is an actor. An actor is more on the creative side and has a fundamentally constructivist point of view of the work - actors read scripts and watch movies and think about how the work could be changed or adjusted to improve it. There's #TheTwoFriends' difference right there, and it took *Ready Player One* to turn it into a conflict wherein Griffin tells David to go eat two turds. (Chomp.)

Interesting: Griffin auditioned for a role in this movie. He even saw the whole script before Spielberg put his stamp on it. And he auditioned back when he was rocking his "Vinyl" look, which he describes as "like he was simultaneously a pedophile and a victim of pedophilia... an ouroboros of sexual assault." Greasy 70s porn-tech look, in a hot summer, with a mustache and sideburns. :(

Oh man, Spielberg wanted Gene Wilder in this movie before he passed away. Could have been sad and hard to even envision, as he was ravaged by Alzheimer's. Wilder is Griffin's favorite actor, even though he didn't really love any of Gene's movies after the 70s. Anyway, Mark Rylance made it work in this movie, best performance in this. Also Ben Mendelsohn is good and Lena Waithe is charrrrrminggggg.

Is everything just a mashup and a reboot now? Like Marvel's recent comic book storylines with Spider-Gwen. Are kids getting anything new of their own?

The second half of the episode is a little about the movie and a lot about tangents. See below.

### Milestones and Ephemera

* Eating on mic: Griffin, drinking Dunkin Donuts hibiscus tea and eating a cheddar bagel twist.
* Ben's favorite thing onscreen: Battletoads!
* Griffin buying a steel book: oh no, a real steel-turn. Ugh - Occupy Blank Check! Only 2000s kids will understand
* Griffin's acting Mt. Rushmore: Wilder (Gene), Keaton (Michael), Keaton (Buster), and Hoffman (Philip Seymour). What the heck, throw in another Keaton (Diane)
* A Neil Hamburger movie: exists?!
* Recasting Cyclops in *X-Men*: Timothy Olyphant (David's choice) or Armie Hammer (Griffin's choice)
* Merchandise Spotlight: Spielburgers
* Not a sponsor yet: Carls Jr.
* Edgar Wright ranking: starts with Scott Pilgrim
* Videogames that made David cry: The Last of Us, Wind Waker. A melancholy game: Super Mario 64. Never made anyone cry, but a good game: Spielberg's Boom Blox.
* Box office game: Weekend of March 30, 2018

### Sponsors

* Still going to the post office? What is it, a nostalgia thing? Hey people, use stamps.com. Free digital scale! $55 in free postage! Ben will be using it a lot when the Blank Check merch starts going out. Go to stamps.com, click the microphone, use promo code CHECK.
* Who's a good character? Blue Apron. Sweaty transition. Maybe should hire the Swedish Chef as spokesperson, because who's better at communicating? Anyway, David is using Blue Apron three times a week, he's all in. Loves the way it makes every part of the cooking process useful, like making rouxs and stuff. Hey buddy, you got a stew goin'! Only 2000s kids will understand. $30 off for listeners, blueapron.com/check.
* We Transfer. Transfer big files for free! Get it done, quick and easy, and go back to making! Like makin' that sweet sweet love. It's a great service! Seriously, too phlegmy, too sick, just the straight ad copy, no time for bits Doctor Jones. wetransfer.com.