Ready Player One

You know this movie was made solely for the pause button.

Ready Player one is a grand adventure in both the past and future of technology, gaming, and all things pop culture. The story follows a man named Wade who lives in the future of 2045, where the world practically lives in a virtual reality world known as the Oasis where a quest for the only easter egg in the virtual world is pursued by our hero, which will give him complete control over the Oasis. He is helped by his virtual friends to stop a corporation from controlling the Oasis and basically making it an EA game. Sad but true. Oh, and of course I got every reference I set my eyes on, but I know I need to see it....4 more times before I catch em' all. And yes, I did have my geek out moments and my WTF moments due to the sheer awesomeness of it all. But even when you strip away the references and easter eggs, the film still stands on it's own. This is a terrific film, not just because it was almost tailor made for me, but it tells a good story with a good message and has good characters. Hell the movie feels like a 80s movie, plot, characters, and effects feel part of that era. I love how the Oasis looks and how the players within it look, though mind you our main hero reminded me a bit too much of that dumbass little jagoff from Final Fantasy 13. Not a good start, but it passed and the visuals are incredibly well done. I was surprised to find the book was written only 7 years ago, for some reason I thought it was written in the late 90s but knowing that the movie makes more since and I do genuinely want to read the book! It's a very good film that I think will endure and better with each viewing, and of course I'm going to buy it. Two problems though, they bring up coins in the game world and you can buy items and power ups with the coins and yet someone mentions they put all their real world money into the game to win even more. So do the coins transfer as real cash in the real world or is the currency around the world coins? They never explain that. Second, shame on you movie for no Tron references. I thought it was a lightcycle you see in the trailer during that race but it's the bike from Akira. Why no Tron references? At least none I could see! But the sure show a Colecvision. Does anybody even know what a Colecovision is besides me?? You couldn't thrown in the poster or see an identity disc defeat an enemy? Come on man! I know Tron was an underground movie in 1982 but come on! If the Pork Chop Express can make a cameo, you can throw in a Tron reference! That pisses me off, but screw it the movie is great, I loved the geekyness and I no doubt will go see it again soon. I do hope all this 80s throwback stuff revives a classic arcade. If so, I got first game and I'll see you guys there.

Dunkirk

Jesus, I can't even imagine seeing this in theaters. The trailer in the theater made my heart race, I think the film would have killed me!

But regardless of better sound systems, Dunkirk is a really good movie. I have to admit I am not one for war films, well I'm just not one for war in general but with this film it did excellent work. Story wise, it's basically a fight for survival. Over 400,000 soldiers are trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk, surrounded by the enemy, looking for anyway out possible. Doesn't sound like much but I would be a lying bastard if I said I wasn't a nervous wreck sitting all the way through it. The friggin' music keeps you on edge from the beginning to the very end! And it is pretty damn good music! Cinematography is excellent, you do feel like you are in a warzone multiple times and the story is harrowing so it keeps you interested until the end. I think my favorite part is there is no real main character, sure we follow a soldier through most of it, and yet he's kind of in the background at the same time. There's no hero or true main character cause in war, there are no heroes or focal points. When survival comes to push or shove, people either work together or fight, and while thankfully it's mostly cooperation there is a few scuffs in between. It's just people trying to survive an impossible scenario, and the film must be commended on that. Bottom line, it's a damn fine war movie that I think would work even better if you watch Darkest Hour, and trust me we will get to that before the week is done. But tomorrow, we look at a film that has been waiting for me for a long time.