123. Ready Player One (Summer of Spielberg)

Load Bearing Beams: A Movie Podcast

Laci and Matt are at war with each other like the gunters are at war with the villainous Nolan Sorrento in the Oasis of Ready Player One. And it’s all because they can’t agree on this movie! Is this the first BAD Spielberg movie the show has covered this summer? Or is it another classic?

First we get into the history of the movie, starting with the career of novelist Ernist Cline. From his humble beginnings as a slam poet in Austin to his screenwriting career working with Harvey Weinstein on the film Fanboys, to writing Ready Player One and creating bidding wars for both the publishing and movie rights, Ernie is a true American success story. And then he got Steven Spielberg to direct the thing! Wow! Will Spielberg use this opportunity to do some crucial self-examination about the role he has played in shaping pop culture, in emphasizing nostalgia and sentiment and comfort amongst moviegoers everywhere, keeping them in a perpetual state of adolescence? Or does he just use the cool toys and giant budget to make a really cool-looking movie?

Then: The movie itself. Has there been a wetter paper towel of a leading man than Tye Sheridan? Future megastar Olivia Cooke is right there, man. Give her the reigns. Anyway, enough editorializing. This episode is having some Ready Player FUN.

Next week: Our Indiana Jones TikTok Live will appear in the podcast feed on August 2. We’ll be back with a regular episode about Catch Me If You Can on August 9.

Watch this episode in full: https://youtu.be/fYs-nYD7SuA

Time stamps:

00:00:49 — Our personal histories with Ready Player One and our big-picture thoughts on the movie

00:10:28 — History segment: Ernest Cline and his novel Ready Player One, and how the movie came to be with Steven Spielberg; who the heck is Tye Sheridan?

00:29:00 — In-depth movie discussion

01:33:05 — Final thoughts and star ratings

Artwork by Laci Roth.

Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC).

Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode:

“Summer of Spielberg” - https://youtu.be/yglAqqLEaoI

“Winston-Salem” - https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM

“Snake Drama” - https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg

“The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ

“Summer of Spielberg” theme song credits:

Words and music written by Matt Stokes

Performed by Wade Hymel (drums/guitar), Laci Roth (vocals), and Matt Stokes (vocals/guitar/bass)

Produced by TJ Barends, Wade Hymel, and Matt Stokes

Engineered and mixed by TJ Barends at Bare Sounds Studio in Ponchatoula, Louisiana

Sources:

“Ernest Cline is the luckiest geek alive” by Ellis Hamburger | The Verge (2014) - https://bit.ly/4fgvyMO