Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
March 28, 2024, 01:23:16 AM

Login with username, password and session length

Search:     Advanced search
we're back, baby
*
Home Help Search Login Register
f13.net  |  f13.net General Forums  |  General Discussion  |  Movies  |  Topic: Ready Player One 0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
Pages: 1 [2] 3 Go Down Print
Author Topic: Ready Player One  (Read 17642 times)
schild
Administrator
Posts: 60345


WWW
Reply #35 on: July 25, 2017, 07:14:27 AM

They don't write great SciFi at nearly a fast enough rate to keep me in reading material.

You must read a lot of total fucking garbage.
HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42628

the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring


WWW
Reply #36 on: July 25, 2017, 08:28:44 AM

Eh.  I'd think of all audiences, it would resonate with the one here quite well.

You'd think but instead of being right up my alley, it was actually almost insultingly pandering. Like, I might have loved it at 14 but as an adult, it just felt juvenile. Without the pop culture references, I don't think there's anything that rises above Choose Your Own Adventure level plotting. This feels like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World if that movie had not been directed by Edgar Wright but instead by some no-talent hack like McG or Zak Snyder.

Soulflame
Terracotta Army
Posts: 6486


Reply #37 on: July 25, 2017, 08:54:35 AM

I agree with Mahrin.  There's not really a lot of good sci-fi or fantasy available, so I read what I can get.
MahrinSkel
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10857

When she crossed over, she was just a ship. But when she came back... she was bullshit!


Reply #38 on: July 25, 2017, 01:07:39 PM

They don't write great SciFi at nearly a fast enough rate to keep me in reading material.

You must read a lot of total fucking garbage.
Yes. I can read a full novel in a day, less if I really have nothing else to do, more than 100 a year without even really trying. Maybe 6-8 really good SciFi writers right now, putting out maybe a book a year, each, and I have never been able to maintain interest in other genres. And I read the back catalog of everything marginally worthwhile before I was 18. Re-reading most of it is pointless, as I remember all of it (maybe I get halfway through the first chapter before the memory dredge kicks in and I have all the rest at my mental fngertips).

So I read a *lot* of total fucking garbage. RP1 isn't terrible, it just isn't very good. Decent pulp, but other than putting together tropes in a comparatively novel pattern, nothing really creative, either.

--Dave
« Last Edit: July 26, 2017, 08:42:10 PM by MahrinSkel »

--Signature Unclear
Khaldun
Terracotta Army
Posts: 15157


Reply #39 on: July 25, 2017, 06:43:41 PM

Yeah, it's not terrible or anything. Just, smug and a bit tedious and not especially self-aware about the story it's telling.
Miguel
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1292

कुशल


Reply #40 on: July 27, 2017, 09:53:13 AM

The book was written for 10-15 year old kids.  If nothing else is has kids asking about Gary Gygax, so it can't be all bad. :)

“We have competent people thinking about this stuff. We’re not just making shit up.” -Neil deGrasse Tyson
Stewie
Terracotta Army
Posts: 439


Reply #41 on: July 27, 2017, 01:07:05 PM

I disagree it was written for ~40 year olds with 10-15 year old reading levels.

It was obvious and pandering throughout but that being said I enjoyed it on a purely nostalgic level.

Professional Forum Lurker.
Hoax
Terracotta Army
Posts: 8110

l33t kiddie


Reply #42 on: March 29, 2018, 03:19:06 PM

anyone biting the bullet on this one this weekend? any reviews from trusted sources that point in one direction or another?

I know the source material is some of the worst young adult crap on offer but it still looks like it could be pretty fun.... ?

A nation consists of its laws. A nation does not consist of its situation at a given time. If an individual's morals are situational, then that individual is without morals. If a nation's laws are situational, that nation has no laws, and soon isn't a nation.
-William Gibson
Khaldun
Terracotta Army
Posts: 15157


Reply #43 on: March 29, 2018, 04:16:58 PM

See, I even (or especially) hated the nostalgia because it felt evil--some billionaire forcing kids to relieve our own cultural youths rather than create their own culture, just for some desperate hope of overcoming dystopia?
Velorath
Contributor
Posts: 8980


Reply #44 on: March 29, 2018, 04:20:59 PM

Everything I've heard has been surprisingly positive. Since my move over to a smaller, more arthouse kinda theater though I don't get to see as much at work. Not sure when I'll get around to seeinf it.
Ironwood
Terracotta Army
Posts: 28240


Reply #45 on: March 30, 2018, 03:58:22 AM

The chat is that the utter fucking garbage in the book translates better as 'nods' up on the screen, mostly because there's not paragraphs and paragraphs of fucking wanking.

Seriously, fuck this book.  Movie could be ok, but FUCK THIS BOOK.

"Mr Soft Owl has Seen Some Shit." - Sun Tzu
Teleku
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10510

https://i.imgur.com/mcj5kz7.png


Reply #46 on: March 30, 2018, 05:45:01 AM

Lol, that was exactly my take when I saw they were doing this.  The book was fucking painful, but somehow I was actually a bit excited for the movie.  It seemed like the rare exception where the book to film translation/filtering could make a far more enjoyable story than the source material.  Still holding my breath until everybody starts confirming its not robot Hitler.

"My great-grandfather did not travel across four thousand miles of the Atlantic Ocean to see this nation overrun by immigrants.  He did it because he killed a man back in Ireland. That's the rumor."
-Stephen Colbert
schild
Administrator
Posts: 60345


WWW
Reply #47 on: March 30, 2018, 07:16:24 AM

I'm not even looking back to see if I said it in this thread (i'm sure I did) but everyone should just read Lucky Wander Boy to see nostalgia done right

i have absolutely zero interest in nostalgia for nostalgias sake
HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42628

the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring


WWW
Reply #48 on: March 30, 2018, 09:13:12 AM

The chat is that the utter fucking garbage in the book translates better as 'nods' up on the screen, mostly because there's not paragraphs and paragraphs of fucking wanking.

Seriously, fuck this book.  Movie could be ok, but FUCK THIS BOOK.


What the Scottish cunt said. I care not one whit for seeing this movie, though the one review I read said it was an enjoyable mad mess.

BobtheSomething
Terracotta Army
Posts: 452


Reply #49 on: March 30, 2018, 10:37:34 AM

Lol, that was exactly my take when I saw they were doing this.  The book was fucking painful, but somehow I was actually a bit excited for the movie.  It seemed like the rare exception where the book to film translation/filtering could make a far more enjoyable story than the source material. 

The guy who made Jaws and Jurassic Park might know a bit about making movies that are better than the books.

schild
Administrator
Posts: 60345


WWW
Reply #50 on: March 30, 2018, 10:42:03 AM

both of those were excellent books though

this is circlejerk garbage
Phildo
Contributor
Posts: 5872


Reply #51 on: March 30, 2018, 11:07:08 AM

I never understood the extreme reactions to the book on either side.  It makes great fodder for a summer blockbuster film, why not leave it at that?
BobtheSomething
Terracotta Army
Posts: 452


Reply #52 on: March 30, 2018, 11:11:14 AM

both of those were excellent books though

this is circlejerk garbage

Garbage books can make for great films if the director knows how to extract the worthwhile material from the crap and develop it.  Look at Die Hard, and to a lesser extent, The Godfather.
schild
Administrator
Posts: 60345


WWW
Reply #53 on: March 30, 2018, 11:12:44 AM

I never understood the extreme reactions to the book on either side.  It makes great fodder for a summer blockbuster film, why not leave it at that?

no one likes it when objective shit gets popular

see: 50 shades of setting women back 20 years
HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42628

the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring


WWW
Reply #54 on: March 30, 2018, 11:35:06 AM

The book deserves the visceral reaction it gets because it is literally a mediocre rewrite of the movie version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, only with pop culture as the treats instead of candy. I don't think there's an original or interesting idea to be found in the entire thing.

Phildo
Contributor
Posts: 5872


Reply #55 on: March 30, 2018, 11:54:20 AM

Mediocrity deserves a visceral reaction now?
Goldenmean
Terracotta Army
Posts: 844


Reply #56 on: March 30, 2018, 11:58:26 AM

I never understood the extreme reactions to the book on either side.  It makes great fodder for a summer blockbuster film, why not leave it at that?

For me at least, it's because everyone was praising it so highly and saying that it was so relevant to my interest that it transcended just being a spectacularly artless book, and became a crystallized representation of the stupidity of large portions of my social group/culture as a whole.

Also, yes, all of the usual reasons where when something reaaaaaally bad gets popular, dissenting voices feel the need to be ten times as loud to balance all the voices in praise.
Ginaz
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3534


Reply #57 on: March 30, 2018, 12:00:21 PM

Mediocrity deserves a visceral reaction now?

You must be new to the internet.  Everyone has to be outraged at something all the time.
Goldenmean
Terracotta Army
Posts: 844


Reply #58 on: March 30, 2018, 12:02:23 PM

Phildo
Contributor
Posts: 5872


Reply #59 on: March 30, 2018, 12:07:51 PM

I was getting ready to type out a full paragraph defending a book that I only kind of liked.  What have you people done to me?
Ginaz
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3534


Reply #60 on: March 30, 2018, 12:28:05 PM

Raguel
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1413


Reply #61 on: March 30, 2018, 12:39:36 PM

Rendakor
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10131


Reply #62 on: March 30, 2018, 12:45:59 PM

I thought the book was alright; not great, but certainly not as awful as most here seem to think it was. I'm waiting for Netflix/Hulu/yarrr for the movie though.

"i can't be a star citizen. they won't even give me a star green card"
Ginaz
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3534


Reply #63 on: March 30, 2018, 03:57:24 PM

I saw this today.  It wasn't bad.  The movie was better than it probably should have been but it was pure Gen X nostalgia wank, which has more to do with the source material than Spielberg.
Ironwood
Terracotta Army
Posts: 28240


Reply #64 on: March 31, 2018, 05:07:58 AM

Mediocrity deserves a visceral reaction now?

If it's offensive, yeah.

When I was reading it, all I could think is 'This is what this guy thinks of himself.  This is what this guy thinks of his peers.  This is what this guy thinks of us.'

Fuck him.  I doubt anyone on these boards wouldn't be able to get every single fucking reference and understand it, but that doesn't make us the utter fucking wankstains that he is and his characters are portrayed in the book.  He was kicking cripples for the entire length of his novel and he didn't even fucking realise.  Fucking Gamergate as fucking hero and don't even get me started on how women were portrayed.  "Hey, my characters are entirely BROKEN both objectively and subjectively as people, yay !"  This is what I really think, yay !  I have Wil Wheaton on my side, yay !

Fuck this asshole  Fuck his book.  Fuck anyone for making a film out of it and giving him any more money.  Like Notch, I hope he just fucking dies painfully.

But overreacting ?  Nah, I don't think so.   why so serious?



"Mr Soft Owl has Seen Some Shit." - Sun Tzu
HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42628

the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring


WWW
Reply #65 on: March 31, 2018, 02:21:51 PM

While I might not go so far as Ironwood, I was just offended at how goddamn lazy it was. There wasn't anything redeeming about the book if you removed all the references to '80's pop culture. Then it was just young adult wish fulfillment, which is fine but completely throwaway. If he had been sued by all the copyright holders of the references and forced to remove them all, the story would have been bland, trite and utterly forgettable, and he's not nearly a good enough writer to have made it interesting without any of that. As a writer, I'm mostly offended that this guy got hype and sales for such a shoddy, lazy piece of shit.

But then J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer and that Fifty Shades bitch annoy me for the same reason.  why so serious?

schild
Administrator
Posts: 60345


WWW
Reply #66 on: March 31, 2018, 02:49:08 PM

as far as I'm concerned Harry Potter is just Dragonlance fanfiction
MahrinSkel
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10857

When she crossed over, she was just a ship. But when she came back... she was bullshit!


Reply #67 on: March 31, 2018, 06:30:56 PM

So, I was bored and wanted a decent late lunch, and watched this at a 'dinner theater' type place. The burger and fries were good, the movie was a beautiful hot mess.

--Dave

--Signature Unclear
Abagadro
Terracotta Army
Posts: 12227

Possibly the only user with more posts in the Den than PC/Console Gaming.


Reply #68 on: April 01, 2018, 03:46:27 PM

Spielberg knows how to shoot action scenes and this is one long action scene with a bunch of movie and video game references.  Fairly entertaining and not the massive turd that the book was as it cuts out almost all of the exposition. Zach Penn basically rewrote the entire story with the only real consistency being the basic plot and characters.  Best part of it was probably Mark Rylance as he actually puts some pathos into the thing.

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

-H.L. Mencken
MediumHigh
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1982


Reply #69 on: April 01, 2018, 11:34:46 PM

Ready Player One gets a solid C. Basically a kids movie from dream works, there's a moral lesson, a happy ending and even a moment where the villain finds the shrivel remains of his heart. I'm going forget I saw this and was mostly disappointed. Having only heard about but not actually read the books, I'm not really motivated to dig into it but from what my wife tells me the world built in the books is far less shallow and the book doesn't beat on a higher moral principles as the characters seem to oppose the evil corporation because they want to (and eventually have to) and not because its an evil corporation and their the resistance.

So yeah, on one hand I was almost excited to hear that there is a movie that was better than the books but on the other hand now that I've seen the movie I'm left wondering if the book is garbage or people have shit taste.
Pages: 1 [2] 3 Go Up Print 
f13.net  |  f13.net General Forums  |  General Discussion  |  Movies  |  Topic: Ready Player One  
Jump to:  

Powered by SMF 1.1.10 | SMF © 2006-2009, Simple Machines LLC