Blog Archives
Virtual Reality’s Impending Prize
We’re one day closer to March 29, 2018, with a brand new trailer…
Ready Player One has the challenge of following a highly-acclaimed book, but with one minor advantage:
Its director is Steven Spielberg.
The VR-centric story set in a dystopian future in Columbus, OH-IO splits time between the real world and an imaginative pop culture-rich virtual reality. The latter is filled with familiar throwbacks to iconic video games, music, and cinematic masterpieces in their own rights (ie-Back to the Future and Jurassic Park, to name just a couple). While this virtual reality purposely appears surreal, VR’s increasing role in modern society seems inevitable once a few codes are cracked for taking this experience mainstream in the coming years and decades.
Is this good? Bad? Somewhere in between? Time will ultimately tell with our ever-evolving relationship and fluid connectivity with deeply personal customizable technology. Regardless, a monstrous, life-altering prize awaits in the third act of Ready Player One.
However, will virtual reality lead society to an equally grand and illustrious prize down the road? Will currently living in Columbus, Ohio offer an exclusive key to this future?
There are just so many real questions to ponder…
maybe this is where virtual answers come into play?
The Ride of Our Lives Is Coming Soon
Ready. Set. Come with me…
Released today by Warner Bros. Pictures, this newest look into the virtual mega world of the forthcoming Steven Spielberg film (based on the book of the same title by fellow Ohioan Ernest Cline) Ready Player One is being set-up as a spectacularly fun (and prescient?) experience at the movies starting March 29.
While I’ve explored this story’s prescient virtual reality dynamic more extensively in past blog posts, it’s important to be ever-cognizant of pop-culture’s impact and strange acumen at foretelling the future. These cinematic visions can seem surreal in the moment. And yet, when one of these occasional visions comes true, the everlasting magic of cinematic storytelling gets stronger. As seen above, it appears that a healthy combination of strength and imagination are necessities in the places portrayed in Ready Player One.
Where our virtual world and real-life collide for a transformative impact.
P.S. “Pure Imagination” as the background song? Absolute perfection.
Lara Croft’s New Craft
With movements nearly as precise as an intricately designed AI robot, Academy Award winner Alicia Vikander’s portrayal of video game favorite Lara Croft looks like quite a bit of adventurous summer fun will be coming soon to your local cinema (that will actually arrive this March). The film’s second trailer, released by Warner Bros. Pictures today, confirms that aforementioned fun.
Narratively, Tomb Raider seems comparable to Batman Begins; the first act in what will likely stretch out into a thrilling trilogy with a lead character who will add more grit and emotion to an already larger-than-life story. Similar to Christian Bale (also an Academy Award winner), Ms. Vikander should add more depth to Lara Croft’s motives and, consequently, her surroundings. By that, I mean the dangerous, life-threatening stakes in the film should be raised beyond a mere visual recreation or addition to the highly-acclaimed video game, which is saying something.
Tomb Raider just may succeed in rebranding a hero of sorts…who is kind of super in her ability to raid tombs, yet not a superhero by definition.
We’ll have to wait and see on March 16th if that analysis (along with the effects in the movie) were, in fact, a practical presumption.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 