What the corpus says about Ready Player One

What was said about it (11)

1. [The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies · 0:08:33 · Sean Fennessey (0.85)] Ready Player One ↔ E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial · lineage · E.T. is in the book but was cut from the film by Spielberg. · "I think ET in particular does not appear in the movie and is in the book."
2. [Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining · 2:26:19 · David Sims (0.40)] The Shining ⇒ Ready Player One (the host's read) · lineage · Ready Player One has a fun sequence set in the hotel. · "Ready player one, they go to the hotel."
3. [The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies · 0:05:17 · Chris Ryan (0.85)] Ready Player One ↔ The Matrix · theme · Chris sees it as another orphan-messiah-saves-the-world story like the Matrix and Star Wars. · "like the Matrix and, you know, like Lords of Arabia and Star Wars are all about like these orphans who've saved the world."
4. [Blank Check — Patreon · 2001: A Space Odyssey · 1:30:12 · Jordan Hoffman (0.50)] 3001: The Final Odyssey (novel) ↔ Ready Player One · theme · 3001's brain-implanted virtual reality is compared to Ready Player One. · "They screw in what's basically, it's like Ready player one."
5. [The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies · 0:26:46 · Sean Fennessey (0.80)] Minority Report ↔ Ready Player One · contrast · Ready Player One treats earnestly what Minority Report satirizes (personalized ads). · "Some people have noted that the things that that movie satirizes are actually treated in a very straightforward manner in Ready Player one."
6. [Blank Check — Patreon · The Ice Storm · 1:43:14 · David Sims (0.45)] Ready Player One ↔ Starship Troopers · contrast · Ready Player One will be competent Spielberg but is no Starship Troopers. · "It's no Starship Troopers."
7. [The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies · 0:40:10 · Chris Ryan (0.50)] Ready Player One ↔ The Post · career · The Post was a three-month shotgun wedding; Ready Player One took four years. · "you can see that he made the post in 3 months."
8. [Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 1:15:50 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Ready Player One ↔ Doctor Sleep · Overlook recreated · Ready Player One rebuilt the hotel as a deliberate CGI recreation the year before; Doctor Sleep puts live actors into it. · "Ready Player one has this whole sequence where it is truly just a CGI recreation of the hotel"
9. [The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies · 0:08:46 · Sean Fennessey (0.85)] Stanley Kubrick ⇒ Ready Player One (the host's read) · lineage · The film contains a deeper homage to Kubrick, maybe its best part. · "There is a much deeper and fascinating homage to Stanley Cooper."
10. [The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies · 0:08:36 · Sean Fennessey (0.70)] Ready Player One ↔ ILM · craft · ILM artists slipped a gremlin into Ready Player One and Spielberg was annoyed, part of his trimming of self-referential Easter eggs. · "ILM people threw in like a gremlin in some place and like he was just like, god damn it."
11. [The Big Picture · ‘Captain Marvel’ Is a ’90s Nostalgia Play. Did It Work? | Exit Survey · 0:37:43 · Sean Fennessey (0.80)] Ben Mendelsohn ↔ Ready Player One · career · In Ready Player One he plays Nolan Sorrento, a basic evil corporate villain who still brings flair. · "where he plays a character named Nolan Sorrento, who's just a villain."

Fun items about it (2)

1. [Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 1:16:08 · Griffin Newman (0.30)] Ready Player One · fun · Hosts imagine a future Ready Player Two visiting a Doctor Sleep verse of quiet conversations around cups of tea. · "Well, and I hope that 30 years from now there's a Ready Player one, Ready Player 2, where they go to the Doctor Sleep Averse."
2. [Blank Check — Patreon · The Ice Storm · 1:43:05 · David Sims (0.45)] Ready Player One · fun · Griffin's capsule verdict on Spielberg: it's not going to be incompetent. · "It's a Spielberg movie."

One hop out: what recommends the films most often joined to it (16)

1. [Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 0:25:13 · David Sims (0.30)] Doctor Sleep ↔ Smile · programming · Both are horror films about trauma, in the host's framing of a trend of elevated horror. · "smile is literally about trauma"
2. [Blank Check · Raiders of the Lost Ark · 3:27:19 · unknown (0.40)] E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ↔ Raiders of the Lost Ark · programming · Next week's episode is E.T.; next the Patreon bonus covers Something Evil and Savage. · "I believe it's a movie called ET the Extra Terrestrial."
3. [The Big Picture · The 10 Most Misused Stars in Hollywood and the Gnarly Magic of ‘Send Help’ · 0:20:46 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50)] Minority Report ⇒ Mercy (the host's read) · lineage · Mercy's AI-as-justice-machine premise is an idea Minority Report explored earlier. · "Like minority report explores this idea of what if we use technology to better, like better control criminal activity in the world."
4. [Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 0:38:03 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ↔ Starship Troopers · theme · Early in the film it reads as Miyazaki's people-versus-bugs movie, but its ending flips the Starship Troopers propaganda by having the heroine empathize with the bugs. · "Like this is his people versus Bugs movie."
5. [Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 1:12:11 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] 2010 ↔ Doctor Sleep · programming · The Patreon feed also covered 2010, another sequel to a Kubrick movie that avoids aping his style. · "Another example of how dare you make a sequel to a Stanley Kubrick movie."
6. [The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies · 0:33:46 · unknown (0.50)] E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ⇒ Stranger Things (the host's read) · lineage · E.T. has been so imitated, in films and TV like Stranger Things, that the original feels less rewarding. · "so many people have like basically based entire film franchises or television shows Stranger Things off of that"
7. [The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 0:55:18 · Bill Simmons (0.50)] Minority Report ↔ Eyes Wide Shut · theme · How-is-that-a-job category: Minority Report's eyeball seller, Milich's costume shop in Eyes Wide Shut. · "Like the dude in minority report who just sells new eyeballs to Tom Cruise."
8. [The Big Picture · ‘Gladiator II’ Is Here. Are We Not Entertained? · 1:31:19 · Sean Fennessey (0.40)] The Shining ⇒ Doctor Sleep (the host's read) · lineage · Doctor Sleep uses grown-up Danny and a new generation, Abra Stone. · "Using a familiar figure from the original film in Danny, the grown up Danny"
9. [The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies · 0:19:05 · Sean Fennessey (0.85)] Close Encounters of the Third Kind ⇒ E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (the host's read) · theme · Close Encounters sets a template for science fiction and for stories about families and divorce. · "It sets a different kind of template for science fiction storytelling, for stories about families, for stories about obsession, for stories about divorce"
10. [The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies · 0:28:34 · unknown (0.50)] Minority Report ↔ Janusz Kaminski · craft · Minority Report looks like what Spielberg's films look like now: cloudy natural light into a dingy area. · "And it feels more like what all Steven Spielberg movies look like now, this sort of like cloudy, natural light flooding through into a dingy area."
11. [Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 0:12:41 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] The Shining ⇒ Doctor Sleep (the host's read) · lineage · Doctor Sleep is the sequel to Kubrick's The Shining, which is the whole sell and the whole problem. · "You're doing a sequel to The Shining."
12. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 1:07:56 · David Sims (0.40)] Thor ↔ E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial · theme · For Selvig, Thor is proof of aliens, his own E.T., and the reason he will not let go of him. · "Thor is like his ET."
13. [Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 0:14:23 · David Sims (0.40)] Doctor Sleep (King's novel) ⇒ Doctor Sleep (the host's read) · lineage · The film is an adaptation of King's Doctor Sleep, a bestseller Warner Brothers optioned. · "Warner Brothers, option the rights, put Akiva Goldsman on it."
14. [Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 1:07:27 · David Sims (0.40)] Ghostbusters: Afterlife ↔ Doctor Sleep · lineage · Afterlife is eager to relive the first movie for no reason; Doctor Sleep avoids the original for as long as it can, so its return is earned. · "Ghostbusters Afterlife is a perfect example of the movie is so eager to relive the 1st movie"
15. [Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining · 0:58:43 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] The Shining ⇒ Doctor Sleep (the host's read) · lineage · Doctor Sleep is the sequel to The Shining. · "Dr. Sleep, the sequel to, which I feel like is actually a better movie"
16. [Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining · 2:14:53 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] The Shining ⇒ Doctor Sleep (the host's read) · lineage · Doctor Sleep has to pay some homage to Kubrick while following a novel whose author hates the film. · "it has to thread paying some homage to Kubrick"

Who said it, by their latest sketch (5)

1. [speaker] Sean Fennessey · latest sketch, The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · Loves gory, funny, fast genre movies with craft and confidence, especially 87-minute films that never overstay. Can't stand ponderous elevated horror that fills out its runtime with introspection and sad family history. A sucker for the Carpenter-era lineage, Die Hard homages, and directors who break studio dogma. · stances: Resident Evil is one of the best films of the year; Horror movies have become a drag; fun genre experiences are needed; Short running times are a virtue; Video-game films work best when great filmmakers get creative license
2. [speaker] David Sims · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Prepares history: novel, casting, budgets, box office. Reveres the film and thinks it reads as a normal ground-level story. A sucker for Hollywood deal backstory and box office game. · stances: Praises Keitel and Dafoe casting; Respects Scorsese's persistence and Corman discipline; The film is now well regarded though not 'canonical Marty'
3. [speaker] Chris Ryan · latest sketch, The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ · A franchise and genre scholar who likes Jason, the early sequels, and Manhattan; attention to trivia, tropes and critic reception. Treats slashers as a canon with tiers. · stances: Parts 1, 2, 4 and Manhattan are the good ones; The series finds its legs at 4
4. [speaker] Griffin Newman · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Calls Last Temptation his college-era favorite Scorsese; loves Scorsese's smaller 80s and the film's closing transcendence and Gabriel score. Cannot stand fundamentalist outrage at it. A sucker for casting trivia and Tom Cruise-silliness. · stances: Hot take: Last Temptation structurally mirrors New York, New York as a better version; Outrage over the film is stupid; it is respectful to Jesus; Scorsese's smaller 80s work beats his later baroque phases
5. [speaker] Jordan Hoffman · latest sketch, Blank Check — Patreon · 2001: A Space Odyssey · A self-described scholar of sci-fi and a devoted Clarke reader who has read the sequels. Loves hard science fiction, 70mm screenings, and the film's mystery, and claims to be sober and a fish fanatic. A sucker for trivia about the making of the film and for the Michael Benson book. · stances: 2001 is a bifurcated experience, diamond-hard sci-fi and psychedelia; The film is much funnier than people think; Believes the secrets of the universe are locked in it; Clarke's sequels are worth talking about, with 3001 as a gag

The shows' running bits (3)

1. [bits] The Big Picture: Drafts (Hosts and guests draft films in rounds; every pick is a recommendation with an argument); Hall of Fame (A star's or director's best, ranked and argued); Countdowns (Ranked lists, top five or top ten)
2. [bits] Blank Check: The box office game (Guessing the film's opening weekend and what it was up against); The sung theme ("Blank Check with Griffin and David", sung; the transcriber garbles it)
3. [bits] The Rewatchables: Apex Mountain (The moment a star peaks; where on the mountain a performance sits); Who Won the Movie (The hosts name the person who came out of the film best off); The Ebert review (Roger Ebert's original review and star rating read aloud. Ebert is cited, never on the show); Casting what-ifs (Who was almost cast, or who should have been); Most rewatchable scene (The scene each host would stop on while flipping channels); Aged best / aged worst (What holds up and what does not); Picking Nits (The little things in a film the hosts love that they don't think totally work: the nits); Double feature (The film each host would pair it with; a programming pick)

The whole prompt

You are a clerk at Video Culture, a video store. A customer just finished Ready Player One and wants to know what to watch next.

Below is what people who love movies said on three podcasts (Blank Check, The Rewatchables, The Big Picture) about Ready Player One and the films around it, one line each. Every line starts with where it came from, in brackets: [show · episode · time · speaker (how sure we are it was them)]. A [pairs] line says how often two films were put side by side. A [speaker] line says what that person likes. A [bits] line lists a show's running bits: a format, not an opinion.

[The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies · 0:08:33 · Sean Fennessey (0.85)] Ready Player One ↔ E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial · lineage · E.T. is in the book but was cut from the film by Spielberg. · "I think ET in particular does not appear in the movie and is in the book."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining · 2:26:19 · David Sims (0.40)] The Shining ⇒ Ready Player One (the host's read) · lineage · Ready Player One has a fun sequence set in the hotel. · "Ready player one, they go to the hotel."
[The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies · 0:05:17 · Chris Ryan (0.85)] Ready Player One ↔ The Matrix · theme · Chris sees it as another orphan-messiah-saves-the-world story like the Matrix and Star Wars. · "like the Matrix and, you know, like Lords of Arabia and Star Wars are all about like these orphans who've saved the world."
[Blank Check — Patreon · 2001: A Space Odyssey · 1:30:12 · Jordan Hoffman (0.50)] 3001: The Final Odyssey (novel) ↔ Ready Player One · theme · 3001's brain-implanted virtual reality is compared to Ready Player One. · "They screw in what's basically, it's like Ready player one."
[The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies · 0:26:46 · Sean Fennessey (0.80)] Minority Report ↔ Ready Player One · contrast · Ready Player One treats earnestly what Minority Report satirizes (personalized ads). · "Some people have noted that the things that that movie satirizes are actually treated in a very straightforward manner in Ready Player one."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Ice Storm · 1:43:14 · David Sims (0.45)] Ready Player One ↔ Starship Troopers · contrast · Ready Player One will be competent Spielberg but is no Starship Troopers. · "It's no Starship Troopers."
[The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies · 0:40:10 · Chris Ryan (0.50)] Ready Player One ↔ The Post · career · The Post was a three-month shotgun wedding; Ready Player One took four years. · "you can see that he made the post in 3 months."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 1:15:50 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Ready Player One ↔ Doctor Sleep · Overlook recreated · Ready Player One rebuilt the hotel as a deliberate CGI recreation the year before; Doctor Sleep puts live actors into it. · "Ready Player one has this whole sequence where it is truly just a CGI recreation of the hotel"
[The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies · 0:08:46 · Sean Fennessey (0.85)] Stanley Kubrick ⇒ Ready Player One (the host's read) · lineage · The film contains a deeper homage to Kubrick, maybe its best part. · "There is a much deeper and fascinating homage to Stanley Cooper."
[The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies · 0:08:36 · Sean Fennessey (0.70)] Ready Player One ↔ ILM · craft · ILM artists slipped a gremlin into Ready Player One and Spielberg was annoyed, part of his trimming of self-referential Easter eggs. · "ILM people threw in like a gremlin in some place and like he was just like, god damn it."
[The Big Picture · ‘Captain Marvel’ Is a ’90s Nostalgia Play. Did It Work? | Exit Survey · 0:37:43 · Sean Fennessey (0.80)] Ben Mendelsohn ↔ Ready Player One · career · In Ready Player One he plays Nolan Sorrento, a basic evil corporate villain who still brings flair. · "where he plays a character named Nolan Sorrento, who's just a villain."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 1:16:08 · Griffin Newman (0.30)] Ready Player One · fun · Hosts imagine a future Ready Player Two visiting a Doctor Sleep verse of quiet conversations around cups of tea. · "Well, and I hope that 30 years from now there's a Ready Player one, Ready Player 2, where they go to the Doctor Sleep Averse."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Ice Storm · 1:43:05 · David Sims (0.45)] Ready Player One · fun · Griffin's capsule verdict on Spielberg: it's not going to be incompetent. · "It's a Spielberg movie."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 0:25:13 · David Sims (0.30)] Doctor Sleep ↔ Smile · programming · Both are horror films about trauma, in the host's framing of a trend of elevated horror. · "smile is literally about trauma"
[Blank Check · Raiders of the Lost Ark · 3:27:19 · unknown (0.40)] E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ↔ Raiders of the Lost Ark · programming · Next week's episode is E.T.; next the Patreon bonus covers Something Evil and Savage. · "I believe it's a movie called ET the Extra Terrestrial."
[The Big Picture · The 10 Most Misused Stars in Hollywood and the Gnarly Magic of ‘Send Help’ · 0:20:46 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50)] Minority Report ⇒ Mercy (the host's read) · lineage · Mercy's AI-as-justice-machine premise is an idea Minority Report explored earlier. · "Like minority report explores this idea of what if we use technology to better, like better control criminal activity in the world."
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 0:38:03 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ↔ Starship Troopers · theme · Early in the film it reads as Miyazaki's people-versus-bugs movie, but its ending flips the Starship Troopers propaganda by having the heroine empathize with the bugs. · "Like this is his people versus Bugs movie."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 1:12:11 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] 2010 ↔ Doctor Sleep · programming · The Patreon feed also covered 2010, another sequel to a Kubrick movie that avoids aping his style. · "Another example of how dare you make a sequel to a Stanley Kubrick movie."
[The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies · 0:33:46 · unknown (0.50)] E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ⇒ Stranger Things (the host's read) · lineage · E.T. has been so imitated, in films and TV like Stranger Things, that the original feels less rewarding. · "so many people have like basically based entire film franchises or television shows Stranger Things off of that"
[The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 0:55:18 · Bill Simmons (0.50)] Minority Report ↔ Eyes Wide Shut · theme · How-is-that-a-job category: Minority Report's eyeball seller, Milich's costume shop in Eyes Wide Shut. · "Like the dude in minority report who just sells new eyeballs to Tom Cruise."
[The Big Picture · ‘Gladiator II’ Is Here. Are We Not Entertained? · 1:31:19 · Sean Fennessey (0.40)] The Shining ⇒ Doctor Sleep (the host's read) · lineage · Doctor Sleep uses grown-up Danny and a new generation, Abra Stone. · "Using a familiar figure from the original film in Danny, the grown up Danny"
[The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies · 0:19:05 · Sean Fennessey (0.85)] Close Encounters of the Third Kind ⇒ E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (the host's read) · theme · Close Encounters sets a template for science fiction and for stories about families and divorce. · "It sets a different kind of template for science fiction storytelling, for stories about families, for stories about obsession, for stories about divorce"
[The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies · 0:28:34 · unknown (0.50)] Minority Report ↔ Janusz Kaminski · craft · Minority Report looks like what Spielberg's films look like now: cloudy natural light into a dingy area. · "And it feels more like what all Steven Spielberg movies look like now, this sort of like cloudy, natural light flooding through into a dingy area."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 0:12:41 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] The Shining ⇒ Doctor Sleep (the host's read) · lineage · Doctor Sleep is the sequel to Kubrick's The Shining, which is the whole sell and the whole problem. · "You're doing a sequel to The Shining."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 1:07:56 · David Sims (0.40)] Thor ↔ E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial · theme · For Selvig, Thor is proof of aliens, his own E.T., and the reason he will not let go of him. · "Thor is like his ET."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 0:14:23 · David Sims (0.40)] Doctor Sleep (King's novel) ⇒ Doctor Sleep (the host's read) · lineage · The film is an adaptation of King's Doctor Sleep, a bestseller Warner Brothers optioned. · "Warner Brothers, option the rights, put Akiva Goldsman on it."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 1:07:27 · David Sims (0.40)] Ghostbusters: Afterlife ↔ Doctor Sleep · lineage · Afterlife is eager to relive the first movie for no reason; Doctor Sleep avoids the original for as long as it can, so its return is earned. · "Ghostbusters Afterlife is a perfect example of the movie is so eager to relive the 1st movie"
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining · 0:58:43 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] The Shining ⇒ Doctor Sleep (the host's read) · lineage · Doctor Sleep is the sequel to The Shining. · "Dr. Sleep, the sequel to, which I feel like is actually a better movie"
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining · 2:14:53 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] The Shining ⇒ Doctor Sleep (the host's read) · lineage · Doctor Sleep has to pay some homage to Kubrick while following a novel whose author hates the film. · "it has to thread paying some homage to Kubrick"
[speaker] Sean Fennessey · latest sketch, The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · Loves gory, funny, fast genre movies with craft and confidence, especially 87-minute films that never overstay. Can't stand ponderous elevated horror that fills out its runtime with introspection and sad family history. A sucker for the Carpenter-era lineage, Die Hard homages, and directors who break studio dogma. · stances: Resident Evil is one of the best films of the year; Horror movies have become a drag; fun genre experiences are needed; Short running times are a virtue; Video-game films work best when great filmmakers get creative license
[speaker] David Sims · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Prepares history: novel, casting, budgets, box office. Reveres the film and thinks it reads as a normal ground-level story. A sucker for Hollywood deal backstory and box office game. · stances: Praises Keitel and Dafoe casting; Respects Scorsese's persistence and Corman discipline; The film is now well regarded though not 'canonical Marty'
[speaker] Chris Ryan · latest sketch, The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ · A franchise and genre scholar who likes Jason, the early sequels, and Manhattan; attention to trivia, tropes and critic reception. Treats slashers as a canon with tiers. · stances: Parts 1, 2, 4 and Manhattan are the good ones; The series finds its legs at 4
[speaker] Griffin Newman · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Calls Last Temptation his college-era favorite Scorsese; loves Scorsese's smaller 80s and the film's closing transcendence and Gabriel score. Cannot stand fundamentalist outrage at it. A sucker for casting trivia and Tom Cruise-silliness. · stances: Hot take: Last Temptation structurally mirrors New York, New York as a better version; Outrage over the film is stupid; it is respectful to Jesus; Scorsese's smaller 80s work beats his later baroque phases
[speaker] Jordan Hoffman · latest sketch, Blank Check — Patreon · 2001: A Space Odyssey · A self-described scholar of sci-fi and a devoted Clarke reader who has read the sequels. Loves hard science fiction, 70mm screenings, and the film's mystery, and claims to be sober and a fish fanatic. A sucker for trivia about the making of the film and for the Michael Benson book. · stances: 2001 is a bifurcated experience, diamond-hard sci-fi and psychedelia; The film is much funnier than people think; Believes the secrets of the universe are locked in it; Clarke's sequels are worth talking about, with 3001 as a gag
[bits] The Big Picture: Drafts (Hosts and guests draft films in rounds; every pick is a recommendation with an argument); Hall of Fame (A star's or director's best, ranked and argued); Countdowns (Ranked lists, top five or top ten)
[bits] Blank Check: The box office game (Guessing the film's opening weekend and what it was up against); The sung theme ("Blank Check with Griffin and David", sung; the transcriber garbles it)
[bits] The Rewatchables: Apex Mountain (The moment a star peaks; where on the mountain a performance sits); Who Won the Movie (The hosts name the person who came out of the film best off); The Ebert review (Roger Ebert's original review and star rating read aloud. Ebert is cited, never on the show); Casting what-ifs (Who was almost cast, or who should have been); Most rewatchable scene (The scene each host would stop on while flipping channels); Aged best / aged worst (What holds up and what does not); Picking Nits (The little things in a film the hosts love that they don't think totally work: the nits); Double feature (The film each host would pair it with; a programming pick)

Recommend three to six films, and only films that appear in these lines. A series, a TV film, or a franchise counts too when a line recommends it or pairs it with Ready Player One; name it the way the line names it. Don't recommend Ready Player One itself. For each one, give one short reason in your own words and say whose reason it is: the show, named exactly as the brackets name it, and the speaker when the line names one (an "unknown" speaker is just the show). If the lines are thin, say so plainly rather than stretching them.

Keep a contrast a contrast. When a line sets two films apart, the reason is how they differ; never turn it into a way they're alike. A line with ⇒ puts the source first and what drew on it second, and one marked "the maker said so" is still the host reporting it: say who said it, and never state an influence as fact.

You know only what's on these lines. Add no fact they don't state: not who directed a film, not what kind of film it is, not when it came out, unless a line says so. Say nothing about the store or how anything rents here.

Talk the way a clerk talks to a customer at the counter: plain text, titles written plainly with no asterisks or other markup, no headings, no lists of more than six, no JSON.