A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

On March 29, 2018, Warner Bros. released Ready Player One, director Steven Spielberg’s ambitious and visually stunning adaptation of Ernest Cline’s eponymous science fiction novel set in a dystopian near-future in which virtual reality and pop culture from the past are the only means of escape in a crumbling post-Information Age world. Co-written by Cline and Zak Penn ( The Last Action Hero ), Ready Player One combines live action sequences with immersive video game-inspired computer graphics – making this one of Spielberg’s most complex movies in his storied career. The film is set in 2045, with the world on the brink of chaos and collapse. But the people have found salvation in the OASIS, an expansive virtual reality universe created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance). When Halliday dies, he leaves his immense fortune to the first person to find a digital Easter egg he has hidden somewhere in the OASIS, sparking a contest that grips the entire world. ...

Darkest Hour (2017) Directed by: Joe Wright Written by: Anthony McCarten Starring: Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Ben Mendelsohn, Lily James, Ronald Pickup, Stephen Dillane On December 22, 2017, Universal Pictures released Darkest Hour, a historical dramatization that depicts the ascension of Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman) from First Lord of the Admiralty to Prime Minister and the immense challenges he faced in the spring of 1940 - Great Britain's "darkest hour" during World War II. Written by Anthony McCarten ( The Theory of Everything ) and directed by Joe Wright ( Atonement ), Darkest Hour earned six Academy Award nominations at the 2017 Oscars ceremony and took home two trophies (Best Actor - Gary Oldman and Best Makeup and Hairstyling - Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski, and Lucy Sibbick), plus another armful of award and accolades at the Golden Globes, British Film Awards, Austin Film Critics Awards, and other film fetes.  Darkest...