If you’ve been reading our blog or listening to any library podcasts, you no doubt heard many of us wax rhapsodic about Ready Player One. Well, the movie is almost here. We have one more week until this magical book is splashed across the big screen. To get you ready, I’m going to offer you Amanda’s Almanac of '80s Pop Culture Goodness that You Need to be Familiar with before Seeing the Movie. (Yes, I know that my Almanac isn’t as cool as Anorak’s, but them's the breaks.)
[[nid:3516]] 1. Unfortunately, the library doesn’t have War Games, which plays a big part in the movie, but we do have Ladyhawke. Main character, Parzival, loves that movie even more and gets in lots of fights with his best friend, Aech, about its awesomeness.
[[nid:3517]] 2. First of all, Oingo Boingo just an awesome band name. I’ve always loved the song “Dead Man’s Party” having first seen it in the Roddy Dangerfield classic, Back to School. Fun Fact: frontman Danny Elfman went on to have a huge career as a movie composer, working with Tim Burton on films like Ed Wood and Willy Wonka. 
[[nid:3518]] 3. What would any kind of geekfest be without this iconic film? Be sure you know the airspeed velocity of both a European and African unladen swallow or I shall blow my nose at you. (FYI – I got engaged to my husband at a performance of Spamalot, so this one holds a special place in my heart.)
[[nid:3520]] 4. Parzival is also big into Japanese anime, and the original Mobile Suit Gundam makes an appearance. I must admit that I have not read these myself, but the library has a lot of graphic novels for you to explore if this rocks your world.
[[nid:3519]] 5. Any good '80s kid has watched this movie multiple times. I’m not going to spoil how it fits into RPO, but it did make me a little jealous. 
Ok, that’s just the briefest touch of cool '80s stuff from Ready Player One. I’d love to share more, but I have to go get in line now. Maybe I’ll see you there.
READY PLAYER ONE

Happy Geeking Out…
:) Amanda