Alternative culture fans the world over are grieving the passing of one of the great voices of the underground, Mike ‘McBeardo’ McPadden. The author, podcaster and commentator, a beloved advocate for art that challenged conformity, left us on Wednesday 16th. The cause of death is unknown at this time; he was 52.
The outpouring of shock and grief was immediate when news of McPadden’s sudden passing emerged via social media. His publisher at Bazillion Points, Ian Christe, boke the news, stating “With this guy goes an unrivaled wealth of first-hand experience with the gritty NYC movie scene circa 1982...It's crushing to wrap my head around the loss.” Author and friend Lee Gambin posted, “I'd known Mike for a long time and he and I shared a lot of the same passions and loves, and that is something I will treasure forever.”
The Brooklyn-born McPadden spent his youth in the grindhouse fleapits and revival houses of 1980s New York City, a lifestyle that fuelled his passionate love for and encyclopedic knowledge of genre cinema. He honed his early writing skills in the offices of adult magazines Genesis, High Society and Screw; he became Entertainment Editor at Hustler, working alongside legendary publisher Larry Flynt. His connection to the adult sector extended to screenwriting, having worked with director Gregory Dark in the mid ‘90s on such films as Devil in Miss Jones 5: The Inferno and Animal Instincts III: The Seductress. (Pictured, right; a youthful McPadden on the NYC cinema strip)
He began self-publishing with a stream-of-consciousness punk bar newsletter called The Downtown Beirut Top 10 List. This led to his iconic culture ‘zine’, Happyland, which he once referred to as, “your standard Xerox-and-staples hate zine of the ‘90s”, written from the point-of-view of a life “getting fucked up, taking drugs, going to the movies on 42nd Street, going to see bands, and making fun of people”. He often wrote under the pseudonym ‘Selwyn Harris’, named after the last two theatres from his old district to have remained open. In 2003, he relocated to Chicago to become Head Writer for the Mr. Skin website. His work would also be published in The New York Express, Vice, VH1 and Merry Jane, amongst many others.
McPadden would draw upon those formative years in the Time Square theatres to author the acclaimed books Heavy Metal Movies: Guitar Barbarians, Mutant Bimbos & Cult Zombies Amok in the 666 Most Ear- and Eye-Ripping Big-Scream Films Ever! (2014) and Teen Movie Hell: A Crucible Of Coming-Of-Age Comedies From Animal House to Zapped! (2019), both considered classics of B-movie academia. Inspired by Danny Perry’s ‘Cult Movies’ book series of the early ‘80s and editor Zack Carlson’s 2010 essay compilation Destroy All Movies, McPadden crafted a pair of mammoth works that encapsulate two cinematic sub-genres.
In recent years, the booming podcast movement had allowed Mike McPadden to further enhance his standing as both a film historian and wonderfully engaging personality. Paired with University of Wisconsin’s Ben Reiser, 70 Movies We Saw in The ‘70s is a heartfelt retrospective series that allowed McPadden to draw deep from memories of his most passionate movie-going years (24 episodes); in Crackpot Cinema, McPadden would be joined by the likes of actor Pat Healy and producer Aaron Lee to playfully recall some of cinema’s stranger achievements (29 episodes); and, with Diabolique editor Kat Ellinger, the comedy celebration Busted Guts (2 episodes). Read her heartfelt tribute to her friend here. His work in the podcast field extended to social media director on the hit show Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast and contributor for Crimefeed.
His razor-sharp wit and ability to instantly recall filmmaking anecdotes also made McPadden one of the most in-demand DVD audio commentators. His observations can be heard on such releases as Amazon Women on the Moon, Let’s Kill Uncle, Private School, Adjust Your Tracking, Jeremy, My Science Project, Shadow of the Hawk and the South Korean teen romp Sex is Zero.
Mike McPadden is survived by his wife, Rachel and young family. A GoFundMe campaign has been established and we encourage you to contribute.
The Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival (SSFFF) is honoured to welcome Dr Maria Cunningham as the event’s latest Festival Patron. One of the world’s most respected radio astronomers and a senior lecturer at the University of New South Wales (UNSW)’ School of Physics, Dr Cunningham joins film director Alex Proyas as a patron of the inaugural event, a true celebration of international science-fiction culture with 19 countries represented in the 2020 line-up.
“Maria’s extraordinary combination of scientific brilliance, academic prowess and genre fan passion makes her one of the most unique individuals in the world of astrophysics,” says SSFFF Festival Director, Simon Foster. “To have someone of her stature contribute to the establishment and growth of our festival is beyond any development we could have hoped for. It is a privilege to have her commit her valuable time and invaluable knowledge to the Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival.” (Pictured, top; Dr Cunningham in the Atacama Desert, Chile, trekking to the 5000m high NANTEN2 telescope)
“Science fiction is how the majority of people interact with science, even though they are not conscious that this is what they are doing,” says Dr Cunningham, who was inspired as a 12 year-old by The Black Cloud, the 1957 novel by astrophysicist Fred Hoyle (pictured, right). “When we watch popular movies such as Deep Impact or The Martian, our interest is sparked enough to look for more information. We discover that sci-fi has provided good factual information as a base for further exploration.”
This deep appreciation of speculative storytelling led to Dr Cunningham convening the hugely popular tertiary course, ‘Brave New World’. Designed to present and discuss science fact and fiction to students from non-scientific backgrounds, her lectures explore the relationship between literature, science, and society, often utilising such pop culture benchmarks as Futurama and Macguyver.
Within the course structure, attendees will hear references to such science-fiction works as Contact (“It shows just how far our radio broadcasts have already gone”); The Planet of The Apes (“A great example of special relativity”); and, Another Earth (“Explores the implications of discovering – and accessing – a parallel world”). Says Dr Cunningham, “Science fiction gives us a space to explore complex – and seemingly impossible – concepts in playful, engaging ways.”
“Our world is changing faster than at any time in human history,” she observes. “This body of popularly accessible work gives us all the ability to imagine how scientific and technological discoveries could change our future. It speaks to how we can best as a society collectively manage both the promised and dangers of possible changes.”
Internationally renowned in her field, Dr Cunningham specialises in research into the interstellar medium (“The stuff between the stars,” as she calls it), home to over 200 complex organic molecules that represent the building blocks of life. Part of her research involves searching for new "biogenic" molecules in space, to help modern science understand how life formed so quickly on the surface of the newly formed planet Earth.
From an early fascination with mathematics, she ended up doing a PhD with the Radiophysics Division at the CSIRO’s Australia Telescope National Facility. “After being offered several projects, the one studying ‘dark, molecular clouds’ seemed like a match made in heaven,” she says, “bringing my love of science fiction and maths/physics together.”
The SYDNEY SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL will be held at the Actors Centre Australia from November 19-21. Session and ticketing information can be found at the event's official website.
The SciFi Film Festival has announced a selection of its 2019 program that highlights its burgeoning international reputation as Australia’s predominant science fiction and fantasy film celebration. An unprecedented 17 countries will have visionary works play the 6th annual event, which unspools from September 6-8 at the Event Cinemas George Street complex in Sydney.
Comprised of 9 features and a record 31 short films, the program boasts three World Premieres, four International Premieres and 27 Australian premieres. While the bulk of the program is locked in place, Opening Night honours and the prime Saturday evening session are still being negotiated; both will be announced in the days ahead. (Pictured, above; Gigi Edgley in Ben Alpi's Hashtag)
“The degree of innovation and imagination in this year’s submissions was truly remarkable,” says Program Director Simon Foster, who notes that genre filmmakers are addressing contemporary social and political issues at a time when smart commentary is needed more than ever. “We have a works that explore such themes as gender and sexual identity, family structure, the influence of technology, population control and social media reliance. One of the most challenging films in the festival is a Mexican short featuring a mega-robot P.O.T.U.S. enforcing border wall policy,” says Foster. “Of course, we also have spaceships, ray guns and alien visitors, both good and bad, too.” (Pictured, above: Coco Gillies in Dana-Lee Mierowsky Bennett's Sammy)
Session by session, here is what audiences can expect from the 2019 SciFi Film Festival:
Session 1: OPENING NIGHT, Friday September 6 at 6.30pm Short: BROLGA (Dir: Adrian Powers; 15.37 mins, Australia): In a ravaged future-Australia, a solitary hermit guarding a priceless treasure is forced to offer sanctuary to a young girl who is fleeing murderous scavengers. With danger around every corner, can they learn to survive together? Feature: TBA
Session 2: Friday September 6 at 8.30pm Short: SOMNIUM (Dir: Mayed Al Qasimi; 14.21 mins, U.K.): An intergalactic postal worker on her final job with her laconic yet trusted ship must face unexpected challenges in the vast endless space. Feature: THE FINAL LAND (Dir: Marcel Barion; 113 mins, Germany): Two dissimilar men in a small, old spaceship set off in search of a new home. Says Barion, “We made a film about two guys dealing with escape, search, freedom and home, just by designing their world from our very own point of view.” (Pictured, above; Torben Föllmer and Milan Pesl in The Final Land)
Session 3: Saturday September 7 at 10.30am Short: SPICE FRONTIER (Dirs: Jalil Sadool, Adam Meyer; 8.10 mins, U.S.A.): Centuries after the destruction of Earth, Kent and his cyborg companion, C-LA, embark on a flavor-driven adventure across the dangerous intergalactic trade route known as the 'Spice Road.' (Pictured, below; a scene from the film Spice Frontier) Feature: ERRATUM 2037 (Dirs: The Benoit Brothers; 77 mins, France): When two teens receive a message from the future, they become wide-eyed heroes in a world at the mercy of space-time paradoxes. By using old school visual effects, The Benoit Brothers adventure pays homage to the great sci-fi productions of the 80's that inspired them.
Session 4: SHORT FILM SHOWCASE, Saturday September 7 at 1.00pm SPIRAL (Dir: Steven Kerr; 10.53 mins, Australia): Following WW3, a young woman working in an Australian outpost confronts prejudice as she attempts to save a Soviet cosmonaut marooned in space. HASHTAG (Dir: Ben Alpi; 14.58 mins, U.S.A.): In a looming future where social media celebrities dominate our culture, X is the world’s supreme online icon— but how far must she go to hold on to her popularity? PERFECT WORLD (Dir: Yuske Fukada; 11.17 mins, Japan): In 2121, citizens in the ‘City’ are judged based on a score of one's efficiency, called a SPEC. Doctor K faces a question between the law and morality when visited by his pregnant ex-lover. CARCEREM (Dir: Jason Trembath; 6.40 mins, Australia): The lives of career combat officers who choose to remain on the remote desert planet of Carcerem. IDEAL HOMELAND (Dir: Bo Wei; 15.26 mins, China): In the near future, A.I. controls the population of Earth. Joe, the carrier of AI's sexual experience, does the most mechanical task every day to obtain survival credits but yearns for the freedom of independence. TRUTH.exe (Dir: Ricky Townsend; 18.30 mins, New Zealand): A young hacktivist is given a USB drive which contains an extraordinary truth; his mission is to upload it to the internet. THUNDER FROM A CLEAR SKY (Dir: Yohan Faure; 21 mins, Canada): Ten years after the discovery of a remote planetary system likely to sustain the early stages of a civilization. the whole world answers the question: "Should we meet this civilization?"
Session 5: Saturday September 7 at 3.30pm Short: THURSDAY NIGHT (Dir: Gonçalo Almeida; 7.36 mins, Portugal): An elusive stranger pays Bimbo a visit in the middle of the night to deliver a vital message. Feature: A LIVING DOG (Dir: Daniel Raboldt; 94 mins, Germany): The war between mankind and intelligent machines has begun. In the vast emptiness of northern Scandinavia, deserter Tomasz meets Lilja, the last survivor of a resistance group, who is determined to fight the superior machines. With every minute that passes the machines get closer, their sensors programmed to detect human voice patterns. If you speak, even whisper - you die.
Session 6: Saturday September 7 at 6.00pm Short: SLICE OF LIFE (Dirs: Luka Hrgović, Dino Julius; 14 mins, Croatia): Forced to live on the edge of humanity and morality, one lonesome, low-life drug dealer will try to change his life against all odds. Feature: TBA
Session 7: AN EVENING OF ANIMATION, Saturday September 7 at 8.30pm MONSTERS WALKING (Dir: Diego Porral; 1.05 mins, Spain): 'Monsters Walking' is a short film about monsters that walk. TACIT BLUE (Dir: Wenkai Duan; 9.14 mins, China): Carl must rescue his daughter Alice, who has been kidnapped and turned into a killing machine. GUSTAAKH (THE ARROGANT) (Dir: Vijesh Rajan; 3.49 mins, India): In a future cyberpunk city, a concerned citizen rises up to the occasion when an publicity hungry dictator fails to protect his people. A DAY IN THE PARK (Dir: Diego Porral; 2.55 mins, Spain): A grandfather explains to his grandkid how things used to be... or maybe how they are now. ODDS AND EVENS (Dir: Michał Czyż, 3.36 mins, Poland): A nameless astronaut’s journey through the universe and beyond human comprehension. AVARYA (Dir: Gökalp Gönen; 19.58 mins, Turkey): Hoping to find a habitable planet, a human becomes trapped in his own ship after his robot overseer finds every single candidate planet unsuitable. M.A.M.O.N. (Dir: Alejandro Damiani; 5.00 mins, Mexico): A war breaks out between a Trump-like mecha-robot and several stereotypical Mexican Latinos. ATTACK OF THE DEMONS (Dir: Eric Power; 72 mins, U.S.A): For centuries, a demonic cult has been plotting the destruction of mankind. When a small Colorado town is overrun by a legion of mutating demons, three non-demon hunter friends must use every skill their minds can fathom to stave off the demon apocalypse.
Session 8: Sunday September 8 at 10.30am Short: CURIOSITY (Dir: Lukas Pace; 10.20 mins, U.K.): A lonely 10 year old girl named Katie one day stumbles upon a forgotten robot of days gone by and mistakenly activates it. Feature: MY GRANDPA IS AN ALIEN (Dir: Marina Andree Skop, Drazen Zarkovic; 79 mins, Croatia): Una and her new robot friend have 24 hours to find her Grandpa, who was kidnapped by aliens. (Pictured, right; Lana Hranjec in My Grandpa is An Alien)
Session 9: WOMEN IN SCIFI, Sunday September 8 at 1.00pm PARIS YOU GOT ME (Dir: Julie Boehm; 9.15 mins, Germany): The street artist George lures Ksenia into his magic world of art illusions. I-RIS (Dir: Leila Garrison; 12.11 mins, U.S.A.): In a world where people can get eye implants to adjust what they see, complications with one girl’s operation cause her traumas to manifest visually. DEER BOY (Dir: Katarzyna Gondek; 15.00 mins, Poland): A hunter's son, born with antlers, learns that each man kills the thing he loves. TRANSMISSION (Dir: Rebecca Gardiner; 14.45 mins, Australia): Desperate to find a missing research team, Commander Sterling and her crew venture deep into an unknown planet. SAMMY (Dir: Dana-Lee Mierowsky Bennett; 14.00 mins, Australia): In a war torn Australia, 10-year-old Sammy must build a hot air balloon so she and her little brother can find their parents. UNREGISTERED (Dir: Sophia Banks; 15 mins, U.S.A.): Los Angeles, the not too distant future: the government limits one child per home as a solution to overpopulation. The love between Rekker and Ata force them to question the state of society - as well as confront a secret of her own. MOBIUS BOND (Dir: Emilija Riviere; 15 mins, Lithuania): A girl experiences strange body symptoms, which become an evidence of a Mobius-like topology of the Universe. EINSTEIN-ROSEN (Dir: Olga Osorio; 9 mins, Spain): Teo claims he has found a wormhole. His brother Óscar does not believe him... at least not for now. LAB RAT (Dir: Nour Wazzi; 15.28 mins, U.K.): A group of scientists trapped in a lab learn that one of them is an A.I..... and it has been deceiving them.
Session 10: Sunday September 8 at 3.30pm Short: AUDIO GUIDE (Dir: Chris Elena; 9 mins, Australia): Says Elena, “It's about a woman in an art gallery listening to an Audio Guide that then tells her how everyone is going to die, revealing the real history of the world and the artworks.” Feature: NORMAN (Dir Joel Guelzo; 105 mins, U.S.A.): Norman becomes trapped and isolated in the past, jeopardizing life in both realities. He must invent a way back to the future before the world collapses.
Session 11: CLOSING NIGHT, Sunday September 8 at 6.00pm Short: FACE SWAP (Dirs: David Gidali, Einat Tubi, 5.01 mins, U.S.A.): Convincing his wife to try out a new A.I. technology to spice up their sex life, a husband ends up getting a bit more spice than he bargained for. Feature: SPECIAL PRESENTATION - STAY TUNED (Dir: Peter Hyams, 88 mins, U.S.A.): A husband and wife are sucked into a hellish television reality and have to survive a gauntlet of twisted versions of popular shows. Criminally underseen when first released in 1992, this thrilling, hilarious satire explores media saturation and society’s obsession with ‘The Tube’. (Pictured, right; John Ritter and friends in Peter Hyams' Stay Tuned).
SCREEN-SPACE is a media partner of the SciFi Film Festival. Managing Editor Simon Foster is the Program Director of the festival.
2018 SCIFI FILM FESTIVAL: Despite a recent run of films that include Zak Hilditch's These Final Hours (2013), Hugh Sullivan's The Infinite Man (2014), The Spierig Brothers' Predestination (2014) and Luke Sparke's Occupation (2018), Australia isn’t traditionally known for its science fiction movies (The Time Guardian...anyone?), but there have been a number of Australian directors who have not just been world class at the genre, but helped to re-define it.
With the 5th annual SciFi Film Festival about to launch in Sydney (featuring no less than six new works from Aussie filmmaking talent), guest contributor STEPHEN VAGG looks at five local filmmakers who have glimpsed the future...
Jim Sharman with The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975): In the early 70s there were few hotter theatre directors than Jim Sharman – he was a twenty-something wunderkind whose CV included acclaimed productions of Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Rocky Horror Show. Sharman reprised his theatre work with the 1975 feature film adaptation, adding …Picture to the moniker but maintaining the raucous, anarchic energy of the stage production (pictured, right; Sharman, right, directing Tim Curry). A famous box office disappointment before becoming the most cult-y cult picture of all time, its combination of kitsch, gender fluidity, sexuality, camp and tunes spawned countless imitators and created some of the most devoted fans in cinema history. While Rocky Horror was the world of many, notably Richard O’Brien, Sharman’s stamp was all over it. It wasn’t Sharman’s only venture into sci fi; in Australia he also made Shirley Thompson vs The Aliens (1972), arguably the first local science fiction film (unless you count On the Beach, 1959 or Summer of Secrets, 1976). Despite Rocky Horror being a game changer, Sharman hasn’t made a feature since the dire reception afforded the film’s sequel, Shock Treatment, in 1981.
Peter Weir with Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975): Picnic doesn’t have a reputation as a science fiction film – people generally consider if more of a mystery or period drama. And yet, it’s a mystery that’s never solved about an event that never happened. Natalie Dormer, star of the recent mini series remake, calls the story science fiction… and the unpublished final chapter of Joan Lindsay’s novel is definitely science fiction. What no one denies is the film’s influence – it has affected countless other works dealing with death, femininity and adolescent sexuality, notably the themes of Sofia Coppola's finest work. Weir’s earlier The Cars That Ate Paris (1974) is also kind-of-sci-fi, which seems to have directly influenced the design for Death Race 2000 (1975). It’s strange Weir (pictured, above; Weir with actress Rachel Roberts) doesn’t work in this area more often, especially considering two of his best films were science fiction-esque, The Last Wave (1977) and The Truman Show (1998).
George Miller with Mad Max (1979), Mad Max 2 (1981) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985): The Mad Max series can’t really claim to have invented the post apocalyptic road movie – that was already present in films like Damnation Alley (1976) and Deathsport (1978) – but those films remain that genre’s touchstone. Brilliantly transplanting Western tropes to a futuristic setting, they redefined the sci fi action film, especially Mad Max 2, and set new standards for world building and chase sequences which, to be honest, are still rarely matched, except by Miller himself in the most recent Mad Max Fury Road (2015). You can see the influence of Miller and Max on countless other films, books, TV series, video games, comic books, rock bands, directors… they revolutionised a genre.
Russell Mulcahy with Highlander (1986): In the mid 80s Russell Mulcahy was probably the most famous video clip director in the world thanks to his ground-breaking work with the likes of Duran Duran, Elton John, Spandau Ballet and Billy Joel, among many others (Ed: he directed the first video ever played on MTV, The Buggles’ 'Video Killed the Radio Star'). He made his feature debut with the visually stunning Razorback (1984) then followed it with this fascinating swashbuckler-sci-fi-fantasy-time-travel hybrid, starring Christopher Lambert (the US-born, Swiss-raised Parisian playing Scottish) and Sean Connery (the world’s most famous Scot…playing Spanish). The film was a box office disappointment at the time but became a major cult success, leading to a franchise of sequels (Mulcahy returned to helm the much-derided #2 in 1991) and TV spin offs. Mulcahy backed away from sci-fi during his busy Hollywood heyday (Ricochet, 1991; Blue Ice, 1992; The Real McCoy, 1993; The Shadow, 1994), only to return to the genre in 2007 with Resident Evil: Extinction. (Pictured, above; Mulcahy, left, on-set with Connery).
Alex Proyas with The Crow (1994) and Dark City (1998): Proyas’ talent was clear from his early video clips (amongst them the Crowded House classics 'Don’t Dream It’s Over' and 'Better be Home Soon') and his debut feature, Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds (1988), but he was not that well known to wide cinema audiences until he made The Crow (1994), a visually dazzling work overshadowed by the tragedy of Brandon Lee’s death. Proyas confirmed his promise with the stunning Dark City (1998), which helped define “emo sci fi” of the ‘90s and ‘00s, including the films of Christopher Nolan and the Aussie-shot The Matrix (1999). He scored big with the Will Smith sci-fi starrer I, Robot (2004), but stumbled with his genre follow-ups (Knowing, 2009, with Nicholas Cage; the ill-fated Gods of Egypt, 2016). Perhaps weighted down by the studio restrictions that ironically come with big budgets (his unfilmed project Paradise Lost is one of the greatest “if only” films of Australian cinema), Proyas is still young enough to come up with a few more classic films.
STEPHEN VAGG is a scriptwriter, journalist and commentator who divides his professional time between Los Angeles, Sydney and Brisbane. He graduated from the Australian Film Television and Radio School with a Masters Degree in Screenwriting and has worked for FremantleMedia, Network 7 and Network 10. His feature film screenplays All My Frends Are Leaving Brisbane (2007) and Jucy (2010) were directed by his wife, Louise Alston. In 2010, his book Rod Taylor: An Aussie in Hollywood was published.
It became the sensation of the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con; the daring and dazzling mosaic of iconic 80s and 90s properties in Warner Bros 123-second trailer for Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One the stuff of comic geek fantasy and nostalgist dream. The Greatest Living Director’s adaptation of Ernest Cline’s VR tech-epic doesn’t drop until March 30 2018, but the challenge to spot all the ‘easter egg’ nuggets of pop culture gold became the convention’s favourite past time. So here they all are…
“I live here, in Columbus Ohio” Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) navigates ‘The Stacks’ (trailer homes piled on top of each other) on his way to his VR den, home to such pop culture touchstones as a Nintendo ‘Zapper’, iPod, Commodore 64 joystick and He-Man lunchbox, as well as iconic 80s ephemera from The Garbage Pail Kids, Gremlins, Watchmen, Q-Bert and Tim Burton’s Batman;
“It’s the only place I feel like I mean anything.” When Watts (as his virtual avatar Parzival) enters the VR universe known as Oasis, characters adopted by the global online population are gathered. He is greeted by Harley Quinn and Deadshot (pictured, above); in the crowded room, Hagar the Horrible and Conan the Barbarian can be seen. To the strains of a reworked version of ‘Pure Imagination’ from Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory (a nod to the narrative similarities between Cline’s book and Raold Dahl’s family classic), Gandalf dances high above the din;
“A world where the limits of reality are your own imagination.” The Iron Giant (pictured, above) from Brad Bird’s 1999 animated classic plays a major role in helping Parzival and his egg-hunter offsiders Daito and Shoto hunt for the virtual prize that will give them control of the Oasis. The brown structure to the right of frame is The Temple of Syrinx, a reference to the 1976 album 2112 by Canadian band, Rush, the epic track forming the basis for one player’s quest in the novel. The soft-metal group’s discography is a source of inspiration for OASIS creator, the late James Halliday (played by Mark Rylance);
In his guise as ‘Napoleon’, Parzival rides a mecha-scorpion (perhaps a reference to a similar creature in the vid-game, Ultrabots) while fighting a battalion of warrior ostriches, lifted from the 1982 Atari arcade classic, Joust (pictured, above);
Wade’s best friend Aech (Lena Waithe), reimagined in Spielberg’s film as a Rings-like Orc warrior, comes under fire from Duke Nuk’em as he lays waste to Mortal Kombat’s Kitana and Nightmare on Elm Street’s villain Freddy Krueger (whose demise frees up an inventory of weapons from the game Borderland, including Sledge’s Shotgun and Krieg’s Buzz Axe). Aech’s weapon of choice is the MA5 assault rifle from Halo;
“A modern day warrior / Mean, mean stride / Today’s Tom Sawyer / Mean, mean pride” Rush’s ‘Tom Sawyer’ pulsates as we are introduced to a VR army of ‘Sixers’ (so named because their avatar numbers begin with 6, visible on the uniforms and car roofs). Gathered for a mammoth road race are the 1966 Batmobile, Mad Max’s modified Ford Falcon Interceptor, the Red F1 car from the Pole Position vidgame (the blue car is glimpsed later); right of frame, Lara Croft leans on the 1958 Plymouth Fury from Stephen King’s Christine, talking to Dizzy Wallin from Gears of War in front of the van from The A-Team (also in the mix is Ryu, the key protagonist from the Streetfighter franchise);
Legendary offroader Bigfoot, the first of the great monster cars since it debuted in 1979, lays to waste some sixer vehicles, including one with a QR code on its bonnet that, when scanned, leads to http://www.jointhequest.io, the Innovative Online Industries recruitment site;
“No, his mind is not for rent / To any God or government” As the road carnage unfolds on what is revealed to be a Hot Wheels track writ large, Kaneda’s light-cycle from the anime classic Akira emerges, driven by Parzival’s online ally Art3mis (Olivia Cooke) and adorned with stickers for Hello Kitty, Atari, SEGA and Taito (original manufacturers of Space Invaders).
The ‘Parzival’ number plate confirms our hero is driving Doc Brown’s time machine from Back to The Future, which appears to have been modified with the in-car AI known as K.I.T.T, from Knight Rider. Inside the Delorean, the dashboard reads ‘Feb 11 1945’ – the day Wade/Parzival finds the copper key in the novel – as well as key dates from the B.T.T.F. trilogy;
The final and ultimate ‘easter egg’ is the Ready Player One logo itself. It is a maze, with the goal being an egg inside the ‘O’ of the word ‘One’. A masterful piece of marketing, the design reflects the essence of Cline’s plot and Spielberg’s adaptation.
Simon Foster
The Brooklyn-born McPadden spent his youth in the grindhouse fleapits and revival houses of 1980s New York City, a lifestyle that fuelled his passionate love for and encyclopedic knowledge of genre cinema. He honed his early writing skills in the offices of adult magazines Genesis, High Society and Screw; he became Entertainment Editor at Hustler, working alongside legendary publisher Larry Flynt. His connection to the adult sector extended to screenwriting, having worked with director Gregory Dark in the mid ‘90s on such films as Devil in Miss Jones 5: The Inferno and Animal Instincts III: The Seductress. (Pictured, right; a youthful McPadden on the NYC cinema strip) 
McPadden would draw upon those formative years in the Time Square theatres to author the acclaimed books Heavy Metal Movies: Guitar Barbarians, Mutant Bimbos & Cult Zombies Amok in the 666 Most Ear- and Eye-Ripping Big-Scream Films Ever! (2014) and Teen Movie Hell: A Crucible Of Coming-Of-Age Comedies From Animal House to Zapped! (2019), both considered classics of B-movie academia. Inspired by Danny Perry’s ‘Cult Movies’ book series of the early ‘80s and editor Zack Carlson’s 2010 essay compilation Destroy All Movies, McPadden crafted a pair of mammoth works that encapsulate two cinematic sub-genres.
His razor-sharp wit and ability to instantly recall filmmaking anecdotes also made McPadden one of the most in-demand DVD audio commentators. His observations can be heard on such releases as Amazon Women on the Moon, Let’s Kill Uncle, Private School, Adjust Your Tracking, Jeremy, My Science Project, Shadow of the Hawk and the South Korean teen romp Sex is Zero.
