Ready Player One a cinematic nirvana for pop culture lovers

The long weekend is upon us - the perfect opportunity to escape to the movies.

If you're a true movie geek, then your cinematic nirvana is at hand - Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One has arrived.

I loved this book, and in life imitating art reflecting back again on the artist, having Spielberg at the helm is just too much to resist.

Ready Player One is set in a future that's frighteningly easy to imagine - a world so steeped in misery the inhabitants of planet Earth spend every waking moment someplace else entirely, a virtual reality called The Oasis.

The Oasis is a game the whole world is trying to win - a challenge thrown down by the game's creator, Halliday.

And the prize? The keys to the kingdom. 

Wade is one of millions, if not billions, of wannabes on that very mission; he's devoted his life to uncovering all and every one of Halliday's clues.

Clues are buried in some of the most memorable slices of '80s and '90s pop culture.

It's an immersive, compelling treasure hunt for the hardcore. Blink at your peril - who knows what you might miss?

This movie is a cinematic theme park ride of quite epic proportions. Spielberg is plundering his own iconic lexicon as well as pilfering plenty of the good stuff from his mates.

This film is deep in the den of geek, and a treasure trove of '80s pop culture Easter eggs perfectly timed for unwrapping over this long weekend.

Readers of the book beware - there are some measurable differences to the novel, but none get in the way of the enjoyment.

Four stars.

Newshub.