Movies, TV, and books we're into this week

Ever wondered what life would be like should we take virtual reality to the next level? Ready Player One explores just that. In fact, this movie packs in a whole bunch of experiences into one CGI-dominated spectacle. It's absolutely fantastic.So, what's Ready Player One all about? Life isn't good in Columbus, which sees most citizens living around or below the poverty line. This is why the majority of them try and save up for a headset to join the Oasis, a virtual world where everyone can do what they want and be who they want. Our protagonist must try and solve some puzzles to inherit the virtual plane itself and some serious funds.

HBO's True Detective is a show that has typically valued style over substance, at least in my opinion. I watched the first two seasons, and though I liked season one, season two was way too confusing and it lost me early on. So I was a bit hesitant when I started watching the third season. But I was quickly hooked. That had almost entirely to do with the two main characters, detectives played by Mahershala Ali and Stephen Dorff. It's a very dark, very stylized show, in true True Detective fashion. But I found it easier to follow than past seasons, even though there is a lot of wacky shifting back and forth between a few decades.As Mahershala and Dorff attempt to get to the bottom of a missing children case, over years and years, their own two sad stories unfold and entwine with the cold case. The acting is superb, and my favorite part was how authentic the two stars looked as young cops, middle-aged men, and senior citizens.

Blue Planet 2 is an utterly incredible wildlife documentary series from the UK. Legendary narrator Sir David Attenborough and the award-winning BBC Natural History unit offer a glimpse at the ecosystems that dominate our oceans.From coastal habitats to the dark abyssal depths, Blue Planet 2 is magical show from start to finish, and worth every penny. It's also the ideal show to test out the 4K Blu-ray player on that shiny new Xbox One X.

All the Pretty Horses is the first book in Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy, which includes The Crossing and Cities of the Plain. It begins the long story of protagonist John Grady Cole, a young man who does not want to give up his ranch life when his grandfather dies and his land is to be sold.Instead of moving to a city, he crosses the Mexican border with his friend Lacey Rawlins and they set out to find a life as cowboys. Like a lot of McCarthy's work, All the Pretty Horses is violent, tragic, and carefully written, offering a glimpse into a time gone by.

This week, I felt like I just needed a mindless page turner. After diving into popular novelist John Grisham's first book, A Time to Kill, I'm not sure I'd call it "mindless." But it's certainly page-turner material.I'd seen the movie featuring Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson and Matthew McConaughey years ago, and I remember (sort of) liking it. But I didn't remember the plot at all, and the book felt fresh from the start.When a horrible crime is perpetrated against the family of an African-American man in 1980s deep American South, and he responds by killing the suspects, the local community and courts must decide whether to punish him for doing something they can all relate to — and might have done themselves.