The Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce (WWCC) today announced the winners of its Great Westport Pizza Contest. Westport Pizzeria won in the Best Slice and Best Plain Pizza categories. Joe (l) and Mel Mioli of Westport Pizzeria flank Matthew Mandell, executive director and CEO of the WWCC. More than 1,700 votes were cast in the month-long contest. Other winners: Best Meat Pizza – Joe’s Pizza and Italian Restaurant; Best Gluten-Free Pizza – Joe’s Pizza and Italian Restaurant; Best Veggie Pizza – Tuttis Ristorante;  Best Delivered Pizza – Jordan’s Restaurant and Pizza of Westport, and Best Personal Pizza : a tie –  Rizzuto’s Oyster Bar and Restaurant and Toscano Pizzzeria Honorable mentions went to Romanacci Pizza Bar and Planet Pizza, which took second place and lost by only two votes in best personal and best delivered respectively. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

By Susan Granger

Sci-fi, virtual reality and nostalgic pop culture collide in “Ready Player One,” Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Ernest Cline’s sprawling 2011 best-seller about a teenager’s quest to win a game that will give him control of a massive digital universe.

Set in 2045 in Columbus, Ohio, the story revolves around Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), an orphaned nerd, living in “the stacks,” a grimy, vertical trailer park. Like everyone else, Wade spends most of his time immersed in a virtual game-room called the Oasis where one can be whoever one wishes.

Before he died, eccentric tech-genius James Halliday (Mark Rylance) left players one last contest. Whoever can solve three challenges will inherit not only his fortune, worth half a trillion dollars, but also control over the Oasis, which he founded with his partner, Ogden Morrow (Simon Pegg).

Wade Watts has chosen the hipster Parzival as his avatar in the Oasis, playing alongside his best friend, Hulk-sized Aech (Lena Waithe). Wade’s dazzled by the skill and daring of Art3mis (Olivia Cooke), who teams up with them, along with Dairo (Win Morisaki) and Shoto (Philip Zhao). They’re the good guys.

By Susan Granger

The new, upbeat romantic comedy “Love, Simon” has already broken records: it’s the first major studio PG-13 wide-release, playing in multiplexes, to revolve around an openly homosexual adolescent.

Based on Becky Albertalli’s 2015 YA novel, “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda,” the narrative introduces popular, 17 year-old high school senior Simon Spier (Nick Robinson), who ruefully notes he’s never ‘the leading guy.’ Instead, he’s relegated to being ‘the best friend.’

So Simon decides: “I’m done living in a world where I don’t get to be who I am. I deserve a great love story.”

Affable Simon lives in an idyllic Atlanta suburb with empathetic parents (Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel) and younger sister (Talitha Eliana Bateman), plus a trio of supportive pals (Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, Jorge Lendeborg Jr.).

The final day of the Westport Library’s FLEX: experiences was jampacked with fun for all ages. Hundreds of people came out to enjoy the day emceed by Westport’s David Pogue (above), tech guru and correspondent for “CBS Sunday Morning” and Yahoo Tech founder. The day included a lineup of authors and fun activities such as facepainting, art with illustrator Tim Fite, an interactive exhibit with typewriters courtesy of Diego Romer and The Typing Machine and a flash mob thanks to Westport’s Academy of Dance. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

The Westport Library was transformed again tonight for its FLEX: Food Lovers’ Q&A featuring gourmet guru Ruth Reichl, Annie Farrell, Bill Taibe and Lulu Powers. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Photo by Pamela Einarsen