3.40 - FREE FIRE and Space

The Prestige

We conclude our Ben Wheatley season with his most recent offering, 2016’s FREE FIRE. After our initial responses to the film, we go on to talk about claustrophobia, empathising with the IRA (!), and whether or not Wheatley has made the ‘step up’ to Hollywood (CA) direction.

Next Week
Our next director is one on which Sam will sadly (good luck, Rob!) be missing out: Wes Anderson. The first film recommended by Sam’s very able replacement, Chris MacLennan, is his debut, 1995’s BOTTLE ROCKET. Get hold of it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bottle-Rocket-Luke-Wilson/dp/B00ET02BX6

This Week’s Media
THE HANDMAID’S TALE (2017–): Margaret Atwood, Bruce Miller, Elizabeth Moss
STATH LETS FLATS (2018): Tom Kingsley, Jamie Demetriou, Robert Popper
MORTIMER AND WHITEHOUSE: GONE FISHING (2018): Bob Mortimer, Paul Whitehouse

Recommendations
KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017): Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson
28 WEEKS LATER (2007): Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne
DISTRICT 9 (2009): Neill Blomkamp, Sharlto Copley, David James
BABY DRIVER (2017): Edgar Wright, Ansel Elgort, Jon Bernthal

Footnotes
For an introduction to Cecil B de Mille and some of his spectacular early Hollywood blockbusters, see this book: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YLPTleQHkrUC&printsec=frontcover&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false On the use of space in cinema, this article is good: https://filmanalysis.coursepress.yale.edu/mise-en-scene Should you want to brush up on your knowledge of some of the paramilitary organisations who may or may not be represented in the film, knock yourself out: https://www.thoughtco.com/guide-to-the-irish-republican-army-3209135 , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrikaner_Weerstandsbeweging , https://www.history.com/topics/black-panthers And finally, here’s more on the ‘180 Degree Rule’ that Rob talks about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4wX_dmh8_g