Review – Free Fire (2016)

by Old King Clancy

I’ve been a fan of Ben Wheatley ever since ‘A Field In England’ blew my mind to such a degree that I still can’t properly define the experience. To that end I think it’s safe to say that Free Fire is his most commercial film to date. Actually that sounds way too pretentious, basically this is the first Wheatley film I’ve seen that doesn’t feel like a Wheatley film, but that doesn’t make it a bad film. Free Fire takes the Reservoir Dogs formula of greedy idiots with guns stuck in a warehouse and rolls with it, ending up with a fun and energetic little piece that brings out a great ensemble piece.

Set in 1970s Boston, the film finds two IRA members, Chris (Cillian Murphy) and Frank (Michael Smiley), teaming up with Frank’s junkie brother-in-law Steve-O (Sam Riley)and his friend Bernie (Enzo Cilenti)to help buy guns from South African arms dealer Vernon (Shalto Copley) and his partners; ex-black panther Martin (Babou Ceesay)and dope-smoking middle-man Ord (Armie Hammer) with third-party Justine (Brie Larson) acting as intermediary. To Frank’s anger, Steve-O got into a fight earlier that day and has been left with a black eye.

The deal goes down but not without its problems, Frank is openly hostile to Ord, Vernon’s ego gets in the way and Chris claims that the guns being sold to him aren’t what he ordered. Despite the hostilities a deal is made and money switches hands, that is until Steve-O realises that Vernon’s driver Harry (Jack Reynor) is the man who beat him up earlier that day for bottling Harry’s cousin after she wouldn’t put out. The already on-edge deal gets put under even more pressure when Steve-O brags to Harry about what he did, forcing Harry to fire the first bullet.

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Review – Dave Chappelle Netflix Special

by Nile Fortner

Is Dave Chappelle Still a Comedy King?

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, children of all ages, grandmothers and grandfathers, Dave Cha-Pezzy is back, the one and only Dave Chappelle is back! Dave Chappelle (Half–Baked, The Chappelle Show) the comedy icon, makes his long awaited return to the screen and to the stage. The comedian now has a Netflix Original stand-up comedy special. With new, mature, raunchy, contemptuous, and always compelling comedy material.

On November 12, 2016, Dave Chappelle hosted season 42 episode six of the late-night live comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live. That episode is literally the best Saturday Night Live episode I’ve seen in a very long time, years actually. You had the controversy, the emotion, the comedy, the music, the special guest appearances, it was civil, and you had the comeback of Chappelle.  For those who do not know this comedy legend, I’m going to tell you why he is a comedy icon, why he is one of the best. It is because he is raunchy, can feed off a crowd, he is very experienced in comedy, random, and it helps that he is really funny.

In 2003, Chappelle became more widely known with his comedy show, The Chappelle Show. The show continues to show re-run episodes all around the world, on various platforms to this day. Two years within The Chappelle Show, and Chappelle reaching the highest success in his comedy career, Chappelle walked away from the industry. In various interviews, he has stated “The show has ruined my life.” and”I hate working 20 hours a day.” He even walked away from a $50 million contract to come back to the show. Throughout the years, Chappelle was around, but kept on the down low. That was until he hosted Saturday Night Live on November 12, 2016. Now, Chappelle follows a line of comedians that have all gotten Netflix stand-up specials. Such as, Cedric The Entertainer, Mike Epps, Aziz Ansari, Jimmy Carr, Ali Wong, Patton Oswalt, and more.

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Netflix Announces New Series Friends from College from Acclaimed Comedy Writer/Director Nick Stoller and Francesca Delbanco

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Netflix, the world’s leading Internet TV network, today announced a new comedy series, Friends from College, from Nick Stoller (Neighbors, Neighbors: Sorority Rising, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek) and Francesca Delbanco. The husband and wife team will serve as executive producers and writers on the series and Stoller will also direct all eight episodes. Production will begin this fall in New York.

The eight episode series will feature an all star cast including Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele, Keanu, Don’t Think Twice), Cobie Smulders (Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, Avengers, How I Met Your Mother), Annie Parisse (Vinyl, The Following), Nat Faxon (Married, American Dad, Ben & Kate), Fred Savage (The Grinder, The Wonder Years) and Jae Suh Park (The Mindy Project, The Big Short).

“Nick is a comedic mastermind. With Friends from College, he and Francesca have created a world that is both moving and very, very funny. We are thrilled to be working with them and this incredible cast, and look forward to audiences around the world laughing with and at these relatable characters,” Cindy Holland, Netflix Vice President of Original Content.

The show centers on a group of friends who went to Harvard together and are now facing down their forties and experiencing a range of success, or lack thereof, both professionally and domestically. With interwoven and oftentimes complicated relationships with one another, the series is a comedic exploration of old friendships, former romantic entanglements and balancing adult life with nostalgia for the past.

Delbanco and Stoller both attended Harvard University. Delbanco went on to receive her Master’s Degree in fiction writing from the University of Michigan.

Nicholas Stoller is a director, writer and producer of intelligent, character-driven comedies. He recently directed the hit comedy Neighbors and its sequel Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising. He is currently working on the the upcoming animated film Storks for Warner Brothers. For TV, Stoller co-wrote and is an executive producer working on the third season of The Carmichael Show, and was an executive producer on comedy seriesThe Grinder starring Fred Savage and Rob Lowe. His other credits include The Five-Year Engagement which he co-wrote with collaborator and star Jason Segel. He also teamed up with Segal to write and executive produce The Muppets and he went on to write and executive produce the sequel Muppets Most Wanted. Stoller made his directorial debut in 2008 with Forgetting Sarah Marshall and went on to make Get Him to the Greek, which he wrote, directed and produced. His other writing credits include Yes Man and the 2010 re-imagining of Gulliver’s Travels. Stoller’s first job in the entertainment industry was comedy writing for Judd Apatow’s Fox television series “Undeclared.”

Courtesy of Netflix