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We recommend titles that influenced Ben Wheatley and more.

With his sixth feature, Ben Wheatley finally has a wide release in America. Free Fire might be his most accessible movie yet, consisting a single location and pretty much just one long action sequence. It’s basically a 90-minute third act without the first two acts getting in the way. Also it features Oscar winner Brie Larson, and who doesn’t like watching her act?

If you like what you see, then you’ll want to discover Wheatley’s other work, starting with the small crime film Down Terrace, which kicked off his career. I also recommend the following dozen movies, some of which are direct influences on Wheatley, others being similar kinds of films, and then just whatever else I had determined worthy.

The Truce Hurts (1948)

Ben Wheatley loves Tom and Jerry cartoons and has cited them as an influence on his latest movie. I...

When I was a kid, if you had given me the choice of watching an episode of Looney Tunes or Tom & Jerry I wouldn’t have hesitated for a second. Looney Tunes would have won hands down. Not because the animation was better, as both cartoons had clear animation gradations depending on when they were drawn. Instead it was about content (I was a really picky little kid), every single Tom & Jerry episode was the same. If any variation existed it was whether or not the dog Spike made an appearance, in which case Tom was abused even further. With the Deluxe Anniversary collection, you see this unwavering formula play out about 25-some times until you reach the most modern episodes when Tom & Jerry are reverted to children and then start including dialogue for the two leads. Repetitive? You bet. Worth watching? Possibly.

At its core, the concept driving Tom & Jerry is very logical,...

Animation legend Joseph Barbera has died at his home in Studio City, California. He was 95. The co-founder of Hanna-Barbera Studios, Barbera was born in New York in 1911 and began his career as a banker before teaming up with William Hanna in the late 1930s to create beloved cartoon characters like Tom & Jerry, The Jetsons and The Flintstones during their 60-year partnership. The pair's first collaboration was entitled Puss Gets The Boot, which became the first outing for Tom & Jerry. Hanna and Barbera picked up seven Oscars for their Tom & Jerry cartoons. The acclaimed animators then created one of the first independent animation studios to produce TV series in 1957 and the hits kept coming with The Huckleberry Hound Show and Quick Draw McGraw. But the duo landed one of their most beloved shows in 1960 when The Flintstones debuted - the first animated series to air in primetime. The show, about a stone age community, ran for six years and went on to become the top-ranking animated program. Other hits for Barbera and his partner included Top Cat, Scooby-Doo and Smurfs, which earned the pair two Daytime Emmy Awards in 1982 and in 1983 for Outstanding Children's Entertainment Series and a Humanitas Award in 1987.