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It’s not every day you get to watch a movie that was filmed at 120 frames per second. In fact, if you’re living in Australia, it’s not any day. Ang Lee, the man behind films as diverse as Sense and Sensibility, The Hulk, Brokeback Mountain and Life of Pi, shot his most recent effort, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk at a whopping 120 frames per second. To put that into context, most feature films since the silent era have been filmed at a measly 24 frames per second.
When do we get to enjoy this visual feast, we hear you ask? Actually, never. There are no cinemas in Australia with the capacity to screen Lee’s film in the intended frame rate. There are only a couple in America with the capacity, which begs the question of why Lee made a film that nobody can really watch as he intended.
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk has been garnering scathing reviews from all over the world. Is is that bad?
“19-year-old Billy Lynn is brought home for a victory tour after a harrowing Iraq battle. Through flashbacks the film shows what really happened to his squad – contrasting the realities of war with America’s perceptions.”
The ReelGood Podcast lads decided to get together to nut out Lee’s decision and talk about the benefits of employing a frame rate other than the standard. There were tears and laughs but by the end of it, Derek, Blakey and John had all learned something about themselves.