Go See Whiplash!!

Finally, a good movie!

Whiplash is the kind of mind-blowing, though provoking movie I can't believe no one's ever thought to make. Miles Teller plays Andrew, a young drummer trying desperately to be the best in his craft. When Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) sees him practicing, he invites him to join his competitive studio jazz band... and of course Andrew wants to take that next step, so he joins. However, Fletcher's teaching methods are rather... controversial. And Andrew's world goes from exciting opportunity to living nightmare.

The tension Damien Chazelle has managed to create in only his second feature outing, is nothing short of amazing. I can't think of the last time a movie wound me up like this. Perhaps he just got great performances from his stars, but there's something else going on here. Chazelle understands the relationships between people and instruments. He doesn't shy away from giving us just the drum set when it's necessary. He allows us to witness a performance without breaking away to someone's reaction... unless it's J.K. Simmons' because, well, the audience just isn't going to have J.K. Simmons' perspective. It's too crazy. But for a young filmmaker to already know how to trust his audience to formulate their own opinion without needing the forced obligatory crowd reaction takes guts... it takes knowhow. And Damien Chazelle has both of those qualities.

Miles Teller is great as a not necessarily likable character. In many ways he makes himself the victim without needing help from Simmons. But in many ways I feel like that leads back to the greater purpose of the film. J.K. Simmons is electrifying in this movie. I'm just so glad I had a chance to see him give a performance like that, so distant from anything else he's every done, but so well communicated.

Whiplash is extraordinary. The soonest chance you get to see it, DO. If I'm being frank, this movies already in my top ten for the year. I don't care what else comes out. This is in.

Grand Piano Is Too Much Fun

Do you remember that time, you sat down to watch Speed with your friends... and someone made an asinine comment like "how cool would it be if they took this premise and did it on a piano?"... and everyone just stared at them for a while? Because what kind of mind would think of such a ridiculous idea... actually what did your friend even mean by that?

Well your friend was actually totally a genius. Because Grand Piano is epic beyond belief... and its tagline should absolutely be Speed... ON A PIANO!!

Now what does that mean? It means Elijah Wood is a great concert pianist who's finally coming back to the craft after five years away just to play this one last show. I know what you're thinking, "this already sounds like an action movie." But seriously, hold back your snarky remarks until the end. As Elijah sits down and begins playing, he comes across a message hidden (well not exactly hidden) in the pages of his sheet music. Yes! The message reads, "Play one wrong note and you die!"

Oh man. This movie just got awesome! See, the brilliant thing about setting an action thriller at a concert is, the intense musical cues are literally built in. He can't stop playing or he's gonna die. But he can try to do other things. He is, after all, a piano genius. He knows the easy parts well enough, and he has a cellphone... so he can...

I actually think you should watch it yourself, so don't let me ruin anything else for you. It's not perfect, in fact some of the secondary actors are just downright awful, but Eugenio Mira and Damien Chazelle crafted a very fun movie here. It's something I'd absolutely consider rewatching in the same way that a movie like Speed is rewatchable... just... how did they think of that moment? How did they keep the bus going that whole time? How did they keep the plot moving like that? At first it seems impossible, but somehow it works. Check it out on Netflix today!