Whiplash

Los_Tributos · 17/01/15 - 08:16

Wow, I watched this last night and have to say that I was blown away by it

The concept of a jazz drummer and the difficult relationship with his conductor didn't particularly interest me, but following all the great reviews I gave it a go.

This is easily my favourite of the Oscar screeners so far, and J K Simmons is terrifyingly brilliant in the role.

I'd highly recommend the film to anyone, even if like me you think it might not be for you.

anyonefortennis · 17/01/15 - 10:38

Me too. Miles Teller was absolutely amazing as well. He should have been nominated for an Oscar also. Some of the one liners were hilarious. The Dolly Parton one was particularly funny. Some brutal scenes though which made you wince. The final scene was brilliant.

Inkblot · 17/01/15 - 10:47

Hoping to see it this weekend.

I'm amazed by the amount of publicity the film has got ion the UK. I've never seen a relatively unknown film get so much coverage - even Mayo and Kermode fell into line and allowed themselves to be set up in a fake drum-off on the film review podcast. Does the PR company know where a lot of bodies are buried?

anyonefortennis · 17/01/15 - 10:53

Inkblot wrote: »

Hoping to see it this weekend.

I'm amazed by the amount of publicity the film has got ion the UK. I've never seen a relatively unknown film get so much coverage - even Mayo and Kermode fell into line and allowed themselves to be set up in a fake drum-off on the film review podcast. Does the PR company know where a lot of bodies are buried?

I don't think it's a relatively unknown film. There's been a huge amount of buzz about it for a while now. And reviewers are raving about it. The director of Film 2015 said it's the best film he's seen in 20 years.

grazey1985 · 17/01/15 - 10:53

Saw it yesterday. J.k Simmons should win an Oscar. Bloody amazing

Inkblot · 17/01/15 - 11:22

anyonefortennis wrote: »

I don't think it's a relatively unknown film. There's been a huge amount of buzz about it for a while now. And reviewers are raving about it. The director of Film 2015 said it's the best film he's seen in 20 years.

But you don't think the buzz is down to the enormous amount of publicity the distributors have arranged for the film? Somehow it's just got a lot of word-of-mouth without the distributors doing anything?

By relatively unknown I meant that the first time I heard of Whiplash was in a big promotional feature (maybe in an online film magazine?), the first of many I've seen, followed by screenings, competitions etc.

Muttley76 · 17/01/15 - 11:26

Saw it at the gala for it at the London Film Festival last year, the crowd went nuts for it - there was a protracted standing ovation. I loved it too, one of the best films I saw last year, Simmons delivers a truly iconic performance and Teller was excellent also.

A wild rollarcoaster of a movie for sure!

Super Frog · 17/01/15 - 11:27

I can't rate this film enough.

Currently sitting at #44 on the IMDb Top 250.

anyonefortennis · 17/01/15 - 11:29

Inkblot wrote: »

But you don't think the buzz is down to the enormous amount of publicity the distributors have arranged for the film? Somehow it's just got a lot of word-of-mouth without the distributors doing anything?

By relatively unknown I meant that the first time I heard of Whiplash it was in a big promotional feature (maybe online?), the first of many I've seen.

When a little film like this gets enormous word of mouth about it like this, it always creates a huge buzz. Like Boyhood also. Plus a lot of the time the distributors and publicists create the buzz without us knowing about it. A lot goes on in the background you would be very surprised to find out.

Inkblot · 17/01/15 - 11:36

anyonefortennis wrote: »

When a little film like this gets enormous word of mouth about it like this, it always creates a huge buzz. Like Boyhood also. Plus a lot of the time the distributors and publicists create the buzz without us knowing about it. A lot goes on in the background you would be very surprised to find out.

That's what I was trying to say. For example, I can't remember seeing a single trailer for Whiplash in the cinema, and I try to go every week. So if I relied on trailers I wouldn't have heard of the film, yet it's all over the media at the moment. Someone has organised that - pulled strings, twisted arms, whatever...

Conversely, I would say that there's a lot less buzz about Selma, yet I've seen that trailed at the cinema and it looks fantastic.

anyonefortennis · 17/01/15 - 11:40

Inkblot wrote: »

That's what I was trying to say. For example, I can't remember seeing a single trailer for Whiplash in the cinema, and I try to go every week. So if I relied on trailers I wouldn't have heard of the film, yet it's all over the media at the moment. Someone has organised that - pulled strings, twisted arms, whatever...

Conversely, I would say that there's a lot less buzz about Selma, yet I've seen that trailed at the cinema and it looks fantastic.

It's all down to timing. Paramount were too late publicising Selma and sent screenings out to voters long after other companies did. Their campaign started too late. The timing about these films is crucial. A lot of films miss the mark or some films like Foxcatcher peak too early.

ItsTotesSoFluff · 17/01/15 - 12:01

Yeah its one of my favourite films now, watched it three times within a week

It's hilarious, intense and emotional.
I only had interest in seeing it as I'm a big fan of Miles Teller because of The Spectacular Now but now I'm an even bigger fan and want to watch more of J.K Simmons work.

anyonefortennis · 17/01/15 - 12:05

ItsTotesSoFluff wrote: »

Yeah its one of my favourite films now, watched it three times within a week It's hilarious, intense and emotional.
I only had interest in seeing it as I'm a big fan of Miles Teller because of The Spectacular Now but now I'm an even bigger fan and want to watch more of J.K Simmons work.

I actually preferred Tellers performance to Simmons. Simmons was a tad panto villain at times for me. Tellers performance was a lot more subtle and challenging. I am still laughing at the F. U. scene.

ItsTotesSoFluff · 17/01/15 - 12:09

anyonefortennis wrote: »

I actually preferred Tellers performance to Simmons. Simmons was a tad panto villain at times for me. Tellers performance was a lot more subtle and challenging. I am still laughing at the F. U. scene.

Hahah I love that bit too

I think this is my favourite quote, though it's hard to pick just one.

' Oh my dear god... are you one of those single-teared people? Do I look like a double f****** rainbow to you? You must be upset, are you upset?'

anyonefortennis · 17/01/15 - 12:17

ItsTotesSoFluff wrote: »

Hahah I love that bit too

I think this is my favourite quote, though it's hard to pick just one.

' Oh my dear god... are you one of those single-teared people? Do I look like a double f****** rainbow to you? You must be upset, are you upset?'

What was the one he said to the poor fat guy who was afraid to say if was in tune or not? It was a line about Dolly Parton but I can't remember the full quote. It was hilarious.

RAZORBACK · 17/01/15 - 22:17

Really enjoyed this and although Miles Teller is excellent in the central role it's J.K. Simmons that steals the show with a powerful (& now Golden Globe winning) performance as the manipulative & increasingly cruel Terence Fletcher (there's also decent support from the likes of Paul Reiser & Melissa Benoist).

The final scene is more than just a little bit special and overall I thought this was a superb drama that definitely did enough to get a 9/10 from me...

Grim Fandango · 18/01/15 - 22:04

Wow, just saw this. Absolutely loved it. Best new film I've seen in quite some time.

J.K. Simmons is incredible.

Billy Hicks · 19/01/15 - 00:43

Better than Birdman, better than Theory, Sniper, Wild, Foxcatcher, all of them. Best one of the year so far. Simmons is astonishing and is deservedly getting huge acclaim, but Teller is equally as phenomenal. It's taken me back to all the teachers and tutors I've had in the past who've used an similar (but nowhere near as extreme!) 'method' of forceful education and almost made me see them in a new light.

And my *god* is that ending utterly standing ovation-worthy.

anyonefortennis · 19/01/15 - 09:18

Billy Hicks wrote: »

Better than Birdman, better than Theory, Sniper, Wild, Foxcatcher, all of them. Best one of the year so far. Simmons is astonishing and is deservedly getting huge acclaim, but Teller is equally as phenomenal. It's taken me back to all the teachers and tutors I've had in the past who've used an similar (but nowhere near as extreme!) 'method' of forceful education and almost made me see them in a new light.

And my *god* is that ending utterly standing ovation-worthy.

Definitely. I'm still grinning thinking about it.

Inkblot · 19/01/15 - 09:38

Terrific film. Highly recommended. Great to see a full cinema on Saturday afternoon with many people staying in their seats until the end of the credits.

Interestingly it's not impressing the jazz community. It may be a brilliant piece of film-making but apparently it's a very inaccurate portrayal of life as a jazz musician. One blog cited the old joke "What do you call a drummer without a girlfriend? Homeless" as an example of why the central character isn't credible.

But it's not a documentary. It's drama: fantastic, gripping drama and an absolute must-see. By the way, has it had a full US release yet? imdb doesn't seem to think so.

tombigbee · 19/01/15 - 23:16

Wonderful film. Looking forward to watching it again, particularly for the final scene. Also I felt it was quite refreshing in that it subverted your expectations of how things would pan out.

gashead · 20/01/15 - 12:36

In-frickin'-credible ! JK Simmons was fantastic (but then, when isn't he?) playing what is essentially a cliche, but I think what elevates his performance - and credit obviously also has to go to the writer(s) for this - is the ambiguity of Terence Fletcher.

When he asked Andrew to join 'his' band, was that genuine at that time, or did he always intend to screw him over? Then, having set him up for failure and humiliation, again, was that a genuine desire for revenge, or was he still playing 'teacher', trying to bait him to keep coming back, Fletcher perhaps seeing him as the Charlie Parker he'd always wanted to discover (or is that create?). There was never a smile or a wink or anything to suggest his true intention and I love that. Maybe to Fletcher it was win-win? If he wimps out, he's nobody and jazz is better off without him. If he fights back, he could be one of the greats.

The only bum note - pun intended - was Fletcher's Sean Casey story. I didn't get why Fletcher told it, but fudged the death? If it was to show that, underneath it all, he does really have a soft side, then it completely undermines the character, as no way would Fletcher have someone is his band on 'drive' alone. To him, it was pure talent; you either had it, or you didn't. If he wanted to hide the fact of how the kid died because he was implicated, why mention it at all? AFAICS, they could have just have the female laywer explain the death. Fletcher telling it, incorrectly, doesn't seem to have any real purpose behind it. That's a small quibble though, in an otherwise flawless film.

As already said, the ending is on-your-feet uplifting and phenomenal. Cinema has a long history of 'fight back' denouements and this is up there with the very best. It may even be the best.

'Good job' may be the most harmful words in the English language, but I think the most terrifying must be 'Not quite my tempo'.

kirbyreed · 20/01/15 - 22:17

Just saw this, like most others I didn't really see how a film about a jazz drummer could be as acclaimed as it was but I watched it and it was amazing. I loved how it jumped straight into the action unlike most "oscar" movies which seem to go on forever. There wasn't a single scene that I felt was out of place and it all flowed really well. If JK Simmons doesn't win the oscar I will be very surprised. His hand movements and the word "tempo" will scar me for life!

tombigbee · 20/01/15 - 22:37

gashead wrote: »

'Good job' may be the most harmful words in the English language, but I think the most terrifying must be 'Not quite my tempo'.

I've been put off 'double-time swing' for life. Not that I even knew what that was.

ItsTotesSoFluff · 20/01/15 - 23:12

Whenever I see or read anything about Whiplash all I hear in my head is 'Were you rushing or dragging?'

Leicester_Hunk · 21/01/15 - 10:18

Well I wanted to see this on the recommendation of Chris Evans who said it was the best film he has seen for ages.

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