Whiplash!!! Since I saw this movie a couple of months ago I have been recommending it to EVERYONE. Shawn and I went to see it in theatres two times and have watched it two more times since then! If you can only see one movie from this past year make it Whiplash. You won't be disappointed, I promise. And if you are disappointed by Whiplash, well...then I will question your opinion about movies from now on.
****THERE IS A CHANCE THAT THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS****
There is so much I love about Whiplash that I don't even know where to begin!
Whiplash is nominated for five Academy Awards - Best Picture, Supporting Actor (J.K. Simmons), Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, and Sound Mixing.
Damien Chazelle wasn't nominated for Best Director but considering that he is only 30 years old I have a feeling he will be back with more amazing movies in the future.
I do wish that Miles Teller was nominated for Best Actor because his performance in Whiplash was pretty amazing/shocking/unexpected/jaw dropping. I know that some people will disagree with me on this but I think Teller deserved the nomination over Steve Carell for Foxcatcher. By the way, you might have noticed that I never did a post about Foxcatcher...well that is because I disliked it very much. Now that I have said that I will probably have to do a post on why I didn't like it. So now you have that to look forward too!
There is a bit of controversy on Whiplash being nominated for Adapted Screenplay though. Bare with me here, this might get confusing. Chazelle wrote the screenplay for Whiplash a few years ago but he couldn't get any funding for it so he wrote a short film based off of his original screenplay. He then entered that short film (click here for the IMDb link) into Sundance and won the Short Film Jury Prize. Because he won he received funding for the original screenplay which he then filmed in 19 days, editing in 10 days and released into theatres on October 15, 2014. Chazelle didn't even consider the film to be an adapted screenplay so he submitted it to the Academy as on original screenplay...and yet they have nominated it for Adapted because "it's based off of the short film" even though that short film was based off the original screenplay. Does that make sense? It's like a "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" Sometimes it just seems like the Academy doesn't even understand their own job.
Whiplash is nominated for five Academy Awards - Best Picture, Supporting Actor (J.K. Simmons), Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, and Sound Mixing.
Damien Chazelle wasn't nominated for Best Director but considering that he is only 30 years old I have a feeling he will be back with more amazing movies in the future.
I do wish that Miles Teller was nominated for Best Actor because his performance in Whiplash was pretty amazing/shocking/unexpected/jaw dropping. I know that some people will disagree with me on this but I think Teller deserved the nomination over Steve Carell for Foxcatcher. By the way, you might have noticed that I never did a post about Foxcatcher...well that is because I disliked it very much. Now that I have said that I will probably have to do a post on why I didn't like it. So now you have that to look forward too!
There is a bit of controversy on Whiplash being nominated for Adapted Screenplay though. Bare with me here, this might get confusing. Chazelle wrote the screenplay for Whiplash a few years ago but he couldn't get any funding for it so he wrote a short film based off of his original screenplay. He then entered that short film (click here for the IMDb link) into Sundance and won the Short Film Jury Prize. Because he won he received funding for the original screenplay which he then filmed in 19 days, editing in 10 days and released into theatres on October 15, 2014. Chazelle didn't even consider the film to be an adapted screenplay so he submitted it to the Academy as on original screenplay...and yet they have nominated it for Adapted because "it's based off of the short film" even though that short film was based off the original screenplay. Does that make sense? It's like a "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" Sometimes it just seems like the Academy doesn't even understand their own job.
Like I said before, Miles Teller was great in Whiplash. But I think that the best part of the movie is J.K. Simmons. Well the last nine minutes of the movie and also J.K. Simmons. The character of Fletcher is an extreme opposite of Simmons personality so it was starling to see him in such a nasty role. But at the same time it was awesome! He made the movie! I can't even post the horrible things he says in the movie because it is so foul. But at the same time it makes his character and the movie better! I am hoping and praying that Simmons wins the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He deserves it 100%. He did win the Golden Globe so I'm hoping that's a good sign.
I mentioned that the last nine minutes of the movie and J.K. Simmons are the best part of Whiplash. Let's talk about the last nine minutes for a second here. This is where I get into spoilers! First off I don't remember the last time I was so focused and intrigued but the whole movie, from beginning to end. There was never a part where I tuned out (ha ha ha that's punny). I was completely invested while I was watching Whiplash, all four times. And the last nine minutes of the movie just blew me away, I'm pretty sure it blew the whole audience away. I've never heard a movie theatre be so silent at the end of a film when the credits are rolling. Nobody left the theatre during the credits. Nobody talked. Nobody even clapped. The stress that comes from the last scene in the movie coupled with not knowing the outcome of Neyman's (Miles Teller) future just made my brain freeze. I was so conflicted! You don't know if Neyman just wants to give into the crazy, over the top, bullying style of teaching and continue to study jazz music or if this is his last hurrah so he gives it everything he's got. The look on Simmons and Tellers faces at the end just throws your brain for a loop. Is Neyman really going to support Fletcher? Are Fletcher's methods of teaching too over the top if it makes someone the best musician? How far is too far if a student wants to be the next great jazz musician? And then, why am I thinking like this?! Someone killed themselves because of the pressure that started in Flechter's class!! Ugh. The emotional confusion I felt (and I'm sure Shawn did too) after watching Whiplash made for a very quite and thoughtful ride home.
I mentioned that the last nine minutes of the movie and J.K. Simmons are the best part of Whiplash. Let's talk about the last nine minutes for a second here. This is where I get into spoilers! First off I don't remember the last time I was so focused and intrigued but the whole movie, from beginning to end. There was never a part where I tuned out (ha ha ha that's punny). I was completely invested while I was watching Whiplash, all four times. And the last nine minutes of the movie just blew me away, I'm pretty sure it blew the whole audience away. I've never heard a movie theatre be so silent at the end of a film when the credits are rolling. Nobody left the theatre during the credits. Nobody talked. Nobody even clapped. The stress that comes from the last scene in the movie coupled with not knowing the outcome of Neyman's (Miles Teller) future just made my brain freeze. I was so conflicted! You don't know if Neyman just wants to give into the crazy, over the top, bullying style of teaching and continue to study jazz music or if this is his last hurrah so he gives it everything he's got. The look on Simmons and Tellers faces at the end just throws your brain for a loop. Is Neyman really going to support Fletcher? Are Fletcher's methods of teaching too over the top if it makes someone the best musician? How far is too far if a student wants to be the next great jazz musician? And then, why am I thinking like this?! Someone killed themselves because of the pressure that started in Flechter's class!! Ugh. The emotional confusion I felt (and I'm sure Shawn did too) after watching Whiplash made for a very quite and thoughtful ride home.
Come Sunday night I will be crossing my fingers and hoping that Whiplash wins at least two of the nominations it received. I know winning Best Picture might be a long shot but Whiplash holds the highest rating on IMDb out of all of the Best Picture nominees. So it definitely has a chance! And if Birdman wins over Whiplash I would be okay with that. But if any other movie wins over Birdman or Whiplash I'm going to be upset.
I HIGHLY recommend seeing Whiplash. And if you don't have anyone to watch it with or you don't want to buy it (yet!) let me know and I will invite you over for a movie party because people need to see this movie.
Let me know what you thought about Whiplash if you saw it! And don't forget that I will be live tweeting the Oscars on Sunday night so follow me on Twitter @thrucaitseyes to follow along through all the awkward presenters, mispronunciations of names, and disappointing wins that I don't agree with. It's going to be fun!!
Caitlin
I HIGHLY recommend seeing Whiplash. And if you don't have anyone to watch it with or you don't want to buy it (yet!) let me know and I will invite you over for a movie party because people need to see this movie.
Let me know what you thought about Whiplash if you saw it! And don't forget that I will be live tweeting the Oscars on Sunday night so follow me on Twitter @thrucaitseyes to follow along through all the awkward presenters, mispronunciations of names, and disappointing wins that I don't agree with. It's going to be fun!!
Caitlin