It's only FMJ when JK is torturing somebody else. It's a game of wills when its J.K. Simmons up against Miles Teller. Andrew is only a sympathetic character when it is through the eyes of someone like his dad or girlfriend. Plus he is fully supportive of Simmons teaching techniques, so it never come offs as psychological torture.

Whiplash is really great. Well acted, tense, thought provoking, thematically interesting, sharply edited and shot superbly from the main characters perspective. A very complete movie with everything I look for in a dramatic film.

Didn't see what all the fuss was about at all. Yeah it's intense acting but is a meaty role many individuals could have portrayed. Mel Gibson anybody?

Overhyped without doubt. What a shitty year for films.

It needed more Christian Bale and Michael Caine. And John Goodman too.

Walking out of Whiplash after its conclusion, the first thought that popped into my head was "whoa!" It's exceptionally intense and exhilarating, and it's so tightly wound that there isn't a dull or unexciting moment in the film. It would have been intriguing enough as a character study of its protagonist's obsession with becoming the best musician that he can be, but the presence of his cruel instructor adds a most fascinating layer of ambiguity to the proceedings. Even by the end of the film, it's up to the viewer's interpretation as to whether Fletcher's methods are more outlandishly abusive or cleverly and twistedly effective. Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons are each excellent in portraying these characters. Teller is completely in tune with protagonist Andrew, and his actual sweat (and hopefully not actual blood) is evidence that he, too, is pushing himself to the extreme limit to nail the role. It's unfortunate that he has not gotten much in the way of awards attention, but the performance is so strong and so dedicated that it's bound to be a calling card for meaty future parts. Meanwhile, Simmons has gotten plenty of acclaim for his role as the monstrous mentor, and it's earned. Simmons nails a terrific balance between simmering anger, outright ferocity, and occasional glimpses of tenderness; in fact, he's so adept at alternating between these traits that his character's true motivations remain ambiguous until the very end. As debuts go, this one is an enormously impressive one for writer-director Damien Chazelle, and it still has me reeling hours after finishing watching it.

A

Possibly. The Boyhood Is Overrated Camp is bigger, so perhaps that could clear the way. That being said, for my part, Boyhood is occupying the top spot on my BP ballot, and Whiplash will be third.

i would give this four bloody drum kits out of five.

This was excellent. Of all the Oscar films, this ranks near the top, and certainly is my favorite BP nominee. Maybe because I feel a little fatigued from all the gimmicks of the other movies (two-hour tracking shots; 12 years of filming; Wes Anderson 100-minute masturbation session; bio of deadly yet dead sniper; bio of brilliant yet even deader code-cracker; bio of brilliant-yet-almost-dead-for-years scientist), but this just shocked me. It was simple and direct, yet effective and intense. J.K. Simmons owns the film, but without Miles Teller, it wouldn't work. He matches Simmons, especially during the riveting conclusion, but was barely a contender for any major nominations.

Can't find much to fault here. It's exceptional. It never drags (or rushes, for that matter), it never wavers (Simmons plays an unbelievable dick from beginning to end, possibly turning it up even more during the climax) and best of all, it has Melissa Benoist and Paul Reiser in fun supporting roles. Can't beat (the drum to) that.

A

New server, same...nah, go fuck yourself this time.

I very much deserve that one.

Ist it really a dark horse even?

Whiplash is a total KJ movie so it wouldn't be a surprise at all. I feel like each movie has an equal amount of support on here though, so nothing is a favorite.

Birdman and Whiplash are in equal high support, I'd say. Everything else, including Boyhood and Guardians, can be considered KJ dark horses.

That is probably correct. I haven't started counting, but I really think that each of the five films has a shot to win.

What makes it great for me is Andrew's flaws. He didn't strike me as in it for the "right reasons" artistically. It's more about quenching his power hungry insecure ego and proving he's better than everyone else. Even when he succeeds at the end it's all about him, he doesn't give a single fuck about anyone else in the band. It's not worth it for Andrew at all to put himself through this because unlike other musicians it feeds his inner monster of hate not love. But he doesn't get it which is why he plays again for Fletcher at the end instead of rejecting him.

Miles Teller and JK Simmons are both pretty perfect and there's enough restraint and silence in Fletcher to make him more scary than if he just yelled all the time. And of course it's directed on a string as much as anything lately is.

This is still pretty easily the best movie of 2014 for me. I'm going to be so happy when J.K. wins tomorrow - his performance is honestly legendary.

Meh. I'm in the camp that JK was just perfectly cast as opposed to being really that wonderful.

Miles Teller finally shows he can act after all the turgid shit he's been in.

But, for me, I have to have an emotional connection to the film to really rate it highly or one of my favourites, and it didn't have that. Well made, thought provoking but still rather lacking in emotionality- if you can even believe that. Perhaps despite Teller's performance, and even though I did empathize with him, I couldn't really relate to him. His struggle was not really even for himself, in that sense. He was motivated by his ego more than anything and a desire to be great without any real soul behind it. Everybody, everything, especially music needs to have an element of yourself, of passion to it, but all that seemed to inspire Teller was to prove people wrong and that just doesn't make it very involving. I'd argue that Simmons piano solo towards the end of the film outdid all of Teller's drumming, which might be why Teller, as good as he was, was not in contention for any awards. It's a workmanlike performance in every sense of the word. Perhaps he was hamstrung by the character's motivations, or he did it to himself by choosing such intentions, but I never got the sense he actually cared about the music he was playing. I know even less about drums than other instruments and he did have to follow the notes but there was no soul in any of it, and jazz definitely needs that. I just wasn't that invested.

You obviously never saw Rabbit Hole, which he was robbed of an Oscar nomination for.

I saw this again Monday night. Still just as intense and thrilling.

Question to ponder: What do you think actually happened to Miles Teller's music folder at the first concert?

I was thinking Fletcher took it. But maybe just someone else did.

But that is EXACTLY the point. Andrew is NOT a sympathetic character you suffer with. He and Fletcher deserve each other. Andrew is a self-centered asshole and it is brave of the film to make such a character its front and center.

Probably one of the other band members. It seemed to me like an ultra competitive environment where if a weakness is shown by ANYBODY, they will strike.

Yeah, I know, but how we like movies are different. My preference is for a movie, no matter how well made, to have an emotional connection with me. Otherwise, yeah it's good but I don't really need to see it again or remember it since it had no impact on me besides it being well made.

I thought it was Fletcher too since he knew Andrew was his prize talent, plus he wasn't his typical level of angry about it

I was sure that Fletcher had somebody take it, to prove a point about delegating responsibility.

I think it's kind of an interesting touch that perhaps the two most enjoyable pieces of music in the film, are fired Fletcher on the piano and a suicidal trumpeter