Choppy. Choppy is the first word that comes to mind. Its a pretty decent movie but generally overrated. As someone who on many occasions is overly critical of himself as far as expressing myself through my art goes, I get the whole pushing the envelope thing. I guess however, in tackling the subject of ones passion, in this case it is music - drumming in particular, you cannot, as was done in this movie, totally ignore the importance of the groove. Whiplash was just all about speed and technique and ego. At least, thats how it came across through my ears as at no point was the monumental importance of complimenting the band and the songs ever mentioned. Dont get me wrong, here. I really liked the film as a film. Technically, the acting was top notch - very convincing, actually, the pace of the plot was at the right BPM, and there was never really a dull moment. I did wonder though what was it about this guy Fletcher that put him into hotshot status. I mean, whatever did he do for the industry to make him such a sought after mentor? Come to think of it, being no Beethoven and not having written any 9th Symphony, whatever gave him the license to be such a jackass in the first place? A backstory wouldve been nice to establish his credibility. Because I love music too much though, and Im trying as best I can not to claim being a musician, here, I cant help but be afraid that maybe its sending the wrong message to anyone who is looking to be in a band or the music industry, in general. Drum and bass, especially, are primarily complimentary roles. Ive got nothing against striving for greatness. As a matter of fact, I was pretty fascinated by Fletchers idealism and method. However, at the end of the day, personal glory must take a back seat to what is most important of all, that being the song... nay, the music. Whiplash is all ME, ME, ME. It champions the ideology and attitude of which Ive seen and experienced too much that I want to sneeze every time my intuition picks up the aura of artists who are too full of themselves. Believe you me, there are LOOOOOOTS of them. See, at the end of the day, it has to be a team effort: youre only as good as the music you make. As a once dear friend and mentor put it, Its a conversation, not a competition. Again, its a very good watch (well, definitely not an 8.7 as rated on imdv). I simply beg to differ with the tune it is sing... er, drumming. Yup, that means I disagree too with all the musicians stating that its a must watch for their fellow cats. imdb/media/rm1822802176/tt2582802?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_pos_56
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 19:31:53 +0000
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