Here comes what is EASILY one of my top 5 movie picks of the year, FB-land, for your viewing consideration...Damien Chazelles Whiplash! :) This film actually came on my radar farrr earlier than I bet it has for some of you fellow film buffs...when, some months ago, renowned editor and good friend Myron Kerstein described the films editing by the great Tom Cross as the best Ive ever seen. A highly eyebrow-raising compliment coming from him, so I now *had* to see this movie no matter WHAT upon hearing that... And mannnn oh man, do I understand his passion for saying that now more than ever...as a piece of cinema in itself, judging it by every single element and how they all blend together, it may actually be the best *Ive* ever seen too, hands down. Keep in mind Im putting all the usual things you read about in film reviews COMPLETELY aside to say this...all the stuff about plot, character arcs, themes, comparisons to other movies...its all surprisingly-irrelevant to how this film works the way it does, at least while you watch, anyway. Because the reason why film is film (and not theater, radio, or literature) is because it has the innate sensory ability to reach out, grab you by the throat, and thrust you DIRECTLY into the headspace and emotional POV (sometimes relatable, sometimes not) of one or more main characters for at least two hours. And that is exactly what Whiplash does so ingeniously...through the electric kinds of cinematography and sound techniques, brought to life by viscerally-rhythmic editing, that have rarely been seen so purely in a music-driven film since Alan Heims Oscar-winning work on All That Jazz. (And the super-great and dedicated acting by Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons, of course.) I might as well warn you all now that this film is *not* for everyone, though. What all this technique basically does, at least to uber-sensitive viewers like me, is plunge you into the 7th circle of a musical Hell you never really knew...its like the Black Swan meets Raging Bull of musician movies, with all the emotional impact that implies, possibly 2-3 times as much. (Ive attached the trailer so I can explain exactly how without having to describe it.) It was the brilliant final act of this movie that brought all that impact home in a glorious way, though...it was the closest Ive ever came to bawling like a baby since I was 11 years old, somehow while laughing hysterically at the same time, and literally yelling YOURE REALLY GONNA END IT THERE!? COME ON!!! I WANT MORE!!! (Objectively, though, I do see why it had to end where it did, lol.) Sooo, basically (apart from this film being a gangbusters conversation piece about how effective abusive teaching methods can *really* be to motivate young talent)...this film, if you can stomach it all the way through, is a meth-laced musical cocktail of *everything* that makes the cinema experience priceless. Very, very highly recommended! Congratulations to the brilliantly-hardworking cast and crew for what theyve done here! :) :) :)
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 01:37:26 +0000