However, it's time to talk about the best movie of 2014. (Keep in mind I've yet to see Boyhood, Under the Skin, The Imitation Game and a few other highly praised movies.)
That film is Whiplash.
Go see it. Even if it is playing a town 10 hours from where you live. Plan a trip and go see it. It will be worth the drive and you'll want to have the 10 hours coming back to mull it all over.
Why are you still reading this? Unless you've already seen this movie, you should be heading out to see it right now.
2014 has been a year of much movie disappointment for me. There's been a lot of crap released. Even films I'd hoped might be good or others seem to really like, such as Edge of Tomorrow and Interstellar, have been disappointments. Let's just say that at the moment, Dumb and Dumber To would actually be one of my top 10 movies so far and even that I recognize is a movie that could have used a bit more work.
Regardless, even if I had liked those movies more, Whiplash would still have blown them out of the water. It sounds like a pretty basic premise of a drummer trying to prove his skill and the sadistic music teacher that only accepts perfection and the clash between them. But it plays this story out masterfully.
When the movie was over, I was left in a state of stunned awe. I left the theater dazed and replaying so much of it in my head. Starting my car, I realized that I was sort of catching my breath and just beginning to relax. That's when I realized just how intense of an experience this movie was. This movie is intense. It sucks you into this world and doesn't let go. You feel the pressure and stress that is going on and all the ups and downs as things go good and go bad. Perhaps, too, the fact there is so much drumming go on which affects the tempo of the soundtrack and music playing and is often done at a high rate of speed is another reason as to why my heart was pounding so fast. Whatever it was, that whole combination worked for me.
J.K. Simmons is the front runner for the Best Supporting Oscar (despite the fact Oscar nominations haven't even been made) from a lot of sources and has already won some awards and gotten other nominations for his work in this film. Personally, I think calling him a supporting actor would be like calling Mozart a supporting character in Amadeus. To me, he is a main actor. That isn't to say Miles Teller who plays the lead does poorly. He is also exceptional. It's just that J.K. Simmons character is a force in this movie. Like a good villain, you understand his motivations and you can admire and despise him in various situations. It is great work.
One thing that was unexpected for me going into the movie was that it would be a more jazzy soundtrack. My problem with jazz is that as much as I want to like it, so much of it is rather boring. What I mean by that is when I hear a good jazz song or music, it really sinks into your soul. You can just really dig it and it is the greatest sound on Earth. Unfortunately, that isn't the vast majority of jazz music. Compared to that feeling, a lot of it comes off rather plain or a bit boring and repetitive. So, with a movie about achieving greatness in music, the soundtrack reflects it and I was digging the music in this right from the beginning opening credits and on to the Whiplash song, Fletcher's piano piece and the Caravan number. This is what I think of when I think jazz.
In the end, Whiplash is a movie that reinvigorates a person about movies and cinema. It represents the amazing things that can still be achieved on screen and is a great example of how to properly use the medium. It is a movie that stayed with me all evening and then was right there with me when I woke up the next day. It's all I wanted to talk about. I had to search out other reviews and forums just to get some more discussion and thoughts on it.
It currently sits as the 4th best movie of 2014 on Rotten Tomatoes rankings (
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/top/bestofrt/?year=2014) with 96% approval both by critics and by audience members. Thus, there is a very good chance you will like it too. I went into the movie knowing next to nothing about it aside from the small story description I gave earlier and knew it was highly reviewed. I hadn't even seen a trailer for it. Thus, I don't want to get into too many specifics in an effort to let others see this movie with that same mindset of unknown potential.
The other big thing I can do to ensure enjoyment is to tell you to go see it already. I saw it two weeks ago and my enthusiasm for it has not diminished unlike a lot of other films this year. If you see this movie, you won't care about whether Marvel or Sony make Spiderman movies in the future or whether pulling The Interview was a good idea because Sony Pictures was smart enough to distribute this film. All you'll be thinking about after is why can't more movies be this good.
Topic: Rate the last movie you've seen (Read 1553243 times)
