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Whiplash, the movie

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by hondo, May 30, 2016.

  1. hondo

    hondo Well-Known Member

    Missed this a couple of years ago but apparently it had a limited release. Saw it on cable. Great piece of acting by all concerned, especially J.K. Simmons as the psycho music professor. Anyone else see it? Thoughts?

    I'm a huge jazz buff so I though the music was great. Although the kid idolized Buddy Rich, the movie paid some homage to the Gene Krupa movie with Sal Mineo, with the kids dropping his stick during a performance, the movie ending on a kick-ass drum solo and the overhead shot fading out.

    That said, the movie stretched credulity with the kids in the band putting up with the physical, verbal and psychological abuse from the Simmons character, even if they thought being in his studio band would lead to better things down the road. If this had happened in real life, Snowflake Generation and its parents would have hardly put up with a guy throwing chairs at them, slapping them and throwing homophobic slurs around. He would have lasted one day before getting fired/arrested.

    But the character had one good moment in this regard when he said two of the world's worst words are "Good job."

    Looking forward so seeing the upcoming jazz bio-pics on Miles Davis and Nina Simone.
     
  2. JakeandElwood

    JakeandElwood Well-Known Member

    I thought it was the best movie of the year it came out, absolutely loved it.
     
  3. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    Loved it. Simmons kinda played a different version of his Schilinger character from Oz, but that's OK. When you think back on the movie, it strains credulity. But in the moment, it's great .. especially that final scene. I was bopping along in my seat, and I don't care for jazz.
     
  4. hondo

    hondo Well-Known Member

    I also noticed in the movie the the professor never pulled his abuse shit with a black kid in the band.
     
  5. HC

    HC Well-Known Member

    I've been avoiding this movie because the response has been so uniformly negative from every working musician I know. I suppose I'm going to have to find out for myself and balance my abhorrence of the idea that you have to torture 'greatness' out of musicians against my love for J.K. Simmons.
     
  6. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    It's in my DVR. Looking forward to watching it.

    I was disappointed at the end of Birdman, so I hope this is a bit better.
     
  7. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    The endings of Birdman and Whiplash almost make Whiplash the better movie ... almost.
     
  8. qtlaw

    qtlaw Well-Known Member

    Fantastic movie for the intensity it brought. Miles Teller was just as good as JK Simmons IMHO.
     
  9. Double Down

    Double Down Well-Known Member

  10. Human_Paraquat

    Human_Paraquat Well-Known Member

    Seconded. Simmons is fantastic. So is the music, and I'm only casually a jazz appreciator.
     
  11. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    I loved 'Whiplash,' but I never suffered any illusion that it was an attempt to accurately depict the experience of attending music school.
     
  12. 3_Octave_Fart

    3_Octave_Fart Well-Known Member

    It is a fantastic movie that nails the experience of being in a highly pressurized environment where you are expected to perform at a peak level.
    It was also made for about three million bucks and made close to 20 million, so it is truly one of the tightest flicks ever made.
     
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