WHIPLASH Screening Fri 3rd July





Pics and Flicks
is
proud to present




An ambitious young drummer (Miles Teller) at a prestigious music academy clashes with a hard-driving instructor (J.K. Simmons) in this sizzling drama that is already one of the year’s most talked-about films.
"There are no two words more harmful than 'good job.'" This sentiment — spoken by a music teacher to a young student — sows the seeds of a harsh tutelage in Whiplash, a cautionary tale about the pursuit of excellence.
In his second feature film, writer-director Damien Chazelle pits revered and feared jazz conservatory instructor Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) against drumming prodigy Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller). Vying for a core position in Fletcher's elite ensemble, and aspiring to no less than greatness, Neyman will do anything to secure first chair. Before long, reason is abandoned and civility deserted, and the blistered and bleeding Neyman succumbs to Fletcher's abusive teaching techniques. But Neyman has a couple of surprises up his sleeve, and things will get progressively nastier — both on and off the stage — before their scorching musical showdown.
Teller and Simmons fairly leap off the screen with arresting physicality. Their performative rhythms mesh with Chazelle's stylish, syncopated directing to suffuse the film with an anxious energy that will keep audiences on the edge of their seats, while Tom Cross's staccato editing makes the film play like its own brilliant piece of music.
Winner of both the US Grand Jury and Audience Awards at 2014 Sundance Film Festival, Whiplash announces Chazelle as one of the most exciting talents to emerge from the US in recent years. At once fierce and precise, the film begs the question: how far would you go to achieve perfection?
CAMERON BAILEY for Toronto Film Festival 2014

Film Information

Director(s): Damien Chazelle
Country: USA
Year: 2014
Language: English
Runtime: 106 minutes
Rating: 14A

Cast & Credits

Executive Producer: Jason Reitman, Jeanette Brill, Couper Samuleson, Gary Michael Walters
Producer: Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook, David Lancaster, Michael Litvak
Production Company: Right of Way Films
Principal Cast: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, Melissa Benoist, Paul Reiser, Austin Stowell, Nate Lang, Max Kasch, Damon Gupton
Screenplay: Damien Chazelle
Cinematographer: Sharone Meir
Editor: Tom Cross
Production Designer: Melanie Paizis-Jones

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ONE FINE MORNING 3rd May 2024

Image
  Sandra (Seydoux) lives in a small apartment in Paris with her eight-year-old daughter. Her parents have long separated, and Sandra regularly visits her father, Georg (Pascal Greggory), an academic whose health has begun to deteriorate.  Whilst she and her strong-willed mother (Nicole Garcia) struggle to agree on finding Georg a safe place to live, Sandra unexpectedly reconnects with an old friend, Clément (Melvil Poupaud). A passionate relationship begins to form, but not without repercussions. Hansen-Løve,  so finely observant of the small nuances of human interaction,  weaves autobiographical elements into this delicate and heartfelt story of familial and romantic connections, and finding strength against challenging odds. Seydoux is radiant as her lead, bringing tremendous warmth and empathy to her role and the film as a whole. Enthusiastically embraced by both critics and audiences as one of the best films of the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, ONE FINE MORNING is, ...
Read more

REDEMPTION OF A ROGUE 2nd February 2024

Image
  The exhilarating, Bible-inspired, pitch-black comedy 'Redemption of a Rogue' centers on a prodigal son returning to his rural Ireland hometown to seek redemption for his sins.  It’s been seven years since Jimmy Cullen (Aaron Monaghan) set foot in (the fictional) Ballylough, a godforsaken spot of near-perpetual rain. Back then, he departed in disgrace, leaving behind younger brother Damien (Kieran Roche), a brutal father who raised them with his fists (Hugh O’Brien) and embittered, onetime girlfriend Patricia (Liz Fitzgibbon). Helmer Doherty cleverly doles out information about Jimmy’s shameful past in the form of flashbacks in a 16mm format that reveal his wrongdoings. Amusingly, although these episodes show events from years ago, he’s still pictured as his current bearded, battered, adult self. Forced by the terms of his deceased father’s will to hang around Ballylough until the rain stops and the old man can be buried, Jimmy suffers through a personal purgatory of suicidal...
Read more

EVERYBODY HATES JOHAN 1st March 2024

Image
  Everybody Hates Johan  is a Norwegian comedy of charm and wisdom. The setting is a small barren island, far from most other Norwegians. The gross regional product appears to be wind. How the people make a living is a mystery, as we see no fishing boats. The weather has not made everyone kind: in fact, they mostly enjoy baiting each other, especially Johan and his family. By the time Johan is about five, he is an orphan, cared for by his aunt and uncle. His only friend is the girl next door, Solvor. Their love affair will run long but not smooth, through more thick than thin. The adult Johan just adores lighting sticks of dynamite and lobbing them into the nearby bogs. No wonder the neighbours hate him. It’s hard to describe the charm of this small but clamorous film. The beauty of the setting contrasts with the puny side of the people. Nature has not ennobled them. Johan is the constant victim of awful behaviour, which makes sure we are always on his side. The...
Read more