Whiplash

🔥 1st Watch | Top 100 I felt alive when watching this movie. It is extremely rare for films about music to distinguish themselves because they are all so alike not just from a story-perspective (that aspect is kind of inevitable) but rather from a filmmaking perspective. First of all, J.K. Simmons did phenomenal in this film and his acting definitely deserved an Oscar for best supporting actor. He had one of my favorite performances ever and his character is among the most unique I've ever seen. It's pretty clear that Fletcher acts as the antagonist; always creating self-doubt in Andrew, having no tolerance for even the slightest mistake, and also (SPOILERS) near the end. However, despite Fletcher being the antagonist, it was still hard to actually hate him and his character because deep down we all know that he wasn't trying to hurt Andrew, but he was rather just trying to make him better. Fletcher always described how the successful ones are the ones who never quit no matter what, and that was what Fletcher was trying to evoke out of Andrew. Fletcher only realized that his methods worked until the very end when he defied Fletcher's expectations and gave us one of my favorite scenes ever. In addition to J.K. Simmons' acting, he was also given a remarkable script in which every line that came out of his mouth was not just amazing, but suitable. Whiplash had a great screenplay, especially when it came to Fletcher's dialogue and character. Furthermore, the cinematography of Whiplash was perfection. During drumming scenes, the shots were sharp and quick, mirroring the speed and complexity of the drumming itself. Combining that with fast camera movement, the cinematography felt like the music, and since the soundtrack in Whiplash was electrifying — especially at the end — the cinematography felt electrifying too. When you combine all of these elements (with many more I didn't mention), you get a masterpiece beyond reckoning. This is easily my favorite music film of all time, and with amazing directing from Chazelle, this film definitely deserves every ounce of praise it has gotten and will get in the future.