It’s 22:26 as i’m starting to write this. i just got home from my workplace and I haven’t watched anything in 7 days since the terrible cinema experience that was The Danger in My Heart. and I decided to go with Whiplash. after watching First Man and La La Land I think it was a natural instinct to go for Whiplash. and oh boy, it deserves its fame and definitely lives up to its name. this was an intense and anxiety inducing movie. Like, can you imagine making something as 'soothing' as music this thrilling? The last movie I’ve watched that gave me this exact same feeling was Philip Barantini’s Boiling Point.

My favorite part of the movie definitely was the last part when he showed up at the JVC Jazz Festival. when he decided to give drumming a chance again after everything it had put him through, it was also the very thing he had cherished ever since his childhood too. although, the reveal that Fletcher intentionally sabotaged his performance (and likewise, any future career ever) was wild but foreseeable. and then when Andrew stepped off the stage and went back to his dad, and we can clearly hear Andrew's Dad saying "Let's go home", before Andrew has a change of heart and started playing Caravan on his own, cueing the orchestra to play while ignoring any hints from Fletcher.

To me this wasn't him resigning hismelf to the same evil that had ruined him from the inside out, it's pretty triumphant--albeit in an uncanny way. the way Andrew masters the double time swing mirrors the opening of the movie when he struggled to keep up with it. while i believe Andrew did it not for Fletcher, or anyone else, but for himself, and i think that's partly beautiful. he descended into the same madness, although this time it wasn't fueled by the desire to be recognized, but simply to burn his passion out. throughout the movie, whenever Andrew played, with or without Fletcher, his face was always accompanied by a look of stress, anger or dismissal. and it's only here that we see Andrew smiling brightly. in contrast to when the view shifts to Andrew's father in perpetual awe, disbelief and possibly a look of horror, seeing that he had lost his son again. he had fallen for the same grandiosity that Fletcher holds in high regard, while simultaneously becoming autonomous from Fletcher's grasp. did Fletcher win? did Andrew lose to Fletcher? is everything ruined? i think the only true mastermind in here was the obsession with one's passion. one last thing is that i love that Andrew's Dad is such a good comfort figure aiieee, everythnig just felt so safe when he's on screen, such a good dad. even if he's a coward at times and unable to stand up for himself, let alone his son :<

Performance wise, J.K. Simmons absolutely killed and carried this movie. Although Miles Teller was definitely amazing too in portraying someone who began to blur the line between his passion for music and his desire for the “acceptance” of someone he highly regarded, or perhaps someone who saw 'potential' in him (and for actually playing the drums himself, which was insane). A very good movie with hilarious lines for the most part, while being appropriately exhilarating and sentimental at times. It definitely made my boring thursday better!!