Whiplash

I actually watched this a while ago (not long after La La Land came out and reminded me that I'd been meaning to check out Whiplash), but didn't post about it. It's a movie that really stuck with me, though, which is kind of amazing considering how light on plot it is.

Basically, Whiplash is 90 minutes of J.K. Simmons verbally abusing Miles Teller, so it's hard to explain why it's so engaging. (If you don't know the plot at all, Teller plays a young drummer, and Simmons is a hardass music director who pushes him to -- and maybe past -- the limit in an effort to mold him into a truly great musician.) I had the movie described as being incredibly stressful to watch, but I didn't find it stressful; I found it oddly exhilerating. It felt like the runtime just breezed by. The cast is fantastic, which is probably a huge part of it. Teller is very good, but Simmons definitely earned his Best Supporting Actor Oscar. He makes Fletcher charismatic, intimidating, honestly kind of scary, but nonetheless human. Also he's weirdly hot. I never found him hot before. WTF, J.K. Simmons, you're in your sixties, why do you have such sexy arms?

Erm, I digress. Supergirl's Melissa Benoist also has a small-but-important role as a girl the main character has a crush on; it took me a minute to figure out where I recognized her from, but then she smiled, and I went "Oh, it's Kara!"

Anyway, I really loved it, though I don't think it's going to appeal to everyone. If you like light-on-plot character study type movies with great acting, and don't want to be spoonfed how to feel abotu what's happening onscreen, definitely give it a look.