September Film Club

Hey everybody!

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it out for our Summer Film Series!  We had some real great turnouts, great food and great movies, just "great" all around!

Before we get into our next special program in October, we will briefly return to the regular format of one film on the 3rd Thursday.  So, for this month, I thought we would revisit the filmography of Damien Chazelle by watching his breakout film, Whiplash.

Whiplash is a 2014 American drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle.  It depicts the relationship between an ambitious jazz drumming student (Miles Teller) and an abusive instructor (J. K. Simmons).  Paul Reiser and Melissa Benoist co-star.  The film grossed $49 million on a budget of $3.3 million, and received widespread critical acclaim, with particular praise for Simmons' performance and Chazelle's screenplay.  At the 87th Academy Awards, it won Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Supporting Actor for Simmons and was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture.  The film currently holds a 93% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Brian Tallerico, writing for Rogerebert.com, gave the film 4/4 stars saying this in his review, "Whiplash is cinematic adrenaline.  In an era when so many films feel more refined by focus groups or marketing managers, it is a deeply personal and vibrantly alive drama.  Damien Chazelle has taken a relatively staid subject like the relationship between a music student and his teacher and turned it into a thriller built on a brilliant undercurrent of social commentary about what it takes to make it in an increasingly competitive and cutthroat world.  How far are you willing to push yourself to succeed?  How far are you willing to push someone else to force them on the path to success?  Carried by two electric performances, the tightest editing in a film this year and a daring screenplay that writes itself into a corner and then somehow finds an unexpected way out, Whiplash is as breathless as a drum solo, rising and falling just as the hopes and dreams of its protagonist climb and crash."

We will be meeting Thursday, Sept. 19th at 6:15pm.  I hope you can make it out for this fantastic film!

Here's the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d_jQycdQGo