Cool? Good, let's get this show on the road.
I realized a little bit ago that the final three films on this countdown all have a common thread, and that is that they pose a question: How far would you go in order to be the best, and what or who would you sacrifice along the way?
#3 Whiplash
Our first study in this question puts the uber-talented Miles Teller front and center as Andrew Neiman. a student at an ultra competitive, Juliard or Berklee-like music conservatory called Shaffer in New York City. He is a jazz student, who, other than the occasional movie with his dad (Paul Reiser), focuses all of his energy on playing drums. When a spot opens up in conductor Terence Fletcher's (J.K. Simmons) studio band, he sees firsthand just how demanding he is; on the first day of rehearsal, he hurls a chair at him for tempo issues (see link above). From that point forward, it's mindgames galore between the two. The more he builds Andrew up, the more he breaks him back down. What does Andrew Neiman sacrifice, all in all? His girlfriend Nicole (Melissa Benoist), for one, who he dumps while citing "not having enough time". Also, his sanity, his physical well-being (at one point he ends up nearly getting killed, won't spoil how) and his reputation, all to be the golden boy in the eyes of Fletcher. Things spiral a little bit out of control after a performance and things from Fletcher's past come to the forefront, all building toward a totally thrilling confusion.
In terms of style, Whiplash is a movie of "'ics". Frenetic. Hectic. Eccentric. Manic. Cathartic. Damien Chazelle's studio debut is full of incredible musicians and flashy lights and a plenty of anxious suspense. I know people who got physically sick from this movie, and it doesn't surprise me in the least. The back and forth between Teller and Simmons is nothing short of sociopathy on both ends, and I couldn't get enough.
#2 Nightcrawler
I make no bones about the fact that Jake Gyllenhaal had me at Darko. His career has always been about taking chances, and he has never strayed away from the dark and unusual as the suicidal boyfriend ( The Good Girl), the gay cowboy in a straight world (Brokeback Mountain), sleepless cops both paid and amateur (Zodiac, End of Watch, Prisoners) and doppelganger (Enemy). I'm not saying he didn't do Prince of Persia and Bubble Boy, but as a whole, he picks the right projects.
In Nightcrawler, his mentality falls somewhere "on the spectrum" as we say in the education business, meaning the spectrum of autism. With his character, Lou Bloom, it's probably an adult form of asperger's (and trust me, I don't mean to make light of this). We first meet him as a grifter and loner, doing odd jobs like stealing pieces of fence to sell to construction sites. After the sale, he happens to see a car on fire and talks to Joe Loder (Bill Paxton), a cameraman collecting footage for local news stations. He wants to join his team, but Loder says no. Looking to start his own "nightcrawling" enterprise, he steals a bike on the beach and sells it for the money to buy a camera and a police scanner. Lou gets great footage of a man fatally shot, and goes in the wee hours of the morning to channel 6, getting news director Nina (Rene' Russo) to buy the footage. He becomes addicted, hiring an assistant to handle directions around the L.A. metro, Rick (Riz Ahmed, who's criminally underrated), who gets $30 as an "intern". Lou, and by default Rick, will slash and burn everything in their path to become the top nightcrawlers in the city. They catch a big break shortly thereafter, and it comes at a huge price.
Written and directed by Dan Gilroy (real-life husband of Rene' Russo), a veteran screenwriter making his debut behind the camera, the movie's tone is dark, gritty and surreal, with great night shots of the sprawling L.A. landscape. Gyllenhaal takes a twisted role to the next level, keeping his fast-speaking, calculated, emotionless tone from the opening to the credits. An outstanding thriller--I was grinning practically the entire time.
Next...#1!
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