Whiplash
Film Review by Kam Williams
19 year-old Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller) got more than he bargained for when he entered the hallowed halls of mythical Shaffer Conservatory. The promising prodigy had reasonably expected what was arguably the best music school in the entire country to be the ideal place to pursue his ambition of a glorious career as a jazz drummer.
But, from the first day of class, he ends up under the thumb of Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), an impatient perfectionist with a twisted teaching method. This Machiavellian professor’s approach involves not only belittling his students but pitting them against one another by making them compete for spots in the school’s elite performance band.
In Andrew’s case, he has to contend for the coveted drummer’s chair with both an upperclassman (Nate Lang) and a fellow newcomer (Austin Stowell). Meanwhile, he finds himself having to duck chairs being thrown at his head while simultaneously being called everything from a “retard” to a “pansy ass” to a “tonal catastrophe” by a taskmaster who rationalizes the abuse on the tough love theory that his job is “to push people beyond what was expected of them.”
A perverse relationship evolves in which Andrew willingly breaks up with his patient girlfriend (Melissa Benoist) and surrenders any semblance of a social life in order to “Practice! Practice! Practice!” for the sake of his Svengali-like coach. However, such a narrow, self-negating path gradually takes a toll on his body and soul, as evidenced by bloody, calloused hands and ensuing bouts of depression.
Written and directed by Damien Chazelle (Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench), Whiplash is a wonderfully-electrifying drama very much akin to an overcoming-the-odds sports saga. Yet, it might be better thought of as a novel variation on the protégé-mentor theme typified by such relatively benign offerings as The Emperor’s Club, Dead Poets Society and Mr. Holland’s Opus.
The groundbreaking adventure has already generated considerable Academy Award buzz, thanks to universal critical and popular acclaim. Look for veteran thespian J.K. Simmons to land a well-deserved nomination at the very least, but don’t be surprised if his co-star Teller and up-and-coming director to be reckoned with Chazelle are invited to Oscar night, too.
A compelling, coming-of-age tale about a lifelong dream-turned-neverending nightmare, all because of a sadistic studio bandleader from Hell!
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated R for profanity and some sexual references
Running time: 107 minutes
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
To see a trailer for Whiplash, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d_jQycdQGo
Beyond the Lights
Film Review by Kam Williams
Noni (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) has it all, or so it seems. After years of trying to make it, the emerging pop singer is finally on the brink of superstardom, thanks to several hit singles she recently released, duets with her famous rapper boyfriend, Kid Culprit (Machine Gun Kelly).
Nevertheless, when we meet Noni in the midst of a whirlwind tour of appearances on award shows, she’s secretly miserable and seriously considering suicide. That’s because every step of her assault on showbiz has been dictated by her abusive mother, Macy (Minnie Driver), the proverbial stage-mom from Hell.
Noni no longer recognizes her real self in the mirror underneath the purple hair extensions, the provocative wardrobe, and the phony smile that masks the hard cold truth about a vulnerable soul at the end of her rope. Then, just as she’s set to launch herself from the balcony of a penthouse suite at the posh Beverly Hills Hotel, fate intervenes in the person of Kaz (Nate Parker), the quick-thinking LAPD officer assigned to protect her from the paparazzi and overzealous fans.
Springing into action, he grabs an arm and pulls Noni back over the rail. Now that she has been afforded a second chance at life, one can’t help but wonder whether she’ll wise up and declare her independence from her miserable misanthrope of a mother? Or, will she notice that the right man for her might be the handsome hunk with bulging biceps who saved the day, even if he’s not a rich celebrity like the unreliable bad-boy she’s currently dating?
These are the foremost questions subsequently explored by Beyond the Lights, a steamy romantic romp written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Secret Life of Bees and Love & Basketball). Don’t be duped into thinking that you’ve seen this same story somewhere before, given how the plot is vaguely reminiscent of Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner’s The Bodyguard (1992).
Beyond the Lights unfolds in a unique fashion all its own. This amorous tale of female empowerment might be better thought of as an engaging blend of hip-hop performances and soap opera drama that’s at its best when leads Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Nate Parker generate beaucoup chemistry while sharing the screen.
Love in the time of hip-hopera!
Very Good (3 stars)
Rated PG-13 for sexuality, profanity, suggestive gestures, partial nudity and matures themes
Running time: 116 minutes
Distributor: Relativity Media
To see a trailer for Beyond the Lights, visit:
Sex Ed
Film Review by Kam Williams
Eddie Cole (Haley Joel Osment) is one, long-suffering virgin. The terminally-awkward nerd never got lucky in high school, despite performing in the jazz band, since he picked probably the least cool instrument to play, namely, the oboe. And the aspiring educator fared no better with females in college, ultimately graduating still desperate for deflowering.
Today, he lives in the Tampa area where he frequently finds himself forced to watch couples cavort amorously, like the kinky customers begging him to let them copulate in the bagel store where he works as a clerk. There’s no relief for the loser at lust at home either, where he catches his roommate (Jake Powell) in a compromising position with a cute conquest (Castille Landon).
At least Eddie’s job prospects improve when he’s offered a position at an inner-city junior high school. The only trouble is he’ll be teaching Sex Education, a subject he obviously knows nothing about. Worse, half the kids in his class prove to be pretty precocious in terms of the birds and bees, especially class clown Leon (Isaac White), a trash-talking troublemaker whose minister father (Chris Williams) has to be summoned to wash his son’s mouth out with soap.
The situation’s only saving grace rests in the fact that Eddie develops a crush from afar on Pilar (Lorenza Izzo), the elder sister of one of his students (Kevin Hernandez). The complication there, however, is that the pretty Latina already has a mucho macho buff beau in the very jealous Hector (Ray Santiago).
That is the pat premise of Sex Ed, a romantic comedy designed to keep you guessing whether Eddie will ever be able to summon up the gumption to tell Pilar his true feelings for her. Written by Bill Kennedy and directed by Isaac Feder, the film is basically a vehicle for all-grown Haley Joel Osment, the former child star famous for making “I see dead people” a cultural catchphrase.
In The Sixth Sense, he also played a character called Cole, albeit it’s his surname this go-round. Brace yourself to hear him use some surprisingly salty language in service of a production which would’ve warranted an R, had it been rated by the MPAA.
A pedestrian, raunchy romp just amusing enough to recommend, though nothing groundbreaking. The only thing this titillating teensploit is missing is Haley Joel Osment periodically whispering, “I see horny people!”
Very Good (2.5 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 92 minutes
Distributor: MarVista Entertainment
To see a trailer for Sex Ed, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-lauONf9F4
Nightcrawler
Film Review by Kam Williams
Petty thief Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) was eking out a living selling stolen scrap metal to junkyards until the day he stumbled upon a legitimate line of work when he pulled over to assist a driver trapped in a fiery car crash. There, he was surprised to find ghoulish freelance journalists flocking to the scene with the hope of shooting graphic video footage to sell to network television stations.
He quietly observed them in action before asking a forthcoming reporter probing questions about what the job entailed. A quick learner, after listening intently, Lou visited a pawn shop to purchase a camcorder and police scanner, the only tools essential to enter the business, besides the car he already had.
The next thing you know, he’s roaming around the streets of Los Angeles, joining the cutthroat competition to be the first to arrive in the aftermath of the next gruesome murder or highway pileup. Understanding the TV news credo, “If it bleeds, it leads,” he starts picking which emergency calls to pursue based on their potential for providing the sort of visually-captivating pictures popular with viewers.
Upon meeting with a little early success, he soon hires a homeless dude (Rick Garcia) as his navigator. More importantly, he develops a mutually-beneficial relationship with Nina Romina (Rene Russo), veteran news director at Channel 6, the local station with the lowest ratings. Lou’s uncanny ability to get grisly shots conveniently coincides with Nina and KWLA’s desperate need to attract a wider audience.
Thus unfolds Nightcrawler, a combination character portrait/riveting thriller marking the noteworthy directorial debut of Dan Gilroy. Jake Gyllenhaal is better than ever here in the title role, eclipsing both his brilliant outing just last year in Prisoners as well as his Oscar-nominated performance in Brokeback Mountain.
As this film further unfolds, the plot thickens considerably when Lou opts to make news rather than merely cover it. For, the potential financial rewards become so tempting that he begins to orchestrate events for the sake of the almighty dollar. Worse, his benefactor Nina proves willing to look the other way in the face of mounting evidence that her star stringer might be crossing an ethical line.
A sobering cautionary tale suggesting that you reflect upon all the motivations of a news source before swallowing the veracity of a story, hook, line and sinker.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated R for violence, profanity and graphic images
Running time: 117 minutes
Distributor: Open Road Films
To see a trailer for Nightcrawler, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1uP_8VJkDQ
Haley Joel Osment
The “Sex Ed” Interview
with Kam Williams
I See Haley, People!
Haley Joel Osment skyrocketed to fame at the age of 11 with his unforgettable, Academy Award-nominated performance in M. Night Shyamalan’s ghost thriller, The Sixth Sense. His portrayal of Cole, the little boy who uttered the iconic line, "I see dead people," left an indelible impact on audiences, as the picture grossed over $672 million worldwide.
In 2000, Osment went on to co-star alongside Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt in the Warner Brothers drama Pay It Forward. And a year later, he starred opposite Jude Law in Steven Spielberg’s 2001 sci-fi drama, A.I. which earned over $235 million worldwide.
Here, he talks about his life and career, and about his upcoming movie, a comedy called Sex Ed.
Kam Williams: Hi Haley, thanks for the interview.
Haley Joel Osment: Hey, how’s it going, Kam?
KW: Great! I really enjoyed Sex Ed. Before we start, I just wanted to say that I think you and my son have some mutual friends. He’s your age and went to Princeton. He said you were on a campus a lot when he was there.
HJO: Yeah, one of my closest friends went to Princeton, so I would come out to visit him occasionally, which was kinda nice because it was such a short train ride away from New York City. It was always great to get out to a non-urban environment.
KW: I’ll be mixing my own questions in with some from readers. Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How did attending the Tisch School at NYU help you prepare for your adult career in film and theater? Is going to college something you would recommend to other child stars?
HJO: I think college is a good idea for most everybody, but it depends on the person and on what you want to be doing when you turn 18, whether you want to go away to school or if acting’s something you want to jump on immediately.
KW: Harriet also asks: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?
HJO: No, I would like to see more original films than remakes at this time. [Laughs]
KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: What interested you in Sex Ed?
HJO: It’s a film that [director] Isaac [Feder] and [screenwriter] Bill [Kennedy] have been trying to make since about 2007. I loved the script when I first read it in 2010, a funny fish-out-of-water comedy. Over the next four years we had a couple of near misses trying to get it made. Then, out of the blue, we got some money to shoot the movie in Florida, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise, since the location added a lot of flavor to the film.
KW: Irene also asks: What do you want people to get from your performance? Are you trying with this comedic turn here to get out from under the shadow of your iconic performance in The Sixth Sense?
HJO: I’m always just interested in whatever the best scripts are. This was just a bit of fortunate, coincidental timing. I really enjoy doing comedies, although I didn’t get to do a lot of them as a kid. I was on some network sitcoms. But it’s a really fertile time for comedy right now on a variety of platforms.
KW: Did you base your character, Ed Cole, on anybody?
HJO: Not on anyone in particular. He was originally based on a friend of Isaac and Bill’s who had been teaching English in Korea. But I never met that person, and wanted to create Ed from the ground up as his own man.
KW: What message do you think people will take away from the film?
HJO: Well, we didn’t set out to make a polemic. Where we sort of land is a mixture of respect for those parents who know what they want their children’s sex education to be like, and the reality that the information should be available for other kids whose parents are unable to inform them about the subject.
KW: Aaron Moyne asks: At what age will you tell your kids about the proverbial birds and the bees?
HJO: Oh gosh, I don’t know. Kids are, at the very least, a long way off for me. I don’t know that there’s a set age. I guess it depends on the maturity level.
KW: Sangeetha Subramanian asks: How do you cope with those hard days on the set?
HJO: It can be grueling, particularly with an independent film like Sex Ed, when you have really long work days because you’re shooting the whole film in a short amount of time. It can get a bit tiring when you’re in virtually every shot of every scene. But having done some theater in New York, where you have to keep yourself fresh for eight performance a week, helps with endurance and keeping your energy up.
KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden asks: Aside from your own work, what are you enjoying watching nowadays?
HJO: Well it’s a great time for television, along with Amazon Prime, HBO Go, and other ways we catch our shows. ! I’m a big fan of Veep, Game of Thrones, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Breaking Bad, which ended last year. As far as movies, I’m excited about Inherent Vice which opens in December, and I’m also looking forward to seeing Birdman which is supposed to be pretty cool.
KW: Grace was also wondering whether there are any particular actors or directors you have not worked with yet but would like to?
HJO: Certainly, Paul Thomas Anderson, in terms of directors. I’m a big fan of all his films. When it comes to actors, it’s hard to pick just one.
KW: Finally, Grace says: Early acting success often leads to a distorted perception of what a good life is. Do you feel you learned any important life lessons in this regard from your own early success in movies and television?
HJO: I think one thing that was really important, particularly in this industry which is so unpredictable and changing in profound ways, and I guess is contracting on the film side, was never to expect that it would always be a boom time. I was really lucky to be in such high-profile movies early in my career. But part of the reason for going to college was to make sure that my motivation for being in the industry was to do quality work, and not to be counting on giant blockbusters. In that regard, I am prepared for whatever the future holds.
KW: What was it like to be nominated for an Oscar at 11 years of age?
HJO: The Academy Awards season was crazy! But what was kinda nice and reassuring was how Steven Spielberg warned me about two months before Oscar night that the best part of the experience would be how all these famous people would be nervously running around trying to meet each other during commercial breaks in the telecast. He was absolutely right about that. It was cool to see that everybody else was also in this excited place.
KW: Have you ever had a near-death experience?
HJO: No, and I hope that good fortune continues.
KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?
HJO: No, Kam, I’ve been doing press for so long that I’ve heard it all.
KW: Would you mind saying something controversial that would get this interview tweeted?
HJO: [LOL] No, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised that the subject-matter of Sex Ed hasn’t ruffled any feathers so far.
KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?
HJO: I’m in the middle of “The Shadow of Great Rock” by Harold Bloom. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0300166834/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20
And I just finished “The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus” by Richard Preston. Getting more information about Ebola did sort of help quell my panic.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385479565/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20
KW: I know Richard. He lives nearby, and I interviewed him about “The Hot Zone” back then.
HJO: Oh, that’s right! He’s a Princeton guy. Well, it’s an interesting book to read now. All the science behind it is fascinating, from the standpoint of doctors who had no idea what it was they were dealing with during the initial outbreak.
KW: What’s was just as interesting as “The Hot Zone” was that at least five years before 9/11 he confided in me that the FBI was very worried about a possible terrorist attack by Islamic fundamentalists with a weapon of mass destruction. The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to?
HJO: I just got Ty Segall’s new CD, “Manipulator.” I’m a really big fan of that album.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00KUIV2OK/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20
KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?
HJO: That’s a tough one. One of my closest friends has a big backyard in Brooklyn. We like to grill brisket for hours and hours on Sundays for the football games. I’ve also been trying to perfect a really simple marinara sauce with good quality tomatoes you can find in the city.
KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?
HJO: I don’t know… I can’t think of a creative response to that one. [Chuckles]
KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?
HJO: To put an end to the Ebola outbreak.
KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?
HJO: My mom playing kids’ books on tapes for me as I was falling asleep in the crib.
KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?
HJO: Part of the reason I enjoy doing press is because I don’t have to modulate my personality too much. I think I just speak louder on carpet, which is important when you’re doing interviews. [Laughs]
KW: The Judyth Piazza question: Is there a key quality you believe all successful people share?
HJO: I think curiosity and open-mindedness are important in our business. But success is a hard thing to predict or pin down.
KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?
HJO: I’d say, just make sure that the work is your primary interest. It’s a really tough industry. I know a lot of really talented, good people who don’t succeed. So, I’d say find a way to do your craft in a way which satisfies you, and let the rest of the stuff, the success and recognition, come as a bonus.
KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?
HJO: For a wide variety of roles over a great many years.
KW: And finally, what’s in YOUR wallet?
HJO: [Laughs] A post-it note with my “To Do” list.
KW: Thanks again for the time, Haley, and best of luck with Sex Ed.
HJO: Thanks a lot, Kam. It was nice talking to you.
To see a trailer for Sex Ed, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-lauONf9F4