14 WHIPLASH 2016

FULL METAL RACKET

EXPECTATION Hopeful, for those in the know: Damien Chazelle’s 2009 debut Guy And Madeline On A Park Bench showed real promise, and the 2013 short Whiplash snapped like a snare drum with its blitzkrieg edits.

OMG How could a film set in a music conservatory be this brutal? Just watching Miles Teller pound the skins as a bug-eyed J.K. Simmons bellowed instructions was enough to work up a sweat.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT The raves and awards (including three Oscars) allowed Chazelle to revive a little movie he’d conceptualised while at Harvard. It was called La La Land. “Not quite my tempo.”

Dane DeHaan turned down the lead.