Reviewing the Drama: Broadway, Off-Broadway, Ballet, Movies, and TV Reviews

The 87th Academy Award nominations were announced today! Without any further ado, here are the nominees: Best Picture American Sniper Birdman Boyhood The Grand Budapest Hotel The Imitation Game Selma The Theory of Everything Whiplash   I'm glad to see The Grand Budapest Hotel on here, even though I think this race comes down to Boyhood and Birdman . (However, Hotel does have several nominations in the design and other technical categories, even though it did not receive any acting nominations. It's not a runaway for Boyhood or Birdman .) With room for ten nominees, though, the Academy only chose eight nominees, leaving off worthy contenders, like Nightcrawler and Into the Woods. Also note that Interstellar is not on this list, either. Making the list is American Sniper . If you scroll through the nominations, it appears the Academy liked this quite a bit. Best Actor in a Leading Role Steve Carell , Foxcatcher Bradley Cooper , American Sniper  Bened...

People have said you need to bleed for your art, and other "helpful" advice speaks of the blood, sweat and tears needed to achieve glory. Writer and director Damien Chazelle puts such "wisdom" into action in his fantastic feature film, Whiplash . Miles Teller ( The Spectacular Now ) plays Andrew, a drummer in his first year at a conservatory in New York. Andrew is a passionate musician who hasn't reached his full potential. While Andrew is practicing after hours, Fletcher ( J.K. Simmons ), a teacher at the conservatory, discovers him, and invites Andrew to join the Studio Band, an elite group of musicians overseen by Fletcher. Simmons (whom you'll recognize from just about everything, including Up in the Air and Juno ) gives a fascinating performance as a character that is obsessive about achieving excellence. He likes to tell of how Charlie Parker became "Bird": Jo Jones threw a cymbal at Parker after Parker couldn't keep up with Jon...