ALL PASSES HAVE BEEN CLAIMED. THIS OFFER IS CLOSED.

CliqueClack has partnered with Universal Pictures to offer readers in Boston and Hartford an opportunity to attend an advance screening of the new action film Furious 7 starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Elsa Pataky, Lucas Black, Djimon Hounsou, Tony Jaa, Ronda Rousey, Nathalie Emmanuel, with Kurt Russell and Jason Statham.

Continuing the global exploits in the unstoppable franchise built on speed, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson lead the returning cast of Furious 7. James Wan directs this chapter of the hugely successful series.

The screening will take place Tuesday, March 31, 7:00 PM at AMC Boston Common and AMC Plainville.

Passes will be available on a first come, first served basis. To be eligible, please read and follow the directions CAREFULLY. There will be no exceptions.

• Comment on this post ONLY with HARTFORD. All Boston passes have been claimed. Do not include anything else in the comment box. If you make a mistake, do not edit your comment because it will not register. You must submit a new comment.
• Include your FULL NAME (First and Last) and email address on the entry form (NOT in the comment box!). Double check your email address before submitting. If your email address is misspelled, you will not receive passes.
• ONE entry per person or couple will be accepted. CliqueClack has the right to discard any duplicates or comments that appear to be duplicates. Multiple comments from a single person will result in complete disqualification. Keep these offers fair for everyone!
• Winners will be contacted by email and will receive ONE ADMIT TWO pass. Please make sure to set your filters to accept email from @cliqueclack.com.
• Check your calendar before commenting. If you have no intention of using the passes, please don’t leave a comment. If the studios see that passes we are given to award to our readers are not being used, they will not want to offer us passes for future screenings. Please be considerate!

Please note that passes do not guarantee seats at the screening. Seating is first come, first served so plan to arrive early. CliqueClack has no control over the total number of passes distributed, and is not responsible for seating arrangements at the theater.

Seventh Son is rated PG-13 for prolonged frenetic sequences of violence, action and mayhem, suggestive content and brief strong language. The movie opens Friday, April 3.

Unless you’ve lived under a rock or have lived a very sheltered life, you probably know that Walt Disney became the king of animated films when he first released Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937. A hit, the film led to more classic fairy tales and children’s stories being brought to life through the wonders of animation.

In 1950, Walt Disney Productions brought Cinderella to the big screen and the film has charmed audiences ever since. Now Disney has gotten into the business of remaking its classic animated films, past and present, as live action extravaganzas. Last year’s Maleficent, based on Sleeping Beauty‘s grand villainess, was a monster success and more remakes — Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book — are in the works (and let’s not forget Disney did remake 101 Dalmations several years ago). For now, we have Disney’s Cinderella brought to magical life.

You probably know the story: young orphan is treated badly by her stepmother and stepsisters, basically treated like the help instead of family, she meets a prince in the forest, he is smitten and holds a ball to which everyone is invited, she arrives with the help of her Fairy Godmother, clock strikes midnight, she must run, loses a shoe and he takes the shoe (a glass slipper) throughout the kingdom to find its owner. And, of course, they live happily ever after. Spoiler alert?

The 1950 version followed that plot and the 2015 version is extremely and thankfully faithful to its source material. There’s been no attempt to modernize the story, although you’d be hard-pressed to pinpoint an exact time period (but there are no cars) which helps make the film and the story timeless.

Lily James, better known as Lady Rose MacClare on Downton Abbey, is simply wonderful as Ella (the Cinder part is attached to her after she is forced to work in the kitchen). She radiates innocence and purity and love and happiness, she’s pretty but not beautiful, she gives Ella a nice down-to-earth charm that should be a good role model for young girls. Even in her darkest moments of being emotionally bullied by her step-family, she remains true to herself and never wallows in her own self pity. Once she’s transformed and knows the prince wants to marry her, she still retains that charm that had been instilled in her from childhood. James makes Cinderella someone to really root for.

On the other hand, you have the deliciously evil Stepmother played with aplomb by Cate Blanchett. The character certainly could have given Blanchett reason enough for some juicy scenery chewing, but she manages to keep Stepmother just this side of a caricature. And as with Maleficent, the script gives us a little bit of an insight into why she’s so mean so as to humanize her, but you’re still happy that she and her daughters get what’s coming to them in the end.

Richard Madden, Game of Thrones‘ Robb Stark, is a prince any girl would want to marry and any boy might aspire to be. Even with his regal bearings, he’s just as down-to-earth as Ella and refuses to be married off to another kingdom’s royalty just because his father and the royal court says that’s the way it’s done. He goes to the end of his land to find the mysterious girl from the ball, and you can’t help but fall in love with them as they fall in love.

Helena Bonham Carter shows up for one scene as the comic relief Fairy Godmother (she also sings “Bibbity Bobbity Boo” over the end credits), Derek Jacobi is the King and Stellan Skarsgård is the Grand Duke. Director Kenneth Brannagh firmly grounds the film in its own special world, opting to use mostly physical sets over the routine CGI creations which really helps the fairy tale fantasy feel more realistic. The scene where the clock strikes midnight and Cinderella must flee the ball before everything returns to their normal states, from lizard footmen to the goose carriage drive, is a breathtakingly shot and edited chase scene that will keep you on the edge of your seat even though you know how it ends. And kudos to the CGI department who really give life to a bunch of digital mice. If you didn’t know better, you’d swear they were real, trained performers.

Cinderella is certainly geared towards a female audience, young and old alike, but the action, special effects and palace intrigue should be appealing to everyone. The film is enjoyably pleasant (and also features some gorgeous costumes) and you won’t feel like you just wasted two hours of your life after you exit the theater.

As a bonus, audiences are treated to the new animated short Frozen Fever featuring the cast of the original film. The story follows Elsa as she tries to plan a birthday party for Anna, but a cold could prevent her from getting Anna to her party. It’s wonderfully animated and tells a cute story with one big laugh, but it’s ultimately not quite as memorable as Frozen. Luckily, Disney announced there will be a Frozen 2, so this should hold fans over until then.

Not too long ago, Warner Brothers Animation teamed up the classic Scooby-Doo characters with animated versions of WWE stars in Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery. The pairing must have been successful as the two entertainment giants have joined forces once again, but this time taking a step or two — or 65 million — back in time to meet that modern Stone Age family, The Flintstones.

I grew up watching The Flintstones and I always enjoyed the shows with current stars appearing in Stone Age form like Ann-Margrock and Stoney Curtis. Other celebs, who probably didn’t actually voice their cartoon characters, included Cary Granite, Ed Sulleystone, Rock Hudstone and Perry Masonry. Through many revivals over the years and two live action feature films, the Flintstones and their friends the Rubbles, have encountered many prehistoric versions of modern celebrities. And they’ve done it again with the new home video release The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age Smackdown.

The new story finds Fred promising to take Wilma and Pebbles on vacation, but as usual, his vacation fund is lacking. Another screw up at his job at the quarry costs him a paycheck, so the only thing he can do is tell Wilma the trip is off. But he knows it’s easier to tame a sabre-tooth tiger than tangle with Wilma. At a Water Buffalo Lodge fair, Barney sells chances for anyone to get into the ring with his pet Hoppy but a belligerent customer berates Hoppy so much that Barney steps in to save the day. He wins the match and Fred hatches an idea: create a sports entertainment event with Barney facing off against a group of people they hire and rake in the clams. Literally, since people pay with clam shells in Bedrock.

The event draws a huge crowd to see Barney face off against John Cenastone, Ray Mysteriopal, and The Undertaker, but Barney’s nemesis CM Punkrock returns for a rematch. When Wilma and Betty discover what’s happening and Barney refuses to get into another match, Fred’s fame and fortune looks like its about to go out the window along with his vacation plans. Will CM Punkrock prevail or get his comeuppance?

The new Flinstones & WWE video has all the trappings of the usual Flintstones TV episode including all of the “modern” Stone Age gadgets, like an automatic garage door opener, and businesses (Stonebucks Coffee and Marshale’s). The video also runs under 60 minutes, playing like a two-part episode of the TV show rather than a feature film. The animation is clean and fluid and pays homage to the original enough to please long-time fans but is still modern enough for a new generation, and the Blu-ray presents it all in sharp 1080p video with some of the brightest, most vivid colors you’ve ever seen. The audio is a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track that also delivers as you would expect from a Warner Brothers title.

The Blu-ray also contains a collection of special features including:

• The Superstars of Fred Flintstone Entertainment (9:46) — Director and WWE stars talk about the story and how their real life characters were incorporated into a Flintstones story.
• How To Be a Stone Age Superstar (4:45) — Director Tony Cervone and the WWE stars explain how to create a character’s personality.
• “The Engagement Ring” (26:22) — Original sports themed The Flintstones episode.
• “Take Me Out To the Ball Game” (26:05) — Original sports themed The Flintstones episode.
• Trailers for Scooby-Doo: Wrestlemania Mystery, LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, Scooby-Doo: Moon Monster Madness

The one glaring omission on the bonus material featuring the WWE stars is CM Punk, who quit (or was fired from) the WWE last year. It’s a shame he wasn’t able to participate since he is such an integral character to the plot. That aside, longtime fans of The Flintstones should enjoy this new production chiefly because the actor doing Fred’s voice, Jeff Bergman, is one of the most accurate to the original that I’ve ever heard. The others are close enough, but Bergman really nails it. Other WWE stars lending their voices to the video include Mark Henry (Marble Henry), Daniel Bryan (Daniel Bry-rock), Brie and Nikki Bella (The Boulder Twins) and Mr. McMahon (Mr. McMagma). If you want to relive your childhood, or introduce your own children to The Flintstones, pick up The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age Smackdown, sit back and, as the theme song says, “you’ll have a gay old time.”

The Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD Combo package was provided to CliqueClack by Warner Brothers Home Entertainment for the purpose of review.

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Any die hard movie musical fan knows that MGM produced most of the greatest musicals of all time in the 1950s. The Arthur Freed Unit became the touchstone of musicals with productions ranging from The Wizard of Oz in 1939 to Bells Are Ringing in 1960. While the 1940s was a productive decade for Freed, the 1950s gave us some of the most beloved, classic musicals of all time.

Now, Warner Brothers Home Entertainment has taken two of these MGM classics, plus one from the Warner Brothers library, and has given them a good scrubbing for Blu-ray and the results are astonishing. Best of all, you can purchase your favorite film as a stand-alone disk or get them all in the new Musicals: 4-Movie Collection. The three new titles are The Band Wagon, Calamity Jane, and Kiss Me Kate. Warners has added Singin’ in the Rain as a bonus to the 4-disk set.

The first movie in the collection is The Band Wagon (1953) starring Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Nanette Fabray and Jack Buchanan. The story follows a nearly washed up Hollywood actor (Astaire) who decides to head to Broadway to see if he can untarnish his star in a big stage musical (shades of the Oscar-winning Birdman!). An egotistical director hijacks the frothy musical and turns it into a depressing version of Faust, ensuring a huge flop but the cast bands together to save the show.

The film is very entertaining, and it allows Astaire to take on a different character than we’re used to seeing from him. No top hat and tails this time around, but his dancing is still on point, especially in the scene where he dances with a shoe shine man (who was a real shoe shine man in New York). Cyd Charisse is stunning as always and is simply magnificent to watch in what was her first real starring role. The film also introduced Broadway star Nanette Fabray to movie audiences in what was, surprisingly, her only MGM musical. The movie also has a great score, but it’s most well-known for introducing “That’s Entertainment” as THE song about showbiz, supplanting the standard “There’s No Business Like Show Business.”

The film looks terrific on Blu-ray. The image is bright and colorful but still has a film-like quality to it with an appropriate amount of film grain. The 1080p image(presented in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio) has not been completely scrubbed of any detail, and the soundtrack has been given a nice DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 remix that keeps the dialog and singing front and center, allowing the orchestra to swell, but never overwhelm, from the surrounds.

Bonus features include:

• Commentary by Liza Minnelli and Michael Feinstein
• Get Aboard! The Band Wagon (37:09) — A vintage “making of” looking at the production of the film with many behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the film’s stars, crew and family members.
• The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli (58:25) — An episode of the WNET series focusing on Minnelli.
• Jack Buchanan with the Glee Quartet (6:00) — Comedic musical short film starring Band Wagon c0-star Buchanan.
• The Three Little Pups (6:46) — MGM cartoon featuring Droopy Dog in a variation of The Three Little Pigs.
• Theatrical Trailer (3:14)

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“All That Jazz.” “Cell Block Tango.” “When You’re Good to Mama.” “Mr. Cellophane.” “Razzle Dazzle.” If you’re a fan of Broadway musicals — or movie musicals — you know that those songs all came from the Broadway hit Chicago. Chicago first hit Broadway in 1975 under the guidance of the incomparable Bob Fosse. The show ran for 936 performances and was revived in 1996 and is still playing today. That makes it the longest running Broadway revival in Broadway history, and the second longest running Broadway musical behind Phantom of the Opera.

The Broadway show has been sustained by the familiarity of the music and the dancing, and has had a revolving door of big name stars taking on the roles of Roxy Hart, Velma Kelly and Billy Flynn. Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles is currently treading the boards on Broadway, while a new tour is crossing the country with John O’Hurley taking on the role of Billy Flynn in select cities (luckily, Baltimore was one of them). But if you’ve already seen the Oscar-winning movie, is it worth the time to see the show live on stage? In a word … yes!

If you’re not familiar with the story, Chicago takes place in the 1920s during the Jazz Age at a time when the public was fascinated by crimes committed by women. We first meet Velma Kelly (Terra MacLeod), who opens the show with “All That Jazz.” She’s become a manufactured celebrity with hopes of hitting the vaudeville circuit after lawyer Billy Flynn manipulates a jury into finding her not guilty. But another wannabe star enters the prison, Roxy Hart (Bianca Marroquin), and takes the spotlight off of Velma thanks to Billy. But how long will Roxy’s star shine before the next big crime makes headlines?

If you’ve seen the movie version of Chicago, the stage version is a completely different animal. The movie had sets, costumes, and set most of the musical numbers as fantasy sequences in the mind of Roxy. The stage show is a bit more abstract. The only set is a large, three-tiered bandstand with the orchestra on stage (the conductor even has interaction with the cast and dialog of his own). Everyone else is dressed in black (or a tux in the case of Billy) and never change costumes even when they’re playing various characters. I know some people are turned off by shows that don’t have flashy sets and costumes, but Chicago is about the music and the dance.

And on that front, the cast (and the orchestra) delivers in spades. Both MacLeod and Marroquin have powerful voices, but while MacLeod’s Velma is the more seasoned and mature of the two, Marroquin gets to have a lot of fun with the younger Roxy, particularly with her mugging and making funny noises when she’s getting bored with all of the legal drama around her. One of the show’s stand-out numbers is “We Both Reached For the Gun” as Billy plays Roxy’s puppet master, literally, in front of the press. Both women also handle the Fosse-inspired choreography with panache.

O’Hurley is perfectly cast as Billy Flynn, using that persona he’s honed so well over the years, the self-important, over-blown ego on full display. He doesn’t have to do much dancing, but he’s got a very nice, powerful voice to make up for that. Another member of the touring cast has a notable claim to fame: Roz Ryan has played Matron “Mama” Morton on stage, Broadway and touring, longer than any other actor. She clearly relishes the role and while she doesn’t dance, she has the voice and stage presence to make you forget all about that. While all the numbers are outstanding, there is one major showstopper in Act 2 when Jacob Keith Watson, as Roxy’s husband Amos, takes the spotlight to sing “Mr. Cellophane.” The song is about how no one ever takes notice of Amos, even when they’re standing right next to him, but Watson brings such emotion to the number with his amazing singing voice (which really isn’t heard until this point) that you can’t help but take notice.

Overall, even if the show feels a bit uneven with very little dialog to drive the plot in Act 1 (which feels almost like a cabaret presentation of the music of Chicago), the cast’s singing and dancing, the more than outstanding support from the dance company (who are all impossibly sexy in their curve-hugging costumes), and the beautiful, familiar music provided by the orchestra makes a trip to Chicago well worth your time. Chicago is currently in Baltimore at the Hippodrome Theatre through March 8, with stops in Ontario, Virgina, New York, Texas, Arizona, Kansas and California to come. You can find out more information about the tour by clicking the banner below.

What’s an upstart network — or a rebranded version of an old network — to do to attract new viewers to the channel? With hundreds of options out there, what’s the best way to get people to sample your new wares? How about purchasing a Canadian sitcom with a provocative title starring two comedy legends!

The new POP TV network, formerly TVGN, has launched with a new scripted comedy from the minds of Eugene Levy and his son Daniel. The show, Schitt’s Creek, also stars Levy’s longtime comedy cohort Catherine O’Hara so you know the show just has to be funny, right? I’m very happy to say that yes, it is very funny.

The premise of Schitt’s Creek is a typical fish-out-of-water scenario: Levy and O’Hara star as Johnny and Moira Rose, an obscenely wealthy couple with two children, David and Alexis, who find themselves suddenly homeless and virtually penniless after their accountant neglects to pay their taxes and absconds with their fortune. The one thing they are left with is a small town Johnny purchased as a joke, the aforementioned Schitt’s Creek. With nowhere else to go, the Rose’s embark on a journey to regain their status from the middle of nowhere.

Of course, this is certainly not a new story, but Levy, O’Hara and the rest of the cast manage to breathe new life into it. In the first four episodes that have aired, the Roses have been forced to live in a shabby motel (emphasis on the M) with a snarky front desk attendant while Johnny attempts to put the town on the market, not knowing it had been for sale for twenty years when he originally purchased it. Moira and the kids are completely out of sorts, and the skeevy mayor of the town, played by Chris Elliott, is a thorn in their side.

O’Hara is probably the funniest of the cast because Moira is the most broadly drawn of the four Roses. She was a former soap star villain (the mayor compliments her on her “bitch face” even though she’s not doing anything at the time, and begs her to slap him like she did on her show), accustomed to all the best things in life and now lives out of a single, hideously furnished room with leaky plumbing. The mayor’s wife asks her to help her students with a school play which goes hilariously awry, and she has no control over her entitled children.

No one can play befuddled and exasperated as well as Levy, and he keeps Johnny the most firmly grounded of the family. He’s almost the straight man to all of the antics going on around him, from dealing with the mayor to dealing with his kids — whom he usually puts in charge of Moira to no avail. Annie Murphy plays entitled Alexis well, kind of bringing to mind Paris Hilton on that reality show she used to do with Nicole Ritchie. Daniel Levy’s David is just as broadly drawn as Moira, getting some of the show’s wittiest and bitchiest lines (the funniest bit in the premiere focused on his and his sister’s sleeping arrangements and whose bed was closer to the door … “No, you get murdered first!”). And it has yet to be addressed, but David is also the gayest thing on two feet, which may lead some to question what could be considered a negative stereotype … but I’ve seen Daniel doing some hosting work on MTV and, well, he’s not really stretching the character all that far. I, for one, think he’s pretty funny in a Jack McFarland kind of way.

Schitt’s Creek, so far, has been funny although a bit uneven at times but each episode has had at least one big laugh-out-loud moment. The first season consist of ten episodes and has been renewed, in Canada (even before the show aired), for a second season. POP has only committed to the first season as of now. If you’re looking for a family comedy that’s just a little off the beaten path, then by all means take a trip up Schitt’s Creek. You can catch up on the previously aired episodes On Demand, and special webisodes on the show’s official website. Schitt’s Creek airs in the US on POP Wednesday at 10:00 PM ET.

Judging from the box office grosses, audiences were not looking forward to another chapter in the Horrible Bosses saga, and who could blame them. The first film racked up more than $100 million in the U.S. but after being burned by the diminishing returns of The Hangover — with a second chapter that was basically the first movie, beat by beat, in a different location — Horrible Bosses 2 grossed about half of what the first made.

But, Horrible Bosses 2 is actually a better film than the first because it’s not simply a retread. The plot expands on the story, making the three leads, Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day), their own horrible bosses as they attempt to start a business of their own. They enter into a partnership with a catalog distribution magnate (Christoph Waltz), but when the deal goes south, the guys revert to their old bad habits and attempt to kidnap the son (Chris Pine) in hopes of salvaging their business. Of course, nothing ever goes as planned and the results are pretty funny.

The addition of Waltz and Pine elevate the film, but there is also room to fit Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston and Jamie Foxx into the story organically. They never feel shoe-horned in just for the sake of bringing in familiar faces. I’ve seen the film twice now, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time around as I did the first. The new Blu-ray edition of the film also includes about seven minutes of additional footage, but it’s nothing that consequential to the plot or that changes the theatrical R rating.

The Blu-ray, released February 24, has a nice sharp, colorful image and the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is active when needed but keeps the dialog front and center without being drowned out by music and sound effects. The Blu-ray also contains a nice batch of extras.

• Endless Laughter Guaranteed! (17:28) — A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie with input from the stars and a nice collection of outtakes and flubbed lines. It shows that the cast genuinely had a great time making the movie.
• Let the Sexual Healing Begin (2:24) — A faux infomercial about sex addiction.
• Who Invented the Shower Buddy? (1:29) — Kurt or Dale?
• Nick Kurt Dale INC.: Employee Testimonials (2:13) — Ray, Lupe and Candy reflect on their bosses.
• It’s the Shower Buddy – Infomercial (1:10)
• High Speed Crash Course (2:47) — A brief behind-the-scenes look at shooting the climactic car chase scene.
• Off the Cuff: One-Liners You Didn’t See — Extended/outtake versions of several scenes in the film including Pumping Your Buddy (1:31), Julia’s Cog Collection (1:23), Don’t Drop the Soap (1:09), Spit It Out (1:28), Sex Addiction Group (1:11), Kiss and Tell (1:31), Half-Assed Brushing (1:15), Racist Dale Arbus (1:44), Stuck in the Middle (1:08), Coma Boners (1:45), A Tender Bottom (1:31), Who Gets What? (1:04), Dale’s Not Dead (1:39)

Horrible Bosses 2 may not be great art or even great comedy, but there is something about watching a bunch of people who obviously enjoy each others’ company having a great time trying to entertain us. Looking at the outtakes, they certainly had more fun making the movie than the final product shows, but it’s still worth a few good laughs here and there, and it’s miles better than The Hangover Part II. Horrible Bosses 2 would make a great party movie, and the Blu-ray, with its bounty of extras, is worth picking up.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment generously provided Horrible Bosses 2 to CliqueClack for review.

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THIS OFFER IS CLOSED. WINNER WILL BE NOTIFIED BY EMAIL.

CliqueClack has partnered with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment to offer one lucky reader a chance to win a DVD of the new animated movie Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness. To enter, just leave a comment on this post. To be eligible, provide your full name and email address in the spaces provided (NOT in the comment box). Winner will be notified by email. Some restrictions apply: DVD will only be shipped to US residents. No PO Boxes. One entry per person. Contest entry period ends Friday, February 27. Good luck!

After generating a lot of buzz during its theatrical run, and quite a few awards nominations and wins along the way to Oscar night, audiences who may have missed Whiplash in theaters can now check it out on home video. Does the film live up to the hype?

The story is fairly simple: young musician attends a prestigious music school in the hopes of becoming a great jazz drummer like his idol Buddy Rich. The student, Andrew (Miles Teller), doesn’t get much support from his family, is an outsider at school, and is terribly awkward with the opposite sex. Andrew stays focused on his music and thinks he’s on the right path when instructor Terrence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) seems to take him under his wing. But the dream becomes a nightmare as Fletcher goes from mentor to monster.

It’s not hard to see why Simmons has been winning every acting award in sight (including the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor). He takes what could have been a horrible, one-note character and gives him many complex layers. He may appear to be a bully, but perhaps he just cares enough to want to help a young musician achieve their own greatness … or he could just be trying to show the world that he can create greatness. It’s a challenging role and Simmons shows us a side of himself that we haven’t seen before. Teller also gives a terrific performance that’s been overshadowed by Simmons, showing us Andrew’s insecurities and determination through his facial expressions. With Fletcher, you never really know what’s going on under the surface but Andrew wears all of his emotions on his sleeve. And Teller learned how to drum for the part as well!

The film is directed astonishingly well by Damien Chazelle, who based the story on his own experience, and produced a very accomplished film in the span of nineteen days! The final musical performance is a head-spinning montage of constantly moving camerawork and sharp editing that deservedly won the Best Editing Oscar. (Most prognosticators pegged Boyhood for the editing win, but there was no question in my mind Whiplash had it sewn up based on this one scene.)

Whiplash is now available on home video, and the Blu-ray is a thing of beauty. The image, consisting of mostly warm browns and inky blacks, is beautiful with enough fine detail to capture lines and scars on faces and drops of sweat and blood as Andrew drives himself to perfection. The disk’s 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio favors the center channel for the most part, but when the orchestra kicks in during performances and rehearsals, the surrounds fill with music.

The disk also contains a wealth of bonus material … something that’s been lacking in a lot of home video releases of late.

• Audio commentary with Damien Chazelle and J.K. Simmons — The two discuss the process of making the film from casting to locations to crafting performances, with Chazelle being the serious filmmaker and Simmons the comic relief.
• Timekeepers (42:56) — A collection of professional drummers talk about how they got started, their careers, education, influences and more. Featured drummers include Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Doane Perry (Jethro Tull), Roy McCurdy (Blood Sweat and Tears), Gina Schock (The Go-Gos), and Wally Ingram (Timbuk3). The film is entertaining to a point, but I lost interest after about twenty minutes.
• Whiplash Original Short Film (17:56) — The “Rushing/Dragging” scene from the movie with J.K. Simmons and many of the film’s actors/musicians in the same roles. Chazelle recreates this scene in the movie almost shot by shot. Also with optional audio commentary.
• Fletcher at Home (1:30) — A deleted scene with optional commentary. The scene was wisely cut from the film because it reveals a lot about Fletcher that could have affected the rest of the film.
• An Evening at the Toronto International Film Festival with Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons and Damien Chazelle (7:50) — Q & A at the festival, we learn it took 19 days to shoot the movie, how the director chose the actors and how they prepared for their roles. Best answer is from the director on why he went from jazz drumming to film directing.
• Theatrical trailer and Previews for other Sony titles.

I can’t say that Whiplash is the best film of the year, but it is certainly worth a look. It’s accomplished, the music is great and it features two outstanding performances from Teller and Simmons. The video/audio quality and bonus material on the Blu-ray is certainly an incentive to pick up the title and judge for yourself. And after Oscar night, we can look back on the film and realize that this is the moment Simmons went from more than just a familiar face (and voice of the Yellow M&M) who seems to pop up everywhere.

The Whiplash Blu-ray was generously provided to CliqueClack for review by Sony Pictures Home Video.

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It’s that time of year once again when Hollywood congratulates itself for another year of a job well done. Most years have pretty clear front-runners as to who and what will win, but this year has only a few clear-cut winners. The biggest prizes of the night are up for grabs in many categories including Best Director, Best Adapted and Original Screenplay, and Best Picture. The only sure things this year seems to be in the four acting categories.

I’ve made my predictions based on my gut and some internet research to come up with what I think will will. In my Oscar pool last year, I tied for first place but lost out on how long the ceremony actually ran, but last year was less of a game of chance than this year. So, with a deep breath, I’ve made my choices. We’ll see later tonight how close I actually came. Feel free to let us know who or what you think will win! Be sure to check back to see the winners.

Best Picture: Boyhood [Winner: Birdman]
Best Director: Alejandro G. Inarritu, Birdman [Win]
Best Actor: Freddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything [Win]
Best Actress: Julianne Moore, Still Alice [Win]
Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash [Win]
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood [Win]
Best Original Screenplay: Birdman [Win]
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Theory of Everything [Winner: The Imitation Game]
Best Animated Feature: Big Hero 6 [Win]
Best Foreign Language Film: Ida [Win]
Best Documentary Feature: CitizenFour [Win]
Best Documentary Short Subject: Crisis Hotline – Veterans Press 1 [Win]
Best Cinematography: Birdman [Win]
Best Film Editing: Whiplash [Win]
Best Production Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel [Win]
Best Costume Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel [Win]
Best Original Score: The Grand Budapest Hotel [Win]
Best Original Song: “Glory,” Selma [Win]
Best Visual Effects: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes [Winner: Interstellar]
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: The Grand Budapest Hotel [Win]
Best Sound Mixing: Whiplash [Win]
Best Short Film – Animated: Feast [Win]
Best Short Film – Live Action: Aya [Winner: The Phone Call]
Best Sound Editing: American Sniper [Win]