Today I watched the film Whiplash and was astounded by Miles Teller's performance. I know J.K. Simmons has all the Oscar buzz but Miles really served up some crazy acting in the film. I also watched him in other films—The Spectacular Now (2013) and Two Night Stand (2014)—but his performance in this Academy Award Best Picture nominee is miles away from the other two.
Teller plays a 19-year-old drummer who gets in a prestigious music school and secures a spot in the band of a great but temperamental conductor played by Simmons. It's funny, because this afternoon even before watching the film, I was already thinking about passion, and how I want to have it for something, especially now when I'm at a crossroads about the next step to take in my life. Then I start watching this film and Teller is just stellar, oozing out passion like there's no tomorrow. His character pounds on the drum kit with all his might, wounds and callouses be damned, never mind that he just survived a car crash (he literally walked away from the accident and ran to the concert venue). Oh to be consumed by such passion, the kind you live and breathe, so much so you almost die for it. My heart pounded during the last parts of the film, and the scenes left me breathless well after the credits finished rolling.
While I was tapping my thoughts away on Twitter, I get a tweet from a former Journalism classmate asking if I'm interested to contribute on her site (maybe I'll tell you about this someday, in case it prospers). I often saw her tweets about it, but back then I just thought she was a contributor. It turns out, she created the site! Again, props to people with passion.
While I'm still stewing myself in thoughts about what it is I am really passionate about, I thought of doing something just to keep my hands busy and trick my mind into thinking I am actually a productive individual. Just to get the rust out of my writing skills, I figured since one of the only consistent things I've been doing the last few months is watch a slew of US TV series, why don't I just write episode recaps of these shows?
I don't know if anyone will be interested to read them especially since they're a dime a dozen on the web, but I'm really doing this for myself. If I discipline myself into writing regularly, who knows what might come next?
I wrote this blog entry while I still have the mojo and also to serve as evidence. Now, the challenge is to actually start writing the recaps. I thought maybe I'd start with an easy one: Hart of Dixie. The new season just started so I only have two episodes to write about.
Will I be able to rise to this self-imposed challenge?
Stay tuned.
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