Whiplash: Not quite believable but unbelievably good

Miles Teller with J.K. Simmons as the teacher from Hell, in a scene from Whiplash.

Whiplash is the most captivating film I’ve seen in a long time.

Sure, it has holes in the plot the size of the ones in the Dead Sea, but the movie is so intense, that a climactic concert scene elicited loud audible gasps from the audience.

Throw in some bodacious acting, bodacious jazz, and the bodacious ability to be parodied, and you’ve got yourself one bodacious hit.

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It’s a great day for the Irish

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Judy Garland from her film Little Nellie Kelly.

Patricia’s picks for the Oscars

Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney is one of the Oscar nominees for Best Picture.

The late film critic Gene Siskel once said he thought the Oscar for Best Picture should go to the film that “did what it set out to do.” While that might seem like a broad brush, when reviewing this year’s Academy Award contenders that’s how I ranked them. For the acting categories, I chose who I thought played the role so well I couldn’t imagine any other actor doing it better.

10 things I learned about Bill “The Spaceman” Lee

Bill Lee and a young baseball fan at The Ridgefield Playhouse. —Patricia Gay photo all rights reserved

Bill Lee is a character inside and out. At 67, the once-great major league baseball left-hander has never given up the game. He’s still playing, and last week finished a tournament in Florida (his team won).

The Wolf of Wall Street: Martin Scorcese needs an editor

Watching the film The Wolf of Wall Street on New Year’s Day, I felt deceived.

During those three long hours (plus 26 minutes of coming attractions) my mind kept drifting from the plot about excessive fraud, to the excessiveness of the film’s director Martin Scorcese.

The film is based on the life of con man Jordan Belfort, adapted from his autobiographical book. After being laid off as a stock broker on Black Monday in 1987, Belfort took to pump and dump schemes — selling worthless penny stocks to investors and making millions in the process. He lived a jetsetting drug-induced lifestyle with his ill gotten gains, until he got caught and arrested by the FBI.

Giancarlo Esposito gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

From his humble appearance as a kid on Sesame Street to his killer performance on Breaking Bad as crime boss Gus Fring, Giancarlo Esposito is one of the hardest working actors in show business.

Giancarlo Esposito outside my office. —Bryan Haeffele photo

Actor Giancarlo Esposito is getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy!

The announcement was made last week in Hollywood after Jennifer Lopez was presented with the Walk of Fame’s 2,500th star.

Giancarlo Esposito is part of the “Class of  2014,” announced David Green, Chairman of the Walk of Fame selection committee. Other celebrities who will have their stars added next year include Orlando Bloom, Sally Field, Jessica Lange, Matthew McConaughey, Liam Neeson, and posthumously Phil Hartman and Tupac Shakur.

Quite a list, and I’m thrilled for Giancarlo Esposito, who I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing in 2011.