Gil Mansergh's Cinema Toast 6/30/06

NEW RELEASES
3 pieces of bitchy toast
The Devil Wears Prada (PG-13)
Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Tracie Thoms
Directed by David Frankel
Any similarity to what writer Lauren Weisberger observed while working as an assistant to the editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine and this very enjoyable movie is (of course) purely coincidental. By playing things seriously, Meryl Streep is bitingly funny as the boss, while Anne Hathaway is strong as the newcomer almost stampeded by the parade of Dilbertish cubicle residents jostling for attention and page space.

4 pieces of super toast
Superman Returns (PG-13)
Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, James Marsden, Parker Posey, Frank Langella, Eva Marie Saint, Marlon Brando, Tristan Lebeau
Directed by Bryan Singer
The Man of Steel has been away for the past 25 years, and upon his return things are not as they used to be. Lois Lane has a son and a boyfriend, Lex Luthor has just been released from jail, the crystals are stolen from The Fortress of Solitude, and everyone looks different (as well they should--only Marlon Brando returns in his original role as Superman's father...and that's a special effect). All the other actors are new and improved (Kevin Spacey's Lex Luthor is much more dedicated to villainy than the glib-talking Gene Hackman was). More romance, more complicated personalities, plenty of great action sequences, tongue-in-cheek humor, and worthy homages to Richard Donner and John Williams place this among the top five Superhero movies of all time.

2 1/2 pieces of many bits go on too long toast
Strangers With Candy(PG-13)
Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, Matthew Brodrick, Allison Janney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ian Holm, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dan Hedaya, Kristen Johnston
Directed by: Paul Danillo
Expanded from a Comedy Central parody of Afterschool Specials in which a 47-year-old is sent back to high school after a long stint in jail, this movie has bits of brilliance buried within a series of embarrassing situations. Not for everyone - those who love sophomoric humor and dozens of topnotch cameos will be delighted.

NEW VIDEO & DVD
1/2 piece of just plain awful toast
Annapolis (PG-13)
James Franco, Donnie Whalberg, Chi McBride, Tyrese Gibson, Vicellous Shannon
Directed by Justin Lin
Box Office: $16,814,615
Cliché builds upon cliché in this cross between "An Officer and a Gentleman" and "Rocky." Disney version of events leads you to believe Donald and Mickey (or even Pluto) could do a better job running our country's Naval Academy.

1 piece of rarely funny toast
Failure to Launch (R)
Matthew McConaughey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Bates, Terry Bradshaw.
Directed by Tom Dey
Box Office: $88,658,172
What could have been a funny comedy about grown-up children who have never left home, turns instead into an almost surreal version of Animal Planet with dozens of different animals (including most of the humans in the cast) chasing, biting, slapping and being mean to each other. Only Bradshaw seems to know he's in a comedy and this ex-football player provides all the laughs.

3 and 1/2 pieces of Hitchcockian toast
Caché (Hidden) (R)
Daniel Auteuil, Juliette Binoche, Lester Makedonsky
Directed by: Michael Haneke
Box Office: $3,453,754
Increasingly personal videotapes arrive on the doorstep of a French TV talk show host. The surveillance footage appears to show the family's cruelty towards a young Algerian who lived with them. Suspicion, paranoia, politics, unanswered questions and hauntingly inexplicable scenes leave audiences used to "Hollywood endings" unsettled. Judicious use of the pause and rewind button may help the home viewer.

Gil Mansergh's Cinema Toast 6/23/06

NEW RELEASES
No Toast--not available for preview
Waist Deep (R)
Game, Tyrese Gibson, Paul Terrel Clayton, Meagan Good
Directed by Vondie Curtic Hall, Stan Lathan
Gritty, inner-city, child-in-danger movie which the studio describes as "a 21st Century Bonnie and Clyde," populated with characters labeled as a wily street-smart hustler; a vicious criminal leader; and an ex-con trying to go straight.

No Toast--not available for preview
Click (PG-13)
Adam Sandler, Kate Beckinsale, Christopher Walken
Directed by Frank Coaraci
Overworked architect receives the master remote control from a strange character in the back room of a Bed, Bath & Beyond, and then tries it out in overly simplistic ways only to learn a valuable lesson from the experience.

2 1/2 pieces of Karate Grown Up toast
The Peaceful Warrior (PG-13)
Nick Nolte, Scott Mechlowicz, Amy Smart, Agnes Bruckner, Paul Wesley
Directed by: Victor Salva
Olympic gymnast and fast-living womanizer who is injured in a traffic accident must find his karmic center with the help of Nick Nolte channeling the Pat Morita character from "Karate Kid."

3 pieces of warmhearted toast
Mrs. Palfrey At The Claremont (NR)
Joan Plowright, Anna Massey, Rupert Friend
Directed by: Dan Ireland
With a miniscule $750,000 budget, director Dan Ireland creates a delightfully nuanced tale of the unlikely friendship between a lonely but independent older woman and a young aspiring writer. A satisfying throwback to the Ealing Studios comedies populated with British eccentrics, Joan Plowright shines.

NEW VIDEO & DVD
3 and 1/2 pieces of powerful toast
Syriana (R)
George Clooney, Christopher Plummer, Amanda Peet, Matt Damon, William Hurt, Chris Cooper, Viola Davis
Directed by Stephen Gaghan
Box Office:$50,767,634
George Clooney earned a well-deserved Oscar within an ensemble of great performances as writer/director Gaghan leads us through a convoluted, complex, and sometimes confusing expose of big business, war, oil and national policy. One of those films that may be even better at home where you can rewind to watch a scene again or catch some missed dialogue.

2 and 1/2 pieces of Russian toast
Night Watch (R)
Vladimir Menshov, Konstantin Khabensky
Directed by Timbor Beckmambetov
Box Office: $1,350,726
More confusing, more stylish and bloodier than "Underworld," this is the first part of a Russian trilogy about the struggle of Good vs Evil since the time before time was measured. Film buffs will recognize the influence of Serge Eisenstein, Quentin Tarantino, Alex Proyas and Frank Miller and the director's music-video roots, as good vampires and virgins pop up all over the place. Often confusing to non-Russian eyes, Fox-Searchlight's creative subtitles try to offset this as they change and evolve on-screen.

Gil Mansergh's Cinema Toast 6/16/06

NEW RELEASES
2 and 1/2 pieces of sequel toast
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (PG-13)
Lucas Black, Bow Wow, Nathalie Kelley, Sung Kang, Brian Tee, Zachary Ty Brian
Directed by Justin Lin
Playing a testosterone-driven motorcycle racer, Zachary Ty Brian has doubled his size since he left the "Home Improvement" TV sitcom, but it doesn't matter. His character is just a setup to get Lucas Black shipped off to Japan where he can race bikes through Tokyo's neon-highlighted, rain-slick streets. As Tim the Toolman used to tell Zachary when he was little, the answer is, as always, "More power!"

1 and 1/2 pieces of new kitty-litter flavor toast
Garfield (PG)
Breckin Meyer, Bill Murray, Liz Wilson
Directed by Tim Hill
Shipped off to England, the lasagne-loving cat-with-an-attitude drawn by Jim Davis has been replaced by a Computer Generated character straight out of a kitty litter commercial. Trying hard, Bill Murray's voice is still no match for that of the late Lorenzo Music (Garfield's voice in the TV specials).

1 and 1/2 pieces of Chicago-style toast
The Lake House (PG)
Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves, Christopher Plummer
Directed by Alejandro Agresti
The two stars were much better riding a booby-trapped bus together. This time the Chicago architecture out-acts the stars when Bullock moves into a beautifully designed house occupied two years ago by Reeves (or maybe he's the current resident and she's going to move in two years from now). A magic mailbox allows the two to communicate with each other but we quickly realize we really don't care what they have to say.

1 and 1/2 pieces of Southern Africa toast
Wah-Wah (R)
Gabriel Byrne, Emily Watson, Miranda Richardson, Julie Walters
Directed by Richard Grant
Actor/writer/director Richard Grant (of "How to Get Ahead in Advertising" fame) was raised in semi-colonial Swaziland and his film of adulterous parents, an American stewardess stepmother, and cases of gin and tonic is based on fact. The strong cast and stunning photography only make the viewer's disappointment even greater as the story fizzles.


. NEW VIDEO & DVD
4 pieces of golden toast
Neil Young: Heart of Gold (PG)
Neil Young, Emmylou Harris, Spooner Oldham, Ben Keith, Rick Rosas, Jimmy Sharp
Directed by Jonathan Demme
Box Office: $1,660,898
Four days before an operation to repair a potentially fatal brain aneurysm, Neil Young heads to Nashville for a concert blending old songs and new with friends and family. Gives "Old Man Take a Look at Your Life" a whole new meaning. Masterful concert footage makes this worth owning

3 and 1/2 pieces of a'chapella toast
Dave Chappelle's Block Party (R)
Dave Chappelle, Fred Hampton Jr.
Directed by Michel Gondry
Box Office: $11,694,528
Witty, honest, and very funny comedian Dave Chappelle wanders the back roads of his Ohio hometown handing out golden tickets for his Brooklyn block party where Lauren Hill takes the stage with the Fugees, where rap, funk and hip-hop make beautiful music together. A sleeper that delivers on several levels.

1 and 1/2 pieces of failed pratfall toast
Pink Panther (PG)
Steve Martin, Beyonce Knowles, Jean Reno, Kevin Kline
Directed by Shawn Levy
Box Office: $82,226,474
We learned from the Peter Sellers movie bio that he grew to hate the Inspector Clouseau role. They should have left well enough alone.

1 and 1/2 pieces of week-old tuna toast
Aquamarine (PG)
Emma Roberts, Joanna 'JoJo' Levesque, Sara Paxton
Directed by Elizabeth Allen
Box Office: $18,562,160
Just say the words "Swimming Pool Barbie" about this mermaid-out-of-water movie and you've said it all.

2 and 1/2 pieces of Willisesque toast
16 Blocks (PG-13)
Bruce Willis, David Morse, Conrad Pla, Mos Def
Directed by Richard Donner with 18, that's right, 18 producers credited
Box Office: $36,883,539
An "Assault On Precinct Outside" type of popcorn movie, it's an expertly crafted, violently butter-flavored topping for the kernels. Mos Def actually adds to the end product this time.

3 pieces of sidecar toast
The World's Fastest Indian (PG-13)
Anthony Hopkins, Paul Rodriguez, Bruce Greenwood
Directed by Roger Donaldson
Box Office: $5,022,468
This sleeper chronicles the unlikely last act of daredevil motorcycle speedster Burt Monro who set land speed records at the not-so-sprightly age of 68. Predictability plays as an asset with Anthony Hopkins on the hot seat.

Gil Mansergh's
Cinema Toast 6/9/06
plus "Screenings" Column

NEW RELEASES
3 and 1/2 pieces of Pixar toast
Cars (G)
Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Larry the Cable Guy, Cheech Marin, Tony Shaloub, George Carlin
Directed by John Lasseter
It takes a minute to realize that those are cars, not people, in the stands during the race for the Piston Cup, but you quickly accept the premise and delight in everything that follows--superb animation, artistic incomparability, a strong story, marvelously talented voices and Pixar's American sensibility. Works best if you've actually been to an auto race or traveled Route 66 and stopped for gas, or a bite to eat, or spent the night in a cement teepee in a timeless town like Radiator Springs.

2 and 1/2 pieces of 6/6/6 toast
The Omen (R)
Liev Shreiber, Julia Stiles
Directed by John Moore
Director John Moore ("Flight of the Phoenix") brings us another pointless remake (done almost shot-for-shot) which only proves how good the original really was. The antichrist lives with an unsuspecting family and does terrible things to everyone who suspects the truth.

3 and 1/2 pieces of Powder-Milk Biscuit toast
A Prairie Home Companion (PG-13)
Garrison Keillor, Tommy Lee Jones, Lindsay Lohan, Woody Harrelson, Kevin Kline
Directed by Robert Altman
Altman's trademark dolly shots and overlapping dialogue hunker down in St. Paul Minnesota for the "last" show of radio station WLT's fabled "Prairie Home Companion." Onstage is all sincere folksiness as the MC introduces singing cowboys (Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly) and singing siblings plus a daughter (Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep plus Lindsay Lohan). Backstage is just the opposite, as egos, greed and incompetence collide.

NEW VIDEO & DVD
1 and 1/2 pieces of running toast
Running Scared (R)
Paul Walker, Chazz Palminteri, Cameron Bright
Directed by Wayne Kramer
Box Office: $6,651,790
It is almost impossible to avoid saying this film is too fast and too furious (Paul Walker starred in both of those car chase films) Everything is over the top and it deservedly earned the R-rating for pervasive strong brutal violence and language, sexuality and drug content. Why waste your money on this? Instead go see Paul Walker in "Eight Below." It's set in Antarctica where Walker's frozen facial expression is acceptable.

2 and 1/2 pieces of Basketball clichés toast
Glory Road (PG)
Joshua Lucas, Tatyana Ali, Mehcad Brooks
Director: James Gartner
Box Office: $42,448,852
The inspiring true story of history's first all African American NCAA starting lineup winning the 1966 tournament title is turned into a Jerry Bruckheimer-style piece using a Motown backup and directed by a man famous for his award-winning TV commercials for AMEX, and Marriott.

3 and 1/2 pieces of Mexican border toast
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (R)
Tommy Lee Jones, Barry Pepper, Julio Cedillo
Directed by Tommy Lee Jones
Box Office: $4,913,407
Distributor problems sidetracked this modern-day western to small theaters, but it's worth time renting and savoring Tommy Lee Jones' directorial debut. Lawmen, a dead Mexican, Western codes of honor, pay back, accountability, retribution, manhood, redemption, and dignity thickly layered in dry, dryer, driest dust.

The Inconvenient Truth About Cars
by
Gil Mansergh

"I don't like talking cars," Pam Long, my KRSH co-host told me on the air last week, "you know the one's in the Chevron commercials that smile at each other at the gas station...I don't like talking toilets either."

"I don't like power-point lectures," attendees in my movie-themed seminars tell me. "Especially where the presenter just reads what's up on the screen...what a waste."

So knowing that many of my readers may have a bias against seeing a movie populated with animated talking cars, or a filmed lecture from a decidedly un-animated former Vice President of the United States, I am strongly recommending that you do exactly that.

Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro is the centerpiece of Al Gore's presentation in "An Inconvenient Truth." We are shown a picture of the majestic, snow covered peaks that served as the backdrop in the 1952 movie version of Ernest Hemingway's short story, "The Snows of Kilimanjaro." But Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, and Ava Gardner hadn't a clue to what climate changes would bring to their 19,710 foot high mountain. Only fifty years later, the glacier is all but gone, the mountain's once green sides have turned brown and our assumptions are turned upside down.

Much to our surprise, the dynamic, enthusiastic, positive, future-can-be-better speaker who presents this material is Al Gore, the same Al Gore that American voters labeled "wooden, tongue-tied, and untrustworthy." But not here. Gore's heartfelt, straight forward presentation of facts and figures is adroitly punctuated with humorous personal revelations, and Director Davis Guggenheim's masterfully filmed visuals. Even "The Simpson's' Matt Groening adds his animator's skill to the mix. To illustrate a key point (our tendency to ignore the gradual effects of a self-annihilating process), Groening supplies an animated frog. When the frog jumps into a beaker of very hot water, he immediately jumps out to save himself. But, if the water begins at a comfortable temperature and is gradually heated to the temperature that first made the frog jump out, the placid amphibian blissfully relaxes in his hot bath until he's boiled for frog legs (or rescued). The frog, of course, is us, and the beaker of water is our Earth.

"Cars," John Lasseter's latest computerized storytelling from the folks at Pixar, is in many ways, an homage to the earlier, simpler time of his childhood. The suburban migration was in full swing. The car you drove defined the American Dream for most families. Smoothly designed lines of asphalt conveniently ran from here to there. Some of these, like the fabled Route 66 "ran from Chicago to LA," in song, movie, TV show and reality. Gas was cheap, and the trip was often more important than the destination.

"Cars" is, however, set in the here and now and the Lasseter family doesn't occupy a single seat in any of the the thousands of vehicles portrayed on the screen. The folks at Pixar realized that drivers and passengers are superfluous and so, instead of reflecting their owner's personalities, the cars, trucks, motor homes and motorcycles have personalities of their own.

The movie opens with the roaring of race car engines. "Focus," we hear Owen Wilson's voice say to a grey screen. "Stay focused," and with a whooosh we are in the middle of a white-knuckle race for the Piston Cup. We quickly learn that the voice and egocentric point-of-view belong to the rookie race car Lightning McQueen who foolishly refuses a scheduled tire change rather than lose any time. The result is a photo finish among three cars and a rematch a week later in California.

Events conspire (which is, of course, what good story telling is all about) to leave McQueen sidetracked in a dusty, sun-baked forgotten hamlet called Radiator Springs. Once a shiny, well painted and polished oasis on Route 66, the Interstate changed all that, and the service-oriented residents are left with little to do except find some shade and try to stay cool.

McQueen's top-speed arrival in Radiator Springs results in his arrest for vandalizing a town landmark and gouging a rut in the road running through town. When the judge, Doc Hudson, (voice of Paul Newman) orders McQueen to repair the road as restitution, a tow truck named Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy), and the Porsche DA (voice of Bonnie Hunt) keep track of the repair job. Other residents include a low-rider Chevy (voice of Cheech Marin), his curvy sweetie Flo (voice of Jenifer Lewis)and an alternative fuel VW van(voice of George Carlin). But as sublime as the voice work and as clever as the anthropomorphic story-line may be, the best thing about "Cars" is location, location, location. Radiator Springs, with its fantastical mountain backdrop, its circus-sky landscapes, its sumptuous architectural detail, and neon iconography make us ache for a vanishing America.

After seeing both films, I am going to ask you to reconcile the views both of these movies present about the utilization of fossil fuels. Is the bypassed Radiator Springs (or the City of Santa Rosa for that matter), headed to the desolation of Mount Kilimanjaro? Is our Interstate-connected world the way we really want to live? Or can we take stock, listen to those VW driving alternative fuels guys, embrace people with solutions and once again enjoy the trip as much as the destination?

Comments? E-mail gilmansergh@comcast.net
Hear Gil's radio show "Cinema Toast" Thursday mornings at 7:35 on KRSH-FM 95.9

Gil Mansergh's Cinema Toast Blog

NEW RELEASES 6/2/06

* 1 and 1/2 pieces of bickering toast
The Break-Up (2006)
Jennifer Aniston, Vince Vaughn, Joey Lauren Adams
Directed by Peyton Reed
Aniston and Vaughn are said to have fallen in love during the filming of this movie--but based on the roles they play, they should have only learned negative things about each other. This Bickerson's redoux grows tiresome fast.

*** 3 and 1/2 pieces of violent Aussie toast
The Proposition (2006)
Guy Pearce, Ray Winston, Emily Watson
Directed by Paul Greengrass
Amid the Peckinpaugh style carnage, rape and the swarming flies of 1800's Australia, the "Sexy Beast" (Ray Winston) confronts "LA Confidential" (Guy Pearce) in this brilliantly acted bullets and blood adventure.

*** 2 1/2 pieces of Karate Grown-Up toast
The Peaceful Warrior (2006)
Nick Nolte, Scott Mechlowicz, Amy Smart, Agnes Bruckner, Paul Wesley
directed by Victor Salva
Olympic gymnast and fast-living womanizer who is permanently disabled in a horrific traffic accident must find his karmic center with the help of Nick Nolte channeling the Pat Morita character from "Karate Kid."

NEW on VIDEO & DVD

**1 and 1/2 pieces of hysterical toast
Freedomland (2005)
Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne Moore, Edie Falco
Directed by Joe Roth
Box Office: $12,260,586
A wigged-out car jacking victim stumbles into an emergency room claiming her assailant was an African-American. Cops interview her for hours before they learn that her four-year-old was strapped in a car seat in the back of the car. What's a cop to believe?

**2 pieces of "ends up soggy" toast
Rumor Has It... (2005)
Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine
Directed by Rob Reiner
Box Office: $42.747,869
The clever premise is that "The Graduate" was based on a real-life family, and Jennifer Aniston's "mother's mother..don't call me Grandma" (Shirley MacLaine) was the model for Mrs. Robinson. Loses steam in the last act.