The Avengers by Gil Mansergh I am amazed how often the films based on Marvel Comics always take time to broadcast their inferiority complex. Part of this is due to the fact that Superman had already been in print for seven years before the first issue of Marvel Comics appeared in October 1939. Two super heroes appeared in that first Marvel comic book—The Human Torch and Namor the Sub-Mariner, and the fact that both of these are little known today… Read More »
A gaggle of familiar faces and voices decides to save money on their retirement accomodations by booking into The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, an Indian Inn that looks beautiful on the website, because the photos were taken when India was a British colony. Deciding to make the best of a ramshackle reality, the wrinkled, and rumpled retirees handle leaking faucets, burned-out lights and holes in the walls with British aplomb, while the young hotel manager slaps a smile on his face and whitewash on the walls to keep his guests satisfied. It’s unpretentious and predictable, but everyone is top-notch and the delight is the ensemble itself.… Read More »
Gil Mansergh’s Cinema Toast New Releases for 5/03/12 The Avengers (PG-13) Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner Directed by: Joss Wheden We’ve already met Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America in other films, now the four superheroes unite as a team—albeit a team where multi-billionare Tony Stark (AKA Iron Man) wants to be in charge. The plot involves a Hitchcockian McGuffin called the Tesseract, which gives it’s owner… Read More »
Gil Mansergh’s Cinema Toast New Releases for 4/27/12 The Raven (R) Starring: John Cusak, Directed by: James McTigue, Brendan Gleeson, Luke Evans, Alice Eve Vincent Price brought a certain campiness to Edgar Allen Poe’s macabre tales that is sadly missed this time around. Falling into the trap of rewriting history, the grisly stories Poe relates are supposedly based on a real-life series of murders in 19th century Baltimore. John Cusak is terribly miscast as Poe and the… Read More »
Gil Mansergh’s Cinema Toast New Releases for 4/20/12 Chimpanzee (G) Narrated by: Tim Allen Directed by: Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield The power of Bambi is obviously still felt in the halls of the Disney studios. Veering away from the fascinating, but overly familiar “Nature Films” that now run 24-hours-a-day on TV, the canny Disney folks have taken amazing footage showing the endearing, human-like actions of chimpanzees in the wild and edited it into a drama. The story comes complete with… Read More »
Gil Mansergh’s Cinema Toast New Releases for 4/13/12 The Three Stooges (PG) Starring: Sean Hayes, Will Sasso, Chris Diamantopolous, Jane Lynch, Sofia Vergara, Jennifer Hudson. Directed by: Peter and Bobby Farelley You could say that watching the Three Stooges cartoonish mayhem is an acquired taste, but to me, they are about as funny as a poke in the eye with a sharp shtick. In this film, the burlesque-style antics begin on the steps of an orphanage, where the Stooges grow… Read More »
Gil Mansergh’s Cinema Toast New Releases for 4/06/12 Jiro Dreams of Sushi (PG) Starring: Jiro Ono, Yoshikazu Ono, Takashi Ono Directed by: David Gelb If Guy Fieri searched Japan to find little out-of-the-way places to eat, he would certainly uncover the ten-seat sushi-bar in a Tokyo subway. For behind the tiny counter at Sukiyabashi, the 85-year-old Jiro Ono and his son Yoshiko, chop, slice and roll, perfect compositions of raw fish, seaweed and rice. With a 3-star… Read More »
Gil Mansergh’s Cinema Toast New Releases for 3/30/12 Mirror, Mirror (PG-13) Starring: Julia Roberts, Lily Collins, Arnie Hammer, Nathan Lane Directed by: Tarsem Singh In 2006, Tarsem Singh wrote and directed “The Fall” an ambitious film shot on five continents which celebrated movie making, story telling, exotic locals and fairy-tales. Despite some truly brilliant sequences, the film didn’t work as a whole. This time, Singh has created a movie lacking any brilliance at all. It’s as if the suits… Read More »
by Gil Mansergh A “Festival” is defined as “a gala celebrating some aspect of the community,” and there in a nutshell, is why the Fifth Annual Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival (SDFF) has been honored as: • “One of the 20 Coolest Film Festivals” by MovieMaker Magazine • “The BEST Sonoma County Film Festival” in the North Bay Bohemian 2012 Readers Poll • “One of the 12 Best Small Town Film Festivals” in the country (and the only one on the list from the West… Read More »
Gil Mansergh’s Cinema Toast New Releases for 3/23/12 Hunger Games nothing special, Crazy Horse has topless dances The Hunger Games (PG-13) Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks Directed by:Gary Ross In a post-revolution North America, a feisty archer-girl named Katniss Everdeen saves her sister from death by volunteering to take her place in the televised annual “survival of the fittest” (and luckiest) called the Hunger Games. 24 contestants begin the games, and only one… Read More »
