Gil Mansergh’s Cinema Toast

New Releases 5/08/09

Star Trek (PG-13)
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Zoe Soldana, Eric Bana, Leonard Nimoy
Director: J.J. Abrams
It is appropriate that a TV writer/director (”Alias,” “Lost“) should take the venerable TV series created by Gene Roddenberry 42 years ago, and successfully bring it back to where no one has gone before “the past. A whole new cast create 21st century versions of 20th century icons Kirk, Spock, Sulu, Scott, Chekov, McCoy and Uhura and the chemistry of the TV show is quite different this time around. Play-it-by-the-book Spock would detest the fast-fisted Kirk “if he allowed himself to display his emotions. And the starships aren’t the shiny plastic toys we grew up with, they are well-used and battle-scarred, with rusty bolts, chipped paint and a transporter that still won’t work when they need it. Cool.
4 pieces of reincarnated magic toast

Next Day Air (R)
Starring: Donald Adeosun Faison, Mos Def, Mike Epps, Debbie Allen
Director: Benny Boom
Press Notes Say: “When two bumbling criminals (Mike Epps and Wood Harris) accidentally receive a package of grade-A cocaine, they think they’ve hit the jackpot. But when they try to cash in on their luck, it quickly turns bad.”
Not available for review

Paris 36 (PG-13)
Starring: Gerard Jugnot, Nora Arnezeder, Clovis Cornillac, Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu
Director: Christophe Barratier
The denizens of a pre-WWII Parisian Music Hall are portrayed sincerely in this sentimental movie, and the unintentional result is that it reminds the American audience of “The Muppet Show” complete with human versions of Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, and since there is a murder mystery involved, Fozzie the Bear in his trenchcoat.
2 pieces of fearlessly French toast

NEW ON DVD

Curious Case of Benjamin Button (PG-13)
Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton, Julia Ormand,
Director: David Finch
A marvelously conceived, painstakingly detailed and brilliantly acted tale of a man who is born aged and then lives his life getting younger with each passing minute. Spending his formative years at a nursing home, he befriends a pygmy and a 7-year-old girl both of whom will play an important part in his future (including his opportunities for sex with both professionals and amateurs.
3 and1/2 pieces of this is a must see pieces of toast

Last Chance Harvey (NR)
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Kathy Baker, James Brolin
Director: Joel Hopkins
This predictable, but still charming late-blooming romance between two losers works because of the true chemistry between the Oscar-winning stars. They play an aging and recently fired jingle writer and a twenty years younger overworked airport employee who bump into each other in a Heathrow bar and evolve slowly into an affair of sorts. The absence of pratfalls and seltzer bottles is made up for by having people you really care about for a change.
3 pieces of modern romance toast