Gil Mansergh’s Cinema Toast

New Releases 12/21/07

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (R)
Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter, Alan Rickman
Directed by: Tim Burton
I have always thought that this tale of a tortured barber who killed his customers and dumped them through a trap door for his landlady to make them into fresh, meat pies was a spurious waste of Stephen Sondheim’s considerable talent. I still do. Cannibalisim, no matter how clever the staging, no matter how witty the songs, no matter how adroitly it is acted and directed “is still cannibalism. And what is this fascination with pies in movies and TV all of a sudden anayway? Depp is mentioned by others for a possible Oscar, but I like him better as Captain Jack Sparrow.
3 pieces of the shades of grey and arterial red toast

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (R)
John C. Reilley, Jenna Fisher,
Directed by: Jake Kasden
All the tired movie cliches of the “singer who made it big and then disappeared..only to be discovered anew” movie are present and many are presented in such a way that you chuckle as they develop and blossom before your eyes. As he proved in “Chicago,” John C. Reilly can sing, and he’s one of American cinema’s best character actors. Here he gets a chance to star and he hams it up (but in a good, no let me make that, great way). Most of this movie is sublime, and things happen so fast you won’t have much time to notice the things that don’t quite work. (NOTE: Any similarity between the plot of this movie and the life of Johnny Cash is purely coincidental “yeah, right.
3 pieces of the man in black (and blue) toast

Charlie Wilson’s War (R)
Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Directed by: Mike Nichols
If anyone can make American movie audiences delight in a history lesson, It’s Aaron Sorkin. The creative genius behind “The West Wing” wrote this based-on-real events fable of a US congressman who armed, trained and built up the confidence of the Taliban and their Al Qaeda cohorts. But, of course, at that time, the bearded desert warriors were fighting the Soviets. In the best Sorkin tradition, there’s lots of hallway conversations, backroom palvering , Playmates in hottubs, and political deal making as well as an occassional rumble in the desert with helicopters shot from the sky by a US trained marksman. Perhaps most intriguing is how the Phillip Seymour Hoffman chews up those mere movie stars, Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts and spits them out. The movie is his as soon as he arrives.
3 pieces of our men in Afghanistan toast

National Treasure: Book of Secrets (PG)
Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Harvey Keitel, Ed Harris, Jon Voight
Directed by: Jon Turtletaub
Last year’s hit movie about a befuddled fortune hunter who deciphers clues with such certainty that the audience doesn’t have time to think they may signify something entirely different, and follows along for the thrill ride as we dash around the country searching for hoards of lost Masonic gold has a sequel. But they won’t let critics see it. (I didn’t see the first film until the night before it was released “now I have to wait until after the release date).
Unavailable for preview

P.S. I Love You (R)
Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, Kathy Bates, Gina Gershon
Directed by: Richard La Gravenese
The idea of a dead spouse leaving you a “To Do” list for your life “and then following his directions, is the basis of this film and the idea seems a creepy non-starter to me. Someone who follows a “Year of Mourning” letter seems better suited to one of those TV true confessions shows than a Hollywood movie, but what do I know, the studio didn’t invite me to a screening.
Unavailable for preview

The Savages (R)
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Laura Linney, Philip Bosco, Peter Friedman
Directed by: Tamara Jenkins
Two siblings who have live far apart physically and emotionally, must band together to care for their ailing father in this “future of too many Baby Boomers” story. As the title suggests, it’s an unsentimental portrait as far from a Hallmark card as you can get “and better for it.
3 and 1/2 pieces of old age is Hell toast

Juno (R)
Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Batemen, Allison Janney, J.K. Simmons
Directed by: Jason Reitman
The whip smart 16-year-old in this movie wants to experience sex, so she recruits her not-to-willilng best friend for her experiment. Will fate intervene and pregnancy result? Will her parents be accepting and supportive when she decides to have the baby? Will she disarm and charm us with her forthright, tell-it-like-it-is attitude? You bet. Ellen Page is lovable, the rest of the cast is sublime, and the script (by newcomer Diablo Cody) is like a beacon shining far above most of what we’ve seen this year.
4 pieces of you’ll fall in love with Juno toast

NEW VIDEO DVDs

The Simpsons Movie (PG)
Voices of: Dan Castellanta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardly Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Pamela Hayden
Directed by: David Silverman
Box Office: $183,049,643
Eleven of the TV show’s writers were pressed into service to come up with a feature length presentation starring America’s most dysfunctional loving family. The result is the familiar series of stories evolving from one premise and suddenly launching us in a completely different direction. I’m not supposed to give away any plot secrets, but Lisa does have an Irish boyfriend and Homer manages to make Springfield the most polluted city in the USA.
3 and 1/2 pieces of blue hairdo toast.

Stardust (PG-13)
Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Claire Danes, Robert DeNiro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Peter O’Toole
Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Box Office: $38,226,458
When a lovestruck boy promises his fickle girlfriend a real live star as proof of his love, who should fal out of the sky, but a fallen celestial power source (aka Claire Danes). But lots of folk seek this star’s heart “literally and figuratively “either her hand in marriage or her beating blood pumper are fought over by witches, warlocks, princes and princesses alike. How does a simple muggle of a commoner stand a chance? By the way, the special effects are reminiscent of those done by Terry Gilliam in his fairy tales years ago.
2 and 1/2 pieces of too much dust, too few stars toast.

Once (R)
Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova
Directed by: John Carney
Box Office: $9,199,193
Winner of the Audience Award at Sundance, this low budget musical about two street musicians who get together to tackle the big time in Dublin is surprisingly effective. Featuring Glen Hansard and his Irish band The Frames (and directed by the band’s former bassist) it’s like watching a scruffy Hollywood musical with infectious performances and a toe-tapping soundtrack. And keep your eyes on 17-year old Maketa Irglova. She’s going places.
4 pieces of “let’s put on a show” toast