Gil Mansergh’s Cinema Toast
New Releases 7/13/07

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (PG-13)
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson
Directed by: David Yates
Although he is a respected director of British TV dramas, this is David Yates first stint in a movie director’s chair. Combine freshman jitters with a multimillion dollar budget, acres of special effects, stars who have publicly announced they have “outgrown” their roles, and a fanatic group of fans circling to focus their very critical eye on the final result and you have a recipe for a disaster. Fortunately, movie magic (with, perhaps, a little smidgen of help from Hogwarts and J. K. Rowling) makes things turn out just fine.
3 pieces of growing pains toast.

Josua (R)
Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga, Jacob Kogan
Directed by: George Ratliff
Depending on how far back you want to go (“The Good Son,” “The Omen,” “The Bad Seed” “The Old Testamant”) this is a rework of the old familiar tale of an evil child and the adults who slowly (very slowly) realize this fact. No supernatural effects here, just a slow-paced unveiling of a sociopath (or is he just misunderstood?)
2 and 1/2 pieces of evil child prodigy toast.

Gypsy Caravan (NR)
Esma Redzepova, Antonio El Pipa Flemenco Ensemble, Johnny Depp, Maharaja , Taraf de Haidouks
Directed by: Jasmine Dellal
A dazzling documentary of the American cross-country tour featuring the musical world of the Roma, a celebration of a culture’s misery and oppression as interpreted by Romanian violin, and flamenco, folk, Indian Raga, jazz, and a brief interview with Johnny Depp.
3 and 1/2 pieces of Gypsy toast.

Angel-A (R)
Jamel Debbouze, Rie Rasmussen, Gilbert Melki, Serge Riaboukine, Akim Chir
Directed by: Luc Besson
Andre is deep in debt to a local gangster. With no one to turn to, the petty criminal’s only recourse is to jump into the Seine, but a beautiful and mysterious woman beats him to the water, and he jumps in after her. Sounds intriguing but it ends up as a boring, overly written gabfest with the endless soul searching almost making us wish the two (or at least the guy) had drowned.
1 and 1/2 pieces of talky French toast.

Golden Door (Nouvomondo) (PG-13)
Charlotte Gainsbourg, Vincenzo Amato, Aurora Quattrocchi, Vincent Schiavelli, Francesco Casisa
Writer/director: Emanuele Crialese
The “coming to America” fable is turned into a wondrous and magical experience. A widower driven by fantastic dreams of a place filled with riches, and confronted with shocking realities of his Sicilian homeland sells everything for passage on a ship to America. On board, he meets a mysterious, patrician Englishwoman who needs a husband so she can get past Ellis Island (played by an abandoned hotel in Buenos Aires). The plot thickens delightfully.
3 and 1/2 pieces of Dream Come True toast.

NEW ON VIDEO/DVD

The Last Mimsey (PG-13)
Timothy Hutton, Joely Richardson
Directed by: Robert Shaye with four writers credited (not a good sign)
It’s possible, I guess, that this generation of ten-year-olds have never seen “E.T.” or “Flight of the Navigator,” or “Goonies”, or any of the other stories of young people who discover a box (or bottle, or book, or board game or ???) filled with magical items and aliens from another planet. So if we assume that today’s youngsters aren’t old enough to remember those movies with delight and wonder, perhaps this newest incarnation will prove entertaining. Except for one thing. Did the original 1943 novel have kids trying to save the globe from pollution and the country from the despotic evils of the Patriot Act?
2 and 1/2 pieces of warmed over toast