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.