Gil Mansergh’s Cinema Toast New Releases 10/24/08 RocknRolla (R)Starring: Gerard Butler, Thandie Newton, Jeremy Piven, Chris “Ludacris” BridgesDirector: Guy RitchieWith Cockney-accented violence highly choreographed to a headache-inducing rock score, this is a so-called “crime-comedy” is in the same vein as the director’s “Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels,” but without it’s originality or shock value. And what is the point of the Russian billionaire who disappears almost before he arrives? … Read More »

Gil Mansergh’s Cinema Toast New Releases 10/24/08 High School Musical 3: Senior Year (G)Starring: Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Bart Johnson, Alyson Reed, Olesya Rulin, Chris Warren, Ryne Sanborn, Kaycee Stroh, Matt Prokop, Justin Martin, Jemma McKenzie-Brown, Zac EfronDirector: Kenny OrtegaThis year there’s another show for the talented youngsters to put on, but there’s the added pressure of Senior year with the (gasp) difficult decisions about which college to … Read More »

Gil Mansergh’s Cinema Toast New Releases 10/17/08 W (PG-13)Starring: Josh Brolin, James Cromwell, Ellen Burstyn, Elizabeth BanksDirector: Oliver StoneIn Oliver Stone’s portrait of the Bush White House. Artfully chosen actors are cast as Bush (Josh Brolin), Cheney (Richard Dreyfuss), Rumsfeld (Scott Glenn), Rove (Toby Jones), Powell (Jeffrey Wright), Rice (Thandie Newton), Laura Bush (Elizabeth Banks), and President Bush, Sr. (James Cromwell), and they revel in the chance to … Read More »

Gil Mansergh’s Cinema Toast New Releases 10/10/08 The Express (PG)Starring: Dennis Quaid, Omar Benson Miller, Rob Brown, Clancy BrownDirector: Gary FlederWhen Manhattan’s Downtown Athletic Club created a trophy to honor the most outstanding college football player of the year, it is very doubtful that a single member of the Club even considered that it might someday be awarded to what was then termed a Negro. But in 1961, the times they were … Read More »

An Open Letter to Alan Ball Regarding the Graphic Depiction of Child Sexual Abuse in Towelhead by Gil Mansergh Dear Mr. Ball, I saw Towelhead last night. It is only one of nearly three hundred movies I will screen this year for my two newspaper columns, two radio shows and NY Times affiliated blog, yet it is the first one which compelled me to write to the filmmaker and express my anger and … Read More »

Gil Mansergh’s Cinema Toast New Releases 10/03/08 An American Carol (PG-13)Starring: Kevin Farley, Kelsey Grammer, Leslie Nielsen, Trace AdkinsDirector: David ZuckerMichael Moore is not the documentary filmmaker portrayed in this spoof from the fellow who brought us “Airplane.” Oh no. This guy just looks and sounds and acts and has almost the same name, but it’s some guy named Michael Malone who is making a film about abolishing the celebration … Read More »