A Look Back At...

Ratatouille

    Picking one's favorite Disney/Pixar film is a very personal process. Nearly all of the Disney/Pixar films are so perfect, that one really can't claim one is better than the other, and anyone's claim to being the best is a pure matter of preference and taste. That being said, no one will be thought less of by picking any one movie as their favorite, and while many may pick Toy Story or Finding Nemo, my personal favorite has been Ratatouille. This pick did not come lightly, nor was it instant. In fact, I didn't hold Ratatouille in very high regard upon my first viewing of it. It was not until my various re-watches of the movie that I gradually came to appreciate it and love it more and more with each viewing, that I finally decided to name it as my favorite.This film is filled with heartwarming moments, just the right amount of humor, and perhaps the best dialogue and characterization ever achieved in an animated film. When compared to live action, it is perhaps the only one of the Pixar films that truly would have been worthy of going toe-to-toe with the best picture nominees at the Oscars, and considering the dominant themes of the film, as well as its semi-serious tone, it really escapes me that it didn't.

     The story follows Remy, a rat living on the french countryside who has developed a keen sense of smell, and as a result, has come to appreciate good food. his talents lead him to have a desire to become a chef, and he takes the writings of celebrity chef Gusteau as his guide to achieving his dreams. When his family is forced to abandon their homes in a hurry, he gets separated, and finds himself in Paris, being led by the voice of his chef hero. Finding the chef's restaurant, he intervenes when the kitchen's new garbage boy has accidentally ruined a batch of soup, and he proceeds to make it a culinary delight that everyone loves. The boy sees him and hides him, and incidentally takes the credit for the soup, prompting the owner to take him on as a chef. Remy and the boy eventually overcome communication barriers and Remy uses him as a puppet, literally, to become the city's new great chef.

     The themes of this movie are aplenty and profound. There is the theme of following your dreams despite what barriers stand in your way, no matter who you are or where your from you can achieve greatness, as well as the theme of friendship, family, and loyalty. This is a story that could easily have been converted to a live action movie and been very successful. The cast is brilliant and the character development is as good, if not the best you'll find in any animated film or live action for that matter. There really is no character whom you don't understand or sympathize with by the end of the film. There is Linguini, the shy new garbage boy orphan trying to make ends meet, Collete, the aspiring chef who wants to be a success and is forced to take Linguini under her wings, chef Skinner, someone who is is not necessarily evil, but wants what he feels belongs to him, Anton Ego, the food critic who is despised with food, but not because he hates it, but because he has yet to find what in his mind is the perfect meal, and Remy an amateur chef from humble backgrounds trying to realize hs dream of cooking in a restaurant but would have trouble finding acceptance due to the fact that he happens to be a rat (take away the last part, and he would be a character in just about any movie about aspiring chefs). These are all very real and complex characters who interact with each other in a very realistic and entertaining way.

     The climax and ending of the movie are perhaps the most surprising and heartwarming ever to be captured in an animated movie. Ego's reaction when he eats the ratatouille is priceless and brilliant, bringing back his childhood memories and reminding all of us how food can take us places, sometimes back home to a more simpler and easier time in our lives. We all have a favorite food our mother would cook for us and would cause us to have the same reaction. It reminds us just how important food can be in our lives and how we all enjoy it and it reminds us that there is more to food than just sustenance.

     In the end, Ratatouille is heartwarming, humorous, creative, original, and perfectly written and executed. Its cast was brilliant, and their performances impeccable as was their animation. As for the music, it was the best scored Pixar film and perhaps one of the best scored animated features ever, perfectly capturing the essence of the street music found in Paris today, and seamlessly blending it to fit the characters and story. It is truly one of Pixar's best feature and despite the fact of Toy Story 3's success and critical recognition, it is in my book, the only Pixar film that would have stood a chance at the Best Picture award, if only the voting members of the Academy could, like Ego, put aside their prejudices and see the film for what it was as a film, and not merely as an animated feature.

Movie Quotes Monday

Today's quote comes from 1993's Jurassic Park, and is perhaps the most quoted of Samuel L. Jackson's lines and probab;y still comes to mind to almost everyone when we sit at a computer:

"Hold on to your butts."

Six Degrees Saturday

You know the drill: Connect Kevin Bacon to the selected actor in six degrees or less. Each movie in-between is one degree. Today is:


Reese Witherspoon- 4 moves


Last week's solution: Drew Barrymore- The Wedding Singer-Adam Sandler- Anger Management- Jack Nicholson- A Few Good Men- Kevin Bacon

The Best Movie Death Sentences

The Best Movie Death Sentences

     Sometimes, a movie boils down to one decision, to kill or not to kill. Decisions that characters make onscreen are not always simple and when they actually decide that someone deserves to die, they don't always intend on doing it themselves, they get someone else to do it for them. Whatever the reason, when a death sentence is handed down, it almost always reveals something important about the character ordering the hit. Sometimes, it's subtle, sometimes it's made very clear, sometimes it's obvious, sometimes it completely takes us by surprise, but whatever the case, just as good as a great death scene, is a great death sentence. Featured here are my five favorite death sentences ever, along with my reason for thinking so. everyone is bound to have their own favorite, so which one is yours?



5- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
"Wipe them out. All of them."

     I'm not going to sugar coat it, Episode I has nearly zero redeeming features. In fact, if I were to look really hard, I could count them in one hand (but in all honesty, who would bother?). But among those very few attributes, is Lord Sidious' chilling condemnation of all those who stand in his way. One of the dumbest things about the new trilogy was the pretense that Sidious wasn't the Emperor all along, as his manner and voice (and costume for that matter) are unmistakably the same, and the one thing that was always great about the Emperor was his sinister voice and tone, and they are on full display in this scene.

4- ID4: Independence Day: 
"Nuke 'em. Nuke the bastards."

     Bill Pullman's President Whitmore in Independence Day is arguably the best cinematic president ever. He is intelligent, thoughtful, strategic, brave, compassionate, and can give one hell of a speech. Basically, as presidents go, he's the bomb. While at first hesitant to resort to nuclear warfare despite witnessing the destructive force of the aliens, he eventually comes around. After being told by one of the aliens that they would never stop and essentially getting mind-raped, he issues his order of execution.

3- The Godfather Part II: 
"I don't want anything to happen to him, as long as my mother's alive."

     The most frequently quoted and recognized line in The Godfather: Part II is clearly when Michael tells Fredo that he knows he betrayed him. It clearly would not sit well with his mother to kill his own brother, so after telling him he never wants to see him again, he tells his people that nothing is to happen to Fredo, until his mother is gone. He says it so coolly and heartless, that it kind of sends a chill down your spine. Later at his mother's funeral, he seals his sentence without uttering a single word.

2- The Untouchables:
"I want him dead! I want his family dead! I want his house burned to the ground!"

     This movie is Robert De Niro at his best playing Al Capone, and upon discovering that the federal agent on his case just cost him an entire shipment illegal booze, saying he kind of lost his temper is a bit of an understatement (at least he didn't have his baseball bat handy).

1- Silverado:
"He can't hurt me, if he's dead."

     I could go on and on about Silverado as a movie in whole, or just as a western. Given the quality of the post Wayne/ Eastwood westerns, there is no doubt that this is the best of them, and maybe the only one that is on par with those great classics we all know and love such as The Searchers, or The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Part of what makes it so great is its complexity in story line, as well as its terrific script and casting. This one particular scene has Paden, played by Kevin Kline, sitting at a bar drinking while his friends are being hunted because the town's corrupt sheriff has threatened the only woman he cares about should he get involved. She doesn't take this well, and proceeds to tell him how to solve this little dilemma regarding her own boss. When this sentence is carried out, it is perhaps the best death scene ever shot (no pun intended) in Hollywood, but that's another subject in and of itself.

Well, those are my top five, What's your favorite movie death sentence?

Movie Quotes Monday

Today's quote comes to us from Ben Stiller as Derek Zoolander from 2001's Zoolander, in honor of today's announcement of Billy Zane's return for the sequel:

"Put a cork in it, Zane!"

Six Degrees Saturday

You know the drill: Connect Kevin Bacon to the selected actor in six degrees or less. Each movie in-between is one degree. Today is:

Drew Barrymore- 3 moves

Last week's solution:
Kevin Bacon- Hollowman- Elizabeth Shue- The Saint- Val Kilmer- Batman Forever- Tommy Lee Jones

Furious 7: My review

I went in expecting a giant mess of spectacular car stunts and not much more, and in that regard, it didn't disappoint. The Fast and the Furious franchise has had some trouble in recent years to decide where it's going, and unfortunately, the latest entry in the series does nothing to calm our fears as to why this series should have ended after the fourth film, or that it will ever end at all. It seems that audiences today are more than happy to keep a story going for years without any closure or end, much like the runway in the series' last entry. As mindless action films go, this one is actually not too bad, but given the caliber of some of the series' films (namely, one and four) and the general delusion that sequels get better as they go forward, one can't help but wish that the franchise could just come to a grand ending and let the audience move on to greener pastures. But alas, it is not to be, and there will be at least one more film to wrap up the remaining loose ends, and given the box office returns, most likely many more entries just to cash in on its success.

The film itself, though riddled with cliches and a predictable storyline, does a decent enough job of delivering thrills, but by the film's end, it's more like something out of Mission: Impossible, than a series with roots in the world of underground street racing in Los Angeles, complete with sneaking into places to steal things for the government and a lot if fancy tech to replace fast cars. In fact, Furious 7 is appropriately named, as there's very little about it that's actually fast.

The film follows the F&F crew's last ride, to quote Vin Diesel in the trailer (their third last ride, for those of you playing along at home and keeping score, with at least one more ride to go), and it never really feels like this last ride is actually accomplishing anything. The movie ends with more openings then it started with. Both of the Shaw brothers are still alive and well by the end and big brother's more pissed off then ever.

We will never be able to separate Furious 7 from the tragic death of leading man Paul Walker during production. As far as giving him a send off and allowing his character to reach some form of closure from the franchise, I'll admit it was touching. But from a purely narrative standpoint and from the risk of taking some serious heat for being insensitive, I have to take some serious issues with the decision of the ending. As stated, this movie does not end the franchise, and with Walker's character still alive, it's hard to believe that in the future, he would not come to aid his friends and his wife's brother in their time of need. It's not going to be very believable going into the future and I feel that while I may be thought of as a jerk, if they are going to continue the series, his character has to die, or Vin Diesel's would, thus eliminating Paul Walker's need to be involved in the story.

While we're on the subject of onscreen deaths, I would like to talk about Han's death from Tokyo Drift, which finally caught up to the timeline in the sixth installment. I was disappointed in the way they handled the racing scene in Furious 7 and treated Vin Diesel meeting up with Lucas Black like some form of obligatory cameo. I personally would've loved to have seen them make him a more integral part of the story, since Black's character was so close to Han, and it would've been nice to have Tokyo Drift more a part of the universe, but in the end, it was just one more wasted opportunity.

All in all, Furious 7 is a film in a series that these days is more concerned with appealing to the masses than actually delivering a great film. Despite what the studio says about taking risk and doing right by Paul Walker, their concern is only money. And that's ok, they need money to make movies for our enjoyment. The problem is that Furious 7 is not very enjoyable. It's a huge thrilling mess and not much more. It felt like it was going through the motions most of the time and the rest of the time it was more worried about setting up the sequel than trying to tell the story we all came to see. It will make lots of money, as already evidenced by the box office returns, and lots of people will go watch it if for no other reason than to see Paul Walker's last film. If you're into stunts and thrills, I'm sure you'll find Furious 7 fulfills your needs, and if that is all you are expecting, then I say go for it. But if you're expecting to see the franchise's grand last last last ride actually give something resembling heart, then maybe this is not the place to look. Wait for the last last last LAST ride and let's see how that one goes.
2 1/2 out of 5 stars

Movie Quotes Monday

Today's quote come from 2011's The Green Hornet courtesy of Cristoph Waltz, playing the drug dealer Chudnofsky:

 "You said I'm boring. My gun has two barrels. That's not boring."

Six Degrees Saturday

You know the drill: Connect Kevin Bacon to the selected actor in six degrees or less. Each movie in-between is one degree. Today is:

Tommy Lee Jones-3 moves



Last week's solution: Peter O'Toole- Troy- Brad Pitt- Sleepers- Kevin Bacon

Movie Quotes Monday

Today's quote is from Walt Disney's 1967 animated picture The Jungle Book, and if it wasn't for its cynicism, it would be encouraging:

"I'm not like those so-called fair-weather friends of yours. You can believe in me."

Six Degrees Saturday

You know the drill: Connect Kevin Bacon to the selected actor in six degrees or less. Each movie in-between is one degree. Today is:

Peter O'Toole- 2 moves

Last week's solution: Chris Rock- Lethal Weapon 4- Joe Pesci- My Cousin Vinny- Marisa Tomei-Crazy Stupid Love- Kevin Bacon

Movie Quotes Monday

Today's quote comes to us courtesy of Peter Falk as Joy Boy in Frank Capra's 1961 Pocketful of Miracles starring Bette Davis and Glenn Ford:

"I got a wife that's very fussy. She don't like for me to go around marryin' people! Now, I know that might sound very selfish to you, but she's very funny that way!"

Six Degrees Saturday

You know the drill: Connect Kevin Bacon to the selected actor in six degrees or less. Each movie in-between is one degree. Today is:

Chris Rock-3 moves

Last week's solution: Brendan Fraser- The Mummy- Rachel Weisz- Enemy at the Gates- Ed Harris- Apollo 13- Kevin Bacon

The DUFF: A Great High School Comedy

     Whatever this cinematic year will bring, The DUFF will most likely go down in infamy. Not because it is a bad movie(because it isn't), but because it goes against what the critics like to call good, although for me, this is a comforting fact and a selling point in and of itself. This movie is far from good, it is great, and as a teen comedy, it is probably the best one since Ten Things I Hate About You. The DUFF actually has the makings of a cult classic, and should it is successful, it will be because of word of mouth and social media, not because of critics' reviews, and for that, I can only say "long live the internet!" At long last, here is a movie about teenagers acting like teenagers and having teenager problems, not just trying to send some kind of social message that only applies to a few. At its core, this is a movie about bullying, but not the kind of bullying that moves people to tears at school assemblies or the nightly news, but the kind of everyday bullying that few people actually know or care about. Nothing as extreme as Carrie, but within the realms of realism. This story applies to just about everyone in the world and only a cynic will fail to take this movie to heart or fail to find anything about it appealing, yet there will be many.
 
     The DUFF, on its surface, offers very little in terms of something new. The High School genre is one that has been covered very extensively in cinema going all the way back to Grease, with the classics such as The Breakfast Club, and Clueless filling in the gap. What The DUFF does offer us however, is a fresh film, one that does not totally conform to the formula of high school movies, but still feeling like one. Whenever you think something is going to happen exactly the way it always has, they dispense with it. for example (spoilers ahead), the scene when she is trying on clothes and talking about her crush while one of the school bullies secretly films her, we begin to think that this will ultimately be the climax of the film, but that notion is quickly dismissed, and the film moves on. There is a certain flow to this film that is rarely found in comedies, much less teen comedies, and The DUFF breaks the mold of teen high school flicks.

     The movie follows Bianca, played by Mae Whitman, a high school student who is intelligent and not into to much of a social life. She has two very good friends, both of whom are fairly popular and very pretty. One day, her neighbor points out to her that in every group of friends, there is a DUFF, the Designated Ugly Fat Friend, and that in her case, it is her. She doesn't take this very well, and at first dismisses the notion. But as she thinks about it, the more she sees that it is true, and it infuriates her to the point of severing ties with the only two friends she has. She then sets out on a mission of reinventing herself, employing her popular jock neighbor to help transform her into someone the boy she has a crush on would date, in exchange for helping him pass his classes. While a few cliches ensue, the movie itself retains its freshness and feels like a tribute to all high school movies while being something totally new.

     The cast is seasoned, but is not very known, and the producers of the movie heavily depended on each actor's individual abilities. The only actors audiences in general will recognize are Bella Thorne, coming out of movies such as Adam Sandler's Blended as well as Disney's Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (from which she basically reprises her role, albeit with much more detail), and the ever hilarious Ken Jeong of The Hangover trilogy and TV's Community, cast perfectly as Bianca's teacher and head of the school paper. What makes the movie work with such a cast is the screenplay, written to be hilarious, but surprisingly well grounded and realistic. Nothing seems forced and the students actually seem like high-schoolers, a refreshing notion in a time when everyone wants to cast teenagers as adults.

     All in all, The DUFF is is a funny, entertaining, heartfelt outing. Bordered on cliche? Maybe. Been there done that? Without a doubt. But it still manages to put a smile on your face and remember what high school was all about. If there is one movie you  should watch because of word of mouth, it's this one. The DUFF is sure to go down as the high school cult classic of this generation and you will thank yourself for watching it while in its theatrical run. I saw it for free at a critics' screening and loved it so much, I felt bad about not paying for the ticket, so I went and saw it again, something I rarely do while a film is in its theatrical run, but it is worth every penny of the ticket price. If you need a little convincing, here is the trailer for your enjoyment and persuasion.

Movie Quotes Monday

Today's quote is an exchange about a Honda Insight between Martin Weir and Chili Palmer, plated by Danny Devito and John Travolta, Respectively, in 2005's Be Cool:

Chili Palmer: It's the Cadillac of hybrids.

Martin Weir: But what about speed?

Chili Palmer: If you're important, people will wait.

Six Degrees Saturday

You know the drill: Connect Kevin Bacon to the selected actor in six degrees or less. Each movie in-between is one degree. Today is:

Brendan Fraser- 3 moves



Last week's solution: Gerard Butler- Shattered- Pierce Brosnan- Mamma Mia!- Meryl Streep- The River Wild- Kevin Bacon

Most Disappointing Omissions from Movies That We Saw in Their Trailers

Let's face it, not everything can make it into the final cut of a movie. There must be a hundred things that need to be taken out for various reason, be it because of change of story, publicity concerns, or the fact that some things were never meant to be included at all, but used as a teaser instead. For better or worse, things change from the time the trailers are first released and we see the film on the big screen. Here are five that were clearly for the worse.

Big Hero 6- My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark

     We'll start off with a more recent entry, Big Hero 6, which everyone (myself included) loved. The soundtrack to this movie is pretty good, as most all Disney films are, but I think everyone felt a little cheated when Baymax finally took to the skies without us hearing "So light em' up, up, up! Light em' up, up, up! Light em' up, up, up!(I'm on Fire!!!)" Not a big deal story wise, and the score they came up with fits nicely also for their first flight, but in an age where we watch trailers over and over again on the internet, I think we all felt a little deceived.



A Bug's Life- Baba O' Reilly

     Like Big Hero 6, this song was featured prominently in the trailer, and you could hear the words "out here in the fields" as you saw Dot on top of a flower waving to Flick. While not relevant to the film, it still made the trailer that much better, and i really wanted to have heard it played in the final cut of the movie.


Home Alone- "You still are, Marv."

     I didn't watch the trailer for Home Alone in theaters, instead, I saw it on the home video release of its sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, and man, when I saw all they omitted from the final cut, it was almost a different movie. While not terribly important or missed, this other cheap shot at Marv's intelligence would have been a nice addition to the final cut of the movie. I'll never quite understand the benefit of cutting this out, I mean, it is literally two lines, like three seconds long, but they felt it necessary. I still think it would have been funny to see.




Hitch- "You see someone you know, I don't want none of this."

     This scene, is truly the most baffling of all, because it is but a split second, and it's removal served ZERO purposes! The face Will Smith makes as he's teaching his student how to dance cool is priceless and when i first saw the movie, I thought I had just missed it for some reason, because it was funny, and yes, seeing it in the trailer was a huge selling point for me.


Spiderman- World Trade Center spider web

     Riding off the success of the original X-Men 15 years ago (yeah, it's been that long), Fox released Spiderman, arguably one of the most well known superheroes, and all in all, a very good movie. From the time the trailer hit theaters (that's right kids, we didn't always have YouTube), everyone was pumped to see the web-slinger in action, and no scene sold the movie better than the one where Spiderman spun a web between the two towers of the World Trade Center. We can debate all we want about the practicality of the web or how he knew the bank robbers would fly through there, but the fact remains, it was an AWESOME scene! For obvious reasons of sensitivity, the entire scene was cut from the movie, and I don't think anyone will argue that at the time it was the right thing to do. But those of us who remember the excitement of going to the movies and arriving early enough for seating and catching the latest trailers will remember the excitement of the Spiderman trailer, as well as our ultimate disappointment at not having that scene play out in the movie.

Movie Quotes Monday

Today's quote is brought to us by John Travolta, from 1996's Broken Arrow.

" I said DAMN what a rush!"

Six Degrees Saturday

You know the drill: Connect Kevin Bacon to the selected actor in six degrees or less. Each movie in-between is one degree. Today is

Gerard Butler- 3 moves


Last week's solution: Rick Moranis-Spaceballs- Bill Pullman- Sleepless in Seattle- Tom Hanks- Apollo 13- Kevin Bacon

He Who Laughs Last Laughs Harder

For some time now, DC comics has been criticized and laughed at for taking so long to start their Justice League franchise. Many were saying that they were fools for just standing by and watching marvel capitalize on their indisputably successful avengers franchise. Well, in all honesty, from a business perspective, they couldn't have done better. As soon as Ironman, the first film in the franchise, hit theaters, Marvel was unstoppable. Had DC started their Justice League then it would have been a disaster. We would have had both companies competing and trying to outdo the other. Phase One of the Marvel films enjoyed so much success because they had nothing to worry about but telling the story and making it good, trying to outdo no one but themselves. Now Phase One is over. DC knows this. They also know the obvious, that we will never view the new phase of Marvel with its new line up the way we do Phase One. Think of it like Star Wars. We who grew up with the original will never like the new ones as much. Granted, I don't think Marvel will screw up phase two the way Lucas did with the prequels but you get the general idea. Now it's DC's turn. Part of the interest that came to Marvel's Phase One from the perspective of the comic book illiterate (myself included) is that they took the well known characters to tackle first. This generated the interest needed to fuel their multi-billion dollar success. While I couldn't be more excited about Phase Two, I must confess I don't know anything about these new heroes. I do on the other know very well about the characters involved in the Justice  League. Batman, Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman, these are the top of their universe much like Phase One was the top of Marvel's. Top of the universe at least from the perspective of the average moviegoer, those of us who don't read the comics. At the end of the day the Justice League franchise will be just as successful as Phase One and I believe will surpass the current Phase Two and coming Phase Three. The average moviegoer doesn't know the more obscure characters that will inevitably need to be brought in to future Marvel phases but they are very familiar with the ones in the first phase of Justice League. The DC characters have the advantage of being more traditionally present on the big screen albeit not as successful as Marvel has been the last few years. We all grew up with Christopher Reeve's Superman and Michael Keaton's Batman. Marvel has had a great run bringing their favorites to the big screen and have enjoyed a healthy paycheck for it. But now it's DC's turn, and they may have just what they need to come out on top when all is said and done. They let Marvel make their splash and make everyone love superhero movies again and now they're just gonna ride the waves all the way to box office success.