Tag Archive

Why are all these posts concentrating on little categories like “Best Actor” and “Best Director” when what we all really care about is Art Direction and Costumes? In the course of seeing all of the films nominated for the big eight I ended up seeing most of the films nominated for all those other categories they hand out awards to in the middle 2 hours of the Oscar telecast. Since you obviously care about my make-up preferences, please, read on!

Best Song
“Falling Slowly” Once, “Raise it Up” August Rush, “Happy Working Song” Enchanted, “So Close” Enchanted, “That’s How You Know” Enchanted

For some reason I feel like I already covered this category. But since the Academy stupidly ignored my recommendations, let’s take a look at these inferior choices.

The clear winner for me is “Falling Slowly.” It’s the central song in the wonderful musical Once that embodies the heartbreak and loneliness of the main characters. “Raise it Up” is actually fairly offbeat and I imagine it works well in the film, schmaltzy as it surely is. Nothing against Enchated, but if one of its triumvirate wins it better be “That’s How You Know,” a clever take on the Disney fairy tale tune set in modern times. “Happy Working Song” is a cute but uninspiring ditty while “So Close” is a toothless and unmemorable love song.

Snubs: See my breakdown of the eligible songs to find about a dozen songs I liked better than all the non-Once songs. Read the rest of this entry »

For those of you who aren’t Pixar or movie nerds, the subtitle of my post is from The Incredibles, still my favorite film from the studio, and probably one of my top films of the decade. Yeah, it was that good. And after the underwhelming Cars, a movie did little to defy convention or predictability, I thought Ratatouille would be a great rebound movie. The overwhelmingly positive reviews and fantastic word-of-mouth raised my expectations that this was the return of the brilliant Pixar story. Hell, it was even directed by Brad Bird, the genius behind The Incredibles.

But, I sadly learned…to steal another line and apply it to the Pixar brand: “If everbody’s super, then no one is.” And I couldn’t agree more. Read the rest of this entry »

Ratatouille is probably the most atmospheric of Pixar’s films. I look back and think of the film’s style, its charm, and its ability to bring the experience of food and cooking to the screen more than I think about the plot or the characters. I felt immersed in a stylized Paris; I could swear I could taste, feel, smell the food and hear the sizzle. To me it’s the best Pixar film since Finding Nemo. Read the rest of this entry »

I have nothing against cooking. I’ve seen countless episodes of Iron Chef. I think Alton Brown is nothing short of amazing. I dare Bobby Flay to throwdown in tuna melts. And I have a crush on Giada De Laurentiis. Well, except for any time she talks. That all said, I found Ratatouille relatively weak. The story is charming enough in theory, but the execution was lacking.

In my mind, Pixar’s ability to make entertaining movies is nothing short of staggering, given the impossible broad audience they attempt to reach. Our entertainment options are increasing at a rapid rate, and most often in an attempt to capture all sorts of niche markets. Which, in many ways, is a good thing. But I’d argue that with Ratatouille, the broad brushstrokes weren’t filled in with the usual detail that has made Pixar films so good in the past. Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t really have much to say about this movie. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised by this movie, but, in all honesty, it would have been hard not to be. My idea of an ideal plotline does not have a French rat as the main character. However, the movie was decently entertaining.

One reason for this is Pixar itself – which has a stranglehold on the CGI/animated movie market. The reason for their dominance is that they put out good movies. I thought it was better than Cars (which, admittedly I didn’t even finish), but fell well short of The Incredibles and Finding Nemo. The only other thing I can think of to mention was the complete lack of French accents in the movie. The only two characters that had even a shred of an accent were the villain chef and the love interest. That in itself made me like the movie more.