Review: Ratatouille

First off, let it be known that the author of this review suffers from a massive bias towards Pixar, believing it to be truly one of the best things coming out of the modern film industry.

That being said, Pixar’s latest offering, the rodent-ridden Ratatouille forces us to ask the question, “Can Pixar actually make a bad movie?”

The answer: Probably, but we’ve never seen one.

Ratatouille was written and directed by Brad Bird, who we also have to thank for The Incredibles, arguably the best Pixar film ever. Bird (who, by the way, was the voice for the hysterical Edna Mode), has created a subtly charming, raucously funny, constantly changing piece in Ratatouille that literally had me walking out of the theatre thinking I’d seen a live-action film.

That is probably the biggest compliment I can pay this film. The sheer quality of this film is sublime. Here are three reasons why you owe it to yourself to see this film.

• Screenplay/Dialogue – A subtle thing I happened to catch on to rather quickly was that this film never lagged, never let itself get too bogged down in emotionally drawn out scenes where the protagonist deals with conflict. The scenes where Remy (the rat) and Linguini (the kid mop-by turned Chef) deal with their conflicts are neat and tidy, and never let us get too comfortable before springing back into the manic action Pixar does so well.

• Animation – After Finding Nemo, Pixar pretty much staked its claim that it could replicate anything and make it look real. In this film, it’s the food. It looks real. Really.

• The Voices: Top notch vocal acting in this film. The rat is voiced by no name comedian Patton Oswalt, Linguini by a production designer from Pixar. But the inflections in this film are so genuine and believable that they really helped sell the premise (a rat communicating with a human). Brian Dennehy shows up as the rat’s father, but the gold star for vocals goes to Peter O’Toole, who voiced the creepy restaurant critic Ego. Absolutely spot on.

To recap: awesome flick, which retains the usual two-tiered approach of have a kid centered plot with enough above-the-head jokes to keep adults snickering (it takes place in France . . . ‘nuff said.)

We respectfully submit for consideration of the mighty Dack a rating of eightDacks.

(Many thanks to Dack for trusting his reputation to his humble servant.)

Special Guest Reviewer…

The Dack List is proud to announce that on occasion we will be privilaged to have reviews by superstar blogger Jordan Rising. The Dack is excited because frankly there are too many movies to go see and continue a successful career outside the blogging world.

First up is the highly rated Ratatouille that in the Dacks total focus on Transformers totally flew under the radar.

Another Potter...

Having read all the Harry Potter books at least once, none of the movies have really lived up to the books. Seeing as though most of you that are interested in seeing this movie have seen the first 4 films, I will go ahead and rate the Harry Potter movies from best to worst.

1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Sorcerer's Stone
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (the movie this review is for)
4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

I won’t go into my rating of the books but I will say that Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite of the series, so just because it's a good book doesn't make it a good movie.

This movie has a great set up with the most exciting thing to happen to Harry yet, while away from Hogwarts. (If you don’t know what Hogwarts is save your self some money and see Transformers.) But after that great intro we get a lot of newspapers flying across the screen telling us what is happening. Time passes too quickly in this movie, it's probably the only way the director can pack in all the info. In fact, taking the longest of the books so far and cramming it into the shortest movie probably contributed to why it wasn’t the best movie….even 20 more minutes could have done wonders to smooth out the story.

Like all Harry Potter films I have seen, I base the success of the film on how well the director is able to translate the book to the big screen. Order of the Phoenix isn’t the worst film in the Potter franchise but it isn’t the best either.

There are quite a few bright spots in this movie, beginning with the amazing job from all the top notch British acting talent in the film. When Emma Thompson takes a role with four lines you know there is magic in the air. Besides the adult actors, each of the young adults in this movie have grown into their role amazingly well. In fact, whoever the casting director was 7 years ago should be given major kudos. Every child actor has done a fantastic job…. in their role in all 5 films. That alone is incredible.

In the end once again the filmmakers have decided to try and make this movie more appealing to a broad audience and I am left with disappointment. At times I loved it but in the end it felt lacking... Order of the Phoenix manages to get sevenDacks….I thought for sure it was only going to get sixDacks but……I admit I currently have a bad case of Potter fever and the last book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows comes out this Saturday so I am feeling quite generous. If you’re a fan of the series it’s worth checking out, if you aren’t go see Transformers.

License To Wed……….Yep I Saw It So You Didn't Have To

The question: Do you LOVE Robin Williams should be asked before you venture to see this movie. If you answered that you like Robin Williams you should not see this movie. Fortunately for The Dack, Mrs. D LOVES Robin Williams so off we went to see this lovely film.

First let’s start with the positive. This was a fun clean family film for all to enjoy. Unfortunately there isn’t much to this simple bland romantic comedy. I laughed a little but Robin Williams has spread his comedy over so many films that I'm just tired of him. Whether he plays a radio host in Vietnam, father, physiologist, teacher, doctor or priest it’s always the same character. Actually I love Robin in more serious rolls but all these lame characters ruin it when I see him in a good role.

I can’t recommend this movie to any but if you do have to see it because….well someone close to you wants to see it……three margaritas and a redbull should help you enjoy it for at least a little while.

This one gets fourDacks, two for the funny little kid and two for Robin, because Good Morning Vietnam is one of my favorite films.

Die Hardest…But How Many Times Is Too Many?

Bruce Willis has officially merged with John McClane and they are now one being kicking ass and taking names. I have been looking forward to seeing Live Free Die Hard for several months and I was not disappointed.

When you sit down to watch a Die Hard film you need to leave your common sense at the door and just enjoy the ride. The Dack had no problems with this considering I had just finished a marathon 26 hour drive home from San Antonio, Texas only 8 hours before I dragged myself to see this spectacle.

Justin Long plays Bruce Willis’s reluctant sidekick, a college nerd who made a computer virus the bad guys are using for evil. You might know him from the PC vs. Mac commercials, where he plays the Mac. While his witty banter with Bruce Willis keeps the movie at a fast pace even when there isn’t any action going on (which isn’t much time at all) Kevin Smith’s cameo as a super nerd who goes by Warlock was even better. I won’t bother going over my favorite action scenes because the trailers have already shown you everything. Most of the bad guys are run of the mill action badies, which you forget about as soon as Bruce kicks their butt. The only other highlight of the film is the hot angry girl who plays Bruce Willis’s college aged daughter who has a massive change of heart toward her father when the bad guys come a knocking.

As for my recommendation…. if you love action movies, go see it. Now that I am wrapping up my recommendation I’m not having the love for this movie I originally felt…everything felt like it had been done already, yes it was cool and fun to watch but go see Transformers instead and if you’ve seen Transformers already, go see it again. Die Hard for the 4th time gets sevenDacks only because Bruce Willis is a Dack favorite.

The Dack Experiences Texas…

I don’t normally rate anything more than Television and Film but as I just recently got back from Texas I figured I might share some of my thoughts about Texas around the San Antonio area.

I never thought Texas would be so wet. The giant theaters were surprisingly nice but what else are you going to do while it’s hot and rainy.

Here are a few other things I enjoyed...

That's me sampling some fine rum and a lady pouring some wine for my wife at the Costco Liquor store. To bad I missed the Sky Vodka from 12 to 3.

Oh, and these were Lady Dack's aunts front yard pets and yes they were huge.

Overall the San Antonio area of Texas gets a healthy sixDacks. Now let's get back to some film.

Being Awesome Is The Right Of All Sentient Beings!!!

I had the opportunity to see Transformers last night IMAX style last night in San Antonio. Unfortunately the movie wasn’t actually an IMAX movie so that was a little disappointing but I wasn’t disappointed for long.

Finally a movie this summer that wasn’t a sequel and it was AWESOME!!! This movie lived up to all the hype I have been giving it for the last couple months. I can’t think of one complaint I have about this movie. The pacing was great, the story was great, the acting was surprisingly awesome, and the special effects were SPECTACULAR!!! Any complaints about what type of cars the Transformers were, should be dismissed with a shrug of the shoulders. If this is your problem with the movie then shut up and be thankful that everything else worked perfectly.

Shia LaBeouf was really good (which makes me really excited for Indy 4 coming next year) and Anthony Anderson was hilarious!! The acting is what pushed this movie over the top. I knew going into to this movie that I would probably love the special effects, which just so you know where awesome, but the acting is what made this movie fantastic.

Michael Bay proved without a doubt that he was the man for the job…the pacing on this movie was perfect even with a running time of over 2 and a half hours. Yes, about 50 minuets in it started to drag but just in time Optimus Prime, Jazz, Ironhide, and Ratchett showed up to save the day.

****SPOILER AHEAD****

My Favorite part was when Optimus jacked up the Decepticon Barricade with his sword on the freeway. I was also sad that Jazz was killed. Jazz is defiantly the coolest of the original Autobots but someone had to die and at least he died at the hands of Megatron.

****END SPOILER****

My only hope is they don’t ruin this movie by making bad sequels, which they totally set up two or, three times at the end of this movie. A word of advice, stay for most of the credits or you’ll miss a couple good signs for Transformers 2. On the drive home I kept thinking cars on the highway might suddenly transform.

The Dack’s recommendation is that you must see this movie. After only one showing I am giving it nineDacks.