Movie Review: Ratatouille (2007)

Good February day to you, readers!

Today is February 2nd, a day commonly thought of with an animal mascot. Iʼm going to review a movie about that very same animal, the rat!

Just joking, thatʼs my little sense of humor kicking in. Today is Groundhog Day, not Rat day, yet I am still choosing the rat. Iʼm sorry, one year I will actually focus on the groundhog! For now, there is a method to my madness. We are coming to the end of a year. I know that youʼre thinking Iʼm a little late to the game (youʼre not wrong), but the year that Iʼm referring to is the Lunar New Year! This was the Year of the Rat, and on February 12th we will enter the Year of the Ox. I am by no means an expert, but I thought that reviewing a movie with a rat would be a fun thing to do and I could connect it back in!

Did I mention that one of these rats cook? If that sounds odd to you, then keep reading.

My guarantee: On ALL of my reviews there are NO spoilers unless I give you warning. This is 100% spoiler-free! Reading this wonʼt give away the ending or any of the twists!

Ratatouille (2007):

“Whatʼs my problem? First off, Iʼm a rat.”

Remy is different from the other rats because he values what he eats. Food calls to him in a special way that no one else understands, not even his big brother Emile, though Remy tells all of this to him anyway. When their colony is found out Remy gets separated from the other rats and is alone in Paris. He pretends that he is talking to his favorite chef who gives him advice. After an encounter with a human, Linguini, they are both in a tough position. Together they realize which one of them can cook and which one canʼt. They come up with plan, a crazy one, but will it work? The sous-chef Skinner is suspicious of them, but can they avoid detection while Linguini keeps his job and Remy gets to fill his dream?

“Anyone can cook!”

Genre: Animated, Family.

Length: approx. 111 minutes.

Script: 9, I wrote down that there is one bad word, but itʼs not notable.

Crew: Directed by: Brad Bird & Jan Pinkava. Written by: Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Emily Cook, Kathy Greenberg, & Bob Peterson.

Starring the voices of:

“We are artists, pirates!”

Patton Oswalt as Remy. “A cook makes, a thief takes.”

Lou Romano as Alfredo Linguini.

Ian Holm as Skinner.

Peter O'Toole as Anton Ego.

Janeane Garofalo as Colette.

Peter Sohn as Emile.

Brian Dennehy as Django.

Brad Garrett as Gusteau.

Will Arnett as Horst.

Julius Callahan as Lalo & Francois.

James Remar as Larousse.

John Ratzenberger as Mustafa.

Teddy Newton as Lawyer.

Tony Fucile as Pompidou & Health Inspector.

Brad Bird as Ambrister Minion.

Stéphane Roux as TV Narrator.

Costumes: N/A, itʼs animated and everyone is wearing standard clothing or cooking uniforms, so it doesnʼt count. If I was being picky (which I usually am but am not feeling like it today), I would say that there is one scene where someone isnʼt wearing a shirt. 

Animation: 10! Pixar almost without a doubt always receives a 10 for this category. They specialize in creating these masterpieces which have outstanding stories, but are carried so well through stunning animation. The rats arenʼt gross, but the way they are drawn gives them character! Also, all of the people are really unique. But, my favorite aspect goes beyond this. Have you ever wondered what "taste" looks like? This movie gave the feeling of tasting food a visual!

Animation by: Pixar animation studios.

Music: 10, again, absolutely marvelous. This story all happens in France and that is woven in the music really, really well!

Music by: Michael Giacchino (heʼs a genius!).

Quotability: 10! I wrote down really random things as my notes, but that goes to show you that this whole movie is chockfull off good lines. One that my sister says to me all the time (with the perfect accent!) is:

“Should I be concerned about this? About you?”

Notes: Chef Thomas Keller was consulted during the making of this film and came up with the recipe for the famous ratatouille dish. My family has made it and it is delicious. This movie also has bonus features of a Pixar short (Lifted) , and another short called My Friend the Rat, so stick around for those.

Oscars won: 1: Best Animated Feature Film.

Content: 8, there are dead rats, stealing, death, a suggestive line, kissing, and a scene where someone is intoxicated (one of the funniest scenes, but I digress). I won't reveal all of the scene, but one of my favorite lines is, "If you're gonna name a food, you should give it a name that sounds delicious.", and everything that comes before and after.

Originality: 10! This is one of the most unique plots that Iʼve ever seen, yet it works. Itʼs incredible. A rat who wants to cook? I love it so much. It shows you what itʼs like to have a passion for creating and to go after your dream! It is beautiful.

ʻ“Yeah, it was as bad as we remembered.  It just went out."

“Did you taste it?”

"Yeah, of course. Before he changed it."'

Good For: Anyone who is alone, anyone who loves food, families, anyone with big dreams.

Age Range: This is perfectly acceptable for all ages. As a bonus, from young to old anyone will probably love this! It is relatable to all ages and has good messages, not just for kids.

Overall Score: 9.5!

Worth watching?: I have never regretted watching this movie in all the times that Iʼve seen it. It never gets old and I always get something new out of it, whether itʼs understanding the story more, appreciating the animation or score, or finding new lines to quote on a daily basis.

Will I watch again?: This is one of my sisterʼs favorite movies, so definitely. I canʼt tell you how many times Iʼve already seen it, and I canʼt tell you how many times I will see it again!

Bonus thoughts:

“If you focus on what youʼve left behind you will never be able to go ahead.” 

Pixar creates wonderful and magical films. Something that I love about this movie is how it takes place in the real world. We see everything from Remyʼs perspective as heʼs our narrator and we see him talking to other rats, but he canʼt talk to humans. Every once in a while it switches for one second to a humanʼs point of view and all we hear from the rats are squeaks. Something about that communication barrier adds to it and makes you almost believe that something like this could happen. Could animals have dreams of greatness like we do?

I love all of the characters! Colette is amazing. If you ever wondered it there is a fictional character who I am like, it's Linguini, with a dash of Emile. Probably more than a dash. Remy is the perfect character to root for! Anton Ego is iconic. The whole time when I last watched it I kept really hearing Peter O'Toole's voice distinctly and kept telling that to my sisters. They would then tell me that they knew that. The characters are all so well rounded, not a single one is lacking in any way!

Like all Pixar movies, the messages are what hit home. Watching this you know that everyone has a job that is important, and no one is "just a garbage boy".

Fin

Thank you for reading! Have any of you seen this movie? What about any other movies involving rats? Favorite cooking film? Enjoy six more weeks of winter!

MovieCritic

My 300th Post: My Ten Favorite Movie Scores

Hello, movie fans!

The day has come. This is my 300th post. I have no clue where the time goes (apparently into writing all of these posts). As I have been hitting these milestones I like to do something special. For My 100th Post I said my top 100 favorite movies (where I just typed anything that came into my head. I have a more accurate list on my page My Favorites) and for My 200th Post I listed all of the movies that I had seen in the theater up to that point (now I have a lot more to add). The question was, what was I going to do for my 300th?

As you all know I love to watch movies. But, so many different elements make up films. For today, I will be listing my top 10 favorite movie scores! I will put a video for each one so you can listen and see why I love it. I promise, none of these will be over 10 minutes.

For clarification:
I'm counting movies, so no TV shows (i.e. Robin Hood BBC, Sherlock, Pride & Prejudice) that would be a separate post.
No movies that I just like the music to but technically haven't seen the movie (The Great Escape) and no movies where I just love the score but don't the movie (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly). I mean, some times the only things I like about movies is the music, but what I'm thinking of for this list are movies that are amazing and perfect, but wouldn't be complete without the soundtrack.
And, these are scores, not soundtracks. I get the two confused all the time. Apparently, score is just instrumental, while a soundtrack can include songs with words from the film. None of these are musicals because that is impossible to pick.

Honorable mentions:
The Magnificent Seven (1960 version), Indiana Jones, Howl's Moving Castle, Kung Fu Panda.

Starting at 10 and going down to 1...

10. The Princess Diaries (2001)

So many movies were vying for this spot, trying to be here. Finally, I had to go with this one. The score is light and airy and makes me so happy because I have watched this so many times (Also, I love the soundtrack, too!). If you haven't ever seen this, you are missing out on a really sweet movie. (I noticed that this video is the one of the shortest. As I go on they keep getting longer.)

9. Pirates of the Caribbean

Besides Indiana Jones, this was the first movie that I realized had music playing through out the whole thing. This is so epic and "piraty"! I like to listen to it while I write. And, though I only put the main one here, there are so many different parts to listen to!

8. Chariots of Fire (1981)

This is so cool! I had heard it a lot before actually watching the movie, and though it seems like the wrong genre of music, it captures the fight to win the races perfectly. And it shows the joy of running. It just makes me so happy. I first heard it when I was watching the London 2012 Olympics. This score won Best Original Score 1981 at the Oscars!

7. Up (2009)

I dare you to listen to this and not cry. Pixar makes music such an important part of their films, and in my opinion, this is where they did it the best. The music tugs at your emotions, making you laugh and cry with just a few simple notes. Ugh, I love it so much! Excuse me while I go cry.

6. Sherlock Holmes

The violins pierce through and strike me of being so much like Sherlock himself. The score goes with the whole movie, and it was actually because I thought that it sounded so cool (from when my mom was watching) that convinced me to watch it. (Sorry, this video is giving me a little bit of trouble, but I think that I have it fixed now.)

5. Sense and Sensibility (1995)

It was hard to pick the top 5. This one is here because I have so much nostalgia for it. The score is not epic or loud, it is soft and quiet and pretty. The one that I have above is called "My Father's Favourite". This movie is one of my favorite Jane Austen adaptations, and this music fits it so well!

4. Harry Potter

John Williams is a master of composing music. He makes it sound so magical and intriguing and he pulls you into the world right away. Love it! As soon as you hear this you think of wizards, magic, spells, and Harry Potter.

3. Chronicles of Narnia

THE NOSTALGIA. It is kind of long, but if nothing else listen to the second half of this. It is so beautiful! "I can't take it in..." (that's from a song from the credits, so I love the soundtrack, too). The way the instruments blend is breathtaking! Ack!

2. How to Train Your Dragon

I love this score so much! What I have above is called "Test Drive" and is one of the best pieces of music of all time, in my opinion. In the third movie they were messing with me because they kept starting to play it and I would squeal with delight, but then they would go into something else. When they finally did I bawled and cried because I love it so much.


What could my top favorite of all time be?


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1. Star Wars

Did you expect anything else? Star Wars has such an epic and iconic score, it has to be number 1. I wouldn't be my grandpa's granddaughter if it wasn't! I just put the main theme, because otherwise we would be sitting here all day, but I absolutely love the score for the binary sunsets scene and the ending ceremony, and the Catina, Darth Vader's is the ultimate villain one and adds so much to his character, and the ending Ewok score for Return of the Jedi! And that's not even going into the new ones!

One of my favorite stories (and I'm not sure that it's true, but either way it is awesome), is from when they were making A New Hope. The story goes that George Lucas was directing them and saying, "We'll do this and Leia's theme will be playing."
Just joking, Mark Hamill says, "Leia gets a theme but Luke doesn't?"
George Lucas looks him directly in the eye and says, "Luke's theme is the main theme."
It is said that up until that moment Mark Hamill hadn't realized that he was the main star!


I know you are all wondering, "Where is The Lord of the Rings?" Well, my sister loves the score for that, but I've only seen the first movie (I'm going to fix that, soon), and after I've watched the other two I'll be more attached to it.


Thank you so much for reading/listening! Let me know if you like these, and tell me what your favorites are!

MovieCritic