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Ratatouille, a review by Dragonfire

Ratatouille My Thoughts I finished up my Pixar binge with Ratatouille - I've remembered how to spell it again.    I first saw the movie in twice in the theater and I still love the movie. The short, Lifted, is very cute and entertaining and I really enjoy it.  The plot for Ratatouille is very entertaining and having a rat want to be a chef is definitely different.  Rats aren't usually thought of as being that cute, and they are definitely not welcome in kitchens, but somehow, it works for the movie.  The movie deals with the idea of following dreams and has a message that is handled well.  There really isn't any mystery or suspense to the story, though I was surprised by some of the developments.  Some of what happens is slightly predictable, but I don't think the movie is predictable overall. The character of Remy is wonderful and he's very likable.  Humans are around a lot, mostly in the kitchen of the restaurant, but they aren't as developed as Remy.  Linguini is a bit of an idiot and he is helpless is the kitchen without Remy.  The voice cast works wonderfully with all the voices fitting the characters. The animation is gorgeous and it looks amazing on Blu-ray.  When I first saw the movie, I noticed the details in Remy's fur and the water, but that stuff looks even better on Blu-ray.  I noticed more little details like I have with the other Pixar movies I've watched on Blu-ray.  Many of the surfaces in the kitchen are reflective, and it looks believable.  The food, even though it is animated, looks really good and appetizing.  The extras on the Blu-ray are focused on the making of the movie and very entertaining.  There are still some of them that I haven't gotten to.  I'm very glad I picked up the Blu-ray and think this movie, like the other Pixar titles, is a good one to upgrade to Blu-ray. I did post a review on Epinions after seeing the movie in the theater in 2008. Ratatouille

(From Dragonfire88's Alphabet Marathon on July 10th, 2010)

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, a review by Antares

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town





Year: 1936
Film Studio: Columbia Pictures
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Classic
Length: 115 Min.

Director
Frank Capra (1897)

Writer
Robert Riskin (1897)...Screenwriter
Clarence Budington Kelland (1881)...Story By

Producer
Frank Capra (1897)

Cinematographer
Joseph Walker (1892)

Music
Howard Jackson (1900)...Composer

Stars
Gary Cooper (1901) as Longfellow Deeds
Jean Arthur (1900) as Babe Bennett
George Bancroft (1882) as MacWade
Lionel Stander (1908) as Cornelius Cobb
Douglass Dumbrille (1889) as John Cedar
Raymond Walburn (1887) as Walter
H. B. Warner (1875) as Judge May
Ruth Donnelly (1896) as Mabel Dawson

Review
       Frank Capra was in the beginning of a hot streak in the Depression ravaged mid-thirties. After sweeping the Academy Awards with It Happened One Night in 1934, Capra would be rewarded with a second Oscar for Best Director two years later with Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, this is as good a place to start.



Ratings Criterion4 Stars - Historically important film, considered a classic.

(From Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) on December 5th, 2009)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon, a review by goodguy

2x03 The Mousetrap
Synopsis: See Achim's post.
My Rating:

Another episode that I enjoyed more upon rewatching. The opening is especially great, with Charlie & Michelle on the desert road, making stop at a gas station. No words exchanged between them for several minutes, just a little country song playing along, but the emotions between them are almost tangible. TSCC has a knack for these moody and minimalist scenes and it is the main reason I like this show. Also notable just how gorgeous it looks most of the time, in an earthy and completely unflashy way. All things that are pretty untypical for an action show about killer robots - no wonder it got cancelled.

From the early kidnapping climax, we get to a single short scene with highly pregnant Kacy, whom I forgot to mention in the last episode. I've never seen Busy Phillips before and initially I thought it was Mercedes McNab (Harmony on Buffy/Angel) playing the character. Anyway, she again is wonderful here. Oh, and Beast Wizard 7 is hilarious.

Do terminators get bored? Cameron finds the center of the house, determines the timeframe for a paint job, and is eager to kill at least a bird (Maybe later?). That sounds like funny robot, but is has such a wry sense of humor that it doesn't feel out of place. Also noteworthy the perfectly timed "I don't swim" exchange with John much later in the episode.

Charlie's phone call to John and Sarah is another one of many excellent scenes. He is so completely and heart-wrenchingly lost. Top performance by Dean Winters.

Sarah gets to do the reluctant hero thing, angry and tired, lashing out at everyone in frustration. That's a fine line to walk, but mostly it works, even when Michelle is the target (Frankly, I thought it'd be easier. I thought you'd be dead).

After Cromartie's setup succeeds the plot gets a bit messy. Taking an injured Michelle with them doesn't make much sense, nor does the designated meeting point for Cromartie and John. As much as the show succeeds in creating atmospheric and dramatic scenes, it often seems that less thinking went into the plot mechanics. I can live with that most of the time, but sometimes it becomes a little distracting.

The funeral scene at the end, while moving, would be a bit generic, if it weren't for the two cuts to the dinner table at the Connor house, once with the VO from the priest and then again, silent. Great stuff.

As for Weaver and Ellison: I like that they take their time and advance that part of the story slowly. And Shirley Manson already seems much better here than in the first episode. Or it could be Richard T. Jones, who can make almost everything work, reflecting positively on her.


(From Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon on February 2nd, 2010)