Two View Movie Review: Ratatouille

Ratatouille is a delectable, computer-animated story about Remy the rat (voiced by Patton Oswalt,) who, unlike his brethren, aspires for fine dining & gourmet cooking. After getting lost in Paris, Remy comes across his deceased cooking idol's restaurant. There, he meets Alfredo Linguini (Lou Romano,) a hopeless kitchen cleaner who desperately needs the job. Linguini learns that Remy can cook & the two strike a deal: since a rat can't be in the kitchen & Linguini is a bad cook, Remy stays under Linguini's chef hat & controls him using Linguini's hairs like strings on a marionette. Instantly, Linguini is the new talk of the town, but there is trouble. Skinner (Ian Holm), the owner of the restaurant, learns that Linguini is the illegitimate son of Auguste Gusteau, the founder of the restaurant. This would make Linguini owner of the Gusteau brand & Skinner believes that Linguini is going for a power struggle (but Linguini doesn't have any knowledge of this.) Also, food critic, Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole), has it out for Gusteau's restaurant, as he deemed the place as part of "the tourist train," & Ego's previous poor review may have been the cause of Gusteau's death.

Ratatouille is Pixar Animation Studios' eighth full-length feature & the second to be directed by Brad Bird & I would say is one of their best. The computer artist recreated Paris with a fine detail, including the rest of the mise-en-scène of the film, except for the characters, which contain cartoony proportions that display their personality: Linguini is lanky & awkward, Skinner is diminutive & petty, & Ego is pencil thin, because he only shallows food if he loves it. The visuals are top notch & are a feast for the eyes.

Bird has created a perfect family film, because it is for the whole family. Kids will like it because of the physical comedy & action sequence, which Bird is an expert at choreographing. Older viewers will enjoy the biting, witty dialogue & the themes explored in the film, which includes regular family film themes like overcoming social status & following your dreams, but also include pretension in the critical community & animal rights. One part that I enjoyed was the shifting notion in the film that "anyone can cook," as many characters have changing & varied thoughts on that maxim.

What is great about Ratatouille is that it doesn't talk down to the viewer, whether it's a child or an adult. It's a light-hearted, well written comedy that doesn't go for explosions; it is subtle, yet savory, like a great dish. This is a love letter to food, the French, & maybe, rodents.

Paradise Parking by Peter Lippmann

I'm inspired to write this post because one, Arthur Jaffe's car show project comes to an end March 23rd, when vintage cars will be displayed on FAU's new football stadium; & two, cars decaying in nature is a fascination I didn't know I had. It's beautiful to see them deteriorate & be broken down to the simple minerals that these cars started as & is a good example of nature vs. industry. Photographer Peter Lippmann traveled around in search of these deserted cars, which brings up questions like how the cars ended up there, but these abandoned car photos bring up feelings of nostalgia & either triumph or defeat.

Center Paige: Le Petit Chaperon Rouge

Le Petit Chaperon Rouge (Little Red Riding Hood) was created by the legendary illustrator, Warja Lavater. The book is accordion bound between maroon linen covered boards. It was created in 1965 & is executed in original color lithography. The first page features a key in French, German, English & Japanese that explains the symbols in the book. The red dot represents Little Red Riding Hood, the black dot represents the wolf, etc., and that is the only text in the book. The symbols tell the story.

Presenting a story with symbols makes the storytelling universal. Even if one doesn't speak the four languages in the key, if they know the story of Little Red Riding Hood then they would understand the book. The method makes for an artistic & dynamic recreation, particularly during the part of the story when the woodsman kills the wolf; the wolf explodes like lava shooting out of a volcano. The book can be unfolded & stretched out & viewed like one piece of art.

The book is an interesting study in semiotics & symbols. We, as a culture, know the story of Little Red Riding Hood & we see the symbols in the book & by elimination & combination, can flesh out the narrative. The symbols allow interpretation, giving the reader the chance to create their own dialogue & motivation.

Lavater created many books like this about fairy tales & there are a number of them here at the Center. These books were sold at gift shops in museums, like the Louvre, & they allowed people to have a little pieces of art in their hands for about $15. These books may have inspired many future art aficionados & collectors.

Graphic Novel of the Month: Batman: Hush Unwrapped

Batman, "The Dark Knight" & "Caped Crusader" of Gotham City, has a stalker who is teaching his old enemies new tricks. Villains like Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Scarecrow, & The Joker pop-up, all refurbished in different way & Batman knows that someone is helping them out, who is a wrapped stranger who goes by the name "Hush". Feeling this constant shadow, Batman begins to reevaluate his relationship with those closest to him, including his sidekick, Robin; his ex-sidekick, Nightwing; his friend, Superman; & the anti-hero, Catwoman. Batman & Catwoman's relationship begins picking up some heat, but Batman can't help but feel that their new romantic feelings appeared the same time that Hush began lurking around.

Batman: Hush Unwrapped is the same story created by comic superstar creators Jeph Loeb & Jim Lee, which was Batman: Hush, but this Unwrapped version contains only Lee pencil drawings with no inking or coloring, except for the sound effects & Batman's internal dialogue. These raw drawings show off Lee's incredible talent. They are detailed, clean & kinetic. Critics may not like his mainstream approach to his characters that contain unrealistic anatomy for both female & male characters, but Lee is the best of the blockbuster artists. He tries his hand with painting with great results at times during Hush, & his splash pages are particularly noteworthy.

Loeb is known for his work with Batman, writing the best-selling Batman: The Long Halloween & Batman: The Dark Victory. Hush is similar to his other Batman stories; they contain a large array of characters from the Batman mythology with a mysterious enemy in the background. This allows staple characters to react in new ways not thought of in the past. Loeb takes advantage of what the Batman character does best: be a detective. Batman is constantly pondering, as is the reader. The mystery is real & the threat is ever growing, while the character relationships are believable. The interactions between Batman & Catwoman are my favorite parts of the novel.

This is a fantastic collaboration that resulted in one of Batman's most torturous stories, both physically & psychologically. If you're a Batman fan or just a fan of superhero comics, this is a must read & non-superhero comic readers should pick is up for its thrilling style & mystery.

Packing Tape Portraits

Max Zorn is an artist that uses packing tape as his medium & he decides to recreate people with this form. It is done with meticulous layering & cutting away & I'm sure it is not an easy medium to work with, as anyone who has tried to tape up a package knows that tape is a pain. But, Zorn has a great eye & great patience & his pictures are surprisingly photo-realistic. And while it seems like using tape is a waste & pictures could be done in a different manner, I respond to the dark browns & golds that are created from the tape. Let's hope we see more from tapework & Max Zorn.

Five Favorite Films of 2011

Last week, the 2012 Oscar Nominations were released, with Martin Scorsese's Hugo winning 11 nominations & Michel Hazanavicius's The Artist with a close 10. It's interesting that these two have the most nominations, because these two are similar in themes. Many reviewers have said of both films that they are love letters to cinema, but isn't every film a love letter to cinema (as one reviewer said that Fast Five was a love letter to film). Even so, here is my short love letter to the films of 2011 that I found significant.

5. Poetry- Directed, produced, & written by Lee Chang-dong, Poetry follows Yang Mija (Yoon Jeong-hee), a grandmother who is searching for the beauty in life. Mija found out that she has Alzheimer's disease & her mental condition is expected to get much worse. On top of that, her grandson & his friends raped a schoolmate, which lead to her suicide. In order for the victim's family to keep quiet, the boys' parent must pay them off & money is something Mija doesn't have. Still, the poetry class she is taking causes Mija to look at the world differently & inspires her. Jeong-hee gives one of the best performances of the year in this film, which makes unexpected yet quiet turns in this sad & elegant film.

4. The Artist- This film has been making quite a stir because it is a modern-day silent film, but it is not just a gimmick. Director & writer Michel Hazanavicious wanted to transport the audience back to the day when silent films were dying & talkies started popping up. He does it with a story about a silent film star (Jean Dujardin) who loses everything when he isn't able to transition to the new Hollywood films. The film is charming, romantic & proves the old cliché that "silent films were never silent" & silent films aren't really dead.

3. Beginners- Inspired by his father, Mike Mills created a bittersweet film about an artist, Hal (Ewan McGregor), whose father, at the age of 85, declares that he is gay. Hal starts a relationship with a French actress (Mélanie Laurent), but their past relationships & the relationship of both their parents cause uneasiness with the new couple. The film is assembled with many interconnecting flashbacks that give greater depth to characters who are searching for what we're all looking for in life: happiness.

2. Melancholia- In this apocalyptic film, a Justine (Kirsten Dunst) is miserable on what is supposed to be the happiest day of her life. Her wedding turns out to be a complete failure thanks to family tensions & the bride's depression. Also, a rogue planet, Melancholia, is heading directly to Earth, threatening to destroy everything. Anyone who has seen a Lars Von Tier film knows that they are emotional, uncomfortable, & unique & this may be the clearest vision I have seen from the Danish filmmaker. It is a depressing film, but that's what you get from a film that is an allegory of depression.

1. Tree of Life- Tree of Life may be one of the most controversial films this last year, not because of its content, but because of its form. Sean Penn, who had a supporting role in the movie even said, "The screenplay is the most magnificent one that I've ever read but I couldn't find that emotion on the screen." What he's talking about is the film's jump cuts, the arbitrary lines spoken over astronomical visions & the soft plot center, which is what I loved about the film. It follows a boy, Jack (Hunter McCracken), who has a complicated relationship with his father (Brad Pitt). We view a year in the life of Jack & his family living in Texas during the 50's, yet we are also met with a 17-minute, creation of Earth sequence & juxtaposed together, we get a spiritual journey that is reminiscent of 8½ & 2001. I viewed Tree of Life as visual poetry that is meditative, epic, & enlightening.

Graphic Novel of the Month: Signal to Noise

Signal to Noise tells the story of a nameless film director who is dying of cancer. Struggling with the idea that he only has a couple of months left, the director debates over writing his final script; the script & the film that he has been wanting to make for years. He storyboards the magnum opus in his head & eventually writes the film, knowing that he won't see the finished product. In the end, he states that he feels better, not because his cancer has remitted, but because he came to terms with his immortality, because "the world is always ending for someone."


Neil Gaimen wrote Signal to Noise & the artwork was by Gaiman's frequent collaborator, Dave McKean. The novel doesn't really have a clear plot center; the story often goes in & out of the director's head as he plans out the film, which is about villagers in the year 999 a.d. who think that the world will end at the start of the new millennium. The narrative juxtaposes conversations the director has with those closest to him along with the narrative of the screenplay.

McKean's artwork is something to behold in this work. It is often a collage of painting, drawing, photographs & digital art & contains many visual metaphors that go along with the narrative. McKean, for the most part, keeps the panels, which breaks up the images. Each page is its own artwork, but the panels become a piece on their own.

Signal to Noise is heady, cerebral, & expressive. I think it is flawed of me to call it a narrative, but rather a reading of an emotion. It shouldn't be viewed as a graphic novel, but as graphic poetry, where you read it & consider the works possibilities.