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.

Two-View Movie Review: The Triplets of Belleville

The Triplets of Belleville is a French animated film by Sylvain Chomet that follows a grandmother & her grandson, who has the dream of winning the Tour de France. During the race, a pair of blocky, suited men kidnaps the grandson. The grandmother & her dog follow the kidnappers all the way to Belleville, a grand metropolis at the other end of the ocean. In a unknown land, the pair get help from the Triplets of Belleville, an aged singing group from the 30's, now poor & left with eating frogs. They find out that the grandson was kidnapped by a mobster who created an underground gambling ring with bicyclists' endurance & life being bet on.

Chomet's film is highly artful & creative & he combined drawing & computer-imagery to created the very distinct & fluid nature of the characters. All the characters have their own physically tendencies & movements in which we get the characters' personalities from, since this is a dialogue free film. The characters talk in squeaks & squawks that are indiscernible, making this a universal film special for this global economy. That may be why it has become such a cult favorite. Anyone can pick it up & enjoy it. The film pokes fun of the French, by overly emphasizing their love of the Tour de France & frog legs, & America, by displaying the populous as being fat & loving hamburgers. It is also a worldwide hit probably because the film is funny, touching, & features some really great, stand-up-&-boogie music.

Two View Movie Review: Ladri di biciclette (The Bicycle Thieves)

Taking place in the bombed-out & depleted post-W.W.II Rome, Ladri di biciclette follows Antonio Ricci, an unemployed husband & father of two, who receives a job pasting movie posters in the inner city, but the job requires a bicycle. Without a bike, Antonio's wife pawns of their bed sheets in order to buy one, because this job comes with overtime & allowance for the family, meaning the Ricci's will never have to worry about eating again. But, one his first day, Antonio gets his bicycle stolen & barely sees the thief. He goes to the police & gets no help from them. With his neighbors & Bruno, his son, Antonio searches high & low for the bicycle, which finding or not finding the bike could change the coarse of his life forever.

What can I say about the The Bicycle Thieves? Nothing, I guess. Time to go home.

Just kidding. The Bicycle Thieves is one of my favorite films & was highly acclaimed when released & is still considered the best Italian neorealist films & one of the best films ever. Italian neorealism came after W.W.II & received its name because the directors used real locations, not sets, & non-actors, which director Vittorio De Sica also did. The neorealist made their stories about the poor & working class & showed the tough mental & physical conditions that were affecting the people.

This came about when Europe was going through this big change after the War. People didn't know how to react to such an extreme situation & they were living life next to buildings that were falling apart & new buildings were being constructed. It probably seemed like there was no way to pick yourself up, causing severe psychological & moral questions to be placed.

Two View Movie Review: Dr. Strangelove, or How I Stopped Worrying & Learned to Love the Bomb

President Muffley

Set at the height of the Cold War, Dr. Strangelove begins when Air Force General & Commander of the Burpelson Air Force Base Jack Ripper (Sterling Hayden) orders all B-52 airplanes to enter the Soviet Union & bomb it with nuclear weapons. The order was given under a special code that would follow after the assassination of the President. But the President wasn't assassinated. General Ripper made the order out of fear that the Soviets were fluoridating the water supply. President Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers) meets with General Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott) & other high ranking officers in the "War Room" to figure out a way to stop the apparently unstoppable planes while General Ripper's executive officer, Lionel Mandrake (also Peter Sellers) tries to persuade General Ripper to call out the abort orders, because they learn that if there is a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, there is a automatic doomsday device to be released by the Soviets.

Group Captain Lionel Mandrake

If you ever want to see a film about the Cold War, this would be it. It perfectly satirizes those nerving years & comments on the ridiculousness of the situation, which is why this is such a great comedy. And since this is a Stanley Kubrick film, there are a lot of sexual undertones, despite there only being one female character in the whole film. The opening sequence features an airplane getting fueled up during flying (featuring phallic symbols), the reasoning behind General Ripper's paranoia (he claims fluoride makes him impotent), & the President & the officers' backing of Dr. Strangelove's post-nuclear war plans (in which 10 women to every man would live in mineshafts) are just some of the subtle sexuality featured.

Dr. Strangelove

Speaking of Dr. Strangelove, which is Peter Seller's third & most hilarious character in the film, he is the President's scientific advisor, as he was an ex-Nazi physicist. Crippled & suffering from alien hand syndrome, Dr. Strangelove accidentally calls the President "Mein Führer" on a number of occasions, & Strangelove's explanation of a polygamist's society is extremely funny. He takes pleasure in the fact that the Nazi's two worst enemies, the USA & the USSR, might end up destroying each other causing a Nazi paradise where only the strong survive in a hyper-sexual world.

Dr. Strangelove has aged very well & is still relevant today & is considered one of the best political satires, if not the best.

Two View Movie Review: Spirited Away

In this animated fantasy-adventure film, ten year-old Chihiro whines & complains to her parents about their move to a new home. On their way to their home, they come across an abandoned amusement park. While walking through the park, they see some deserted food, & to Chihiro disdain, her parents start to feast on it. Wandering the park, Chihiro spots a grand bathhouse; but, at nightfall, spirits start to appear in the park. She runs back to her parents, only to find them turned into pigs. A boy named Haku finds Chihiro & tells her that the place is a bathhouse for spirits & demons. In order for her to stay alive, she must get employment from the bathhouse's manager, the witch Yubaba. While working at the bathhouse, Chihiro comes across many ancient creatures, including Kamaji, the six-armed boiler room worker; No-Face, an empathetic wraith that feeds off the emotions of others; & a stink spirit, the worst customer to ever enter the bathhouse.

Spirited Away is my personal favorite Hayao Miyazaki film, who some would say overthrows Walt Disney as the supreme animator. Miyazaki presents to us a frighten & fussy girl who is forced into another reality & must learn to use the resources around her in order to survive. There was a moment in the film when I realized that Chihiro grew up at a point when she bravely trekked across a water pipe that was outside & overlooking a cliff. Earlier in the film, she was had trouble just climbing down some steep stairs. The film belongs next to other fantasy, coming-of-age stories like Alice's Adventure in Wonderland & Pinocchio. 

Besides following a liminal progression, Spirited Away contains many themes often seen in Miyazaki's films, which includes pollution (symbolized in the stink spirit), greed & gluttony (symbolized in Chihiro's parents), & the losing of customs & cultures in a global society. The later is a major point in the film, as Chihiro is isolated from the outside world & comes face-to-face with Japanese mythological creatures. And there are many Japanese symbols & customs shown in the film that may make it hard to follow for non-Japanese, but that is kind of the point. Chihiro doesn't understand most of it either, showing a decline in traditions.

This is great family film, as adults will be able to catch the social commentary & the weird creatures & action sequences will transfix the kids. Plus, anyone can enjoy it for its imaginative images & animation. It's just awesome.

Two View Video Game Review: Limbo

W-w-what? Video Game? That's right. This last summer, during Fourth of July, I was with the family at my brother's house. He had an Xbox 360 & was playing a game called Limbo & I was enthralled. I use to be a game geek in the past, but now, I don't have the time or money to bother, but I still have that itch to pick up a controller every now & then. Well, let me say, I did not spend too much time with the family that holiday or watched any fireworks. Luckily, the game is short & I was able to feel satisfied when I completed it.

You play the game as a nameless boy who is looking for his sister in Limbo. You take him through a forest to an urban landscape while encountering other ruthless boys & a relentless, hungry giant spider. Dead ends seem common, but often the pull of a lever or the push of a switch causes the earth to rotate or gravity to reverse, opening up a new path.

I picked a video game this month because of Roger Ebert's statement that "video games can never be art," which I find striking for him to say because critics said the same about cinema upon its dawning. Limbo wasn't released when Ebert made these statements, otherwise, video game fans would have a strong example as to why his statement was wrong. I haven't seen a video game with such a clear art direction. Its heavy influences include German Expressionism & film noir, with the main color palette being black & grey. Not only does the shadowed atmosphere look menacing, but also everything is potentially deadly, & trust me, your character is going to die when you play it & the creators, Playdead, created many ways to show the death of the protagonist. Puzzles require many tries in order for you to figure them out & Playdead made these puzzles more nerve racking by making lethal leaps only obtainable by mere inches.  Luckily, this is Limbo & death is never final. You start back right before your last dangerous task.

The game costs about 10 bucks & even if you don't have an XBox 360, I'm sure you know someone who does. Persuade them so you can borrow it & the game takes about 6-10 hours to complete. I know, that even if you don't play video games, you'll enjoy the eerie mood the game creators made for you. Because, if this isn't art, I don't know what is.

Two View Movie Review: 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days

Christian Mungiu's 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days follows two college students, Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) & Gabriela (Laura Vasiliu) in a Romanian town. Set in 1987, towards the end of the Communist Ceauşescu regime, abortions are illegal & committing an abortion after 3 months of pregnancy is considered manslaughter. When Gabriela gets pregnant, she asks for Otilia's help in getting   someone to perform an abortion. They get in contact with an elusive & rightfully cagey Mr. Bebe (Vlad Ivanov,) who has clear, set instructions as to the preparations of the abortion. Gabriela manages to screw everything up & when Mr. Bebe finds out Gabriela lied about how long she's been pregnant, he demands more money, but the girls are out of money & time.

4 Months isn't a film about abortions in the sense it doesn't preach one way or the other on the topic. It's just a plot point. I would say the point of the film is to focus on faith in one's friends, as Otilia considerably risks herself many times in the film for her helpless friend (helpless in both senses of the word.) Marinca carries the emotional weight of the story & does so amazingly. Yet its Ivanov who steals every scene he is in. At first, he seems harmless, but the audience will learn that even if he doesn't shout or howl, he's a brute.

The acting is minimalist & natural, with the actors only doing what is required for each scene, a feature that is evident in all aspects of the film. Cinematographer Oleg Mutu uses a hand-camera skillfully to capture the grittiness of the time, which is helped by Mungiu's appropriate recreation of late '80's Romania. Mungiu uses limited editing & long takes, which builds suspense. My favorite scene, which is a seven minute long take with eight actors, is when Otilia is visiting her boyfriend at his parents' house during a dinner party. Obliged to join in the dinner, Otilia faces persecution for being both young & from a rural area by the parents & their friends. The long take allows the viewer to notice Otilia getting irritated from the judgement & the events going on outside the scene, too.

I've read descriptions of the film, with some calling it a thriller or a horror movie. Mungiu does offer hints in the movie as to what may or may not happen, which does create an atmosphere of dread, but I wouldn't put it in either of those categories. 4 Months is more subtle, more graceful, & in a way, more gut-wrenching.

Two View Movie Review: The Passion of Joan of Arc

Most people know the story of the historical figure & saint Joan of Arc, but most probably aren't familiar with her trial & execution. That is the focus of Carl Theodor Dreyer's 1928 film The Passion of Joan of Arc. Joan is brought to trial because of her involvement in a couple of successful campaigns against the British during the Hundred Years' War. The Church, who were in favor of the British, held the trial. The judges try to discredit her believe that she was told by God to drive the British out of France. She often has quick, smart answers for her arbiters, such has why she wears men's clothing or how she hears the voice of God. The trial becomes grueling for both Joan & the judges, so they offer her amnesty if she declares that she is a fraud, or she will be executed.

Dreyer took some risk when he created The Passion of Joan of Arc. Silent films at the time featured mostly medium or long shots & rarely close-ups, yet Joan of Arc is made mostly of close-ups. Dreyer also had the actors wear no make-up, disabling any sort of "beautification" allowed by the camera. Also, you may notice that the mise-en-scène is very neutral to any sort of style or time period. Dreyer didn't want to make this any sort of costume-filled, period piece, thus making it a historical film that stands out on its own without any reference.

Probably the most prominent aspect of the film is Renèe Jeanne Falconetti's role as Joan. She shakes & quivers with unspeakable emotion that one has never seen before. While surrounded by her tormentors, Falconetti displays this wide-eyed gaze of fear & horror, like she's anticipating light to explode out of her eyeballs. Even during less emotional scenes, there is an underlying pain in her movements. Stories from the set reveal that Dreyer emotionally tortured Falconetti in between takes. It is also rumored that Falconetti never acted again after the film because of this reason.


The Passion of Joan of Arc has had an interesting life. The film was originally banned in Britain because of the film's depiction of British soldiers. The Archbishop of Paris also condemned the film because its depiction of the Catholic Church. Along with that, the original version was lost after a fire destroyed all the negatives of the film. Dreyer reassembled the film using outtakes & surviving prints, but it was believed that the original film was lost forever, until in 1981, a copy of the original was found in a janitor's closet at a mental institution in Oslo, Norway, which I am thankful for. Roger Ebert states, "you cannot know the history of silent film unless you know the face of Renèe Jeanne Falconetti" & I couldn't agree more.

Two View Movie Review: Gosford Park

Set in 1932, Gosford Park (2001) is a multi-layered story about wealthy Britons & their servants who go to a Manor in the country for a hunting party. The servants get together & gossip about their bosses & each other, while the upper class reveals the skeletons in their closets more & more as the weekend goes on. Things reach a climax when someone winds up murdered & everyone is a suspect.

The movie plays out like a whodunit, but it is more than a murder/mystery. Similar to the film The Rules of the Game, Gosford Park studies the class system in Britain & focuses on how much the upper class relies on the lower class; or in the film, the people who lounge upstairs & the people who work downstairs. A number of other themes include the decline of the British Empire, British life between the two World Wars, & sexual issues like homosexuality. The film would be considered  a humorous, mystery drama. The film takes itself quite seriously, but that hard-to-imitate British wit is infused in every scene (Maggie Smith is a perfect example of this quality.)


Gosford Park was Robert Altman's second-to-last film before his death in 2006. Altman & cinematographer Andrew Dunn filmed the film in subtle yet interesting ways. During scenes with a large group, they had two cameras running at the same time, out of each other's shots, of course,  which would require some choreography, as the filmmakers also never had the cameras standing still. Altman stated he did this in order to create a natural setting for the actors, causing them to talk amongst each other & not to the camera. The actors also wore portable microphones instead of using a boom mic so that the dialog could be overlapped, again, so that the scenes are as natural as possible.

The film is without a doubt convoluted, as the film contains over 20 characters, each with their own progressive storyline. Still, Gosford Park is the perfect "Two View Review" film, as it requires a second view, but don't get me wrong, the first view is enough for the actors (which includes every great British actor working at the time) & the filmmakers to convey their love for their craft. The subsequent viewings are just layers added to a delicious cake.

Two View Movie Review: The Diving Bell & the Butterfly

Jean-Dominque Bauby was a well known author, journalist & editor for the French edition of Elle magazine, but at the age of 43, he suffered a stroke that left him completely paralyzed except for his left eye. The condition is called lock-in syndrome, which means the mind is fully intake & awake, but the body is immobile. Hope is not lost for Bauby, as therapists give him a way to communicate by blinking his left eye when the alphabet is dictated to him, allowing him to spell messages, one letter at a time. Bauby eventually finds solace when he decides to write a memoir on his experience.

This unique biopic is inspired by Bauby's memoir of the same name & screenwriter Ronald Harwood translated it for the screen brillantly. There are many key moment in the film that are frustrating, humorous & moving. Notable scenes include Bauby's ex-wife translating Bauby's eye blinks for the girlfriend he left his wife for; or Bauby talking with his father, who is also locked-in, as he is too frail to leave his apartment. Director Julian Schnabel & cinematographer Janusz Kaminiski create dazzling effects & beautiful shots thoughtout the film to capture a picture inside Bauby's imagination. The film is often put in Bauby's point-of-view which leaves the viewer feeling hindered, uncomfortable & claustrophobic. This is an inspiring biopic about the power of the human mind with an art-house sensibility.

Two View Movie Review: Ran

Ran (1985), written & directed by Akira Kurosawa, takes place in Japan during the Warring States Era, which lasted from the 15th to the 17th century. In the film, the warlord Hidetora splits his kingdom into to three parts to give to his three sons. The two eldest sons, Taro & Jiro, honor their father's decision, but the youngest son, Saburo, thinks it's a bad idea. Saburo reminds Hidetora that he gained power through violence & betrayal, & his brothers will do the same. Hidetora banishes Saburo for his words, but soon, Hidetora learns that Saburo was right, as the Taro gets influenced by his treacherous wife, Lady Kaede, to dispose of his father & his brothers.

Ran was Kurosawa's last epic film & was the most expensive Japanese film at the time. Kurosawa was inspired by the story of the warlord, Mori Motanari, who had three faithful & talented sons, but Kurosawa wanted to imagine what would happen if they were terrible. When writing the script, Kurosawa realized that the story was much like Shakespeare's King Lear, & he was inspired further from that text. This wasn't the first time Kurosawa has worked with a Shakespeare play, as Throne of Blood was adapted from Macbeth. It seems like those tragic stories were made for Japanese film, particularly with the acting. While most of the acting in Ran contains conventional method, some characters, like Hidetora & Lady Kaede, follows the Japanese Noh theater method of acting. This included heavy make-up & sudden, violent body language.

Still, Ran strays in the themes of King Lear. In the play, Lear was rather innocent for the pain that he suffered, while Hidetora was a cruel & murderous ruler. This is a definite tale of karma, as well as chaos & warfare. This is most prominent when Taro & Jiro attack the Third Castle, Hidetora's residence. Kurosawa had all sound removed besides the muted & atmospheric score of Toru Takemitsu. It is a jarring & disturbing scene, as is the rest of the film, but it is a great success.

Two View Movie Review: Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth is a Gothic fairy tale set in the WWII Franco-controlled Spain. The story follows young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) as she moves to the forest of Spain with her pregnant mother (Ariadna Gil) so that the baby will be born with its father, Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez.) Captain Vidal is cruel & malicious & holds a post in the forest to delete the Spanish Maquis guerrillas. One night, Ofelia meets a fairy that draws her into an old, stone labyrinth where she meets a faun, who tells her that she is a princess reincarnate, & in order for the girl to sit on her throne in the underworld kingdom again, she must accomplish three tasks before the next full moon. Using the Book of Crossroads as her guide, she begins her quest, but, can she fully trust a faun, who are known to be tricky & mischievous, & how will the Captain interfere with Ofelia's tasks?

Director Guillermo del Toro was extremely inspired by the fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm & Aesop. In their tales, they were often moral lessons for children & showed the effects of obedience & disobedience. Magic was never explained; it was just there, & the fables were often gruesome. For example, in the tale of Snow White, Snow White gets her revenge on the Queen by making the Queen dance on hot, iron shoes until she drops dead. Pan's Labyrinth doesn't shy away from the gore, as the film shows that the true casualties of war are the children & that sometimes fantasy monsters aren't as bad as the real monsters in our life. This is portrayed beautifully in the film through creative art direction in the film, attractive cinematography & the young Ivana Baquero drives the film & hold it on her shoulders with great skill.

Two View Movie Review: Persepolis

Persepolis tells the story of Marjane "Marji" Satrapi's life in Iran during the war between Iran & Iraq. Through her young eyes, she witnesses the Islamic Revolution & the defeat of the Shah's rule. While the revolution was suppose to bring a new freedom to Iran, the new ruling Islamic fundamentalists become a repressive tyranny. Young Marji refuses to be silent & rebels against her teachers & authority figures, which prompts her parents to send her to Vienna to study & create a better life. However, as a young girl in a new environment with different cultures, the change is trialing & troubling. 

The film is based on Satrapi's graphic memoir & Bildungsroman & she was also the co-director. With the original creator being behind the scenes, Persepolis is not only one of the most faithful graphic novel to film adaptations, but in all adaptation history. What the graphic novel did for the medium, Persepolis does the same for animated films. Both medium are thought of as child's play, but both works prove that they can be thoughtful, humorous & enthralling. Satrapi kept the flat black & white style to emphasize that what has happened to Iran could happen anywhere. The people in Persepolis don't look foreigners but like people from some random country. 

This review is not without any self-promotion, I must confess. The JCBA is screening the film Tuesday, February 2nd & Wednesday the 3rd, both days at 3pm & 7pm. Admission works on donations only; they are self-determined ticket prices, so offer what you can, in good spirits. However, whether we were screening the film or not, I would still recommend it. Stephen Hunter of the Washington Post writes of the film, "Marjane Satrapi, with co-director Vincent Paronnaud, has taken her work & turned it into a vigorous, revealing & tragic film."

Two View Movie Review: Sita Sings the Blues

Sita Sings the Blues is an unique, entertaining, & eye-opening film about the greatest break-up story every told, the Ramayana. Created by Nina Paley with the use of 2-D computer graphics & flash animation, the film contains four parallel narratives. Episodes from the Ramayana are shown with painted figures that represent the Indian tradition of Rajput paintings. Also, three traditional Indian shadow puppets provide context & commentary for the story. During the musical episodes, songs performed by jazz singer Annette Hanshaw are conceived through the eyes of Sita. And Paley adds an autobiographical note by illustrating her failing marriage as her husband moves to India.

The four parallel narratives come together, each adding to the story of the Ramayana. The humor coming from the puppets will make you split your sides, & the contemporary aspects of Annette Hanshaw & Paley's own personal story fits perfectly, so much that you'd wish that you thought of it first. Paley used an unorthodox way of distribution. The film is all on-line, either on the films website or on youtube, but that shows that films aren't about movie tickets & money, its about telling a good story. Roger Eberts says of the film, "To get any film made is a miracle. To conceive of a film like this is a greater miracle."