neil_fraser

Out of all my reviews I have done for IMDb, this is the one review i'm most happy to be typing right now. If you are reading this, I can't tell you enough to go see this movie. It's that good. Easily one of the best, if not the best Pixar film to date. Animation is awesome, script is awesome, scenery is awesome. Not only that, but it really benefits from being on a big screen too. Voice acting is great, not to mention the casting. Good on ya. They really chose the right actors for the job. Never are you distracted with that annoying feeling that you heard that voice before. (i.e Woody Allen as an ant.) Personally what I really appreciated most about this movie was that they truly made a family film, a film every age can enjoy. I always felt that with "Cars", even though a great film, wasn't made for adults. Just look at all the toys and products that had Lightning McQueen's face on them and you will see what I mean. This film has an off-beat, yet adult story of a young chef/rat trying to make it as a cook. It deals with bad bosses, relationships with co-workers, and job stress. In fact you replace the rats with kids from a rough neighborhood, and you have a drama/comedy about class struggle. The fact is, this was a film about real life (minus cooking rats). Not a cute story about a world run by talking cars. If I had to nitpick. And it really would be nitpicking. I would have to say that the film felt about 15 minutes too long. Also the basic story formula was familiar movie territory. Fish-out-of-water mixed with a pseudo-Cyrano de Bergerac story. It worked, but I was very aware of what I was watching. The evil chef sorta felt like Dean Wormer from Animal House. Thats all. Just little things here and there sometimes felt very familiar. I will say this. I am proud of Pixar for maturing in their storytelling. I was starting to notice that every film by them was a rescue story, again! Thank you for not making another. It is a welcome change. Also, to it's credit, Ratatouille was not nearly as gaggy as the earlier Pixar releases. Instead they relied more on clever facial expressions and situation comedy. Plus gags, when present, were more visual. Nothing like the stupid one-liners, i.e "find a happy place" in other Pixar films. (Hey it's a fish that needs therapy, yuk yuk!) I'll say this, Pixar used to really emphasize the novelty aspect of computer animation. It seemed like they use to make a game out of reproducing cheese puffs, or toy packaging, or making sea turtles into stoners. This was getting old for me. I really enjoyed the change of pace in Ratatouille. Lush scenery, realistically detailed rats and objects, and perfectly rendered lighting. Very impressive. I wouldn't be surprised if this won for best animated feature at next years Oscars. Well done!

I could easily go off on this film. The potential was there from the start, but as with many of the Steven King films, the great storytelling is smothered by a thick layer of cheese. Horror films have always had the potential to be so much more than the industry or public has let them be. I really believe that 1408's story lends itself to more way subtlety that it is given in this film. Sure its billed as a psychological thriller and definitely deals with some dark subjects. However the overall tone of the film is just not creepy enough for me to be convinced that it is a thriller. Once he entered the room, I more or less just sat in the dark and waited for sh*t to pop out. Where's the creepiness in that? Where's the women in the tub, like in the shining? If this room makes people go mad, why not show some serious hallucinations? Not just a wide angle lens and camera wobble? It seems as if the director wanted this to be a fun film that could appeal to a non-horror crowd. A scary, fun-house kind of entertainment that constantly reminds you that nothing you are looking at could be real. At one point Samuel Jackson tells John Cusack that "thats a evil f*cking room". Well? All I can say is, show me! Don't pull punches. Give me evil, not a tales from the crypt episode. My advice is, save your money and rent the DVD