This post has nothing to do with any of the bombastic summer blockbusters such as Spider-man 3, Transformers, or Live Free and Die Hard. At best, these films offer empty thrills (the Green Goblin/Spider-man tag team); at worst, the results are just insulting (PG-13 rated Die Hard?!). Thankfully, if you can ignore the incessant marketing blitzes of these bloated, explosion-laden time killers (granted, the Fantastic Four made that difficult during the NBA Finals), this has been a wonderful year for lighter fare. Major releases such as Hot Fuzz and Knocked Up completely blew away my expectations, and tonight Brad Bird managed to trump The Incredibles, my FAVORITE animated movie, with a rat chef.
I never would have guessed that a movie with tons of anthropomorphic animals would have surpassed Bird’s CG superhero film. I’m a total nerd. The whole masks-and-spandex motif (“NO CAPES!”) was a major reason why The Incredibles was so appealing. However, I just love how Ratatouille explores the themes of artistic expression and critique. After I watched this film, I honestly wanted to eat in gourmet chef Gusteau’s rat-infested restaurant. This movie will put a huge smile on your face. As Remy points out the film, why digest garbage when you can see a delicacy like Pixar’s latest?
