Ratatouille - Rat-Ta-Too-Ee (Everyone can cook)

"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau's famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize that only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau's, who is, in this critic's opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau's soon, hungry for more."

I was really moved by these words used by the food critic Anton Ego in the movie. And the geniuses at Pixar, in this critic's opinion, are nothing less than the finest animation producers in the world. I'd definitely be waiting for the DVD version of this movie, squeaking with excitment...

Storyboard (10 out of 10)
Very entertaining story which develops at the right pace to introduce each of the characters well. The rats, albeit lovable, are still protrayed as pesky rodents and even though ended up being one man's best friend, was not acceptable by humans at large. So it's highly educational and highly entertaining. However, I would think the subliminal moral of the story, i.e. "live your dreams", and "everyone can do anything if they set their mind to it", can only be grasped by older kids. Younger kids should be able to grasp the simple yet often reiterated message which is, "Don't STEAL!"

And I think the director and writer, Brad Bird, have done a good job in introducing France, the French and of course the art of fine French cuisine. Adults, like me, stand to be "inspired" to cook even though I have not cooked a proper meal in my life.

Overall, it's an extremely exciting and fun-filled movie and I hardly felt the 110 minutes of the movie. And very good for educating/inspiring children/chefs wannabes. Can't say the same for Bryan (5 years old) though. He was quite afraid of all the violent attempts at killing the lovable rat.

Special effects/Graphics/Cinematography (9 out of 10)
Pixar never fails to impress me with their near-to-reality animation but yet preserving the "cartoonish" elements in their characters. A extremely creative production, which introduces to us a different perspective to this world;a mouse-eye-view so to squeak, err.. speak.

Lessons/Issues (9 out of 10)

1) Dont steal, no matter what, not even if you are hungry. Even if you are hungry or there'll be devastating consequences i.e. losing your job and losing the trust of others.

2) You can be whoever you aspire to be, despite your size or your origin or what everyone else is doing or says you should be doing..... Follow your dreams and you are what your heart and soul wants you to be.

3) Change is nature. You can change the future or how things are working naturally now, if you set your heart and soul to it. If you believe you can do it, you can. (In conjunction with hte upcoming Independence or Merdeka Day, Malaysia Boleh!)

4) There are certain forces of nature which are difficult to change, i.e. relationships between human and rats. As such, in order to implement the change, a forceful massive implementation, which disregard the forces of nature, often does not work (as seen in the closure of Gusteau Restaurant after rats infestation). A more subtle change tactic; a slow introduction and convincing the right people (the critic perhaps), should be employed.

5) Rat killing can be quite brutal, and humans are quite capable of such brutality. However, not all humans subject to such brutality and we can even try to trust our worse enemies and perhaps strike a harmonius and fruitful joint venture, by tapping on each other's strength.

6) Everyone can cook. (But that doesn't mean, everyone should).

7) It's difficult for women to earn a place in the "real" kitchen due to sex discrimination, and we should respect the women chefs.

8) Do not be a villian and try to cheat others. Villians never wins. Heroes and hard work prevails.

9) You can never stay on top for very long by taking other's credit. Sooner or later, people will find out and you'd be happier if you come clean and tell the truth. (Courage shown by Linguini in owning up that it was the Rat who possess the cooking talent and not him.)

Casting (NA)
Understandably, it's a cartoon and I can't rate the casts based on their animated representatives. So this category is not applicable this time. But I must say, the voices brings a lot of live to the ever lovable characters. Very good soundtrack too. I just love French songs, they sound very romantic.

Overall grading = B+ (28 out of 40)
A very fun and entertaining movie for all ages. Catch it on the big screen to enjoy the rich colour, sights and sounds. Be inspired by all the fine foods and art of fine culinary... Excuse me now, I am popping over to my French friend's house to satisfy my hunger for some Ratatouille...

Scoring Guide:
31-40 A
21-30 B
11-20 C
1-10 D

Note: all pictures are sourced from http://www.imdb.com

Die Hard 4.0 - Live Free or Die Hard (Cont)

Turned out i didnt have the time to do Die Hard 4.0.

But it's a good and fun movie which depicts some "family" issues, and introduces a lot of high tech gizmos and is one for the computer techies...

A little out of context and hard to believe but hey, that's what Die Hard is made of ever since it debuts 2 decades ago.

Rating - A-

Die Hard 4.0 - Live Free or Die Hard

Absolutely Awesome Stuff. Adrenalin pumping... Action packed... Heartstrings tugging... Death Defying stunts... Great contender for the movie of the year.

Another A class movie... Bruce Willis haven't lost his witty charming character one bit since 20 years ago when he first started his Die Hard career as smartmouth, witty but "being at the wrong place at the wrong time" cop, John McClane in 1988.

Will update more later....

Definitely entertaining and hilarious.... worth every penny of the RM11 you fork out for this movie.

Btw, you can also catch Huge Trucks (ala Optimus Prime) fighting with Fighter Jets (ala Megatron) in this movie. I bet Director Les Wiseman added this scene on purpose to poke fun at Transformers. Hmmm looks like Wiseman and Bay are already trying to outdo each other even way before the Oscars.. Anyhow, this two blockbuster Directors deserve standing ovations for bringing us so much entertainment this year... :)

Transformers - Their War, Our World - Freedom is the right of all sentient beings

Michael Bay deserves every bit of my respect and love... he definitely have delivered in this movie... more than I have expected in fact. Definitely an A class film... I just fell in love with this movie right after Blackout transformed (the first Transformer to appear). Bryan (5 year old) went "wow,.... Wow,..... WOWW" at the sight of Blackout's transformation. That's what I thought about this show too... Wow! (but of course I didn't shout it out like Bryan)

I was thinking of just writing, "Just watch this movie, it's definitely "MOVIE OF THE YEAR" if you ask me but then I wont be doing justice to my blog... hahaha. I am no Transformer freak nor fan... but this movie definitely took my breath away - one of the most impressive CGI driven movie.

The only drawback for the die hard Transformers fans is the lack of the signature "E-u-e-u-e-ak" sound whenever they transform.


Storyboard (9 out of 10)

Extremely entertaining with the right blend of humour, action - fist fight, gun shots, air borne fight scenes, car chase, underground fight sequence, you-name-it-they-got-it action, suspense, terror, human issues (family, friendship, society, country), etc. The storyline have been outlined in the previous installment and Michael have done justice for the movie pacing the movie just right to strike a balance between robots and human interaction and a palatable storyline. Even though the movie is 2.5 hour long, Bay doesn't bore you with too much technical explaination of each robot and you dont get too much unnecessary conversation. Never a dull moment except for my afternoon-nap-deprived 5 year old friend whose only interest is watching the robots and asked me "Where did the Transformers go?" the moment a Transformer wasnt given screen time. Having been able to enjoy the movie, shows that there wasn't many chances for him to ask me that question... :D

Ummm, it's actually rated PG-13 in the US but I didn't do my homework thoroughly enough and allowed a 5-year-old to watch it with me (In Malaysia, it's rated "U"). However, the really violent scenes (including decapitation) are Robot-vs-Robot and not human so that reduced my guilt substantially :P)

Special effects/Graphics/Cinematography (10 out of 10)

Best special effects I have ever witness, and I know I am not alone in quoting this. Seemless transformation and blends in wonderfully with the rest of the casts.

Lessons/Issues (8 out of 10)

To name a few:

1) Humans are highly evolved beings but still have much weakness such as greed, wrath and envy. If they don't control their greed, they might fall into the dark side due to their hungry quest for power. Decepticons are actually representation of the future of these kind of humans, extremely advanced, smart but evil in nature. There are, however, still good people around as represented by Autobots and it's up to us to choose to become Autobots and Decepticons.

2) Greed for power will lead to major disastrous events for self (Megatron) and others (earth). War does not solve any problems either and will lead to even more disastrous events.

3) Friendship/comradeship is important in winning (as shown in the weaker Autobots being able to win with teamwork). Strategy is also an importan element. (The weaker Autobots must depend on strategy to win the more advance Decepticons)

4) Loyalty as shown by Bumblebee in serving it's earth assignment.

5) Responsibility (As shown by Optimus Prime in his willingness to risk his life to save the Earth as he felt responsible for bringing their Cybertronian war to earth.)

6) We may be very advance but dont underestimate others and be aware that there are other's more advance than us out there.



Casting (6 out of 10)

There aren't many big stars in this movies which is understandable as their main strength doesn't lie in casting but in their CGI robots. But their leads, Shia LaBeouf (Sam Witwicky) and Megan Fox (Mikaela Banes) are young and upcoming stars and works hard for their salary, all USD500K of it for Shia... And sexiness or "foxiness" works to pull in the crowd with Fox being voted #18 in the Top 100 sexiest woman list by Maxim Magazine (2007), and #68 by FHM in 2006.

Overall grading = A (33 out of 4o)

A definite must watch and I am sure it's worth every penny of the RM11 you dish out for the movie ticket considering it cost USD150 million to make this movie. Highly entertaining material and fun for the whole family. One of the best visuals I have ever seen. Do your homework prior to watching this movie as you may get a little confused over who's who as there's not much explanation of the robots in the movie, but rest assured that even without knowing who each of the giant robots are, you won't miss a thing. However, be reminded that it's rated PG13 in the US, and thus, remind your child that they are robots and not humans to avoid having to deal with extreme violence around the house later. Visit the loo before the movie as it's hard to enjoy the 2.5 hour long movie on a full bladder.

Scoring Guide:
31-40 A
21-30 B
11-20 C
1-10 D

Note: all pictures are sourced from http://www.imdb.com

Transformer 7-4-7

Can't wait till the Transformers movie come to our shores. It seems that we'll be getting this treat on the 28th June (from GSC advertisements) even though the official site says it'll premier on the 4th of July.

Anyway, this anticipation means I am expecting qutie a lot from Michael Bay (director) and Steven Spielberg (executive producer). I really hope that they will present some good family entertainment instead of some cheap "Ultraman/Mask Rider/Power Ranger vs Rubbery Monster" type. Also, hopefully their robots are much better than those of Astro Stadium ads.

Having said that, from the trailers and teasers (all 6 of them), I think that we won't be disappointed. :)

Here's a refresher in case we get confused with who's who in the movie:

Autobots (the good guys)
1) Optimus Prime (leader) - 18th wheeler
2) Bumblebee - Cheverolet Camaro
3) Jazz - Pontiac Solstice Sports
4) Ironhide - GMC Topkick Pickup Truck

5) Rachet - Search and Rescue Hummer (Ambulance)

Decepticons (the high tech villians)
1) Megatron (leader) - Cybertronian Jet (actually can turn into Walther P33 Pistol too)
2) Barricade - Police Car - Saleen 5281 Mustang
3) Starscream - Lockheed Martin F22 Raptor Jet
4) Blackout - Skirkovsky MH53 Pave Low III Helicopter

5) Brawn - M1 Abrams tank

6) Frenzy - 2 speaker CD player mini compo

7) Scorponok - mechanical scorpion

8) Bonecrusher - Buffalo Armoured Mine-Protected Bulldozer

Short Sypnosis: Sometime in 1850, War between Autobots and Decepticons in Cybertron planet have spill over to Earth over the control of Allspark, a cube that will give the owner super powers. The Allspark has been "exported" to Earth by some Autobots but Megatron managed to track and chase after them to Earth. During his "visit" to earth, Megatron, fell into the Arctic Ocean and was freezed to paralysis (note: all robotics can be overcomed by freezing it's mechanical parts). Captain Archibald Witwicky, a scientist, was on an Artic expedition and chance upon Megatron. Megatron enscribed a map leading to the Allspark location into Captain Archibald Witwicky spectacles.

Over time, other Decepticons roam to earth in search of the Allspark and their leader. While the US government want to study and controlthe robots, the Decepticons also want to learn from the US government the location of Allspark.

Meanwhile, the other autobots arrives on Earth to protect the Allspark and the earth (as the leader Optimus Prime believes that "Freedom is the right for all santient beings".

For the rest of the story, well... go watch the movie in the theaters... :)

Source: http://www.transformersmovie.com

Ocean's Thirteen

Full of star-studded A-class casts but can't really say I enjoyed the movie as I get this been there done that kinda feeling. Another sequel to a sequel. Hmm... a lot of sequel's sequels being done this year.

Storyboard (5 out of 10)

Refresher -

Ocean's Eleven 2001: Freshly out of jail, gangster/con-artist Danny Ocean (George Clooney) rounds up 10 professional "theives" to rob 3 Las Vegas casinos owned by unscrupulous entrepreneur, Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), simultaneously during a boxing event. Rueben Tishkoff (Elliot Gould), a rich casino owner who have a personal score to settle after losing a casino to Benedict, provided funding to the whole sophisticately planned "project".

Ocean's Twelve 2004: Terry Benedict seeks vengence after losing USD150 million to Ocean and his 11 accomplice (plus his wife, Julia Roberts as Tess) and demanded repayment with interest - USD190million in two weeks or they will all be killed. To raise the funds, they planned 3 large scale robberies in 3 European countries but their plans are 1-up by another theif, named Night Fox. With Europol hot on their heels, and challenges from Night Fox, they race against time to take on the biggest heist to claim the world greatest theives title.

Ocean's Thirteen 2007: Reuben Tishkoff's (Elliot Gould) was unscrupulously cheated of a hotel and casino by Willie Bank (Al Pacino) and suffered a heart attack and paralysis which almost took his life. Ocean's team (the 13th member being Terry Benedict who hated rival hotelier Bank) gathered and schemed to settle the score for their friend by helping other's to win the casino's money and sabotage Bank's new hotel.

All 3 story lines are almost the same, and it really grounds to a bore after some time as the director Steven Soderbergh recycled the same cinematography and ideas for all 3 installments.

Special effects/Graphics/Cinematography (4 out of 10)

No special effects. The conventional cinematograhy made me felt like I was watching an 80s show with the music, the colours, the zooming in on objects and spliting of the screen (like an old James Bond movie).

Lessons/Issues (3 out of 10)

Not a very "moral" movie as it condones stealing and put theft on a padestal. I guess lessons learnt are mostly friendship, and trusting the right people. Another lesson projected here, especially for the management level, is that we must always pay/repay people for their hardwork (as shown in the very last part where Brad Pitt repays the hotel reviewer (David Paymer) - interesting way to repay someone (I wish someone would repay me this way!), especially when reviewer didn't even know he's part of the scheme.)

Casting (8 out of 10)

Overall casting in this star-studed installment is good as they have used all original casts and thus, immediate association with the previous episodes are possible. And there's no direct linkage to the previous episodes, so those who have missed the previous 2 installments wont be lost. Brad Pitt and Matt Damon's good looks and dashing smiles are there to increase ratings but I didn't really feel their presence as I did in Ocean's Eleven.

Overall grading = C+ (20 out of 4o)
An intellectual scheming movie but the ideas have run dry. A-class stars, but C-Class presentation. It's always hard to do sequels, and harder to do sequels to sequels... so Director Steven Soderbergh need some breakthrough ideas to break out from the shadow that Ocean's 11 casted out 6 years ago (A little trivia: O11 was a remake of a 1960 movie with the same name). Watchable movie, but I think you can wait for the DVD.

Scoring Guide:

31-40 A

21-30 B

11-20 C

1-10 D

(note: all pictures are quoted from http://www.imdb.com)

Fantastic 4 (Rise of the silver surfer)

Just watched it. But really have no feelings for this movie despite it being a very entertaining show.

Storyboard (6 out of 10)
Refresher - Fantastic 4 (2005) :
Fantastic 4 consists of 4 superheros (humans turned into super powered beings after being hit by Gamma rays while on a science project in outer space), namely Reed (Plasticman), Susan (Invisible Girl), Johnny (Torch) and Ben (The Thing). They are scientists who have dedicated their own lives to the science of saving the lives of others.

Current episode: Rise of the Silversurfer:

This second installment of the movie mainly shows an insight to their busy lives as Fantastic 4, where they research for ways to understand the molecular substance of their own body to somehow reverse the effects of the gamma rays, and try to return to "normal". Reed and Susan also tries to lead "normal" lives by getting married but their plans have always been interrupted by Reed's commitment to work. Reed's commitment to saving the world is always put to the test by trouble makers aka paranormal super villians such as Victor von Doom(Dr. Doom), Norrin Radd (Silver surfer) and Galactus (an earth eating alien).

The movie does develop each character equally, providing ample explanation on each of their powers and ability and their purpose in the story. Overall story flow is very good for a comic flick (and their jokes were extremely witty and hilarious) but as I mentioned earlier, it's just an entertaining movie, with not much subliminal message.

Special effects/Graphics (10 out of 10)
The best part of the movie. This is a movie made from comics, so you can expect a lot of CGI and special effects. The CGI in this movie is very seemless and it gives live to all the comic characters especially, Silversurfer and Torch. My favourite scene is the part where Torch chased after Silversurfer until Torch ran out of oxigen to burn.... (very good way to teach the youngster to be interested in science.)

Lessons/Issues: (6 out of 10)
Not very significant but the most important issues highlighted would be:

1) Friendship (The 4 friends stay through thick and thin - even though Ben and Johnny may seem to have big differences, but deep inside, they love each other as best friends.)

2) Understanding in a relationship which is highlighted when Susan and Reed's wedding have been postponed and ruined for 4 times, the time Susan caught Reed dancing with other sexy women on his bachelor's night and the time Susan caught Reed hiding his research from her.

3) Making choices in life. The movie highlights that there's always a chance for you to make the right choice in life for the greater good of everyone. It reinforces the idea that we should all take the courage to make that choice....

Casting (9 out of 10)

Overall casting is good as they have used all original casts to avoid confusion and for easier recognition and refresher of the first episode. I guess everyone is waiting to see Jessica Alba (Susan), especially the part where she lost her "Invisible" powers after burning her clothes. Ioan Gruffudd (Reed) have more screen time this time as the leader of F4 and brings out the "kayu" (nerdy) role of a scientist very well. I thought Christ Evans (Torch) wasn't good looking enough to fit in the vain character of Torch but his acting was good to bring out the childish and irrational side of Torch. The combination of Doug Jones and Laurence Fishbone (voice) was excellent in depicting the mysterious and strong character of the Silversurfer.

Overall grading = A- (31 out of 4o)
A very fun and entertaining movie for the whole family (parent guidance needed for childen below 12 due to the fighting, flying, choking, and killing scenes.) A must watch (and worthy watch) at the THX cinemas.

Scoring Guide:
31-40 A
21-30 B
11-20 C
1-10 D

(note: all pictures are quoted from http://www.imdb.com)