ratatouille Sneak previews TONIGHT 6-16-07
06-18-07, 07:53 PM
#26
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Review from another site:
http://www.dvdtown.com/news/theatric...tatouille/4537
..."Ratatouille" is easily the best film to hit cinema screens so far this summer…possibly this year. Because of it deftly combining charm, wit, story and heart with visual punch to spare, it rates an impressive 8 out of 10. I can´t imagine a better animated film coming down the pike in the next year…until, of course, Pixar´s 2008 entry "Wall E."
http://www.dvdtown.com/news/theatric...tatouille/4537
..."Ratatouille" is easily the best film to hit cinema screens so far this summer…possibly this year. Because of it deftly combining charm, wit, story and heart with visual punch to spare, it rates an impressive 8 out of 10. I can´t imagine a better animated film coming down the pike in the next year…until, of course, Pixar´s 2008 entry "Wall E."
06-18-07, 11:18 PM
#27
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The Nintendo Wii has a "Channel" on it, called the "News Channel". I clicked on it, this evening, to find this interesting article about Ratatouille, which is an interview with Brad Bird! After reading this interview, I could really just kiss the man! He's a genius, in my opinion. In the interview, they also ask him about a possible sequel to The Incredibles. Read all the way to the end for the answer to that one.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT
Jun 18, 9:35 PM EDT
Brad Bird puts the rat in `Ratatouille'
By DAVID GERMAIN
AP Movie Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Brad Bird has become one of the "Incredibles" of movie animation as part of the pioneering outfit behind such cartoon hits as "Finding Nemo," "Monsters, Inc." and the "Toy Story" flicks.
With 2004's superhero saga "The Incredibles," Bird won Pixar Animation's second Academy Award for feature-length animation, following the company's Oscar triumph the previous year for "Finding Nemo."
Writer-director Bird, 49, should be back in Oscar contention with "Ratatouille," the tale of gourmet rodent Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt), who teams with a human kitchen hand to whip up fabulous meals in a French restaurant.
Opening June 29, "Ratatouille" also features the voices of Peter O'Toole, Janeane Garofalo, Ian Holm, Brad Garrett and Brian Dennehy.
"Ratatouille" could have been the first movie Pixar released with a studio partner other than the Walt Disney Co., whose deal to distribute Pixar films was set to expire after last year's "Cars."
Pixar and Disney had broken off talks to extend their deal, but tension between the companies eased after Michael Eisner stepped down as Disney boss.
Under Eisner's successor, Bob Iger, Disney bought Pixar, continuing one of Hollywood's most successful animation partnerships. With seven films behind them, the Disney-Pixar brand has yet to produce anything short of a critical and commercial smash.
Bird sat down with The Associated Press after a 12-minute "Ratatouille" preview for theater owners in Las Vegas, discussing the Pixar touch, the movie's tongue-twisting title and how the company built itself on the precepts of animation pioneer Walt Disney.
---
AP: The advertising materials for "Ratatouille" cleverly work in its pronunciation (rat-a-TOO-ee). Was the title ever considered too much of a mouthful?
Bird: It was a challenge, because we knew that a lot of people couldn't pronounce it. In fact, there were months where they tried to come up with another title, but no other title was as good as "Ratatouille." It's one word, it's French, it's about food and it has the word "rat" in it. So rather than view it as a weakness, we started going, "What if we view it as a strength and make the pronunciation part of the sales?"
AP: Pixar has a perfect track record: seven movies, seven hits. Do you get the night sweats worrying that your movie will be the one to tank?
Bird: Sure, all the way through the production, you have night sweats. Especially in the early part, when questions aren't answered yet. I think if you ask any Broadway veteran, the ones who survive the best are the ones who still get butterflies. If you start getting smug and start thinking, hey, I've got this thing licked, then they're bound to stumble. So I view the feeling of fear as a respect for the audience, because I don't want to serve up the same old refried meal.
AP: Some critics say there's an overload of animated movies.
Bird: It's kind of like saying, "Is there a movie overload?" There's only a movie overload if they're bad. If they're good, it's just like, "Yeehaw!" The problem with animation is too many people are making the same movie. There's nothing wrong with the medium. The medium is as big as the sky, but you have to go to different places in the sky. You can't just go to the same cloud and expect people to get excited about it, with the jabbering sidekicks and the pop references and the hit pop songs. Everybody is kind of emulating that formula, because it's easier to emulate. People in Hollywood, the press always fixates on technology because it's easier to quantify. The truth of the matter is the technology has never been the answer. The same answers to making a good movie are the answers that were around 80 years ago. You've got to have characters people care about and stories that are both surprising and satisfying.
AP: Was it gratifying for you to have Pixar brought in under the Disney fold for good?
Bird: I don't think we would have been happy with just any manifestation of Disney. That was always on the table. It was, is Disney going to embrace the things, many of the principles that we had? And I feel that Bob Iger has totally done that. The ironic thing for us is most of the values that are at the core of Pixar's success are old Disney values. Everybody studies the Old Testament from Walt's mouth himself, and that has guided us, even though we've been doing new technology, and instead of retelling only fairy tales, we tell original stories. But other than that, the rule book is the Disney rule book, which is all about character empathy and the plausible impossible and understanding where characters stand. Technical innovation and all of that, that's all old Walt stuff. We feel that Iger is very much in that school. He understands the reason the Disney name became so treasured, so we couldn't be happier. We had always gotten along with so many people at Disney really, really well. It was just some fundamental differences at the top that were causing the friction. With Iger in there now, everybody I think is really looking forward to the future.
AP: What are the odds of a sequel to "The Incredibles"?
Bird: I love the world. I love the characters, and if I could come with a story that was as good or better than the original, I'd go there in a second. I have pieces of things that I would love to see in a sequel, but I haven't got them all together yet, and I certainly wouldn't want to come out there with something that is less than the original. ... Sequels are not part of the business plan at Pixar. It's all about the filmmakers being passionate about going somewhere.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT
Jun 18, 9:35 PM EDT
Brad Bird puts the rat in `Ratatouille'
By DAVID GERMAIN
AP Movie Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Brad Bird has become one of the "Incredibles" of movie animation as part of the pioneering outfit behind such cartoon hits as "Finding Nemo," "Monsters, Inc." and the "Toy Story" flicks.
With 2004's superhero saga "The Incredibles," Bird won Pixar Animation's second Academy Award for feature-length animation, following the company's Oscar triumph the previous year for "Finding Nemo."
Writer-director Bird, 49, should be back in Oscar contention with "Ratatouille," the tale of gourmet rodent Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt), who teams with a human kitchen hand to whip up fabulous meals in a French restaurant.
Opening June 29, "Ratatouille" also features the voices of Peter O'Toole, Janeane Garofalo, Ian Holm, Brad Garrett and Brian Dennehy.
"Ratatouille" could have been the first movie Pixar released with a studio partner other than the Walt Disney Co., whose deal to distribute Pixar films was set to expire after last year's "Cars."
Pixar and Disney had broken off talks to extend their deal, but tension between the companies eased after Michael Eisner stepped down as Disney boss.
Under Eisner's successor, Bob Iger, Disney bought Pixar, continuing one of Hollywood's most successful animation partnerships. With seven films behind them, the Disney-Pixar brand has yet to produce anything short of a critical and commercial smash.
Bird sat down with The Associated Press after a 12-minute "Ratatouille" preview for theater owners in Las Vegas, discussing the Pixar touch, the movie's tongue-twisting title and how the company built itself on the precepts of animation pioneer Walt Disney.
---
AP: The advertising materials for "Ratatouille" cleverly work in its pronunciation (rat-a-TOO-ee). Was the title ever considered too much of a mouthful?
Bird: It was a challenge, because we knew that a lot of people couldn't pronounce it. In fact, there were months where they tried to come up with another title, but no other title was as good as "Ratatouille." It's one word, it's French, it's about food and it has the word "rat" in it. So rather than view it as a weakness, we started going, "What if we view it as a strength and make the pronunciation part of the sales?"
AP: Pixar has a perfect track record: seven movies, seven hits. Do you get the night sweats worrying that your movie will be the one to tank?
Bird: Sure, all the way through the production, you have night sweats. Especially in the early part, when questions aren't answered yet. I think if you ask any Broadway veteran, the ones who survive the best are the ones who still get butterflies. If you start getting smug and start thinking, hey, I've got this thing licked, then they're bound to stumble. So I view the feeling of fear as a respect for the audience, because I don't want to serve up the same old refried meal.
AP: Some critics say there's an overload of animated movies.
Bird: It's kind of like saying, "Is there a movie overload?" There's only a movie overload if they're bad. If they're good, it's just like, "Yeehaw!" The problem with animation is too many people are making the same movie. There's nothing wrong with the medium. The medium is as big as the sky, but you have to go to different places in the sky. You can't just go to the same cloud and expect people to get excited about it, with the jabbering sidekicks and the pop references and the hit pop songs. Everybody is kind of emulating that formula, because it's easier to emulate. People in Hollywood, the press always fixates on technology because it's easier to quantify. The truth of the matter is the technology has never been the answer. The same answers to making a good movie are the answers that were around 80 years ago. You've got to have characters people care about and stories that are both surprising and satisfying.
AP: Was it gratifying for you to have Pixar brought in under the Disney fold for good?
Bird: I don't think we would have been happy with just any manifestation of Disney. That was always on the table. It was, is Disney going to embrace the things, many of the principles that we had? And I feel that Bob Iger has totally done that. The ironic thing for us is most of the values that are at the core of Pixar's success are old Disney values. Everybody studies the Old Testament from Walt's mouth himself, and that has guided us, even though we've been doing new technology, and instead of retelling only fairy tales, we tell original stories. But other than that, the rule book is the Disney rule book, which is all about character empathy and the plausible impossible and understanding where characters stand. Technical innovation and all of that, that's all old Walt stuff. We feel that Iger is very much in that school. He understands the reason the Disney name became so treasured, so we couldn't be happier. We had always gotten along with so many people at Disney really, really well. It was just some fundamental differences at the top that were causing the friction. With Iger in there now, everybody I think is really looking forward to the future.
AP: What are the odds of a sequel to "The Incredibles"?
Bird: I love the world. I love the characters, and if I could come with a story that was as good or better than the original, I'd go there in a second. I have pieces of things that I would love to see in a sequel, but I haven't got them all together yet, and I certainly wouldn't want to come out there with something that is less than the original. ... Sequels are not part of the business plan at Pixar. It's all about the filmmakers being passionate about going somewhere.
06-19-07, 03:27 AM
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Wow. Bird seems very well-spoken and I found myself nodding to all they stuff he said about animated movies serving up the same old shit. Thats why the whole premise of a rat becoming a chef drew me in.
06-19-07, 05:02 AM
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i bought tickets for the advanced screening about a week before -- and i was all jazzed up for it for the rest of the week. i have to admit - i loved it. great, great movie. i can't wait to see it again!
my only complaint, and i might have completely missed it, is:
my only complaint, and i might have completely missed it, is:
Spoiler:
06-19-07, 12:25 PM
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Disappointing to see how low everyone has 'A Bug's Life' on their list. IMO, it sits alongside both Toy Story movies, slightly above the rest. Very underrated movie.
Mind you, I love them all - but if I had to rank them.
1. Toy Story 2
2. A Bug's Life
3. Toy Story
4. The Incredibles
5. Cars
6. Monsters, Inc.
7. Finding Nemo
haven't seen Ratatouille yet, so I can't rank it. But I'm beyond pumped for it.
Mind you, I love them all - but if I had to rank them.
1. Toy Story 2
2. A Bug's Life
3. Toy Story
4. The Incredibles
5. Cars
6. Monsters, Inc.
7. Finding Nemo
haven't seen Ratatouille yet, so I can't rank it. But I'm beyond pumped for it.
06-19-07, 01:15 PM
#33
DVD Talk Reviewer Emeritus
I'm always surprised when anyone ranks Finding Nemo so low, particularly beneath Cars or Bug's Life. Maybe you have to be a father to really appreciate Nemo, but I think it's easily the most emotionally involving of all the Pixar films.
06-19-07, 03:00 PM
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Originally Posted by FunkDaddy J
I'm always surprised when anyone ranks Finding Nemo so low, particularly beneath Cars or Bug's Life. Maybe you have to be a father to really appreciate Nemo, but I think it's easily the most emotionally involving of all the Pixar films.
I'm not a father and I think that Finding Nemo is easily among Pixar's finest (I'd probably rank it #1, personally, but Toy Story 2 is really close). Cars better than Nemo?
Wasn't very excited about Ratatouille from the trailers, but based on the reviews I'm now looking forward to it very much.
06-19-07, 03:03 PM
#35
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Originally Posted by FunkDaddy J
I'm always surprised when anyone ranks Finding Nemo so low, particularly beneath Cars or Bug's Life. Maybe you have to be a father to really appreciate Nemo, but I think it's easily the most emotionally involving of all the Pixar films.
06-19-07, 03:09 PM
#36
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Originally Posted by RyoHazuki
Of all the Pixar films, Finding Nemo is the only one that felt to me like the emotional content was forced. The other Pixar films presented the characters emotions much more naturally than Nemo.
06-19-07, 03:12 PM
#37
DVD Talk Reviewer Emeritus
Originally Posted by RyoHazuki
Of all the Pixar films, Finding Nemo is the only one that felt to me like the emotional content was forced. The other Pixar films presented the characters emotions much more naturally than Nemo.
06-19-07, 03:23 PM
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Originally Posted by FunkDaddy J
Really? I'd be interested to hear from anyone who feels the same. As far as real emotional investment in characters, Nemo has always been tops for me, followed by The Incredibles, the Toy Story films, and Monsters Inc. As has been said, the somewhat forced ones for me are Bug's Life and Cars...
For me, Cars and A Bug's Life are easily the weakest two. I still think they are great though.
06-19-07, 03:43 PM
#40
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Manipulative emotional moments are a big cinematic no-no in my book, like the movie is taking a dump in my lap, so I don't take it too well when someone even suggests that I've fallen prey to such moments. 
I can't think of a single moment in Nemo that feels emotionally manipulative. To me, it's completely honest and earned.
(Sorry this has gone off-topic.)
I can't think of a single moment in Nemo that feels emotionally manipulative. To me, it's completely honest and earned.(Sorry this has gone off-topic.)
06-19-07, 03:46 PM
#41
DVD Talk Hero
I'm not a big fan of Pixar movies, they're very well made, but many feel recycled and dated.
As such, my list of seen Pixar movies:
1. The Incredibles
2. Toy Story 2
3. Finding Nemo
..
..
..
..
4. Toy Story
5. A Bug's Life
6. Monsters Inc
7. Cars
Can't wait to see Ratatoutille.
As such, my list of seen Pixar movies:
1. The Incredibles
2. Toy Story 2
3. Finding Nemo
..
..
..
..
4. Toy Story
5. A Bug's Life
6. Monsters Inc
7. Cars
Can't wait to see Ratatoutille.
06-19-07, 06:50 PM
#43
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I know I'm going against the grain but I don't see the point of ranking Pixar movies. I love each and every one so just put them all at #1 in alphabetical order and call it a day 
06-19-07, 11:11 PM
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There should really be a poll about best Pixar movie, but I'm really looking to check this out when it comes out, I really didn't care for "Cars" that much but it was still leagues above the rest when it comes to animated movies. Pixar has yet to do wrong in my eyes.
06-19-07, 11:15 PM
#46
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Originally Posted by Jam Master Jay
There should really be a poll about best Pixar movie...
06-20-07, 08:48 AM
#47
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I'm glad pixar doesn't follow the dreamworks formula by embedding so many celebutards and pop-culture references that the movie gets annoying to anyone that doesn't think the E! Network entertaining is a masterpiece.
Pixar seems to be crafting timeless movies and finding the right talent for that craft.
Pixar seems to be crafting timeless movies and finding the right talent for that craft.
06-20-07, 11:35 AM
#48
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Originally Posted by Rogue588
Nah. TomOpus got it right. Then again, so did you with your last sentence.
06-20-07, 12:04 PM
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Originally Posted by FunkDaddy J
I'm always surprised when anyone ranks Finding Nemo so low, particularly beneath Cars or Bug's Life. Maybe you have to be a father to really appreciate Nemo, but I think it's easily the most emotionally involving of all the Pixar films.
Oh, I am a father. And don't get me wrong, I *loved* Nemo. Just not as much as 'A Bug's Life'. Looking back at it, I should probably move it up a above Monsters and possibly Cars (but I'm a car nut and I loved it).
'A Bug's Life' just entertains me so much it's scary. I think I identify with Flick or something. Dave Foley nailed that character. And Kevin Spacey's Hopper? Fantastic.
06-20-07, 12:46 PM
#50
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I liked just about everything about Ratatouille, probably the best movie I've seen this year, but I think the thing that I'll remember best is the speech by Peter O'Toole's character at the end of the movie. I feel like we'll talking about that 50 years from now.