list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Ratatouille on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Ratatouille/276765/default.aspx Title: Ratatouille
Year: 2007
Director: Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava
Plot: Academy Award®-winning director Brad Bird (“The Incredibles”) and the amazing storytellers at Pixar Animation Studios (“Cars,” “Finding Nemo”) take you into an entirely new and original world where the unthinkable combination of a rat and a 5-star gourmet restaurant come together for the ultimate fish-out-of-water tale. In the hilarious new animated-adventure, RATATOUILLE, a rat named Remy dreams of becoming a great chef despite his family’s wishes and the obvious problem of being a rat in a decidedly rodent-phobic profession. When fate places Remy in the city of Paris, he finds himself ideally situated beneath a restaurant made famous by his culinary hero, Auguste Gusteau. Despite the apparent dangers of being an unwanted visitor in the kitchen at one of Paris’ most exclusive restaurants, Remy forms an unlikely partnership with Linguini, the garbage boy, who inadvertently discovers Remy’s amazing talents. They strike a deal, ultimately setting into motion a hilarious and exciting chain of extraordinary events that turns the culinary world of Paris upside down. Remy finds himself torn between following his dreams or returning forever to his previous existence as a rat. He learns the truth about friendship, family and having no choice but to be who he really is, a rat who wants to be a chef.
Times Tagged: 47
Number of Lists: 78
Number of blog posts: 39
Number of discussion threads: 15
SpoutRating: 4
]]>Tue, 14 Jul 2009 07:36:38 GMTRatatouille2007Brad Bird, Jan PinkavaAcademy Award®-winning director Brad Bird (“The Incredibles”) and the amazing storytellers at Pixar Animation Studios (“Cars,” “Finding Nemo”) take you into an entirely new and original world where the unthinkable combination of a rat and a 5-star gourmet restaurant come together for the ultimate fish-out-of-water tale. In the hilarious new animated-adventure, RATATOUILLE, a rat named Remy dreams of becoming a great chef despite his family’s wishes and the obvious problem of being a rat in a decidedly rodent-phobic profession. When fate places Remy in the city of Paris, he finds himself ideally situated beneath a restaurant made famous by his culinary hero, Auguste Gusteau. Despite the apparent dangers of being an unwanted visitor in the kitchen at one of Paris’ most exclusive restaurants, Remy forms an unlikely partnership with Linguini, the garbage boy, who inadvertently discovers Remy’s amazing talents. They strike a deal, ultimately setting into motion a hilarious and exciting chain of extraordinary events that turns the culinary world of Paris upside down. Remy finds himself torn between following his dreams or returning forever to his previous existence as a rat. He learns the truth about friendship, family and having no choice but to be who he really is, a rat who wants to be a chef.47Tag Target (>10)7839154http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/s276765.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Ratatouille/276765/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/the_mow/archive/2009/4/27/41765.aspx Post By: The_MOW
Post To: The_MOW Blog
Post Date: 4/27/2009 9:24:17 AM
Body: "Remy" (voiced by Patton Oswalt) is not your typical rat living in France. He literally has the nose of a great chef. He is able to determine what is in a dish, and is able to tell that a dish needs something to improve it just by the scent. His family doesn't understand because, let's face it, they're rats. He gets inspiration from a popular human chef (voiced by Brad Garrett) who believes that anybody can cook. and looks for a way to show off his talent. He finds a garbage boy (voiced by Lou Romano), and uses his hands (by literally controlling the human's arms by pulling his hair as if they were connected) to create his creations that brings "Gusteau", the restaurant named after and once owned by the late master chef the rat idolizes, back to the popularity it once had. Now, the two have to keep their work together a secret and join forces when the master chef that took over the restaurant when "Gusteau" died wants to use "Gusteau's" name for financial gain with inferior frozen food products leaning to international dishes. Well, Pixar has done it again. They have produced a visually amazing world right down to the littlest detail. They nailed it when they animated the rats' movements right down to the movement of the hair over the muscles. The humans however lean toward a more cartoonish look, and look like they're made out of plastic and much of their movement is more cartoonish than realistic looking. There are strong performances from the actors in this film. However, there was a problem with the French accents. The characters who were suppose to be French had obviously fake accents to no accent at all. Another problem with this movie was that there was very little laughs in this movie. Of the laughs that are in the movie, it comes from physical comedy more than anything else. I also didn't like the storyline surrounding "Skinner", the master chef of the restaurant who wants to turn the name "Gusteau" into an inferior product, after "Remy" helps the now-former garbage boy, "Alfredo Linguini" become the head chef of the restaurant, thus kicking "Skinner" to the curb. I thought "Skinner" trying to prove "Linguini" to be a fraud was just done poorly. Another poorly done subplot was the love story between two characters. I personally can't stand when one-hald of the love story doesn't realize they are attracted to the other side of the plotline until something happens that makes them realize they are in love. The soundtrack was pretty forgettable in this movie. None of the music was memorable like in what is possibly the most popular movie in Pixar and Disney's history, "Toy Story". I really can't recommend this one for adults. However, it's a good time-waster for the kids.
]]>Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:24:17 GMTThe_MOWThe_MOW Blog4/27/2009 9:24:17 AM"Remy" (voiced by Patton Oswalt) is not your typical rat living in France. He literally has the nose of a great chef. He is able to determine what is in a dish, and is able to tell that a dish needs something to improve it just by the scent. His family doesn't understand because, let's face it, they're rats. He gets inspiration from a popular human chef (voiced by Brad Garrett) who believes that anybody can cook. and looks for a way to show off his talent. He finds a garbage boy (voiced by Lou Romano), and uses his hands (by literally controlling the human's arms by pulling his hair as if they were connected) to create his creations that brings "Gusteau", the restaurant named after and once owned by the late master chef the rat idolizes, back to the popularity it once had. Now, the two have to keep their work together a secret and join forces when the master chef that took over the restaurant when "Gusteau" died wants to use "Gusteau's" name for financial gain with inferior frozen food products leaning to international dishes. Well, Pixar has done it again. They have produced a visually amazing world right down to the littlest detail. They nailed it when they animated the rats' movements right down to the movement of the hair over the muscles. The humans however lean toward a more cartoonish look, and look like they're made out of plastic and much of their movement is more cartoonish than realistic looking. There are strong performances from the actors in this film. However, there was a problem with the French accents. The characters who were suppose to be French had obviously fake accents to no accent at all. Another problem with this movie was that there was very little laughs in this movie. Of the laughs that are in the movie, it comes from physical comedy more than anything else. I also didn't like the storyline surrounding "Skinner", the master chef of the restaurant who wants to turn the name "Gusteau" into an inferior product, after "Remy" helps the now-former garbage boy, "Alfredo Linguini" become the head chef of the restaurant, thus kicking "Skinner" to the curb. I thought "Skinner" trying to prove "Linguini" to be a fraud was just done poorly. Another poorly done subplot was the love story between two characters. I personally can't stand when one-hald of the love story doesn't realize they are attracted to the other side of the plotline until something happens that makes them realize they are in love. The soundtrack was pretty forgettable in this movie. None of the music was memorable like in what is possibly the most popular movie in Pixar and Disney's history, "Toy Story". I really can't recommend this one for adults. However, it's a good time-waster for the kids. http://www.spout.com/groups/Community_Recommendations/Re_Collaboration_Best_Films_of_2007/643/38354/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: usesoap
Post To: Community Recommendations
Post Date: 12/13/2008 6:49:07 PM
Body: Here's my list of my favorites that were released in my little beach community, as we are not always privy to some of the more indie releases, so this is by no means complete (I have also eliminted the ones previously discussed): “The Simpsons Movie” – In a time where two-dimensional animation was considered dead and buried, our omnipresent family rose from the ashes like a yellow-skinned phoenix and demonstrated that whip-smart writing trumps technology any day. Let’s see those flaccid phonies over at “Family Guy” do that two decades from now. “Breach” – Chris Cooper will be completely overlooked at awards season for his riveting role as former FBI senior agent Robert Hanssen, which is just as criminal as Hanssen himself. Pious, manipulative and ultimately tragic, Cooper keeps up captivated on his every move to elude his colleagues as he secretly feeds information about his agency overseas. Even though the film’s conclusion had been played out in papers throughout Hanssen’s trial, the film manages to hold the audience captive through every twist of his labyrinth of lies. “Ratatouille” – After the stale exhaust of “Cars” cleared, Pixar returned to form with perhaps one of its most accomplished, nuanced works. With visuals as sumptuous as the meals it describes, “Ratatouille” is yet another feast offered from the Iron Chefs of animation. “Michael Clayton” – George Clooney gives his finest performance without having to lose a fingernail to pliers. It’s slow and steady, which hypothetically should win a race or two. But it’s diminutive box office will unfortunately leave it behind for future generations to deem it classic. “Grindhouse” – I know it’s two films. I know that one (“Planet Terror”) is inferior. But this was the single-most loving tribute to the actual long-lost art of watching movies as a communal experience. And while “Terror’s” director, Robert Rodriguez got all the superficial elements of the era right (the missing reel, the grainy, choppy print), it was Quentin Tarantino’s “Death Proof” that gave us the authentic rush of watching a loving homage to the genre. Now that they have been severed and sold separately for their DVD release, they would not appear on the list. But for the time that they both shared the screen with a handful of mock exploitation trailers, it was pure geek bliss. “Into the Wild” – One of those Halley’s Comet moments where the film exceeds the book, “Wild” follows a clueless little rich boy on his self-absorbed nature walk into the harsh Alaskan terrain. While director Sean Penn’s lens may incite viewers to answer their own call of the wild, Emile Hirsch’s heartbreaking performance may have them readjusting their travel agendas. “Eastern Promises” – Sorry, but director David Cronenberg’s “A History of Violence” has nothing on this layered Eastern Bloc crime drama. “Promises” got lots of notoriety for star Viggo Mortensen exposing his little hobbit in a bathhouse sequence, but his performance is equally naked. He’s a man trapped in a world of violence, but who also appreciates the beauty of life on the other side. It’s a film that blossoms wider the more it is examined.
]]>Sat, 13 Dec 2008 23:49:07 GMTusesoapCommunity Recommendations12/13/2008 6:49:07 PMHere's my list of my favorites that were released in my little beach community, as we are not always privy to some of the more indie releases, so this is by no means complete (I have also eliminted the ones previously discussed): “The Simpsons Movie” – In a time where two-dimensional animation was considered dead and buried, our omnipresent family rose from the ashes like a yellow-skinned phoenix and demonstrated that whip-smart writing trumps technology any day. Let’s see those flaccid phonies over at “Family Guy” do that two decades from now. “Breach” – Chris Cooper will be completely overlooked at awards season for his riveting role as former FBI senior agent Robert Hanssen, which is just as criminal as Hanssen himself. Pious, manipulative and ultimately tragic, Cooper keeps up captivated on his every move to elude his colleagues as he secretly feeds information about his agency overseas. Even though the film’s conclusion had been played out in papers throughout Hanssen’s trial, the film manages to hold the audience captive through every twist of his labyrinth of lies. “Ratatouille” – After the stale exhaust of “Cars” cleared, Pixar returned to form with perhaps one of its most accomplished, nuanced works. With visuals as sumptuous as the meals it describes, “Ratatouille” is yet another feast offered from the Iron Chefs of animation. “Michael Clayton” – George Clooney gives his finest performance without having to lose a fingernail to pliers. It’s slow and steady, which hypothetically should win a race or two. But it’s diminutive box office will unfortunately leave it behind for future generations to deem it classic. “Grindhouse” – I know it’s two films. I know that one (“Planet Terror”) is inferior. But this was the single-most loving tribute to the actual long-lost art of watching movies as a communal experience. And while “Terror’s” director, Robert Rodriguez got all the superficial elements of the era right (the missing reel, the grainy, choppy print), it was Quentin Tarantino’s “Death Proof” that gave us the authentic rush of watching a loving homage to the genre. Now that they have been severed and sold separately for their DVD release, they would not appear on the list. But for the time that they both shared the screen with a handful of mock exploitation trailers, it was pure geek bliss. “Into the Wild” – One of those Halley’s Comet moments where the film exceeds the book, “Wild” follows a clueless little rich boy on his self-absorbed nature walk into the harsh Alaskan terrain. While director Sean Penn’s lens may incite viewers to answer their own call of the wild, Emile Hirsch’s heartbreaking performance may have them readjusting their travel agendas. “Eastern Promises” – Sorry, but director David Cronenberg’s “A History of Violence” has nothing on this layered Eastern Bloc crime drama. “Promises” got lots of notoriety for star Viggo Mortensen exposing his little hobbit in a bathhouse sequence, but his performance is equally naked. He’s a man trapped in a world of violence, but who also appreciates the beauty of life on the other side. It’s a film that blossoms wider the more it is examined. http://www.spout.com/groups/Coming_Soon/New_Movies_11_7_Van_Damme_Paul_Rudd_animated/216/37029/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: SkyPilot
Post To: Coming Soon
Post Date: 11/6/2008 2:30:56 PM
Body: 1. Role Models -- Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott are energy drink salesmen sentenced to community service; they must mentor young delinquents. I think the trailer's funny, and I've like Paul Rudd in the recent Apatow movies. Plus I've heard Sean William Scott is really good in The Promotion. I'll be seeing Role Models for sure. 2. JCVD Anyone going to see Jean Claude Van Damme's half-fantasy, half-reality "biopic"? Kevin Kelly wasn't a big fan, but I really like this teaser trailer. Kevin put together a Top 5 Hilarious Van Damme moments. Get a load of this one: 3. Soul Men -- Bernie Mac and Isaak Hayes aren't around to see the premier. Bummer. Reminds me of another soul man we lost recently, Rudy Ray More, the bad bad Dolemite. Be careful before you watch Dolemite, because it makes the original Shaft feel like an audience-friendly, commerical blockbuster.Here's the Soul Men trailer 4. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa -- Would anyone recommend Madagascar to a guy in his twenties? It seems more kids-oriented than some other Dreamworks movies, like Shrek. Is anyone up for creating a Top 5 Dreamworks Movies list (in the Top 5 group)? Myself, I can't tell the stankers from the spankers. Or what about Dreamworks vs. Pixar? I was at a Halloween party recently where some dudes were getting into a pretty animated argument (ha, pun intended!) over this. For my money, Pixar's Ratatouille is one of the best animated movies I've ever seen. And of course Spout's giving away loads of Madagascar swag: flash drives, stuffed animals, signed movie posters, and soundtracks. And here's the Madagascar 2 trailer. TRAILERS for other new movies: House -- Two couples try to escape a killer who lured them to an old mansion. Repo! The Genetic Opera -- Futuristic horror/thriller about an epidemic of organ failures. Stars include Paris Hilton and Paul Sorvino; directed by the guy who did Saw II, III, and IV. The World Unseen -- Set in Apartheid South Africa and centers on a community of fun-loving, rebellious South Asians. The main conflict seems to focus on a lesbian sexual awakening. Gardens of the Night -- This looks really sad. It's about two eight-year-olds who are kidnapped and forced to become child prostitutes. Stars include John Malkovich and Tom Arnold, who may be usually be annoying, but he was supremely creepy in the prison drama Animal Factory.
]]>Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:30:56 GMTSkyPilotComing Soon11/6/2008 2:30:56 PM1. Role Models -- Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott are energy drink salesmen sentenced to community service; they must mentor young delinquents. I think the trailer's funny, and I've like Paul Rudd in the recent Apatow movies. Plus I've heard Sean William Scott is really good in The Promotion. I'll be seeing Role Models for sure. 2. JCVD Anyone going to see Jean Claude Van Damme's half-fantasy, half-reality "biopic"? Kevin Kelly wasn't a big fan, but I really like this teaser trailer. Kevin put together a Top 5 Hilarious Van Damme moments. Get a load of this one: 3. Soul Men -- Bernie Mac and Isaak Hayes aren't around to see the premier. Bummer. Reminds me of another soul man we lost recently, Rudy Ray More, the bad bad Dolemite. Be careful before you watch Dolemite, because it makes the original Shaft feel like an audience-friendly, commerical blockbuster.Here's the Soul Men trailer 4. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa -- Would anyone recommend Madagascar to a guy in his twenties? It seems more kids-oriented than some other Dreamworks movies, like Shrek. Is anyone up for creating a Top 5 Dreamworks Movies list (in the Top 5 group)? Myself, I can't tell the stankers from the spankers. Or what about Dreamworks vs. Pixar? I was at a Halloween party recently where some dudes were getting into a pretty animated argument (ha, pun intended!) over this. For my money, Pixar's Ratatouille is one of the best animated movies I've ever seen. And of course Spout's giving away loads of Madagascar swag: flash drives, stuffed animals, signed movie posters, and soundtracks. And here's the Madagascar 2 trailer. TRAILERS for other new movies: House -- Two couples try to escape a killer who lured them to an old mansion. Repo! The Genetic Opera -- Futuristic horror/thriller about an epidemic of organ failures. Stars include Paris Hilton and Paul Sorvino; directed by the guy who did Saw II, III, and IV. The World Unseen -- Set in Apartheid South Africa and centers on a community of fun-loving, rebellious South Asians. The main conflict seems to focus on a lesbian sexual awakening. Gardens of the Night -- This looks really sad. It's about two eight-year-olds who are kidnapped and forced to become child prostitutes. Stars include John Malkovich and Tom Arnold, who may be usually be annoying, but he was supremely creepy in the prison drama Animal Factory. http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/10/20/36531.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 10/20/2008 5:01:15 PM
Body: Last week, Entertainment Weekly confirmed with Warner Bros. that the studio would be campaigning for a nomination for Heath Ledger specifically in the supporting actor category, putting to rest all the speculation and suggestions that he could contend for the Best Actor Oscar. Now all the awards pundits seem to agree that Ledger is a definite lock for a posthumous nomination. As for The Dark Knight’s hopes for other categories, though, it’s still up in the air as to how many nominations the comic book movie might garner. While its predecessor, Batman Begins, only received one Oscar nomination, for Wally Pfister’s cinematography, there’s at least some likelihood that The Dark Knight could be recognized in as many as a dozen categories. That’s about as many as it’s legitimately eligible for, anyway, and in a year that keeps looking slimmer and slimmer in terms of Oscar-worthy pictures, there’s no reason to completely deny The Dark Knight’s full capability. Unfortunately, it’s a popular genre picture, so regardless of how critically acclaimed it is, and regardless of how the Academy has historically lauded similar titles, there will be a lot of doubt and debate concerning this movie’s prospects all the way up until January 22, when the nominations are announced. Yesterday, John Foote of In Contention, commented on the increasing chances of The Dark Knight in such a lackluster Oscar season. In some ways, though, it’s not just about onetime Oscar hopefuls turning out to be hopeless; it’s also the constant problem of so much Oscar bait being held away from viewers and voters until the last possible second. Even those films that end up being fairly good can be disappointments after so much premature awards season hype. Sure, audiences have short attention spans and typically a film released midyear is easily forgotten by voting time, but a movie as memorable, as successful and as well-made as The Dark Knight can come out in the summer and easily be in the forefront of voters’ minds as an easy and deserving fallback. Therefore so many Oscar bloggers shouldn’t suddenly be surprised to see that The Dark Knight’s hopes for multiple Oscar nominations is “brightening” or “shaping up.” It’s always been a contender. Let’s break down its chances, category by category, after the jump: Best Picture The greatest difference in opinion among the experts so far is with the movie’s chances in the Best Picture race. The majority consensus seems to be that The Dark Knight has little to no shot at the top award (apparently only The Hollywood Reporter’s T.L. Stanley and Rolling Stones‘ Peter Travers are seriously considering it), primarily because it’s a superhero movie. However, deserving or not, there’s really no viable argument against the plausibility of a Best Picture nom. Rather, the movie’s chances for inclusion in the category already outweigh its chances for exclusion. And as more Best Picture hopefuls are either released to underwhelming response or pushed back to 2009, the balance in The Dark Knight’s favor only increases. So what if there’s never before been a superhero comic book movie up for Best Picture (despite Superman being far more deserving than An Unmarried Woman)? The Dark Knight still could fall in with that ever-increasing list of genre flicks, including Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings movies, which have shown us that quality fanboy fodder is also capable of appealing to the Academy. And while it’s true that box office success doesn’t necessarily translate to Oscar contention, The Dark Knight has the right combo of being the biggest moneymaker and one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2008, which was hardly the case with another high-grossing blockbuster Best Picture, Titanic. It’s believed that if the Academy does nominate a box office winner with critical acclaim, they’ll go with Wall-E, because they’ve nominated an animated feature for Best Picture in the past. But that thinking goes against the whole present logic of the Oscars. There will never again be an animated feature up for the top award as long as the Best Animated Feature category exists. That award was pretty much conceived for the purpose of sidelining films like Wall-E in order to give them separate recognition. If the Academy isn’t going to nominate something as brilliant as Ratatouille for Best Picture, they’re not going to nominate Wall-E either. On the other side of the argument, there’s just as much of a mistaken defense for why the movie will be nominated. Contrary to some early conjecture, though,The Dark Knight’s chances aren’t improved at all by the fact that the Oscar ceremony needs a ratings boost. Sure, a Best Picture nom for the film would be great for the Academy in terms of telecast viewership, but it’s probably not permitted or likely for the show’s producers to encourage Academy members to vote for more popular fare. Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay: If The Dark Knight does receive a Best Picture nomination, it will be one of those occasional cases where the director is not nominated. Due to a sometimes-problematic issue of having different people voting for different categories, The Dark Knight’s flaws will be clearer to the filmmakers who pick the nominees for Best Director, and so Christopher Nolan will be excluded there (although Awards Daily still has him as a front runner anyway). However, Nolan and his writing partners, Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer should have a decent shot at the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for their success at turning a superhero comic into a realistic film with a smart, topical, complex and fairly original story. Acting Categories: As for the acting awards, The Dark Knight can really only count on Ledger’s nomination. The film lacks any substantial female performances, and despite the fact that Christian Bale seriously deserves an Oscar nomination and despite the belief that he puts more into the Bruce Wayne/Batman character than is necessary, it’s simply not his time. If there is any other actor besides Ledger worthy and at all probable to receive a nomination, it’s Gary Oldman, for Best Supporting Actor, but there’s not much likelihood that Academy voters would water down Ledger’s lauds like that. Technical and Craft Categories: Finally, with the tech and craft categories, Pfister should very easily pick up another nomination for his cinematography work, while The Dark Knight is expected to better Batman Begins‘ Oscar glory by turning up in both the sound categories. Score and Editing are total longshots, despite their respective talent’s past Oscar success. And as much as makeup and costumes are significant to the film, The Dark Knight may only be a dark horse in those categories. Still, it’s probably about time the Academy ignored its period piece tradition with the latter category and took notice of Lindy Hemming’s accomplishment of making superhero movie costumes that are more realistic and believable than the typically flashy, costumey costumes of the genre. The film even reflexively addresses the issue of plausible and practical superhero wear in the real world. Then, of course, there’s the other craft categories that could suffer from the film’s efforts to be more natural than most comic book adaptations. Best Art Direction? Not enough obvious design there. Best visual effects? The Dark Knight could be one of the rare genre movies nominated for Best Picture that doesn’t place in the effects category, due to its lack of showy CG work. Like In Contention’s Gerard Kennedy, I won’t be shocked if the film manages an effects nomination simply because it’s so respected, but the odds are mostly against its modestly functional effects spectacle. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:01:15 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com10/20/2008 5:01:15 PMLast week, Entertainment Weekly confirmed with Warner Bros. that the studio would be campaigning for a nomination for Heath Ledger specifically in the supporting actor category, putting to rest all the speculation and suggestions that he could contend for the Best Actor Oscar. Now all the awards pundits seem to agree that Ledger is a definite lock for a posthumous nomination. As for The Dark Knight’s hopes for other categories, though, it’s still up in the air as to how many nominations the comic book movie might garner. While its predecessor, Batman Begins, only received one Oscar nomination, for Wally Pfister’s cinematography, there’s at least some likelihood that The Dark Knight could be recognized in as many as a dozen categories. That’s about as many as it’s legitimately eligible for, anyway, and in a year that keeps looking slimmer and slimmer in terms of Oscar-worthy pictures, there’s no reason to completely deny The Dark Knight’s full capability. Unfortunately, it’s a popular genre picture, so regardless of how critically acclaimed it is, and regardless of how the Academy has historically lauded similar titles, there will be a lot of doubt and debate concerning this movie’s prospects all the way up until January 22, when the nominations are announced. Yesterday, John Foote of In Contention, commented on the increasing chances of The Dark Knight in such a lackluster Oscar season. In some ways, though, it’s not just about onetime Oscar hopefuls turning out to be hopeless; it’s also the constant problem of so much Oscar bait being held away from viewers and voters until the last possible second. Even those films that end up being fairly good can be disappointments after so much premature awards season hype. Sure, audiences have short attention spans and typically a film released midyear is easily forgotten by voting time, but a movie as memorable, as successful and as well-made as The Dark Knight can come out in the summer and easily be in the forefront of voters’ minds as an easy and deserving fallback. Therefore so many Oscar bloggers shouldn’t suddenly be surprised to see that The Dark Knight’s hopes for multiple Oscar nominations is “brightening” or “shaping up.” It’s always been a contender. Let’s break down its chances, category by category, after the jump: Best Picture The greatest difference in opinion among the experts so far is with the movie’s chances in the Best Picture race. The majority consensus seems to be that The Dark Knight has little to no shot at the top award (apparently only The Hollywood Reporter’s T.L. Stanley and Rolling Stones‘ Peter Travers are seriously considering it), primarily because it’s a superhero movie. However, deserving or not, there’s really no viable argument against the plausibility of a Best Picture nom. Rather, the movie’s chances for inclusion in the category already outweigh its chances for exclusion. And as more Best Picture hopefuls are either released to underwhelming response or pushed back to 2009, the balance in The Dark Knight’s favor only increases. So what if there’s never before been a superhero comic book movie up for Best Picture (despite Superman being far more deserving than An Unmarried Woman)? The Dark Knight still could fall in with that ever-increasing list of genre flicks, including Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings movies, which have shown us that quality fanboy fodder is also capable of appealing to the Academy. And while it’s true that box office success doesn’t necessarily translate to Oscar contention, The Dark Knight has the right combo of being the biggest moneymaker and one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2008, which was hardly the case with another high-grossing blockbuster Best Picture, Titanic. It’s believed that if the Academy does nominate a box office winner with critical acclaim, they’ll go with Wall-E, because they’ve nominated an animated feature for Best Picture in the past. But that thinking goes against the whole present logic of the Oscars. There will never again be an animated feature up for the top award as long as the Best Animated Feature category exists. That award was pretty much conceived for the purpose of sidelining films like Wall-E in order to give them separate recognition. If the Academy isn’t going to nominate something as brilliant as Ratatouille for Best Picture, they’re not going to nominate Wall-E either. On the other side of the argument, there’s just as much of a mistaken defense for why the movie will be nominated. Contrary to some early conjecture, though,The Dark Knight’s chances aren’t improved at all by the fact that the Oscar ceremony needs a ratings boost. Sure, a Best Picture nom for the film would be great for the Academy in terms of telecast viewership, but it’s probably not permitted or likely for the show’s producers to encourage Academy members to vote for more popular fare. Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay: If The Dark Knight does receive a Best Picture nomination, it will be one of those occasional cases where the director is not nominated. Due to a sometimes-problematic issue of having different people voting for different categories, The Dark Knight’s flaws will be clearer to the filmmakers who pick the nominees for Best Director, and so Christopher Nolan will be excluded there (although Awards Daily still has him as a front runner anyway). However, Nolan and his writing partners, Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer should have a decent shot at the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for their success at turning a superhero comic into a realistic film with a smart, topical, complex and fairly original story. Acting Categories: As for the acting awards, The Dark Knight can really only count on Ledger’s nomination. The film lacks any substantial female performances, and despite the fact that Christian Bale seriously deserves an Oscar nomination and despite the belief that he puts more into the Bruce Wayne/Batman character than is necessary, it’s simply not his time. If there is any other actor besides Ledger worthy and at all probable to receive a nomination, it’s Gary Oldman, for Best Supporting Actor, but there’s not much likelihood that Academy voters would water down Ledger’s lauds like that. Technical and Craft Categories: Finally, with the tech and craft categories, Pfister should very easily pick up another nomination for his cinematography work, while The Dark Knight is expected to better Batman Begins‘ Oscar glory by turning up in both the sound categories. Score and Editing are total longshots, despite their respective talent’s past Oscar success. And as much as makeup and costumes are significant to the film, The Dark Knight may only be a dark horse in those categories. Still, it’s probably about time the Academy ignored its period piece tradition with the latter category and took notice of Lindy Hemming’s accomplishment of making superhero movie costumes that are more realistic and believable than the typically flashy, costumey costumes of the genre. The film even reflexively addresses the issue of plausible and practical superhero wear in the real world. Then, of course, there’s the other craft categories that could suffer from the film’s efforts to be more natural than most comic book adaptations. Best Art Direction? Not enough obvious design there. Best visual effects? The Dark Knight could be one of the rare genre movies nominated for Best Picture that doesn’t place in the effects category, due to its lack of showy CG work. Like In Contention’s Gerard Kennedy, I won’t be shocked if the film manages an effects nomination simply because it’s so respected, but the odds are mostly against its modestly functional effects spectacle. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Games/Movies_for_Animals/598/32720/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: csprague
Post To: Movie Games
Post Date: 7/18/2008 12:21:08 PM
Body: It's pretty simple, just pick an animal and then say what movies they would like to watch. This is a tribute to my hamster, Jeffrey. He would like to watch: Ratatouille Cinderella Of Mice and Men The Green Mile Stuart Little An American Tail An American Tail: Fievel Goes West The Killer Shrews (when he's in the horror mood)
]]>Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:21:08 GMTcspragueMovie Games7/18/2008 12:21:08 PMIt's pretty simple, just pick an animal and then say what movies they would like to watch. This is a tribute to my hamster, Jeffrey. He would like to watch: Ratatouille Cinderella Of Mice and Men The Green Mile Stuart Little An American Tail An American Tail: Fievel Goes West The Killer Shrews (when he's in the horror mood) http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_July_7_Foodie_Heaven/625/32708/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: pippin06
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 7/18/2008 8:03:07 AM
Body: [quote user="unclefestering"] [quote user="leeroy711"] Also, am I the only one ever that thought Ratatouille was weak? I've liked pretty much all of the Disney/Pixar movies but this just did nothing for me. [/quote] And I thought I was the only person on the planet unmoved by Ratatouille. Thank god, I don't feel so alone any more. [/quote] Oooh. I disagree that Ratatouille was weak. Maybe your hunger pangs at the gourmet food were quashed at the sight of rats, but I think this is one of Pixar's finest. It's got an artistic sensibility to it matched or surpassed only by Wall-E (highly recommend the robot flick), a wonderful and inventive story, great voice performances (Peter O'Toole as the food critic, Come. On.), and beautiful animation. Also, I think it gets better with repeat viewings because you catch more of what you missed the first time. Sure, it's not all razzle dazzle like Lightning McQueen (Cars) or boffo superheroes (the Incredibles) or cute fishies (Finding Nemo) or Tom Hanks (Toy Stories), but it's far from weak. Though I acknowledge that the laughs aren't as instantaneous as in some of those other flicks, but Ellen DeGeneres and Tom Hanks can't be in all of their films (that's John Ratzenberger's job).
]]>Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:03:07 GMTpippin06Weekly Theme7/18/2008 8:03:07 AM[quote user="unclefestering"] [quote user="leeroy711"] Also, am I the only one ever that thought Ratatouille was weak? I've liked pretty much all of the Disney/Pixar movies but this just did nothing for me. [/quote] And I thought I was the only person on the planet unmoved by Ratatouille. Thank god, I don't feel so alone any more. [/quote] Oooh. I disagree that Ratatouille was weak. Maybe your hunger pangs at the gourmet food were quashed at the sight of rats, but I think this is one of Pixar's finest. It's got an artistic sensibility to it matched or surpassed only by Wall-E (highly recommend the robot flick), a wonderful and inventive story, great voice performances (Peter O'Toole as the food critic, Come. On.), and beautiful animation. Also, I think it gets better with repeat viewings because you catch more of what you missed the first time. Sure, it's not all razzle dazzle like Lightning McQueen (Cars) or boffo superheroes (the Incredibles) or cute fishies (Finding Nemo) or Tom Hanks (Toy Stories), but it's far from weak. Though I acknowledge that the laughs aren't as instantaneous as in some of those other flicks, but Ellen DeGeneres and Tom Hanks can't be in all of their films (that's John Ratzenberger's job). http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_July_7_Foodie_Heaven/625/32264/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: unclefestering
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 7/8/2008 12:23:07 AM
Body: [quote user="leeroy711"] Also, am I the only one ever that thought Ratatouille was weak? I've liked pretty much all of the Disney/Pixar movies but this just did nothing for me. [/quote] And I thought I was the only person on the planet unmoved by Ratatouille. Thank god, I don't feel so alone any more.
]]>Tue, 08 Jul 2008 04:23:07 GMTunclefesteringWeekly Theme7/8/2008 12:23:07 AM[quote user="leeroy711"] Also, am I the only one ever that thought Ratatouille was weak? I've liked pretty much all of the Disney/Pixar movies but this just did nothing for me. [/quote] And I thought I was the only person on the planet unmoved by Ratatouille. Thank god, I don't feel so alone any more. http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_July_7_Foodie_Heaven/625/32228/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: leeroy711
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 7/7/2008 1:36:33 PM
Body: There was a movie I found surprisingly good a few years ago called Dinner Rush starring Danny Aiello. The entire film takes place in the resturant that Aiello owns. For the most part it's purely dialogue driven drama, but it had a very good surprise ending. One can't forget about Lasse Hallstrom's Chocolat which definately gave me a sweet tooth for Juliet Binoche Also, am I the only one ever that thought Ratatouille was weak? I've liked pretty much all of the Disney/Pixar movies but this just did nothing for me.
]]>Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:36:33 GMTleeroy711Weekly Theme7/7/2008 1:36:33 PMThere was a movie I found surprisingly good a few years ago called Dinner Rush starring Danny Aiello. The entire film takes place in the resturant that Aiello owns. For the most part it's purely dialogue driven drama, but it had a very good surprise ending. One can't forget about Lasse Hallstrom's Chocolat which definately gave me a sweet tooth for Juliet Binoche Also, am I the only one ever that thought Ratatouille was weak? I've liked pretty much all of the Disney/Pixar movies but this just did nothing for me. http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Weekly_Theme_for_July_7_Foodie_Heaven/625/32210/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: mercurial
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 7/7/2008 6:32:58 AM
Body: Moving along from the depressingly bleak visions of man struggling to survive after the apocalypse, let's spend some time examining films that revolve around humankind's love of food in all it's myriad forms. We all know at least one scene from a film that involves food (from the orgasm sandwich in When Harry Met Sally to the beggars feast in Viridiana or the Chinese restaurant Christmas dinner in A Christmas Story etcetera), but let's discuss those lesser in abundance films in which the entirety of the plot focuses primarily on food. Recently, Ratatouille seemed to bring out the gourmand in a lot of people (similar to what Big Night did more than a decade ago) while No Reservations just seemed to turn everyone's stomachs. Waitress brought about renewed interest in the realm of baking (pies in particular) and Tim Burton's re-imagined Charlie and the Chocolate Factory once again sent everyone's sweet tooth into a diabetic coma. While it could be argued that every zombie movie could be among this list, the best horror movies involving food have been Dumplings, which after watching has made the sound of someone slurping soup make my skin crawl, Blood Feast, which is a more visceral and straightforward version of Fried Green Tomatoes (without all that sappy crap), and of course Attack of the Killer Tomatoes in which food finally gets its revenge on us. On the documentary side of things we have Super Size Me and King Corn (and maybe the faux-based-on-real-events-exploitation-book-adaptation-movie Fast Food Nation). Lastly, some of my guilty pleasures have to be Waiting..., an amazing expose into the behavior of over-worked and under-paid restaurant employee's. Pieces of April, which centers around the amazingly stressful preparation of Thanksgiving dinner. What's Eating Gilbert Grape? which is surprisingly all about food when you think about it (preparing meals for his obese mother, the gentrification of small towns by Wal-Mart-like supermarkets and fast food restaurants, and the main character working in a grocery store and delivering "ice cream" to the local bored housewives). And The Last Supper which turns family dinners into Liberal Judgement Day. So now, where's the beef? I mean, what are some of your favorite foodie flicks?
]]>Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:32:58 GMTmercurialWeekly Theme7/7/2008 6:32:58 AM Moving along from the depressingly bleak visions of man struggling to survive after the apocalypse, let's spend some time examining films that revolve around humankind's love of food in all it's myriad forms. We all know at least one scene from a film that involves food (from the orgasm sandwich in When Harry Met Sally to the beggars feast in Viridiana or the Chinese restaurant Christmas dinner in A Christmas Story etcetera), but let's discuss those lesser in abundance films in which the entirety of the plot focuses primarily on food. Recently, Ratatouille seemed to bring out the gourmand in a lot of people (similar to what Big Night did more than a decade ago) while No Reservations just seemed to turn everyone's stomachs. Waitress brought about renewed interest in the realm of baking (pies in particular) and Tim Burton's re-imagined Charlie and the Chocolate Factory once again sent everyone's sweet tooth into a diabetic coma. While it could be argued that every zombie movie could be among this list, the best horror movies involving food have been Dumplings, which after watching has made the sound of someone slurping soup make my skin crawl, Blood Feast, which is a more visceral and straightforward version of Fried Green Tomatoes (without all that sappy crap), and of course Attack of the Killer Tomatoes in which food finally gets its revenge on us. On the documentary side of things we have Super Size Me and King Corn (and maybe the faux-based-on-real-events-exploitation-book-adaptation-movie Fast Food Nation). Lastly, some of my guilty pleasures have to be Waiting..., an amazing expose into the behavior of over-worked and under-paid restaurant employee's. Pieces of April, which centers around the amazingly stressful preparation of Thanksgiving dinner. What's Eating Gilbert Grape? which is surprisingly all about food when you think about it (preparing meals for his obese mother, the gentrification of small towns by Wal-Mart-like supermarkets and fast food restaurants, and the main character working in a grocery store and delivering "ice cream" to the local bored housewives). And The Last Supper which turns family dinners into Liberal Judgement Day. So now, where's the beef? I mean, what are some of your favorite foodie flicks? http://www.spout.com/blogs/minerwerks/archive/2008/6/29/31878.aspx Post By: minerwerks
Post To: minerwerks Blog
Post Date: 6/29/2008 10:52:15 PM
Body: Last year's Super Bowl featured a car ad with a depressed assembly-line robot who jumps off a bridge. The car company faced some controvery over the suicide angle, and this just goes to prove exactly what I took away from the spot - they successfully managed to give a personality to a machine. Why else would people get so worked up over a hunk of metal toppling into the river? It's hard not to think of this watching Pixar's 'WALL-E,' which also hangs on the ability of the storytellers to make us care about a machine. WALL-E is the last of a fleet of waste management robots designed to scurry around Earth's surface and pile our trash into towers. This particular robot, however, has become fascinated with the remnants of our world - a video tape of 'Hello, Dolly!,' christmas lights, Zippo lighters, bubble wrap are among the items brought back to WALL-E's makeshift home. One day a sleek probe named EVE is left on Earth and WALL-E is smitten. He watches sheepishly from afar as EVE momentarily abandons her programming and flies gracefully over the barren landscape. As WALL-E courts EVE, her purpose is revealed - to collect evidence of living vegetation and return home. A ship soon arrives to collect EVE, and WALL-E becomes a stowaway to follow her. WALL-E is never deterred from his desire to find EVE, but we as the audience are next thrust into a kinetic, colorful and bizarre vision of the future of humankind represented by a giant ship called Axiom. As the fate of the humans becomes intertwined with EVE's mission and WALL-E's persistence, we are treated to a fun, exciting and thematically rich tale that explores the conflicts between our programming and our passions. It's almost a given at this point that Pixar's storytelling gurus can string together compelling character moments and exciting setpieces with ease. I can't ever see having the same reaction as I did watching 'Toy Story' all those years ago, but I am always pleased that there are filmmakers who care about giving the audience great characters and exciting moments based on goodwill between the viewer and the story. As with last year's 'Ratatouille," Pixar takes a risk in placing so much faith in a protagonist that must overcome preconceived notions - how much can we care about something that we are used to understanding as inhuman? I'm not sure they have managed to solve all the believability issues in giving programmed machines personalities, but old-fashioned charm goes a long way. The subtle themes of free will become more evident as the robots become intertwined in a drama with the humans, but a second viewing seems necessary to best take in the full meaning. And that's got to be one of the best ways to spend a summer afternoon this year.
]]>Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:52:15 GMTminerwerksminerwerks Blog6/29/2008 10:52:15 PMLast year's Super Bowl featured a car ad with a depressed assembly-line robot who jumps off a bridge. The car company faced some controvery over the suicide angle, and this just goes to prove exactly what I took away from the spot - they successfully managed to give a personality to a machine. Why else would people get so worked up over a hunk of metal toppling into the river? It's hard not to think of this watching Pixar's 'WALL-E,' which also hangs on the ability of the storytellers to make us care about a machine. WALL-E is the last of a fleet of waste management robots designed to scurry around Earth's surface and pile our trash into towers. This particular robot, however, has become fascinated with the remnants of our world - a video tape of 'Hello, Dolly!,' christmas lights, Zippo lighters, bubble wrap are among the items brought back to WALL-E's makeshift home. One day a sleek probe named EVE is left on Earth and WALL-E is smitten. He watches sheepishly from afar as EVE momentarily abandons her programming and flies gracefully over the barren landscape. As WALL-E courts EVE, her purpose is revealed - to collect evidence of living vegetation and return home. A ship soon arrives to collect EVE, and WALL-E becomes a stowaway to follow her. WALL-E is never deterred from his desire to find EVE, but we as the audience are next thrust into a kinetic, colorful and bizarre vision of the future of humankind represented by a giant ship called Axiom. As the fate of the humans becomes intertwined with EVE's mission and WALL-E's persistence, we are treated to a fun, exciting and thematically rich tale that explores the conflicts between our programming and our passions. It's almost a given at this point that Pixar's storytelling gurus can string together compelling character moments and exciting setpieces with ease. I can't ever see having the same reaction as I did watching 'Toy Story' all those years ago, but I am always pleased that there are filmmakers who care about giving the audience great characters and exciting moments based on goodwill between the viewer and the story. As with last year's 'Ratatouille," Pixar takes a risk in placing so much faith in a protagonist that must overcome preconceived notions - how much can we care about something that we are used to understanding as inhuman? I'm not sure they have managed to solve all the believability issues in giving programmed machines personalities, but old-fashioned charm goes a long way. The subtle themes of free will become more evident as the robots become intertwined in a drama with the humans, but a second viewing seems necessary to best take in the full meaning. And that's got to be one of the best ways to spend a summer afternoon this year. http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/funny/MemberTagFilms.aspxfunny
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