Jul 29, 2007

Cooking with Rodents

We were mulling over what movie to watch last Friday night. The choices were Harry Potter, The Simpsons and Ratatouille. The hubby wanted the movie from Disney-Pixar since he is a fan of any Pixar creations and computer generated animations. My daughter and I wanted Harry Potter. I don't know how we were convinced to watch the Chef Rat instead. But we are so glad that we picked Remy over Harry and Homer.

Ratatouille is about a rat named Remy who knows how to cook and Linguini, the garbage boy who became the accidental cook. As in most movies, especially Disney movies, suspend your disbelief and eagerly wait what lies ahead. A fish-out-of-water story. And if it's Disney, trust that they will make even the most hideous creature to something sweet and lovable if they have to. Think Monsters Inc. So imagine a rat who maintains a kitchen of a famous restaurant and manages to speak to a dead master chef (Gusteau) and mentors a human (Linguini) to produce the best tasting dishes. You will never look at rats the same way again. Haha! Maybe not but at least for two hours your heart will go for these rodents especially for Remy. The rat who held on with his ambitions against all odds. "I want to add something to this world".

Conflicts arise among rats, among humans and between humans and rodents. There's a universal message of understanding, determination, love and loyalty which the adults will appreciate. There are simple lessons on stealing and eating dirty food which the children will easily get. I'm saying this Pixar offering might not really be appreciated by most kids (especially 6 years old and younger) but it still engages the children with its perfect animation, action sequences and comic timing.

As for me, I love the scene where it shows Paris by night never mind that it is computer generated. I love the scenes in the kitchen. They make me want to learn more about cooking and concocting new dishes. I'm not good in the kitchen, at least not yet, but as the catch line in the movie says, "anyone can cook". I better believe that.

I searched for a ratatouille recipe and landed on this site. Looks yummy! I learned that a famous chef, Thomas Keller, concocted the particular ratatouille recipe for the movie and it's called confit byaldi. Nice trivia.

As in all Pixar movies, expect an appetizer. This time it's called "Lifted". You will surely laugh your heart out.

Enjoy Ratatouille! :) And this is worth keeping in mind, "If you are what you eat, then I only want to eat the good stuff".

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed Rataouille too.
The theatre I went to advertised the video game before the movie LOL they wanted to make sure every kid saw it!

Heart of Rachel said...

Hi Lynn. We had fun watching it too. In fact when we got home from the movie, we donned Yohan with an apron and a home-made chef's hat. If you have time, please check My Little Chef's photo.

Lynn said...

FRANCES, Wise marketing move, lol.

RACHEL, Haha, I checked it out and I would say Yohan simply looked cute with his own version of a Ratatouille poster. :P

Anonymous said...

We haven't watched it yet! My hub and i saw Die Hard 4.0 at Trinoma last Friday night (he's a die-hard Die Hard fan!). Did you happen to be there too?

Anonymous said...

Hey, btw, I love the new look and the music! I remember now, you were the sucker for 80s music.. (Of course I was the other one haha)

eastcoastlife said...

I love Pixar movies. I have yet to watch Rataouille.

Hi Lynn!
I have tagged you.I'm tagging bloggers I don't really know. I hope to know you better through this. Read my latest post. ^-^

Lynn said...

CHATS, Thanks for appreciating my blog's new design. I spent two hours just for this. Haha. And yes, the 80s music is still the best for me. :) We were in Trinoma last Friday but, around 7:30 pm then we watched Ratatouille at its 8pm screening. Maybe one of these days we'll bump into each other there. :)

EASTCOASTLIFE, I would love to answer the tag. :)

Anonymous said...

di ko pa napapanood, but my children have been bugging us to see this. pinagpapaliban ko lang kasi parang feeling ko hindi naman maganda. pero dahil sabi mo ok siya, sige, will watch this weekend.

Lynn said...

CESS, haha, I hope you enjoy the movie with your kids! Minsan napipilitan lang din ako manood ng mga animations but I had fun with Ratatouille. :)