Movie Review: the creative genius and simplicity of Ratatouille

Director: Brad Bird

Remy advicing his brother Emile on the joy of tasting food

Brad Bird and Pixar animation have more than a knack for animation. Bird showed us in The Iron Gaint (1999) and the delightful The Incredibles (2004).
Here he picks up a seemingly strage story of a rat named Remy who has a sensitive nose for food and its ingredients and loves to cook. During a sneak meal, Remy gets separated from his family and ends up in a restuarant of the late chef Gusteau, whose book Remy had been reading from a sleepy old lady's home. Gusteau had a motto-anyone can cook.

From left, Skinner- the main chef at Gusteau's, Linguini- the garbage boy turned chef, who is helped by Remy, and Colette- the only woman cook at Gusteau's.


Remy and Linguini meet each other for the first time

How the rest of the story unfolds is creatively beautiful and hilarious. An unbelieavable plot line is made credible and beautiful by animation. The characters are brought to life with amazing clarity, we believe in them instantly.
It may also change the way you eat food. Do not gobble the edible things on your plate. Close your eyes, take a small bite and experience the taste.
Do not miss the Pixar short film- Lifted, that plays before the movie, a humourous take on aliens capturing humans. Watch it in theaters, for the most wonderful two hours of imagination and hmm..taste!

The Elephant Hill : Trek Diary 3

We stumbled through the long grass, and Raincloud said, " Look to the right and left for any tigers or leopards..."

I did not say, " Ha ha."

One always expected such remarks if you knew Raincloud. One gets used to it. I do not laugh nor does Raincloud say a thing.
The highway traffic makes noise, the sound is more coherent as we climb higher.

Friday Release: The Blue Umbrella ( August 10, 2007)

PANKAJ KAPOOR AND SHRIYA IN THE FILM - THE BLUE UMBRELLA

The Blue Umbrella, a children's film by Vishal Bharadwaj will finally release on August 10, 2007 in India. The film is based on a Ruskin Bond novella of the same name.
The book tells the story of Binya, a little girl living with her brother in a remote village of Himachal Pradesh. One day she chances upon a beautiful umbrella left behind by tourists. Binya's imagination makes it almost a friend for her.
The village's richest man is a middle-aged shopkeeper, who has an old "falling apart" shop; occasionally selling warm Coca Cola bottles to tourists, apart from catering to the poor villagers needs.
In a poor village the umbrella seems like a luxury and the shop keeper desires to have it. He employs a boy to steal it from the girl. But the boy is caught by Binya's brother after a frenzied chase.
What happenned next? Read the book for that.
The film has the same setting but the story has been changed to facilitate the film's length.



Pankaj Kapoor plays the cunning shopkeeper and Shriya plays the little girl Binya.
Vishal Bhardwaj had earlier made the children's film Makhdee and the Shakespearean adaptation of Othello- Omkara.
The music is by the director himself with lyrics by Gulzar.
A song goes:

Baarish se jo rishta hai
Paani se mann kichta hai.....

(The relation that is with rain, water attracts me)

The lines personify the umbrella's desire. Gulzar is poetically brillant in the songs..there are three of them.


RUSKIN BOND OBLIGING A READER WITH HIS SIGNATURE.THE FILM IS ADAPTED FROM THE WRITER'S NOVELLA OF THE SAME NAME.

SNOWFLAKES

Although I have never seen snow except on TV, this t-shirt design is influenced by Orhan Pamuk's novel Snow. The novel has snow falling all through its first half, blocking off a town from the rest of the world.
I loved the first 200 pages, could not even proceed when events shift from the snow filled city to other things. There is no doubt that Pamuk is one of the most gifted writers of our time. Most of his stories cover his "caught at the crossroads" nation-Turkey.
In the story, Turkey has two groups agaisnt each other, the traditional radicals and on the other side, the modernists who want change. Beautiful, poetic and original till it drags a little and seems streched at times.
Try reading it sometime. The effect of snow falling all the time is beautifully written.