So In the French Language Version, Will Everybody Be Speaking With "Extra" French Accents?

Saw Ratatouille, loved it, great PIXAR film, up to their usual standard. Lileks gives a solid mini-review in his early Monday Bleat. I agree completely with his complaints about the complaints the EW reviewer had regarding the film.

But I was a bit disturbed by the French accents that some of the actors felt the need to put on. Especially Janeane Garafolo, her accent fluctuated depending on the line reading, it was a bit silly, especially when a little NYC would slip in from time to time.

I'm not singling her out for political reasons, purely voice actorly reasons (she looked good at the premiere, also read a recent interview mentioning she's keeping sober which is good, and I've always found her compelling on a personal level, so if you're interested in a date with a quirky 38 year old multi-racial libertarian leaning Reagan Republican, email me, Janeane, and if I have to get in a cage match with Henry Rollins for the privilege, no problem, I could take him, he's all bark and no bite)

I would be curious to know how they handle that in the French language version though, I assume they'd use regional accents to reflect the different origins and social status of each character, but I wouldn't be able to tell the difference as I've never studied French.

One other thing, didn't have my camera so you'll have to take my word for it, but I think either there's an infestation ongoing at the 3rd St. Promenade, or this was the worst idea for a guerrilla marketing campaign ever. In the alley outside the theatre showing Ratatouille there were numerous rat traps. They may be cute (or cutish) on film, but in an alley way, better that they're dead, than alive, and even better if they're non-existent (though impossible, where there are people there are rats, they've done a good job of domesticating us).

Greatest Movie Of ALL TIME?

That would be Ratatouille (still unsure of the Basil content).

Of the 24 early reviews at Rotten Tomatoes, 100% positive, most glowing. Brad Bird has a track record of putting together great animated films that work as films and not just kiddie babysitting devices. The user ratings at that site are nearly as positive.

Incredibles is the best (and most libertarian) of the PIXAR films, so far.

Iron Giant was a well regarded animated work that somehow didn't find an audience when first released.

Ratatouille by all accounts is the equal or better of those two previous works.

Definitely be seeing this before this weekend is up, still not sure if a story about a rat that still looks rat-like will be an easy sell in the marketplace.

There are still folks out there who think all animated features are just kids stuff, especially all computer animated films. While that's primarily the case from Hollywood (definitely not the case in Japan), kids stuff isn't always crap. PIXAR has yet to produce crap, no other studio can make that claim. Not every PIXAR pic has been a classic, but none of their films have been a waste of time, either. That's a pretty impressive track record for a studio, a testament to their emphasis on story first. They don't sell their pictures on cuteness, or whichever voice actors they hire, they sell their stories based on the stories, and, thus far all their pictures have worked at the story level.

Can't say the same for the Michael Bays (but I'll still see Transformers against my better judgement), or even the Peter Jacksons and Curtis Hansons of the world.