Ratatouille

Ask anyone and they'll tell you I'm really just a big kid at heart. Turns out a good portion of you are too. In fact 62 percent of you voted Ratatouille your favorite food film of 2007. While we've had a few disagreements in our Best of 2007 recaps, this is one case where I completely agree with you. Ratatouille is such a fabulously cute film and completely droolworthy. It's hard to believe that the food is not real. Also, I love that an entire generation of children is going to grow up knowing what a sous chef is.

To check out a clip where Remi explains the working of a gourmet chicken, read more

• TV Guide reports that Tom Petty has been picked for the Super Bowl halftime show.
• Christian Bale is in talks to play John Connor in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, reports Variety.
• Amy Sedaris, Chris Kattan, and Tom Everett Scott will star in Tanner Hall, an indie film set at a boarding school that started its life as a failed UPN pilot, writes The Hollywood Reporter.
• Rosie Thomas, Califone, and Mark Kozelek are among the musicians pitching in on a new compilation with songs about every U.S. president, Pitchfork reports.
• Ratatouille leads the field with 13 nominations for the Annie Awards, which recognize achievements in animation, writes The Hollywood Reporter.
• NBC is buying blocks of reality and "adventure" programming from the producers of Ice Road Truckers, reports The New York Times.
• Michelle Trachtenberg and Melora Hardin (Jan from The Office) will join Zac Efron and Matthew Perry in the movie 17, writes Zap2It.

Source

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue.

Ratatouille
This sweet, funny Pixar film was the summer's biggest animated hit (because let's face it, Shrek the Third was pretty unnecessary). And what's not to love? There's a rat who likes to cook and a dorky, gangly human who wants to cook but can't seem to separate the cilantro from the basil. So they team up, of course. Adventures ensue.

The DVD features some extras, like deleted scenes and a new animated short film. There's also a featurette in which master chef and restaurateur Thomas Keller explains how he brought his culinary expertise to the film.


Two more new releases I'd recommend if you read more

Ratatouille, one of the summer's most entertaining movies (I checked with BuzzSugar), has been so successful in the theaters that Disney jumped at the chance to sell foodie related products. Among them, a California brand of Ratatouille wine with Remy, the cute little rat, on the label. However Disney's plans to introduce the wine at Costco have run into so many road blocks, that they have decided to drop the wine. According to spokesman Gary Foster,

We've decided to just not go through with it. We've been getting a trickle of inquiries and complaints.

Turns out the California Wine Institute was upset about having a California wine represent a movie that encourages and promotes all things French. Also the idea of having a wine based around a children's cartoon outraged the opponents of underage drinking.

I thought the idea of a wine based on the movie was clever and cute, but maybe that's because I always select wines based on their labels... what do you guys think? Are you glad Disney has put a stop to the plans?

Source: LA Times

The folks behind Ratatouille spill the beans on how to create beautiful food photography. I couldn't tell you what they were though, I couldn't get past the actual gorgeous food photography... - Becks & Posh

Harry Potter and Company made all sorts of money — both here and overseas — over the five-day opening for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Earning a tremendous $140 million nationally and $330 million worldwide, this fifth movie in the Harry Potter franchise had the best five-day opening of a non-holiday movie ever. Order of the Phoenix is on track to be the highest-grossing of all the Harry Potter movies.

Despite the mesmerizing spell cast by Potter, other summer favorites didn't fall behind very much. Transformers held its own at No. 2 with $36 million, while Ratatouille stayed strong at No. 3. In fourth place was Live Free or Die Hard with License to Wed following behind. This doesn't appear to be the summer for torture porn, however, as Captivity opened to a dismal $1.5 million and came in at No. 12. This weekend it will be interesting to see if Harry Potter can bewitch his way to No. 1 even in the rotund face of John Travolta getting his groove on in Hairspray.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Inspired by YumSugar's rave review of Ratatouille, I went to see it with my family and our friend's four-year-old son last week. After the first 10 minutes we were all captivated by the animated food, characters, scenery and music. Almost as mouthwatering as the movie is the official Ratatouille video game, which you can purchase for $29.99 for your Mac or $19.99 for your PC.

The game lets you relive the best moments from the film, as you assume the role of Remy, a young rat with dreams of becoming a great French chef, despite the obvious problem of being a rat. It's fun for adults (you'll ogle the graphics!) but better suited for the wee ones.