Simon's Movie Reviews

  I have seen plenty of “end-of-the-world” movies featuring various scenarios of destruction, but Pixar’s “WALL-E” (2008) is one of the few that truly scared me into thinking this could happen. The computer animated film features a small robot left to clean up the mess left by humanity centuries after they abandoned Earth on a spaceship that serves the same purpose as Noah’s ark. Only it was not a flood of water that wrecked the planet, but a mountain of trash that humanity mass-produced since the beginning of the Industrial Revolutions. Zombies don’t exist, aliens have yet to invade us, Global Warming may or may not boil us in the near future, but a massive pile of trash burying the planet? That’s happening right now. Directed by Andrew Stanton, “WALL-E” was part of the great summer movie season of 2008, which featured the return of Indiana Jones, the Academy-Award winning performance of Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight,” and the rebirth of Robert Downey Jr. as Iro...

Brad Bird’s “Ratatouille” (2007) shouldn’t work. Rats can’t cook and they certainly do not belong in the kitchen of a Paris restaurant. Yet because this is a film made by Pixar, the studio with a nearly impeccable track record, that rat is not only depicted as a great cook but as also looks kind of cute, or as cute as an animated rat can be. Imagine the challenge if this had been a live-action film. As for the food, the dishes devised by the rat look a lot healthier than the frozen food the movie’s antagonist wants to peddle to his customers. This was yet another occasion when I wanted to wait until the movie came out on DVD so I could watch the original English version and not the French dubbed version. It would actually have made more sense to see it in French since it is set in Paris, but it is funnier to hear Americans speak English with a phony French accent. Besides, the DVD had plenty of funny extras, such as short film about the misconceptions of rats towards hu...

Brad Bird’s “The Incredibles” is a blend of madcap superhero action, a solid family drama, and homage to the early Bond films. It is among the best of the films made by the geniuses at Pixar studio who have set the bar for animation in the last 15 years. Kids can enjoy the humour and colourful imagery, while adults of all ages can enjoy the smart story and action, which rivals some of the best action sequences of live-action summer movies. This was a great film to watch during the holiday season back in 2004. It’s a perfect way to end the year as far as I am concerned. After spending my first college semester in Quebec City and preparing for my exams, it was time to kick back, relax, and watch a movie filled high-tech gadgets, giant robots, exotic locations, explosions, and funny quotes by Samuel L. Jackson playing a cool character called Frozone. What I didn’t expect was for the main character Bob Parr (Craig T. Nelson) to suffer a mid-life crisis and risk ending his marriage....