Desicritics Category: Media: Cartoons

Poetoons: Al Qaeda Needs You...

temporal — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:50:27 EDT

1: al qaeda needs you

imagine a caricature
of mullah george bin laden
with star and striped stovepipe hat
in a recruiting poster
for osama bin bush

2: it's all about freedom

while the skies rain uranium tipped bombs
and smoke is seen rising in the background
in the foreground a little bird confides
it's all about freedom and democracy

3: oil crisis

running after bicycles
and tired pedestrians
isn't the same as chasing cars
driven by lawyers, bloggers
and two faced politicians

4: on the tarmac

said the Airbus 380
to the Cessna 172
tell me if you are dieting

Movie Review: Kung Fu Panda - Awesomeness - For Kids

Just Another Film Critic — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:04:06 EDT

Traditionally, there have been two paths for animation filmmakers. One is to make the films as close to reality as possible. That is the path taken by Pixar and Sony Animation, which try to push animation technology to new extremes and squeeze out every bit of processing power and skill set they have. The other is the conventional path that tries to realize the creators’ most bizarre and outlandish fantasies and attempts to emulate the peaks attained by Disney and Miyazaki. The second path is what companies like Dreamworks Animation have adopted and, to an extent, succeeded. Their latest offering, Kung Fu Panda is a clever idea, but inefficiently harnessed.

Po (Jack Black) is a chubby panda working in a Chinese restaurant but dreams of making it big as a Kung Fu hero. He idolizes the biggest Kung Fu heroes of the village, namely, Tigress, Snake, Monkey, Mantis and Crane (Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen and David Cross respectively). He, then, hears about the induction of the Dragon Master who will be selected by Master Oogway himself. By seemingly sheer luck (or bad luck), Po gets selected as the Dragon Master who is to protect the village from the claws of Tai Lung (Ian McShane). In his mission he is assisted by Master Shifu (Hoffman, unidentifiable) who first seeks to drive out Po, but turns over a new leaf after a while.

Po is as cute as an animation character can get, but it is a pity that the creators have not utilized Jack Black fully for Po and vice versa. A bit more dedicated reconstruction could have not only guaranteed a great character, but also a huge brand value for the character which could then be merchandised well. With a enviable cast for the Furious five, it is but natural to expect some big role for them. Unfortunately, the film spends most of its time bringing out Po’s vulnerability and innocence and hence, the characters are merely reduced to a bunch of creatures you will fascinate staring at a zoo. However, Shifu’s small stature (a red panda) and Hoffman’s efforts suit the etching of his character and makes his presence worthwhile. The depiction of Tai Lung is anything but novel.

One of the minor commendable points of the film is the choice of its fauna for the images of the characters. The monochromatic Po is totally out of place in the colourful world of Valley of Peace, the slow and steady tortoise is the intellectual master of the palace, subordinated by the relatively rash, hare-like Shifu and a black and white polar creature, Tai Lung is pitted against another. However, the writers are to blame for the biggest blow for the film, the utterly stale and predictable plot that has become a favorite of critics to pan down. No sir, we did not expect this from the creators of Shrek (2001) and Madagascar (2005).

Now there must be something in the film to counterbalance the wound created by the plot and there is. The fabulously rendered world of Valley of Peace and Chinese architecture, never once pretending to be realistic, vibrant and daring use of colours and Kung Fu action that can substitute many Hong Kong flicks are definitely noteworthy. The tone of imagery, which is now fast becoming the trademark of Dreamworks, is thankfully retained and this paves way for the future flicks from Dreamworks to add girth to the plot. Finally, there is a huge opportunity for a sequel with a lot of spaces to be filled from the first one. I guess the image of the Furious five can be reinstated there.

Unlike Madagascar, which provided visual treat for the toddlers and also retained the adults with its hilarious one-liners, Kung Fu Panda is clearly for the children and hence focuses more on slapstick and juvenile verbal humour. This, without doubt, will entice the young ones, but grown ups (cinematically, that is) beware. With Madagascar’s sequel to hit in a few weeks, it is a good time for Dreamworks to recapture the adult market it may have lost with Kung Fu Panda.

The Onion Jokes About Indian Call Centers And Malaria

Deepti Lamba — Wed, 4 Jun 2008 00:55:51 EDT

The Hindu gods always had a sense of humor. How else would they have been able to deal with a gossiping Rishi like Narada? Enough tales have been woven around Narada's mischief in the heavenly abode. It isn't as if a bit of humor would kill the gods when the tales are woven on earth. They are not going to strike us down, they have supposedly better things to do like run the world - if you believe that they exist somewhere high up in the clouds or in some heavenly dimension.

On the heels of the Mohammad cartoons, here is Vishnu responding to calls in a call center and the heading underneath is - Please Hold The Line While We Die Of Malaria.

Yes, we do die of Malaria. My grandfather died of Cerebral Malaria, my aunt too suffered from Malaria. Is it a laughing matter? not really; nor is it politically correct but since when has the magazine The Onion known to be politically correct about anything?

There was a time when the cartoon of a naked fakir playing his flute to the dancing snakes was used to project India and now this. There was more to India back then and more to India now.

We know it and they know it. It was a crass joke.

What if there was another toon with Jesus smoking weed with the caption below- I Was Stoned And Missed A Few Tornadoes? Not funny, right? There is more to America than just drugs and natural disasters just like there is more to India than call centers and diseases.

Gods and Prophets can take a few jokes at their expense. Don't we put up with jokes made at our expense and are told to grow a thick skin? However I am not comfortable about jokes on famines, genocides, diseases and natural disasters. They entail real human sufferings and are no laughing matters.

Freedom of Speech gives The Onion the right to indulge in tongue in cheek humor but at the same time they should realize that crass jokes can and do boomerang. This one didn't have me laughing but thinking at what point does a joke stops being funny?

Cartoon: The Generation Gap

IdeaSmith — Sat, 10 May 2008 14:32:23 EDT

On the weekend of Mother's Day, a look at my own mother's best medicine!

(Click on thumbnail to see the comic)

More idea-toons!

Happy Mother's Day, to mums the world over!

India-Australia - A Great Test Series

Kartikeya — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:18:35 EST

What a series this has been! India and Australia, the two most experienced test teams in the world met today in the best venue for Test cricket in the world, and produced a contest for the ages. This contest may not possess the glamorous history of the Ashes, but in this new year, it is clear that this has become the pre-eminent clash in the cricket world. I don't subscribe to historical rivalries, for when a generation of players retire, and a new generation takes over, the carry over to the next generation of contestants is purely symbolic.

One need look no further than the Frank Worrell Trophy which was instituted in honour of the West Indies' first black captain Frank Worrell, who took a group of talented West Indian cricketers to Australia in 1960-61, and forged a great team. They played a series to remember, and the team Worrell built dominated Test cricket for the next six or seven years. Since then the Frank Worrell Trophy has only rarely produced truly competitive games. It has invariably been either the West Indies who were dominant, or as has been the case in recent times, Australia. It is the series which marked the handing over of the reins of power which have tended to be most exciting.

The best comparison one can offer for the current India - Australia series, are the Pakistan - West Indies contests in the 1980s. In a decade where both England and Australia were regularly hammered by Viv Richards's pace battery, only Imran Khan's Pakistan could compete with them. They produced three thrilling 1-1 draws in the late 1980's.

Imran Khan's team had the quality of bowling (Imran himself, Abdul Qadir, Wasim Akram, and later Waqar Younis) which could challenge Richards's West Indies. In addition, they had one truly great batsman - Javed Miandad and a number of other really good batsmen, apart from Imran himself, who averaged 19 with the ball and 52 with the bat as captain in Test cricket. These tended to be bowler dominated contests.

India v Australia contests have tended to be dominated by batting. Indeed India's ability to challenge Australia has not been due to their ability to match Australia's bowling strength, it has been because India's batsmen have been able to rattle up huge totals against vastly superior bowling and fielding attacks, there by allowing India's bowlers the opportunity to Test the Australian line up in situations where they have had a chance. This is borne out by the fact that out of the 8 innings totals in excess of 500 against this Australian side in the current decade, India have produced 6. This Australian side is also better than Richards's West Indies team, or Imran Khan's Pakistan side, simply by virtue of their sheer dominance against all opposition. Australia have won 73 Test matches out of 92 played in this decade.

Yet, it has to be said, that for all of India's competitiveness, they have not beaten Australia in a series since the 2000-01 season, when they pulled off that miraculous come from behind result. They failed to win in 2003-04, lost in 2004-05 and have now lost in 2007-08. And yet, with every series against Australia, they have come away a better team. This series in Australia has been no different.

Careers have been revived, a new captain has led with aplomb and another riveting chapter has been written in the story of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Brett Lee and Virender Sehwag have made amazing comebacks - in Lee's case following an injury which kept him out of the World Cup, in Sehwag's case following a year in the wilderness. Irfan Pathan has shown glimpses of his old bowling form, and in his current avatar seems to have returned a wiser, more accomplished all round cricketer. Wasim Jaffer has been exposed by the excellence of Lee and Clark, and will hopefully become a better batsman in the long run. He has looked good against less consistent attacks in the past year, but the relentless quality of Lee and Clark has shown him up. Stuart Clark himself has been tested against the best batting line up in the world apart from Australias and has given a good account of himself. He seemed to fall away a bit at Adelaide, but on wickets which suit him was near perfect.

Rahul Dravid showed glimpses of a return to form and made an important 93 at Perth. Sourav Ganguly began the series looking like a million dollars, but his luck seemed to desert him and he fell away in the second half of the series. Both suffered due to umpiring in the series, as did Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar was tremendous in the series. He batted with his old fire and even won an unexpected Man of the Match award towards the end. Andrew Symonds, Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke have shown that they are well capable of continuing the great traditions of the Waugh brothers and Damien Martyn as occupants of the Australian middle order. Mitchell Johnson, Ishant Sharma and R P Singh showed great heart through out the series bowling marathon spells with flagging in often oppressive heat.

The only disappointment for India was Harbhajan Singh. He was inconsistent, and showed all the same failings which have marked his decline as a Test match spinner in the past few years. He still gets wickets in India, but his threat has dwindled. He still struggles against left handers, and is unable to attack the stumps against them. From over the wicket, he obviously struggles against them because his stock ball has to pitch outside leg stump, while from round the wicket, he consistently failed to get the drift into the stumps which might have enabled him to attack the stumps. Because he got almost no drift, all the Australian left handers took off stump guard against him, and kept plonking their foot outside off stump, waiting for the short one or half volley, which came along sooner of later. Harbhajan Singh is still the same bowler than he was in 2001. That is something to think about for the Indian selectors. His success against Ricky Ponting in this series has been the only redeeming feature for him, and even there, Ponting made a great century on what was arguably the best wicket on offer for Harbhajan through out the series.

It would be safe to say that the Australian batsmen won their battle against the Indian spinners in this series. In fact, if you think about it, India did well in exactly those conditions where they were expected to fail, and failed every time the conditions were expected to suit them. Anil Kumble took 5 wickets on the first day at Melbourne, India failed with the bat on an MCG pitch which resemble to sub continent beyond their wildest dreams. The spinners failed to bowl out Australia in the third innings at Sydney, when there was some turn and bounce on offer, and then against at Adelaide. The batting and bowling outplayed the hosts at Perth, where they were expected to be steamrolled. The batting came into its own from Sydney on, but it was on the truer, bouncier wickets that they thrived.

VVS Laxman continued his love affair with Australia. The truly big innings eluded him, but he sparked the Indian revival with a silken century at Sydney, and then followed it up with a typically calm 79 at Perth, which made the difference between victory and defeat for India. Just to give you a measure of VVS Laxman's achievement in Australia, he is the second fastest man ever to reach 1000 runs in Australia. He did so in his 18th Test innings on Australian soil, matching Jack Hobbs, following Herbert Sutcliffe. Tendulkar and Lara both reached 1000 runs in Australia during their 22nd innings there, Len Hutton did it in his 23rd, Richie Richardson did it in 24 while Viv Richards did it in 25. Among the great players who have played more than VVS in Australia for lesser reward are Gary Sobers, Sunil Gavaskar and Javed Miandad. Virender Sehwag might do it faster than VVS, he has currently made 833 runs in 14 innings in Australia.

Virender Sehwag marked his second innings in Test cricket with an awesome display of 5th day batting. He was unshakeable in defense and decisive in attack, and like Tendulkar and Laxman through out this series enjoyed the opportunity to push singles to the deep field regularly. He did reveal his old self from time to time, such as when he slogged Hogg for six to midwicket even though a deep midwicket was present. It was a great innings, possibly the best by an Indian batsman in the series.

The innings of the series however, came from Mathew Hayden. He is on current form, the best batsman in the world, and in that 2nd innings at Sydney, he produced a truly great Test century. There was something in the wicket for Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, and the scoreboard was in India's favor. Hayden was colossal as he took on the spinners and sparked a shift in momentum with two calculated reverse sweeps off Anil Kumble, which left India chasing the game. For an opening batsman, he plays spin bowling brilliantly and has no real weakness as a batsman. But for Brett Lee's world class pace bowling, he might have been a shoo in for the man of the series award. Lee and Hayden were the difference between India and Australia in this series.

The find of the series was Ishant Sharma. He showed skill and temperament beyond his years and his experience. He may had gotten only 6 wickets in the series, but consider what wickets they were - Ponting (twice), Symonds, Clarke (twice) and Hayden. Yet another fine talent has been added to India's growing pace bowling pool.

All in all, it has been a series for the ages. Both teams came away completely spent. Consider the injuries - Dravid nearly broke his finger, R P Singh pulled a hamstring, Anil Kumble seemed to show signs of back trouble, Ricky Ponting did have back trouble, Andrew Symonds had an ankle injury and Mathew Hayden has a hamstring injury.

All that remains of this series is the Harbhajan Singh hearing - a testimony to the less than savory side of high octane sport. It is also a testimony to the naive missteps of the Australian captain, who once again struck a jarring note, when the first thing he said in the post match presentation was "i think the series has been played in the spirit of the game". Australia have been fine consumers of this spirit during this series. It says plenty about this Australian side when their most sporting member is their leading fast bowler.

Australia tour Pakistan next, while India, having taken on the best fast bowler in the world in Australia, will return home to face the other in form quick man in Test Cricket this season - Dale Steyn.

Dummy Online

temporal — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 05:12:29 EST

Dummy Online is hosted by a clean-cut, metrosexual, chikkoo. Dr.2. He is reputed to have bought a second doctorate from a mail order university for $250.

Why he did that will be examined in another post.

Dr. 2 fancies himself a lot. He jerks off looking at himself, it has been reported.

He loves these two quotations:

1: From Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, 1843: Die Religion... ist das Opium des Volkes translated as “religion is the opiate of masses” or as “religion is the opium of people.”

2: From Maulana Abraham Lincoln or some say from Circus Master P T Barnum: "You may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can't fool all of the people all the time."

From these two he distilled a third: “With religion you can fool all of the people all of the time.”

Dr.2 did not consider the possibility that folks with irreligious acumen can see through him and yell he has no clothes.

Earlier we told you Dr.2 fancies a lot. He thinks he has sartorial elegance. He wears the BMA label - designer clothes from Begum Mehwish Ali: a self confessed transvestite.

He wrapped his playback singing aspirations by singings naats and bhajans and got emboldened since listeners held their peace.

With the advent of a plethora of on air channels, he thought of a niche programming Dummy On Line to compete with perennial favourites like Saas Bhi Kabhi Aurat Thee and Pati, Patni Aur Dhobi.

The format was simple. He invited two or three earnest looking religious 'scholars' from different sects to answer queries such as:

1: Is the neighbour's wife fair game when the husband is away?
2: Chicken, lamb or vegetable for breaking fast.
3: Are you closer to God in a penthouse?
4: Can heartburns be avoided by eating less?
5: To cheat heart attacks is death by other means an option?
6: Are meals offered by ex-convicts halal?
7: Abu Hureira and the neighbour's chicken
8: Abu Hureira and the neighbour's chick.
9: If monkey's can build bridges can horse's fly supersonic?
10: Can God make another omnipotent God

As the nonsensical ratings of his show increased he got increasingly emboldened. Finally one day he bit off too much. The neighbour whose daughter was violated along with the neighbour whose wife ditched him and hundreds of people of other sects all maligned and hurt in some way by Dr.2 burned his car. (He had taken off earlier at the first whiff of trouble.)

And other cars parked near by. The fire caught on and gutted the entire building housing the studios.

Now Dr.2 is thinking of salvaging his career by running as an independent in the forthcoming elections.

***

Caveat: this is a fictional take on the controversial TV host of Aalim Online

Bangladesh's Cartoon Controversy: The Prophet and His Honor

Zainub Razvi — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:04:07 EDT

A few weeks ago I had quoted Simon DeDeo (a Chicago based astrophysicist and literary critic who blogs at Slashdot) in response to a pertinent article at Desicritics by Aditi Nadkarni on freedom of speech on the Internet. The quote was: “your right to free speech ends where it steps on someone else's right. Just like my right to swing my arm ends before it connects with your nose."

Freedom of speech, like freedom of anything else, and like freedom as a phenomenon in ittself, is rarely an autonomous entity. It’s always relative to other things. Freedom of speech in particular is frequently juxtaposed with several kinds of established norms, cultural, social, political and more then ever before, religious.

The outrage pouring out of Bangladesh over a joke about the name of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is hence not entirely surprising. It’s disturbing yes, but not surprising. Such tactics, as the blog Foreign Policy notes, are a “familiar pattern in Muslim countries ruled by authoritarian governments."

"Religious conservatives,” Blake Hounshell notes, “use religion cynically to embarrass the regime and whip up populist sentiment." Populist sentiment driven by misplaced notions of religious ideology and blind adherence to the religious sanctimony, has far bigger ulterior motives then guarding the honor and respect of the Prophet, let alone Islam as a whole. For if it truly did, people would know better then to entice and provoke an ignorant and easily misinformed public on such petty issues.

And it really was petty. The cartoon in question was published in Alpin, a satirical cartoon supplement of the Daily Prothom Alo, one of Bangladesh’s most popular dailies. Rezwan from Global Voices gives us more background information:

"In the 6th page of its 431th issue a cartoon titled ‘name' was published (on Monday, September 17, 2007) which created much controversy in Bangladesh. So what was in that cartoon? The controversy is not in the picture, rather in the text. The Bangla blogosphere took on this issue right from the beginning. The text of the cartoon is a conversation between a boy and an aged person. Blogger Sudharam Sadhu posts the texts [bn] in his blog:

* Boy, what is your name?
- My name is Babu.
* It is customary to mention Muhammed before the name.
* What is your father's name?
- Muhammed Abu
* What's this in your lap?
- Muhammed cat"

Needless to say the cartoonist has already been fired. In fact he’s arrested. But right wing fundamentalist groups in Bangladesh are still not happy. They’re demanding the ban of the newspaper and the arrest of its editor, the well renowned free speech activist and winner of the Magsaysay Award, Matiur Rahman. This mind you, is after the sub-editor of that humor section has already been “terminated for carelessness” and two front page apologies have been issued by the publication. Still we see people (or rather political activists and mobs disguised as normal people) on the streets in Bangladesh protesting, chanting slogans and burning copies of the publication - all in defense of the stature of Holy Prophet, they’d have us believe.

I shudder to think what our beloved Prophet would have made of our efforts to protect his reputation if he were alive. We’re clearly not following any of the examples he set for us during his lifetime. As a Muslim who’s grown up listening to stories of the Prophet’s forbearance and tolerance, such self-serving so-called defense of religious sensibilities comes across as quite alien to me.

As early as third grade we were narrated the story of a man who lent the Prophet some money. An agreement had been made with regards to when his money would be returned, and the due date was still a while away when the man (an Arab pagan polytheist) came storming into the Prophet’s residence demanding his lent money, hurling abuse at him and calling names to his family. The Prophet remained silent, but as the man proceeded to manhandle him with increasing severity, one of the Prophet’s companions, who was standing nearby couldn’t take it any longer and stepped in to try and distance the unruly man from the Prophet.

And what does the beloved Prophet do? Ask the companion to stop and, instructs him instead to go and return the amount he owed to the man. He doesn’t have him arrested, and put in jail. He doesn’t issue a “death fatwa” against him. No. In fact, he stops a companion trying nothing but to protect his physical well-being and instead asks him to fulfill that man’s right. And the companion obeyed the Prophet, immediately doing as he was told to do.

This is just one example in isolation. A deeper investigation of the Prophet’s life shows how there was never any shortage of abuse hurled at him and how he never responded to any such provocation. The question of whether the text in question was or wasn’t intended to cause offense is therefore categorically irrelevant. The point is that the manner in which we have responded belies the teachings of the Prophet whose very honor we are so eager to defend.

In The Sealed Nectar, a biography of the Prophet by Safiur-Rehman Al-Mubarakpuri, the scope of the Prophet’s patience and stamina is described as being inversely proportional to the level of crudeness he was approached with:

“His stamina, endurance and forgiveness, while he was in a commanding position; his patience and firmness in unfavorable conditions, were all his talents, attributes and qualities… […] unlike everyone, the more he was hurt or injured, the more gentle and patient he became. The more rudeness and ignorance anybody exercised against him, the more enduring he became. Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, (one of the Prophet’s most beloved wives) said: …“He never took revenge for him self: but when the sanctity of Allah was violated, he would avenge it. That would be for Allah’s sake not for himself.” He was the last one to get angry and the first to be satisfied.”

Clearly, we have let down the Prophet’s honor. And that is nothing to do with any cartoons, but with how little we know and understood the man whose honor we are so eager to defend at every available opportunity. In an age already replete with Islamophobia, Bangladesh is not only shooting itself in the foot by creating such a mountain out of a mole hill, it is also doing a great disservice to Islam’s reputation. Our overboard and often violent reactions to such paltry issues, particularly in this case, when the offense was clearly not intended, represent Islam in a bad light, feeding the stereotypes that drive Western society into xenophobia of Muslims.

The acts of fascist rulers are not new, nor are they likely to change anytime soon, but the ordinary Muslim on a Dhaka street should know better then to fall for their hidden agendas, for this is a time of great responsibility for moderate Muslims. They must stand up and make themselves counted. They must stand up and remind the rest of their hoodwinked ummah of the legacy of tolerance, broadmindedness and peaceful coexistence that Islam and its Prophet has given us. For the sake of the greater good of Islam and for upholding the Prophet’s honor in its true sense, it is about time Muslims learned: live and let live.

Ash and Ben Kingsley: Kalaripayat Druids Kick Ass

Grumpy Old Indian Man — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:21:37 EDT

SPOILER ALERT
Yes, finally the mythic truth can be told. The Last Legion reveals the truth we've all long suspected.

Indians actually founded Britain with a combination of mad Kallaripayat skill and ancient Vedic wizardry.

Booyakkkasha padme hum diddly hum.

Ash plays lady warrior Mira -- straight outta old school Kerala -- Matriarchy in the house.

In a reasonably charming children's film fashion (which this movie clearly is -- without anyone involved ever having acknowledged it) Mira whirls about with a band of roguish characters ... including uber-Romcom Brit, Mr Darcy, Colin Firth.

While Darcy seems to have misplaced his famous Christmas Jumper at the Turkey curry buffet, its homely knitted spirit hovers over this project.

Dyslexic name swapper Krishna Banji -- is back again in druidic kahdhi -- kicking it as Sir Ben Kingsley --- aka Merlin.

What role can't that talented proboscis sandwiched between those ever growing
ears make his own. Here he whirls about as Merlin - in some scraps of Ian McClellan's left-over beard floss.

There must have been a remnant sale at the THEATRICAL SIRs & Sons STORE.

Well long story short

... and direct video story short
... and all stars refused to do publicity story short
... and has been sitting on the shelf for two years story short

The Mallu Matador and the Krishna Magician ...
... end Roman rule
... and bury the famous sword in the well-known stone

... just waiting for Arthur to come along shortly ... or should I say Arshya. King Arthur to some, perhaps, Raja Arshya to those in the know.

The word Arshya means that which is from the Rishis - the great sages of ancient

India. They are the original of being in the know. There is no more know than what they are in.

Movie Review: Depth Comes from Unlikely Places in Ratatouille

Aspi — Thu, 2 Aug 2007 00:02:10 EDT

There have been precisely three animated movies that have impressed me since Disney's Toy Story brought practicality to bear on the promise of CGI to change the animation landscape in 1996.

Tarzan, the last notable non-CGI animated blockbuster, made me sit up and take notice with the way in which the animators were able to manipulate objects of high detail and move the titular character seamlessly between the front and back of a static backdrop.

The attention to detail and the ability to render it in Pixar's A Bug's Life left me speechless. I remember my eyes darting around the screen so much that they positively hurt when it was all over.

The third movie to fill me with the same sense of wonder about the craft was Ratatouille. It is just as good because the movie itself arrives with an innovative plot filled with hackneyed situations and often forgoes genuine enchantment in favor of quick thrills.

Remy (Patton Oswalt) is a rat who is born with a gift. He has a super-sensitive nose and a palate to match, both of which give him a laser-sharp sense of good food. He arrives in a restaurant in Paris which seems to have lost its way. Unbeknownst to the management who understandably don't want rats around, Remy joins forces with Linguini (Lou Romano) to conjure up magical recipes and restore the restaurant back to pole position. Along the way they encounter important life lessons - standard fare for this genre.

There are two exceptional things that save Ratatouille and make it a really good time at the multiplex. First, the canny and versatile Ian Holm shows up as Skinner, the head chef at the restaurant who has a vested interest in seeing the restaurant remain at status quo. Holm sinks his teeth into the role by essaying an unapologetically ridiculous French accent. He makes Skinner smart, pompous, vulnerable, afraid, swashbuckling and driven. It's a hilarious performance which culminates in one rollicking chase scene with Skinner on a scooter.

And the innovative animation is the second one. More than any movie I've seen, Ratatouille is able to deliver terrific depth and perception in frame after frame. (Compare this to, say, the flat and lifeless backdrops of a major blockbuster like Shrek 3.) Although the characters are cartoons, the backdrops are rendered in true form. And by dissolving the sharpness ever so slightly between multiple objects in the backdrop, the animators of the movie have managed to create a fully realized 3D universe that is positively dazzling.

Cartoon: President Who?

Vikram Nandwani — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:08:26 EDT

The Congress’s guilt is not so much about who they chose for the job as it is about how they trivialised it.

0707DIndianNewPresident.jpg (1051x751 - 403 K)

Further Desicritics Articles on the election of President Pratibha Patil: