The Waitress

M: For me, this movie was a lot like Johnny Depp's Chocolat. Everybody around me seems to be nodding their head in a deep and understanding way, as the actors talk of, and passionately cook, some sort of food product. I just sit there, thinking to myself that I must be missing something. Is it just me? Is food production really that meaningful and sexy. I don't get it. Also, I am not a huge fan of affairs in a movie. If one is going to happen, I like the spouse that is cheated on to sort of have it coming. Maybe I am naive in that way. This show had two spouses who were cheated on. One had it coming, the other, as far as I could tell, didn't. This made it very difficult for me to like the main characters. And when you don't care for the main characters, that can't be a good sign, can it? 2 1/2 Stars

V: This show has plenty of charm. It does, however, revolve around an affair, which made me uneasy for the duration. In defense of the food thing, (see above) . . . it's not the food (pies, in this case)- it's the care she puts into making the pies, the nostalgia she feels from when her mother taught her how to make them (she has been missing a caring/nurturing presence in her life), and the genuine interest and appreciation the co-adulterer has for the heroine's talent - those things mean something. Plus pies, specifically, are wholesome and comforting - things also missing from her life at the onset. It doesn't really matter what it is, food, music, art, nature - as long as someone cares about what you care about - it's romantic. Did it work romantically here? Yeah, a little. Mostly the pies were a great device for her to express any kind of emotion, e.g., frustration, gratitude, anger, guilt. And at times it was pretty funny. Keri Russell does a good job in this movie. I think I would recommend this show, with reservations because of the infidelity. 3 stars.

Ratatouille

M: Good movie. Maybe a little long. Little Rat (voice of spence from King of Queens, Vic can fill in the name, she is good at that kind of thing) likes to cook. As a cooking fan, he doesn't fit in with the other rats, eventually separates from them, and ends up at a fancy restaurant helping a human wannabe cook make fancy dishes. This is very funny, but, if you are like me, the sight of rats cooking is not all that appealing. The only real flaw in the movie is toward the end where there is this sort of false ending that is proceeded by more action, another climax, and a bit of an anticlimactic second ending. Perhaps this unexpected bonus time after my mind thought the movie was over contributed to the feeling that the movie was about 20 minutes too long. See it though, it is good. 3 Stars

V: I really liked it, a great fish-out-of-water/rat-in-the-kitchen story. I do agree that the huge family of rats scurrying around the kitchen was shudder inducing - which is probably the main reason I didn't give this one full marks. When the show looked like it was going to wrap up, I'm really glad it didn't - it would've been too simple, too trite. Instead, it further explored the complications of pride, loyalty, peer pressure - and the reality of the problem of a rat in the kitchen. So I really ended up liking this show. Really fun and unique - The Pixar people don't disappoint. 3 1/2 stars

No Reservations

Starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckart and Abigail Breslin. Story about an uptight Chef (Zeta-Jones) who finds herself surprised and changed by a pajama-wearing newcomer chef (Eckart) and her newly-orphaned niece. Rated PG.

V: First of all, I admit that my viewing of this movie was interrupted many times, which I think lowers my overall opinion of it. I expected a romantic comedy, but it came off as a drama. Fairly contemplative, some tragedy, tension. I guess there were some funny things, and a happy ending, but it still didn't seem comedic, to me. It was very soundtrack heavy. The instrumental background music was distracting and repetitive. And the songs were many and unnatural - almost like they were trying to fit a movie into a movie soundtrack album they'd put together. Not very original stories. We (the three of us who watched it) all said we liked the food parts. The cooking/kitchen was interesting. I do like these three actors, too. So it was alright.

I give it 2 1/2 stars.