That's more like it!

The last several CG-animated films I've seen have left me cold or semi-cold. The Shrek movies, OK; Ice Age 2 and Cars, kind of boring; Happy Feet, downright incoherent.

But the Pixar folks charmed the pants off me just about every time before laying an egg with Cars, so I went into Ratatouille with hopeful, but low, expectations. After all, they did disappoint me with the faux NASCAR thing, so I've been thinking maybe they've run their course, and we'd again never see a night of animated entertainment as fun as Toy Story 2 or Monsters Inc. or A Bug's Life. Silly me.

Beginning with the short that opens the evening, Lifted, I laughed - sometimes helplessly - I cried, I was moved, I had fun. I even was excited to hear, ever so briefly, the message that when it all comes down to brass tacks, we're free to do whatever we want with our lives if we just forget what everyone else says and just go ahead and do it. After all, if a rat can become the greatest chef in Paris ...