crumb trails

Hi! My name is Salve and I’m a shopaholic!

Do you remember how you felt the first time you visited a theme park as a child? You’re all wide-eyed with excitement and you couldn’t wait to try every single ride.

I get the same feeling when I’m in a shopping mall. Those racks and racks of dresses; rows and rows of shoes in every imaginable color and style; and those bags… wow! Different sizes, different shapes… and all so pretty! The mall is like a theme park to me; every stall promises lots of fun and unending surprises. I’m giddy with excitement when I find something I like. And once I’ve started putting things in my shopping cart, I can’t seem to stop, especially when I’m shopping for shoes.

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I have never seen a film so sincere and remain very entertaining. The movie musical Hairspray radiates with so much optimism that it can brighten your view of the world! It will leave you smiling even after the credits have ended and you’re out of the cinema. Hairspray is an adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same title (also adapted from the 1988 comedy film by John Waters). The story takes place in `60s Baltimore and revolves around Tracy Turnblad (newcomer Nikki Blonsky), a plump teenager whose dream is to become part of the “coolest” teenage dancers in the local TV program of WYZT station, The Corny Collins Show. She finally gets her chance when Corny Collins announces that one of his council kids (the teenagers who dance in the show) is taking a leave of absence and there will be an audition for a new dancer. Tracy’s timid best friend, Penny Pingleton (Amanda Bynes)-whose mother won’t even allow Penny to watch the show, accompanies her to the audition. But Tracy is instantly turned down by Velma von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer), WYZT’s station manager because of her size and her support for the integration of the white and black people of America. Velma also choreographs the dances in the show. She is also Amber’s (Brittany Snow) mother–one of the council kids-and being such makes sure that her daughter gets the most exposure in the show. When Tracy finally gets in the Corny Collins show, she becomes a threat not only to Amber’s popularity but to the latter’s relationship with the show’s heartthrob Link Larkin (Zac Efron), as Link becomes increasingly fond of Tracy.

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I finally had a taste of Ratatouille yesterday. Not the French dish, but the latest Pixar/Disney animated film. When I first saw its trailer, my impression was it’s melodramatic—a story of a sorry-looking guy who wants to be a chef and a rat that has talent in the kitchen. To say that I had fun is an understatement. Even my mom, who rarely watches animated movies, had a grand time. Ratatouille premiered in Philippine cinemas on July 25. The theater was surprisingly full when we watched, considering that it’s running on its 4^th week. And the film seemed to have attracted more adult audience than children.

Ratatouille is a story of two unlikely protagonists-Remy and Alfredo Linguini-both confronting impossible misfortune. Remy is an extraordinary rat who resists eating garbage. He prefers the good stuff, food prepared in human kitchens. And because he loves good food, he has also developed an exceptional sense of smell (this characteristic reminds me of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille in the film Perfume. Although the similarity ends there. Jean-Baptiste is more Voldemort-like in character). Sadly, this trait also makes Remy an outcast from his own kind.

Linguini, on the other hand, is the new garbage boy at Gusteau’s Restaurant (now being run by Gusteau’s former sous chef Skinner). In a way, Linguini’s situation is worse than Remy’s. He’s a human being who loves food but can’t even toss a decent meal. And he possesses no other talents than being miserable and feeling sorry for himself.

The paths of our two heroes cross when Linguini accidentally messes the soup on the stove. Hoping to save it, he randomly drops ingredients and spices-thus, making a bigger disaster. Seeing all this, Remy made a move, salvaging the soup and creating the first best thing that the restaurant has ever prepared after the famous French chef’s death. So, here begins a partnership and friendship of two outcasts trying to find a niche in this faultfinding world.

Putting all technical aspects aside (because this film did it excellently), Ratatouille stresses the importance of friendship, appreciation, family, talent, the uniqueness of each individual, dreaming big and making a go to realize it. It also made me realize what a friend had told me once-that food is more delicious if you put your heart in preparing it. Like what Remy did when he chose to make his own version of the French dish (ratatouille) be served to food critic Anton Ego. Remy’s dedication to his craft/art brought tears to Ego’s eyes and brought him back to his childhood and his mother’s cooking.

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View the movie trailer:

Yahoo!Movies

YouTube

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FFoK8ss3Sw]

*****

You can get ratatouille recipe from the links below. Choose which of them you prefer. I promised myself to prepare this dish one these days, although I might need to alter some of the ingredients. I might not find some of them in the local supermarket.

1. Ratatouille Niçoise

2. Ratatouille Recipe

Bon appetit!

After much controversy, the screen adaptation of Dan Brown’s best-seller, The Da Vinci Code is in theaters now. The film opens with the bizarre murder of Louvre curator Jacques Sauniere, who, in his dying moments managed to leave behind a number of clues and messages hidden in the artworks of Leonardo Da Vinci. The French police invites Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) to decipher the code they found near the dead body. Langdon concedes not knowing that he has already been considered a prime suspect. With the help of Sauniere’s granddaughter Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou, Amelie and A Very Long Engagement), Langdon is able to escape the police only to be trapped in a more intricate labyrinth. Soon they find themselves on the run from policeman Bezu Fache (Jean Reno), the albino monk Silas (Paul Bettany), and Archbishop Aringarosa (Alfred Molina). Robert and Sophie proceed to Robert’s colleague Sir Leigh Teabing to ask for his help to unravel a secret that–according to Sir Leigh–had been kept from humanity for centuries.

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