Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997)

It has been a long time since the last time I did a Sheldon's Choice here on the blog and I believe it was almost when this whole Quarantine thing happened. For all the time that I have known Sheldon, there was always one film that he kept telling me to watch and that is 1997's Romy and Michele's High School Reunion which was directed by David Mirkin (The Simpsons). The film stars Mira Sorvino (The Replacement Killers) and Lisa Kudrow (Booksmart) as our title characters Romy and Michelle who have been best friends through out all their years in school. Despite not being the most popular, they had always stuck together. Now it's ten years later and they aren't really doing much in Los Angeles, but after hearing about the ten year high school reunion they have a plan to get everyone back. The film also stars Janeane Garofalo (Ratatouille) as Heather Mooney, Alan Cumming (Son Of The Mask) as Sandy Frink, Julia Campbell (Kicking & Screaming) as Christie Masters, Elaine Hendrix (Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll) as Lisa Luder, Vincent Ventresca (This Space Between Us) as Billy Christiansen), Camryn Manheim (The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers) as Toby Walters, Justin Theroux (The Girl On The Train) as Cowboy, and Jacob Vargas (Heaven Is For Real) as Ramon.

Now I know you're going to say that A Night At The Roxbury came out a year after Romy And Michelle, but there are just way too many similarities as far as structure is concerned. We also know that release dates mean absolutely nothing because a film could have been in development hell, but nonetheless I will tell you what I mean. Both films have to deal with two nitwits who are just clueless to how society really works. The differences are one features two guys and the other features two women while the two men are brothers and the women are best friends. They both like to go to clubs and dance and they are just dumb as rocks. Both films do feature two different plots, but at one point in the film there is a separation between the duos only to have the amazing reunion. I will say though that Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino are a lot nicer to look at than Chris Kattan and Will Ferrell. Now this one did have it's funny moments, but the real gem in this film is the soundtrack that is attached to it which is a mix of 90's with the best of the eighties and the same could be said about the clothing and the hairstyles as well in the film. The one thing that I will say is that Kudrow's character was a not a far fetch from what she was used to playing in Friends, but that's what we loved about her. I definitely recommend this film for anybody wanting to take a trip down memory lane to a time that may have been different, but it was simpler than today. I am going to give the film an B for a final grade and there is still time to check it out for free on VUDU, but you only have until May 31ST.

Ratatouille (2007)

There are a lot of Disney films that I have not seen as you may have already seen from past selections or you will see from future selections. So, I decided to get on the Disney Plus app today and the film I chose for today is none other than 2007's Ratatouille which was written and directed by Brad Bird (The Iron Giant) and Jan Pinkava (A Bug's Life). The film stars Patton Oswalt (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World) as Remy, a rat in France that has never felt like he fit in with the rest of species because he felt different. Remy was interest in the finer things in life like cooking and after getting separated from the pack, he finds himself in Paris where he'll help a bumbling idiot become the hit chef in Paris, but how long can they keep this secret going? The film also stars Ian Holm (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) as Skinner, Lou Romano (The Incredibles) as Linguini,  Brian Dennehy (Tommy Boy) as Django, Peter Sohn (Monsters University) as Emile, Peter O'Toole (Lawrence Of Arabia) as Anton Ego, Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond) as Gusteau, Janeane Garofalo (Mystery Men) as Colette, Will Arnett (The LEGO Movie) as Horst, James Remar (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood) as Larousse, and John Ratzenberger (Onward) as Mustafa.

So before I get into any of the review, did you know that Ratatouille was an actual French dish because I sure as hell did not know that. I just thought it was something created for the film that was a fun pun on the fact that a rat was a cook. The things you find out on the world wide web and believe me I will attempt to make that some day. Nonetheless, we have a film to review and I thought that this was actually a very fun film that kind of didn't follow the normal recipe that Disney always follows because the animal sidekick was the main character and driving force. The human in the film could have been the dumb sidekick for all we know and it would make more sense. I had a lot of laughs watching this film especially with the main villain being Skinner who was going out of his mind trying to convince everyone about the rat. Those were some amazing scenes and very funny, but the story was a great one that teaches a lot of lessons. Never judge a book by it's cover is the message in this film because you shouldn't treat people as if they were lower than you. I mean I wouldn't actually take a rat and let it help you cook, but really I am talking about human to human. Cooking is a passion that should be explored by everyone even if you do not become some big time chef in a restaurant. The voice acting was great, the animation was terrific, and overall this was a very enjoyable film to watch. Which is why I am giving it an B+ for a final grade.