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Critic Bob Mondello says Brad Bird's animated kitchen comedy, about a Paris rat who longs to be a haute-cuisine chef, "isn't just amusing, it's downright mouth-watering" — even as it's "engagingly down-to-earth" and temptingly funny about everything from critics to romantic mishaps.

Book reviews appear to be an endangered species, at least for standalone sections of the newspaper. Recently the San Diego Union Tribune merged its books section with the arts pages. That is spurring debate about how readers will learn about the books.

An actor in Shakespeare's Julius Caeser got a little too realistic on a stage in Aspen, Col. The character Brutus, played by Ken Hudson Reed, was using a real knife and cut himself in the leg. He nearly passed out before he excused himself from the stage.

Nicole Willis is a retro soul singer from Brooklyn. Her really tight band, the Soul Investigators, is from Finland. The group sounds like it's from Memphis – and it's one of Oliver Wang's favorites of the year so far.

The museum community is asking whether museums should be used to promote foreign policy in response to a new initiative funded by the State Department. The program lets U.S. and non-U.S. museums apply for grants for exhibitions that would strengthen international connections.

Set in early-'80s Britain, Shane Meadows' This Is England tracks a fatherless boy through a budding friendship with a skinhead — and into dangerous territory with a new breed of outsider.

The dialogue in this fanciful "biography" certainly isn't up to the beloved novelist's standard, but the performances do sparkle and the look is Merchant Ivory-lush — so there's plenty of pleasure to be had.

Rock historian Ed Ward reviews three recent DVDs: the deluxe edition of D.A. Pennebaker's Bob Dylan documentary Don't Look Back, a Dylan press conference released as Dylan Speaks, and Rockin' at the Red Dog, a documentary on an all-but-forgotten bar in Nevada.

A new play tackles racism by confronting racist slurs and behavior head-on. Actors Miles Gregley, Rafael Agustin and Allan Axibal talk about the controversial play, N*W*C: The Race Show, and its confrontation of racial stereotypes.

The Eisner Awards, given out at the annual Comic Con, recognize work in comics, graphic novels and other pop writing. But voting for the Eisners involves more than a ballot with nominees: Judges are locked in a hotel room and must defend their nominations.