176 replies to this topic

[SuzySushi]

Hands down, my favorite food movie for pure fun is Tampopo. I also like the others on the original list.

And no one has yet mentioned Vatel, for food and sheer excess.

[OnigiriFB]

My all time favorite is Eat, Drink, Man, Woman, I can watch that movie 50 millions times and not get sick of it. In fact, it's been awhile I might to go dig it out. I have it on VHS and should go get the DVD I'm probably wearing it out. :P

[TrishCT]

Campbell Scott told me in an interview that he co-directed Big Night along with Stanley Tucci (they were high school classmates). It was his first directing experience, after acting for years. He said making Big Night was great fun but he found himself getting very impatient with Isabella Rossellini for no good reason other than all of a sudden as a director he wanted to hurry things along in each scene. He was kinda mad at himself for being like that, especially since he vowed never to be like that when he was a director.

Anyway... Campbell directed another movie called Off the Map...which did not get much play at the box office but if you EVER get a chance to rent this on video or DVD do so! It is just terrific and it does involve food in meaningful ways. It stars Sam Elliott (like you've never seen him) and Joan Allen.

My all time fave though is Babette's Feast. A woman finds meaning in her life again through the art of creating a beautiful meal. Truly inspiring.

Footnote...Can you ever watch Willy Wonka (the original) and not crave chocolate?

Edited by TrishCT, 01 February 2006 - 07:11 PM.

[mizducky]

Footnote...Can you ever watch Willy Wonka (the original) and not crave chocolate?

Y'know, I was just about to post about Wonka ...

As for movies with food not necessarily the main focus, but still a major player:
--Another of Ang Lee's flicks: "The Wedding Banquet" (for all that it revolves around that titular meal, I don't recall seeing a whole lot of the actual banquet dishes on screen, but still ... )
--"Rocky Horror Picture Show" -- two words: "Meatloaf again?" (Aw c'mon--you were all thinking it too...)

[OnigiriFB]

--"Rocky Horror Picture Show" -- two words: "Meatloaf again?"  (Aw c'mon--you were all thinking it too...)

RFOL! Oh My God, I forgot about that line. Heheh MizDucky you never cease to make me smile.

[andiesenji]

Tom Jones for sure.

Who is Killing The Great Chefs of Europe.

Sabrina - the old with Audrey Hepburn and the hand full of egg.

Sabrina - the new with Julia Ormond eating couscous with her fingers.

Cold Comfort Farm

Edited by andiesenji, 01 February 2006 - 10:37 PM.

[Carolyn Tillie]

I have made a concerted effort to collect food movies on DVD and/or VHS. Then I got obsessive/compulsive and started collecting films with great food scenes.

Rented and watched just last evening is Après Vous which, while not directly food-related, is the love triangle of a head waiter in a swanky French bistro who saves the life of a suicidal man and gets him a job as the sommelier... Charming!

Alan Bates' monologue on a fig in Women in Love is decidedly erotic.

And the character, Gorodish, in the film Diva as a great scene-stealing moment explaining the proper way to butter a baguette.

There is a wonderful oyster/snail scene between Lawrence Olivier and Tony Curtis in Spartacus.

Eating Raoul is a perfect cannibalism film (and I know of a number of those, if we want to start a discussion in THAT direction)!

And, last -- but certainly not least -- I'm shocked that no one has mentioned the lovingly-filmed Vatel.



I'm sure other scenes and movies will come to me later...

[mizducky]

"Napoleon Dynamite" not only features a variety of low-brow and/or less-than-appetizing foods, often in very silly situations ("Napoleon, give me some of your tots!"), but has a whole montage of these foods making up its opening credits sequence. Another reason why I adore this weird little movie.

[SuzySushi]

And, last -- but certainly not least -- I'm shocked that no one has mentioned the lovingly-filmed Vatel.

I did single out Vatel, at the top of this page (but I didn't provide a link).

[racheld]

In addition to most of the above, there's one from the early 90's that is presumed to be about eating disorders, but they seem to nibble/munch/feast all day. It's called EATING and the only "star" of note is who-shot-JR herself, Mary Frances Crosby.

It's a day-long birthday party for two or more of the women, and it extends from one birthday girl's slow---ly picking an immense muffin apart with her fingers at breakfast and eating every crumb, to a late? afternoon meal served with the birthday cake(s) as a first course. They talk food all day, along with marriage, infidelity, dieting, love, dieting, and more food.

I saw it only once, as a TV movie, I think, and it's kind of haunting to remember all these years later.

And of course, Babette's Feast. And Mrs. Jennings sets a mean table in Sense and Sensibility.

And I love the street-food moment in Working Girl when dear earnest Harrison Ford needs to wipe his lip.

[petite tête de chou]

I've been trying to remember a Korean movie I saw at least 10 years ago--all I remember is that the title of the American video version was the numbers of two adjoining apartments. It was about the relationship between two female neighbors, one of whom cooks. I think it ends with her cooking the neighbor.

I wouldn't call it the best food movie ever (that would be a toss-up between Babette's Feast and Tampopo, closely followed by Big Night), but there were a lot of food scenes and it bugs me that I can't remember the title.

I remember it. 301/302

[Carolyn Tillie]

And, last -- but certainly not least -- I'm shocked that no one has mentioned the lovingly-filmed Vatel.

I did single out Vatel, at the top of this page (but I didn't provide a link).

My bad - mea culpa.

[jkonick]

As a worshipper of Japanese food, I love Tampopo. I still don't "get" those random scenes with the ganster and his girlfriend. Aside from that, great movie.

God of Cookery - One of the weirdest food movies out there I think, but really cool and a lot of over the top martial arts style cooking.

[jamiemaw]

1. Ho Mangiato il Hairpiece di Stanley Tucci?; Italy, 2001.
2. Caligula (Producer's Cut); USA, 1979.
3. Wie Wasser für Chai; Holland/Germany, 2004.
4. Eating Raoul; USA, 1982.
5. Das Große Komischary; Germany, 1943.
6. Claire's Knee, Eric Rohmner; France, 1971.
7. La Grande Pouffe; France, 1973.
8. Eating Out Abroad; England, 1989.
9. Более Быстрый Pussycat, Убийство, Убийство!; USSR, 1953.
10: PBS/Nova: The Making of Dixon's Cider; USA, 2001.

Honourable Mention: Mea Gulpa; National Film Board of Canada, 1989.

Edited by jamiemaw, 02 February 2006 - 12:30 PM.

[Wayne]

I'd go with Big Night, Tampopo and Eat Drink Man Woman as favorites.

One that hasn't been mentioned is 'Le Declin de L'empire Americain (The
Decline of the Americian Empire)" by Denys Arcand.

[west2100]

I can't believe no has mentioned Sideways.

[Mimi Sheraton]

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, Her Lover

[azureus]

Ooh! Has anyone mentioned The Freshman yet? I love the whole scam of the mobster serving fake endangered species at high prices to all of those people, and then
opening a zoo at the end of the movie.

April

[rlibkind]

Not a movie, but I recall an episode of Upstairs Downstairs where the Prince of Wales visited Eaton Place; much of the action centered on Mrs. Bridge's preparations for a rather involved and sumptuous dinner.

[Csaville]

I loved the dinner scene in Sideways.

I forgot all about Sideways! Thank you!!

[Peter the eater]

Campbell Scott told me in an interview that he co-directed Big Night along with Stanley Tucci (they were high school classmates). It was his first directing experience, after acting for years. He said making Big Night was great fun but he found himself getting very impatient with Isabella Rossellini for no good reason other than all of a sudden as a director he wanted to hurry things along in each scene.  He was kinda mad at himself for being like that, especially since he vowed never to be like that when he was a director.

Anyway... Campbell directed another movie called Off the Map...which did not get much play at the box office but if you EVER get a chance to rent this on video or DVD do so!  It is just terrific and it does involve food in meaningful ways.  It stars Sam Elliott (like you've never seen him) and Joan Allen.

I saw "Off the Map" just before Christmas and have been telling everyone about it. Joan Allen is as good as it gets as far as I'm concerned. Sam Elliot and the young girl were also brilliant, but until you mentioned it, I did not connect this film with Big Night. Campbell Scott is 2 for 2 - what else has he done? Could I have read or seen your interview?

[jgm]

There was a pretty much unremarkable film that came out in the 1980's called "Getting it Right". There are some fairly big names in the cast --Lynn Redgrave, Helena Bonham Carter, John Gielgud, to name a few --but the story line is a simple boy-who-lives-with-Mom-and-Dad-finally-meets-a-girl-worth-moving-out-for. The charm of the movie is the boy's mother, who is a lousy cook and knows it; that's why she won't eat her own cooking. There are at least a couple of really funny scenes involving food. One is when mom makes "Chicken Mole" (she pronounces it to rhyme with pole), and upon seeing the alarmed faces of her husband and son when they try it, she announces something to the effect of "The recipe called for unsweetened chocolate, and I didn't have any, so I used a Cadbury's Fruit and Nut Bar."

The movie's worth a look just to watch Mom make some really lousy food, and the family trying to be polite in their reactions.

[Peter the eater]

1. Ho Mangiato il Hairpiece di Stanley Tucci; Italy, 2001.
2. Caligula (Producer's Cut); USA, 1979.
3. Wie Wasser für Chai; Holland/Germany, 2004.
4. Eating Raoul; USA, 1982.
5. Das Große Komischary; Germany, 1943.
6. Claire's Knee, Eric Rohmner; France, 1971.
7. La Grande Pouffe; France, 1973.
8. Eating Out Abroad; England, 1989.
9. Более Быстрый Pussycat, Убийство, Убийство!; USSR, 1953.
10: PBS/Nova: The Making of Dixon's Cider; USA, 2001.

Honourable Mention: Mea Gulpa; National Film Board of Canada, 1989.

I think you mean Bouffe and not Pouffe! Yeah, I found that one exhausting.

As for Caligula, I regard it as one of the all-time worst movies ever made. I put it the same group as "Plan 9 From Outerspace" and more recently "From Justin to Kelly".

But I will hunt down "Mea Gulpa", thanks.

[JanMcBaker]

Food isn't this movie's main focus, but food and food places (restaurants, kitchens) seem to be a major factor in Moonstruck. Think of it-- the different scenes in the restaurant with Loretta and Rose, in Ronnie's kitchen when Loretta cooks a steak for him (and we know how THAT ended up!!), and the entire final segment in that WONDERFUL huge kitchen with the whole family there! That to me really demonstrates the heart of the family. I just looove that movie....

[GSBravo]

Mars Attacks

Why this one?

And my entry is Eat the Rich.



"Ladies and gentleman, you have all been eating the Prime Minister."

[Carolyn Tillie]

OHMYGOD... another favorite that I ADORE is Feast at Midnight.

F****ng Brilliant!

[BCinBC]

Another very famous non-mention is Soylent Green.

[Brioche57]

<< mentioned Sideways upstream!

[jamiemaw]

1. Ho Mangiato il Hairpiece di Stanley Tucci; Italy, 2001.
2. Caligula (Producer's Cut); USA, 1979.
3. Wie Wasser für Chai; Holland/Germany, 2004.
4. Eating Raoul; USA, 1982.
5. Das Große Komischary; Germany, 1943.
6. Claire's Knee, Eric Rohmner; France, 1971.
7. La Grande Pouffe; France, 1973.
8. Eating Out Abroad; England, 1989.
9. Более Быстрый Pussycat, Убийство, Убийство!; USSR, 1953.
10: PBS/Nova: The Making of Dixon's Cider; USA, 2001.

Honourable Mention: Mea Gulpa; National Film Board of Canada, 1989.

I think you mean Bouffe and not Pouffe! Yeah, I found that one exhausting.

As for Caligula, I regard it as one of the all-time worst movies ever made. I put it the same group as "Plan 9 From Outerspace" and more recently "From Justin to Kelly".

But I will hunt down "Mea Gulpa", thanks.

No, I meant pouffe. Or perhaps spoof: Numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 and, before you go to too much trouble, the honourably mentioned "Mea Gulpa", are purely figs of my (inflamed) imagination. And by the way, what kind of philistine doesn't enjoy Caligula? Answer: A Philistine.

Edited by jamiemaw, 02 February 2006 - 12:45 PM.

[SuzySushi]

Not a movie, but I recall an episode of Upstairs Downstairs where the Prince of Wales visited Eaton Place; much of the action centered on Mrs. Bridge's preparations for a rather involved and sumptuous dinner.

There actually is an Upstairs Downstairs cookbook (o/p): Mrs. Bridges' Upstairs Downstairs Cookery Book.