176 replies to this topic

[Zeemanb]

Don't think this one has been mentioned yet.....I just watched "The Age of Innocence" the other night and it had some worthwhile food scenes from the perspective of "food as an accessory" for 19th Century NYC upper class.

[johnsmith45678]

Damn, I've got a lot of movies to see!

My faves:
- Sideways: hilarious
- Supersize Me
- Waiting: Well, not really a fave, but it so accurately captured working in a dead-end restaurant job that I felt like I was back working in one and depression set in!
- Cocktail: Not a very good movie, but I always enjoy it.
- Charlie & The Chocolate Factory (with Gene Wilder)

Haven't seen Big Night yet. I just requested it from my library. I first heard about it in A Cook's Tour where Bourdain meets Tony Schaloub.

Great restaurant/food scenes in movies:
- Goodfellas: where they're meticulously preparing an Italian feast in prison.
- Hannibal: Brains anyone? One of the most disturbing scenes I've ever seen -- hell Silence of the Lambs is kind of about food too as a lot of people now associate fava beans and (a nice) chianti with it.
- Better Off Dead: Boiled bacon? It's got raisins in it... you like raisins.
- Caddyshack: DOG FOOD?!?
- A Fish Called Wanda: Don't eat the green ones -- they're not ripe yet!

I didn't like Chocolat -- found it slow and boring. I didn't care for Delicatessen either -- too weird.

Since my favorite food films have already been mentioned, I offer an obscure one: Motel Hell (1980), a horror film starring Rory Calhoun as a sausage-making tycoon a la Jimmy Dean.

Oh man...I think I remember seeing that one!

Clerks 2 is kind of a food movie...

Nobody's mentioned Fast Food Nation. I started watching it, got bored and scanned through the rest. Didn't look that interesting.

And on TV, I really enjoyed Kitchen Confidential.

Edited by johnsmith45678, 27 March 2007 - 06:03 PM.

[The Blissful Glutton]

Mostly Martha is the most touching movie about a chef that I have seen. The main character is written so well.

Guilty pleasure: Dinner Rush.

[Naftal]

Mostly Martha is the most touching movie about a chef that I have seen. The main character is written so well.

Guilty pleasure: Dinner Rush.

I loved Dinner Rush. Has anyone see Tampopo? it is a Japanese comedy and it is one of the very few films I own.

[ruthcooks]

The other night I saw a movie on TV called, I think, "Love is all there is". It's a farce, lots of slapstick, about two warring Italian catering families. One has a son and one has a daughter, so there is a Romeo and Juliet theme going on also. The "almost royalty" snooty family is new to the area and tries to steal the Sicilian family's tacky wedding monopoly. Lanie Kazan is a scream.

In my NetFlix queue is a new food movie, "Simply Irresistable" that I'll be seeing soon.

But Babette's my favorite: all those little old teetotallers bravely drinking the wine, and Babette spending her fortune to be able to cook one perfect dinner.

[KLwood]

Great Thread !! My Netflix queue is filled with suggestions from this topic !!

I cant believe Hannibal wasnt mentioned more often..

I had forgotten all about Eating Raoul "Its amazing what you can do with a cheap piece of meat "

How can anyone forget the restaraunt scene from Monty Python's 'The Meaning of Life' where the gluttonous diner eats untill he explodes " its only Wafer Thin "
(I wonder if that was inspiration for the murder victim in 'Seven' who was forced to eat himself to death ? ) And whenever I see Salmon Mousse , I cant help but recall that the Grim Reaper pointing to it as the cause of food poisoning for the guests at a dinner party...

When the long awaited Sequel to 'Psycho' was made I saw it with my Mom, - really - and we couldnt stop talking about the final scene where Norman mentions the toasted cheese sandwiches his Mother made for him as a child, then a few minutes later brains the lady in the kitchen with a shovel. And yes , Mom just had to work grilled cheese sandwiches into the dinner that night..

Id LOVE to see" Whos killing the Great Chefs " remade, hey, who wouldnt mind seeing todays lineup of celebrity chefs thinned out a little...

Edited by KLwood, 09 August 2007 - 08:38 AM.

[Dante]

My top ten favourite food movies:

<snip list>

and excellent selection! I've seen and enjoyed every one of those (I'm a bit of a movie buff in addition to being a foodie)

has anyone mentioned the dinner scene on the train in "Jeanne D'arc of Mongolia"? An amazing mix of elegance and over-the-top excess. The waiters singing a requiem while bringing out the roasted sawn in full plumage was what really got me. Also the waiter's remembering everything after taking an order that took about three or four minutes to recite, even when he was pretending to not pay attention to all of it- that was fun.

has anyone besides me seen (or, for that matter, even heard about) that movie?

I also feel the need to mention the movie "Waiting", if only because I believe I've worked with clones of about all of the cast at some point or another.

Sincerely,
Dante

[merstar]

Babette's Feast
Big Night
Who is Killing The Great Chefs of Europe?
Dinner With André
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Fried Green Tomatoes

Edited by merstar, 11 August 2007 - 02:51 PM.

[Shannon_Elise]

Love:

Chocolat (okay, so mostly because it's Johnny Depp with an accent...an Irish accent)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Johnny Depp again. He's the creepy Willy Wonka that Dahl envisioned - not the drunk Willy Wonka)

Dinner Rush (okay, so I think the squinty eyed guy who plays the chef - I think he also played a guy on a few episodes of the Sopranos - is really hot)

Waiting - disgustinly hilarious if you've ever worked in the service industry

Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal (certain scenes anyway)

So, its completely obvious that I'm a little pedestrian in my tastes in popular culture. I had to watch Babette's Feast too many times in various French language classes and got really sick of it. I haven't watched it since college - I'll revisit it.

Sideways is an odd movie for me. Sometimes I watch it and love it. Other times I watch it and hate it.

[Bill Watson]

Eat Drink Man Woman and Chocolat are my two favorites, and I've been meaning to rent Mostly Martha for ages!

I'm with you on Eat, Drink, Man, Woman. And a great recent book I've read about food is The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones.

[kimberli9]

What about "My Big, Fat Greek Wedding?"

[Jenni]

I agree with a lot of these, but I can't believe no one else here has mentioned Rice Rhapsody!

[Biscuits & Brioche]

Definitely "Like Water for Chocolate" and "Chocolat" (though not the best movie ever made). What about "Ratatouille"? I have a list on my blog, but ya have to scrooooooooll down and look in the left-hand column. http://biscuits_brioche.typepad.com/

[Poffertjes]

Concur with everyone's favorites

Want to add one of my own. I finally saw Waitress.

Now she makes some good pies!!!

[racheld]

Silence of the Lambs

I'm trying to remember ANY food that seemed palatable---there was the fava/Chianti mention which is now practically a bumper-sticker, then the tray in the open-air-barred cell, and a lovely FBI cake---plus whatever unspeakable detritus was on Bill's cluttered stove.

I've read it---autographed by the author (also had dinner with his Mom several times---she has never seen it or read one of his books) ---and have seen it a few times, but cannot imagine thinking of it as a "food" movie.

[Dave Parrott]

...., and I've been meaning to rent Mostly Martha for ages!

I love Mostly Martha. I bought it. I rate CHOCOLAT up at the top too.

[Dave Parrott]

I copied your whole list Some of those I have never even heard of. I will have to watch them all. .... When I'm not at the bistro

[Peter Green]

Okay, I promised I'd try to stay on track with the Japan thread line...okay, maybe I didn't actually promise, but I had a serious intentions......but here's the follow up to the last post

Okay, maybe I was just thinking that this didn't belong there.....

Le Grand Chef [Korean - really recent]

this is something I just saw in-flight on the flight from Hong Kong to Narita so I don't know if it's generally available yet.

The premise of this film is that a Japanese citizen has had a change of heart, and is going to return the knife of the master chef of Korea, who had served the King up until the Japanese annexation in 1911.

At that point, he used his favourite knife to cut off his right hand so the Japanese couldn't force him to cook for them.

The premise of the film is that the knife will go to the top chef, the one who can uphold the traditions of the King's chef.

Right. We're talking serious food porn here. On the down side, it's like watching a {name this country} food video for a lot of this. Let's talk broken display with three windows flying about highlighting the dish of the moment.

The shots of the food are generally reminiscent of what Doddie and I saw in Seoul at the Korean Food Expo

But, we're also talking about a lot of good thought on the things that go into making good food (like the charcoal, and the animals themselves), so there are a number of good items to recommend the flick, beyond the ability of the Koreans to pull tears out of any audience.

(general recommendation: take your girlfriend to see this film, then cook for her. Heck, even better, take her to see this film, then put a season into growing fresh vegetables for her.....maybe I commit for too long a time?)

[BBJoe]

My netflix queue grew about 20% after I read this thread.

Big Night is one of my favs and I Like Killing Flies might be one my favorite documentaries let alone one of my favorite food films.

Something that popped into my head was the custard scene from DeadAlive/Braindead... Maybe not the most graceful food sequence in cinematic history...

[crustybread]

I liked "No Reservations" (with Catherine Zeta Jones) - I saw it w/ my mom. We both thought it was a cute movie. Also I liked Chocolat and Like Water For Chocolate.

I watched this Korean drama series that had to do w/ food called "My Lovely Kim Sam Soon" I know it's not a movie, but I loved the series. It made me so hungry for desserts and korean food!

[PBHokie]

Ratatouille. Great movie!!

[Kouign Aman]

I saw this the other day. This lady has clearly given some thought to the matter of food movies. Whew!
BadHomeCooking movie list

[LoneSavant]

I don't think anyone has mentioned this one:

Woman On Top, with Penelope Cruz

Not a "Good" movie--in fact, it's kinda silly, overall--but its so CUTE, and the food scenes are great, and for just a fun, no-brainer summer watch, it's a great flick.

[racheld]

And what was the name of that movie in which she made that follow-me-anywhere coffee with herbs and spices in what looked like the Eiffel tower rigged with old pantyhose? She made it so matter-of-factly and with such crisp, sure motions, that she seemed a master of her kitchen AND her life.

That contrapton looked disgusting and in need of a wash and I could just SMELL that perfect coffee aroma coming off the screen, with undertones of cinnamon and anise and mint. I think even I might have been in that gaggle of men following her around town, just for a taste of that magically delicious brew.

[phlox]

I have to put another nod in for Mostly Martha. I just rewatched it the other day and it was just as wonderful as it was the first time.

[Fugu]

Woody Allen's version of a Japanese secret agent 007. Woody Allen re-edited and rewrote the dialogue, dubbed in English.
The theme of the movie revolves around the search for a secret egg salad recipe. Funny film by Woody.

[Peter the eater]

Silence of the Lambs

I'm trying to remember ANY food that seemed palatable---there was the fava/Chianti mention which is now practically a bumper-sticker, then the tray in the open-air-barred cell, and a lovely FBI cake---plus whatever unspeakable detritus was on Bill's cluttered stove.

I've read it---autographed by the author (also had dinner with his Mom several times---she has never seen it or read one of his books) ---and have seen it a few times, but cannot imagine thinking of it as a "food" movie.

Thomas Harris is a hell of a story teller, did his mom order anything unusual for lunch?

I agree the Hannibal movies are hardly about food but there are plenty culinary references to amuse and disturb. I finally saw Hannibal Rising a few weeks ago - not without problems but definitely a flick I'd recommend. One mark of a good film is how long it stays with you - there are some powerful scenes from Hannibal Rising that are still haunting my memory. And there's also the talk of ortolans.

[the_nomad]

"No Reservations" - seconded. That was a much-underrated movie - in particular, Catherine Zeta Jones' chef character, with her compulsive cooking for her shrink, was really well-drawn. And Aaron Eckhart was great as always. The script's a little windy, but it has some really fine moments.

"Ratotouille" is of course just brilliant. How can you not like an animated film where Thomas Keller was their food consultant? I understand he actually created the ratotuille dish seen at the end.

[Lenski]

This might be a little off topic. However, there is a book that I have only seen in Spain titled "35mm." in which Chefs create a recipe around a particular movie scene.

For example: Heston Blumenthal does "Barefoot in the Park" and Achatz does "Adam's Rib" and Andoni Luis Aduriz does "Empire of the Senses."

Furthermore, a lot of Chefs create recipes around many of the movies named in this thread: "Vatel," "Babette's Feast" (Fermí Puig) etc..

Here is the blurb from the website:
"The book 35 mm comprises 45 cinema moments where a
gastronomic fact occurs. Common moments due to their
popularity or their quality such as the Wonca
chocolate in Willy Wonca and the Chocolate Factory,
Babette's Feast, some of Claude Chabrol's films, the
hamburger in The postman always rings twice, the
lollypop in Kubrick's Lolita or the tray of futuristic
food in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Forty-five memorable
moments, among which there will be a part very linked
to traditional and conventional cooking -even fast
food-, and another part with very contemporary
developments."

ISBN: 978-84-935310-2-7

Edited by Lenski, 08 November 2008 - 09:47 AM.

[nickloman]

With the discussion of Vatel in the other thread, I thought it might be fun to try and devise a list of food-based films to get on DVD to watch this Christmas.

I'll kick off with my favourite - Big Night, a story of an Italian restaurant run by Primo and Secondo (Tony Shalhoub and Stanley Tucci) who fight over issues of love and life when getting ready for a celebrity night at their restaurant.

There is Vatel - which I haven't seen yet.

La Grand Bouffe, about a group of friends to eat themselves to death must be worth watching.

What else? There's a long list here. Anyone of the food ones worth seeing - I don't really count Goodfellas even though it has a great pasta sauce stirring scene!

Nick.