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51 Comments:
I have to say Ratatouille is the best food movie I've ever seen, with several genuine moments, and a real feel for life in the kitchen. One caveat, which many others have noted: Remy "fixing" the soup. You can't really repair a ruined dish. But that said, the film is wonderful. A feast for the eyes, as they say.
GorillaBob at 4:29PM on 07/15/07
Babette's Feast is my absolute favorite food movie.
jehjeh at 4:50PM on 07/15/07
Tom Jones.
caley at 5:18PM on 07/15/07
Tortilla Soup. Hector Elizondo is great as an at wits end patriarch with 3 difficult daughters. Lots of amazing food images.
Erin at 6:11PM on 07/15/07
Eat Drink Man Woman
Mydree at 6:57PM on 07/15/07
Ratatouille. I have already seen it 4 times & plan to go again.
JEP at 7:00PM on 07/15/07
Chocolat - How can you go wrong there. Chocolate, Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp, Judi Dench and Alfred Molina !!!
GrizDave at 7:07PM on 07/15/07
Tampopo. I've lost count of how many times I've seen it, but hysterical every time.
dragonroll at 7:50PM on 07/15/07
Someone Is Killing The Great Chefs of Europe. Too fun, especially Robert Morley. And I liked the music, too. That was the soundtrack I'd cook to for years, to cross-answer another question currently up.
lemons at 8:41PM on 07/15/07
tampopo x 1,000,000
norman at 11:15PM on 07/15/07
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover.
Yum and yuck all at once.
FKC at 2:06AM on 07/16/07
Eating Raoul. A riot
JerzeeTomato at 2:12AM on 07/16/07
Babette's Feast. It connects the passion for food to art, religious devotion and to everyday life.
Inuksuk at 4:01AM on 07/16/07
I absolutely love Big Night with Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub. The soundtrack is wonderful and the food! Oh my! I haven't seen Ratatouille yet, but I hope to soon. It looks yummy.
Library Lady at 9:20AM on 07/16/07
"The Odd Couple", with Matthau and Lemmon. Felix clearing his sinuses in the diner is hilarious, but when the plate of linguini and sauce hits the wall flat in the kitchen and the food just clings after the plate shatters ... yeah, I'm laughing just remembering it!
LunaPierCook at 9:36AM on 07/16/07
Hey, I think I'm gonna do a post on all these great movies, especially with two food-related flicks in the theaters this summer. Can anybody think of some off-the-beaten-path food flicks I should check out? Docs? Foreign language films (I've got the original "Mostly Martha" already). Thanks!
Harold Check at 10:19AM on 07/16/07
you are in California right? talk to Les Blank. He and Maureen Gosling (I think) made many food docs (many related to music and other forms of vernacular culture)
Yum Yum Yum on Cajun Food and Creole food,
Chulas Fronteras is about Conjunto music but has some awesome taco and tamale scenes (the latter with Lydia Mendoza, truly wonderful).
Always for Pleasure, is about New Orleans music and food
Also Garlic is as Good as Ten Mothers, I think is the name of the film has Alice Waters in it at some point.
Werner Herzog Eats his Shoe is another,
All in this Tea is a fascinating look at a man's search for premium teas,
Chicken Real, is about the chicken industry, and Les Blank probably has more but he is not really off the beaten path for documentary/fiim buffs, but maybe, I don't know.
Frederick Wiseman's, Meat, is excellent as well but not easy to find or see
Or how about the Stephen Chow film, God of Cookery, makes Iron Chef look like a joke.
Eating Raoul, don't know the director, and Bunuel's, The Exterminating Angel, are excellent
How about My Dinner with Andre, food not the focus, but pretty darn good movie
A Korean film, 301/302, is about two women, one an anorexic and the other a professional cook
there was an Asian film a few years ago called The Chicken Rice War, but I know nothing about it.
if you want to get nasty there are some pretty good and rather disturbing cannibal films, see the director Herschel Gordon Lewis to start,
Gastronomica had a food in film list at some point
I need to do my own work and not think about movies anymore. damn.
intheyearofthepig at 10:50AM on 07/16/07
Tampopo is really great, hysterical and touching...Also, a movie that's probably on its way out of theaters by now but is a true gem nonetheless, Waitress. Not entirely food-oriented but still worth a viewing or five.
Christina at 10:53AM on 07/16/07
One of I've seen reference to but have never actually seen is "La Grande Bouffe". It's got a famous itlalian actor in it whose name escapes me at the moment. Ah ... Marcello Mastroiani. Wikiepedia entry.
Library Lady at 11:00AM on 07/16/07
Please don't say 'Big Night'...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Sandro at 12:04PM on 07/16/07
Like Water for Chocolate. The book even includes recipes!
Jeana at 3:33PM on 07/16/07
French Connection - excellent uses of food and drink throughout:
1. Frogs 1 & 2 eating snails and other Frenchy-French things in a nice warm restaurant while Doyle and Cloudy eat slices and pour out cold joe
2. 42nd street shuttle scene with Frog 1's OJ and Doyle's apple - both props to fool the other into thinking that he doesn't know he's there
Just make a great movie that uses food and food scenes effectively - rather than a movie that shows a couple Americans with laughable Italian accents copping attitude about how to eat risotto and overstuffing their guests with foul things like a 12" deep meat, egg, and pasta bake
Sandro at 5:11PM on 07/16/07
I second the nomination of Eat Drink Man Woman (Ratatouille comes in 2nd place).
charm city cupcake at 6:10PM on 07/16/07
I love Ratatouille, but I also LOVE Waitress! It's all about pies and it makes me want to eat pie constantly.
Chew on That at 6:39PM on 07/16/07
chocolat definetly.
And I'm gonna say Supersize Me. Yes it was disgusting. Yes it was confronting. But it successfully got my previously obese brother to stop eating crap and now eat REAL food
choc_puddin at 6:44PM on 07/16/07
Tampopo.
La grande bouffe.
The discrete charm of the bourgeoisie.
The cook, the thief, his wife and her lover.
L'aile ou la cuisse.
Anja at 9:08PM on 07/16/07
Oh wow--so many great food movies out there. The first I saw at age 13--The Godfather. Yes, all that yummy Italian food between button men, tommy guns, and mafioso intrigue.
After that--Babette's Feast (don't watch this at the end if you're hungry); Like Water for Chocolate (book was even better with interesting recipes--I mean really, quail with rose petals!); Chocolat (I second GrizDave about the marvelous cast), Eat Man Drink Woman and its wonderful remake, Tortilla Soup. Big Night--oh wow- can I get a reservation?
Some actually made me sick--like The Cook, Thief, etc... I could not finish watching. La Grande Bouffe--ditto. I do not like seeing food treated with such disrespect. Since I cannot and do not eat pork, Tampopo left me cold foodwise--but the other elements made it a fun flick.
Oh yes, that scene in Flashdance--very sexy food scene.
It is a shame they never released Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? onto DVD. I never saw it and would love to. Am definitely planning on seeing Ratatouille.
Definitely agree with Sandro--just make a great movie that effectively uses food and food scenes and we're happy.
And now--how about a topic that uses food scenes in books? Anna Karenina -- just read it for yourselves...
jehjeh at 11:19AM on 07/17/07
9 1/2 weeks. kidding.
dmarina at 3:31AM on 07/18/07
Nothing beats Tampopo!
beano at 6:23AM on 07/18/07
Tampopo FTW!
I'm also interested in seeing Killing Flies. I heard that's a good one too.
JadedOne at 12:57PM on 07/18/07
Marie Antoinette.
kaethend at 12:57PM on 07/18/07
Eat, Drink, Man, Woman followed by Woman on Top
sassysprite at 1:26PM on 07/19/07
Big Night
Babette's Feast
Tampopo
klg19 at 2:23PM on 07/19/07
Dinner Rush with Danny Aiello.
mhegge at 2:29PM on 07/19/07
Delicatessen ;-)
Stufsocker at 4:19PM on 07/19/07
The cooking-serving-eating scene from The Birdcage. The "peasant soup" is just hilarious, as well as Agador Spartacus (Hank Azaria).
Edithia at 2:02PM on 07/20/07
Eat drink man woman /Tortilla soup
Ratatouille
Veron at 4:31PM on 07/20/07
So many of my favorites have already been posted, so I have to cast my vote for "My Dinner with Andre," even though it's more about "food for thought" and eating, than food. The first time I saw it, though, at least 25 years ago, I still remember eating the most heavenly baklava that friends and I smuggled into the theater!
JBrit at 11:35AM on 07/21/07
Babette's Feast and Ratatouille capture the rapture of truly great food as no other movies do.
Tom Steele at 12:31PM on 07/21/07
Tampopo hands down. Last week I was eating raw oysters in Midcoastal Maine and couldn't help being reminded of the scene where the yakuza guy's lovers cuts her lip. Though I'm partial to the scene in The Godfather where Clemenza teaches the boys how to make gravy. Then of course there's Hamburger America ....
Joey Deckle at 8:26PM on 07/21/07
Like Water for Chocolate all the way...
sheri at 12:59PM on 07/22/07
I'm looking for good food movies with "dining etiquette scenes." There's a good one in Princess Diaries. Another one in "A League of their Own" featuring Rosie O'Donnell downing cookies. Can anyone think of other movies featuring funny dining etiquette scenes?
danica at 2:56PM on 07/22/07
Thanks for the topic! Here's a few of my favorites that aren't already listed...
Mostly Martha is a wonderful German film, currently being remade under different name as an American film. It is a great story about a female chef and her journey toward becoming more human.
Facing Windows is a favorite foreign film that has a breathtaking pastry scene!
I like Killing Flies is a fun (and crass) documentary about a diner owner/incredible cook in NYC.
Box of Moonlight is a fun little film with a great cookies-as-cereal scene, but not really about food.
audigraph at 5:58PM on 07/22/07
That Penelope Cruz flick -- Woman on Top. Talk about sexy food.
SLOLindsay at 9:36PM on 07/22/07
Vatel
Vanessa at 10:53PM on 07/22/07
Eat Drink Man Woman/Tortilla Soup
The Big Night
Babette's Feast
Tom Jones
Chocolat
and Twister-- although not specifically about food, the steak and eggs scene was wonderful
Pookha at 1:02AM on 07/23/07
CHARLIE and THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY!
johnny depp is hot and the original is amazing.
:)
rubyjnkie at 4:47PM on 07/23/07
Someone has already mentioned it, but the German film mostly Martha is sooo wonderful! I love the beginning of the film, when she is describing how it isn't complicated dishes that are difficult to make, but simple ones. How poached salmon with Basil sauce is almost impossible - there is nothing to hide behind. I don't even like cooked salmon and I wanted to eat it!
B
Hand to Mouth
Making Stock of the Situation
A blog for penniless gourmets
handtomouth at 5:28PM on 07/23/07
Danica--the ultimate scene in dining etiquette, in my opinion, is Leslie Caron learning how to eat an ortolan in "Gigi."
klg19 at 6:19PM on 07/23/07
Tampopo - all the way.
Babette's Feast a close second.
pickle at 8:28PM on 07/23/07
All great movies ... but my all-time fav food film was a TV ad for Polly-O cheese. It was just two hands seen from above, making manicotti. It was a fabulous film of an expert chef making pasta and then ended with them brushing the flour off of their hands. Short but memorable. Wish I could find a copy of it.
jumpygrouch at 9:32AM on 07/25/07