Favorite Movies About Food?

[machogazpacho]

Hi'ya Hounds..

A few weeks back I rented the delightful Japanese comedy classic "Tampopo," which, for those of you who haven't seen it, centers on a young widow named Tampopo who is struggling to make ends meet by running a noodle restaurant. One day a passing truck driver (Goro) saves Tampopo's young son from being beaten by a group of school girls and is rewarded with a bowl of very bad ramen. Goro tells Tampopo the awful truth about her cooking and she asks for his help. Together they search for the perfect ramen recipe. Comedy ensues. And very charming comedy it is, too!

Anyway, by the end of the film, I had a hankering for ramen the likes of which I've never had! I absolutely HAD to have it! Fortunately, I live in Los Angeles, and there are quite a few great ramen shops to satiate such a craving.. so off to Asahi I went. Ah, hit the spot all right.

But it got me to thinking about movies that center on food.. or the preparation or celebration of food.. And I came up with a small handful that I've seen that I think are lovely films.. films that beautifully or artfully capture the magic of cooking, eating, and celebrating. Films that make you hungry!

So here's my short list of faves:
(in no particular order)

1) Tampopo
2) Big Night
3) Like Water for Chocolate

Hit reply and share your faves!

[Janet]

I love Big Night.

Two other movies that made me hungry were Under the Tuscan Sun (though the book made me more hungry) and Big Fat Greek Wedding.

[Ray]

Fatso

[Fida]

"Babette's Feast." Superlative movie with or without food.

"Eat Drink Man Woman" would probably be my runner up.

[curiousbaker]

I'll second Babette's Feast. Also, I sound seconds for Tampopo, Eat Drink Man Woman, and Big Night.

But I'll also throw in a thumbs down for Mostly Martha - a tedious pile of cliches masquerading as a film. I had heard for ages how much I would like this movie, "because you love food." I happen to love good writing, too, however, so this one is right out. The food looked good, though. (Damn, someone is going to call me out for being too harsh. That someone is no doubt right. But have you every watched a movie that included all your most hated cliches, the ones that really push your buttons, so that you hate it out of all proportion? That's how I feel about this movie. Just ignore me.)

For some reason, all the talk of cannoli in the Godfather movies always gets me hungry.

[JanR]

I didn't like Mostly Martha either. It was recommended by a friend. I found it boring.

[pierrot]

Which version did you see? There were two- I really liked to the original, which i think was german.

I have not seen the one with catherine zeta jones- remakes are never very good.

[grantham]

I enjoyed Mostly Martha immensely! I was sorry I watched the remake with Catherine Zeta Jones. Can't recall the name of it now.

[Will Owen]

Second on Babette's Feast - my idea of heaven would be a DVD of that with a huge file of outtakes from the cooking scenes...OY!! And I have determined that I will serve family and friends Caille en Sarcophage one of these days. Probably sometime after I've gotten really cool with brioche...

Big Night is the other great one. Did anyone EVER come up with the definitive recipe for that incredible pie-like concoction?

[JK Grence (the Cosmic Jester)]

Stanley Tucci's (the producer and star of Big Night) mom and his food coach got together and wrote a cookbook called "Cucina & Famiglia". The timpano recipe is in there, I have made it, and it is every bit as fabulous as it looks.

[hbgrrl]

My vote goes to 'Big Night' too.

The scene with the lay ordering the risotto and then sending it back is among my favorites.

[snackish]

I gotta go with Babette's Feast, with Tampopo, Like Water for Chocolate and Eat Drink Man Woman also making the list.

I love the story line in Babette's Feast - a meal made with care can work magic.

In Big Night, the scene where they are arguing in the kitchen and the one brother makes eggs for the other is so perfect - he moves with such assurance in the kitchen, like he has done it 1000 times before.

[hhlodesign]

The final scene in Big Night is my favorite scene in all of film. You'll notice that the scene is one long unbroken shot. There is also not a single word of dialogue spoken. Yet it conveys such warmth. Truely a great scene!

[hungry_pangolin]

I made a timpano once, for the other-pangolin-du-jour and me, four or five layers, each different. I couldn't believe that the thing held together. I was so pleased that I called up my sister after dinner and left her a drunken voice mail screaming "I'm a fucking guy!"(Re: the Ian Holm line). I wouldn't call mine definitive, but it's more interesting than most published recipes that I've seen, which seem to rely solely on things like meatballs, sausage meat, and penne (WTF?!?) as the fillings.

[Adrian]

I love Like Water For Chocolate (book and movie). I'd love to do one of those things where they make all the food from the movie, like they do with Big Night.

[SweetPea914]

I agree, Like Water For Chocolate was such a great movie!

[Pablo]

No particular order:
Eating Raoul
The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

[Fida]

Ha! I love your inclusion of "Eating Raoul"!

[grantham]

I accidentally rented "Eating Raoul" years ago when I actually intended to rent "My Dinner with Andre." Quite the surprise. What a disappointment!

[Peter]

Eat Drink Man Woman.
Fast Food Nation.

[designerboy01]

Just a note, I don't think that is Taiwanese food that they are cooking in the film.

[Gary Soup]

Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe
Dumplings: Three....extremes
Hainan Chicken Rice (a.k.a. Rice Rhapsody)

Link: http://eatingchinese.org

[chef chicklet]

Thanks for the ineresting link Gary Soup! I will enjoy this a lot!

[2chez mike]

Any film with The Three Stooges involving food.

[Laughing Goddess]

YES!!! The one where Curly has a fight with an oyster in his stew is priceless...

Link: http://www.stoogeworld.com/_Videograp...

[chris o]

I encourage all lovers of Sushi, particularly octopus, to check out the Korean film Old Boy.

[bryan]

I love Old Boy. Almost got sick of potstickers just watching it.

[Tracy L.]

Mostly Martha, Dinner Rush and Pieces of April.

[Man]

9 1/2 weeks.

[Arlene]

Supersize Me

[mr pc]

Last Tango In Paris. I will never look at butter in the same way again.

One problem with Tampopo is that it uses Japanese negative stereotypes of the Chinese in some scenes (dirty and untrustworthy).

Then there's the fat European who relieves everyone's insecurity by eating noisily. See, they're not so polite after all!

[Grace Toy]

Huh, I'm Chinese American, and didn't catch those stereotypes, where were they exactly? Thanks.

[mr pc]

The grubby restaurant where Tampopo tries to get the cook to give up his soup recipe and then the shifty neighbor who leads her into his overloaded shop where she's terrified until he shows her the peephole. Common Japanese views about Chinese and Koreans as well.

[LT from LF]

OK. Not a movie about food, really, but a great bit: French Connection 2, where Popeye Doyle has been kidnapped, addicted to heroin, and left for dead (or at least left as a "message"--one gets the idea that his good health or survival is not particularly a concern) and found by the French police chief he has been working with. They are combing Marseilles in a boat, trying to trace where Popeye was being held. On shore an attractive woman is strolling along, eating a double ice cream cone. Popeye says: "I'd like some of that." French police chief says, "Are you crazy? A woman right now would kill you!" And Popeye replies, "Not the woman, you fool--what's she's eating!" Cut to: Popeye with his own double cone.

(I also developed a craving for white terrycloth bathrobes from this movie.)

[Polecat]

Didn't Popeye, during withdrawal, start craving a big juicy burger? No? Yes? Am I crazy? Do tell.

[Cristina]

Vatel.

Vatel.

Vatel.

[Kate]

i haven't yet seen tampopo, Big Night, eat drink man woman, so I'm really not in a position to judge! That said, I enjoyed:

What's Cookin' - four cultures cook their Thanksgiving meals in four interweaving stories

Tortilla Soup - A MExican-American retake of eat drink man woman. the cooking scenes involved whole fish, grilled cactus, and other things that made me really hungry.

Did anyone mention Chocolat? Talk about chocolate cravings when I left the cinema...

[BluPlateSpec]

"La Grande Bouffe" with Marcello Mastroianni, Ugo Tognazzi, Michel Piccoli and Philippe Noiret. Your typical gourmets decide to eat themselves to death plot.

[Scagnetti]

'Eat This New York' is an excellent documentary about the restaurant business in NYC. The likes of Drew Nieporent, Daniel Boulud, Ruth Reichl et al make appearances.

'The Joy Luck Club' The ritual surrounding the praise of the Mother's cooking is priceless.

[Nghe]

"Eat, Drink, Man, Woman"
"Dinner Rush"
"Babette Feast"
"Tortilla Soup"
"What's Cooking?"

[himbeer]

This is a fun topic to think about whilst drifting off to sleep, with a full belly.

Coca-Cola Kid; a battle in an Australian area over soda brand supremacy.

Gregory's Girl: the high school chef so passionate about his product.

Mystic Pizza: what is in that sauce?

Diva: this is how to butter a baguette

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore: working in a diner

Baghdad Cafe

Eat a bowl of tea

Sixteen Candles: grandmom cooking breakfast, filling the pan with cigarette ashes

Bobby Deerfield: having a picnic in a field in Italy and then accepting a stranger's offer to go up in his hot air balloon because you can't tie yourself down by not taking chances

And Now My Love: waiter asking if they want right or left chicken leg; don't lie that you take 3 cubes of sugar in coffee

[devil]

Good mentions so far. One more: 91⁄2 Weeks.

[anonforthis2]

Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

[crazycats100]

1. Not a movie but a TV show.
Columbo: Murder Under Glass
Louis Jourdan is a popular chef of a cooking show and a murderer.

2. Not a movie about food but has a memorable scene with food(?).
Charles Chaplin's "The Gold Rush"
Shoes never looked so delicious.

[hhlodesign]

The scene in Goodfellas where they slice the garlic witha razor blade and it melts itno the pan.

The scene in Spanglish where Adam Sandler makes a sandwich that oozes egg yolk when he cuts it. Thomas Keller was food consultant on that film.

[MplsM ary]

A couple others...

Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (the lure of the slider)
What's Up, Tiger Lily? (tenuously food related and funny as all heck!)

My favorite is Big Night. I've watched it a few times and the ending always gets me.

[Ladycale]

Wow. This is a tough one. I would have to say at the moment my favorite food movie is Chocolat.

[fryrose]

What the heck, I will weigh in since this thread is active. It is so nice to interact with other people who have heard of Tampopo. I think my favorite experience of seeing a food movie goes to Chocolat--the theatre I went to had ushers at every showing who gave a piece of chocolate to every person leaving the theatre! Definitely needed at that point!

[wrathofcannes]

9 1/2 weeks. No contest.

[tastelessfruit]

DUDES.................................!
not a soul has mentioned what is clearly one of the best.
WHO'S KILLING THE GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE?
stars jaquelinne bissert and george segal when both were young.
AN ABSOLUTE MUST SEE!
and i know a few more i might be coaxed into sharing with you all

[pikawicca]

The eating scene from "Tom Jones".

[tastelessfruit]

well, no one has coaxed me! but i can't keep my mouth shut as this is a rather important topic.
RARE BIRDS the eccentric tale of a restaurant in nova scotia with william hurt starring as chef.
i am betting no one will be able to suggest a movie i havent seen.......but i would be delighted to be turned on to something i MAY have missed.

[Brian S]

Here's one you might not have seen. Satantango, by Hungarian director Bela Tarr. Tarr is known for his incredible camerawork. Every shot in a Tarr film is between ten and fifteen minutes long. It may take months to do a single shot. And it's worth it. The camera swoops, glides, and soars. It circles the characters, it moves from scene to scene. It may, as in "Satantango," travel with a herd of cows around a village, or follow the nocturnal peregrinations of an obese agoraphobic drunk who is forced to leave his house because he's run out of booze. Satantango, incidentally, is well over seven hours long, and I wouldn't have cut a minute of it. There is one shot in which a tray of luscious food is precariously balanced during a bar fight. I bet it took lots of takes to film that one, the tray probably dropped at some point during most of the attempts.

[im_nomad]

Yay for Rare Birds.....however this was set in Newfoundland, not Nova Scotia.

[himbeer]

okay i take on the challenge. Strangers in Good Company. bus breaks down. one woman hoards her food. another catches fish with pantyhose.

[tastelessfruit]

kewl! i'll have to investigate. sounds just my speed!
here you go:
EAT YOUR HEART OUT : a group of young hip la friends living harmoniously in a loft until one is chosen to be a television chef and becomes famous.

[himbeer]

cannibal women in the avocado jungle of death. adrienne barbeau, shannon tweed and umm, eating of manly flesh

[Covert Ops]

The pate scene from "War of the Roses". . .woof. :-D

I also love "Big Night" and "Super-Size Me." I tried to watch "Old Boy" one night when I was in bed, but it was so disturbing I had to turn it off (and I'm a Tarantino fan). I'll try watching it again in the daylight to see the parts about sushi. :-P

[himbeer]

okay i'm stretching here. victor/victoria trying to get a free meal by letting loose a cockroach.

personal best: getting sick from unwashed fruit in mexico?

[himbeer]

joe cocker's you can leave your hat on from 9 1/2 weeks is storming my mind

[AquaW]

I love "Like Water for Chocolate" (though the movie downplayed the food aspects, in comparison to the novel) -- also liked Supersize-Me, though that's a food movie of a whole other league.

[Brian S]

I've noticed a heartening trend of late. Cooking has been used by films, even mainstream Hollywood blockbusters, as a synecdoche for artistic creativity, or even a metaphor for the infinite variety of the human soul. Like Water for Chocolate is a good example. And dumbing down the recipe, selling out to a chain, then is used to symbolize selling one's soul. First Night uses something like that to symbolize the struggle between good and evil. (Though the bad guy's sellout restaurant looked like a fun place to be.) In Sideways, the main character is basically a chowhound, of the wine variety, and it is that facet of his character, always at war with the selfish-pig aspect, that gets the girl. Eat Drink Man Woman uses food as the battleground (and ultimately the bridge) between generations. So did Dinner Rush. Jet Lag, a French movie, does that too, with a twist. The son, who has gone to New York to run a frozen food company, returns to Brittany to cook in his father's 3-star restaurant. In Woman on Top, which itself is a dumbed-down, but likeable, version of LIke Water for Chocolate, the main character realizes the man she thought she loved is the wrong man for her when he suggests that she substitute canned for fresh peppers in her favorite recipe. You've gotta love a film like that!

There's a similar thread, also on this board.
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

[davinagr]

Tortilla Soup
Chocolat
Crossing Delancey (The Barrels of Pickles!!!)
Harold and Kumar

Robert Rodriguez' "Once upon A Time in Mexico" wasn't about food, but there was a bit in there about PUERO PIBIL. Turns out that the dvd has his mom's DELICIOUS recipe for it.