Foodie Movies

Movies provide us a great escape, but they can also inform and inspire.  Specifically, I love the way art, movies and books can inspire people to cook and eat.  When I think of movies featuring food and eating, these are the first ones that come to mind.

Big Night – I loooooove this movie.  It is filled with such anticipation of a Big event, all of it revolving around one amazing dish, Timbale.  This movie will make you dance, sing and plan a meal….and love your brother.

 Chocolat – Any time there’s a discussion of movies that are surprisingly sexy or delicious to watch, this is on the tip of peoples’ tongues.  The sensuousness, the accents, the chocolat…wow.  This is a movie to see only with someone with whom you are very, very close – or wish to be.

 

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory – As foodies sometimes we need to remember the simple love of eating, the child-like joy.  Sing Candyman and I dare to get snobby about fair-trade, organically shade grown 73% cacao chocolate.  Just enjoy it!  And since it inevitably comes up…the old one with Gene Wilder! 

 Delicatessen – Weird, clever, intriguing and disturbing, but creepily hilarious and it all centers around a butcher who will remind you of Sweeney Todd. 

Babette's Feast – Imagine Big Night set in 19^th century Denmark.  Imagine the power food can have to shake up the most austere.  This movie is slow, gentle, and somewhat bleak…until the food changes everything.

 Food, Inc. – A must-see documentary.  Imagine the effort many of us put into selecting a toaster or a car.  Why do so many of us not make an effort to know about our food?  I have heard many say, “I don’t want to know.”  You don’t want to know what you put inside your body?  This film is sure to disturb and provoke.  Watch it.

King Corn – This doc is clever, funny, and wonderfully thought-provoking.  I think it got virtually no hype outside the documentary film festival crowd (and how big is that population?), but it is quite well-done with a simple idea.  It will make you think, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Super Size Me – This is arguably the movie that brought food consciousness to the masses.  It is based on a crazy stunt that proves incredibly dangerous – eating nothing but McDonald’s for a month.  Of course, nobody would actually do this, but if you consider the impact, why would anyone eat fast food with any regularity?  You will find this entertaining and scary.

What are your favorite food movies?