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 19th
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?
