DVDs that
Food Enthusiasts Will Enjoy
Warriors of Virtue (1997)Great “Stir Fry” scene in the restaurant kitchen. An otherwise cute fantasy-save-the-princess movie with a kung-fu kind of feel to it. (Jack: At best a B-movie but with two great kitchen scenes in the first 8-12 minutes. Rent it!)
Mostly Martha (2002)Centers around the obsessed female chef of a restaurant and her niece who comes to live with her. Subtitled. The remake "No Reservations" did not excite us - watch the original.
Eat Drink
Man Woman
(1994)
One of Jack's
favorite food movies - and a classic on the foodie DVD lists.
Big Night (1996)
Not a movie that we love but the big Timbale finale is a must see. It's another favorite foodie movie on the must-see list.
Tortilla Soup (2001)A delightful surprise. A Latino take on Eat Man Drink Woman. We were not expecting this movie to be so endearing. The family story centers around cooking.
Like Water for Chocolate (1993) You'll understand the title after you see the movie - granted there's not alot of cooking in the movie but the story is rooted in the idea of food. A classic foodie fav.
Tampopo (1987) A Japanese noodle western. The plot is to set up the perfect fast-food noodle restaurant (making the perfect bowl of noodles) but there is emphasis throughout on the importance of food.
Chocolat (Miramax Collector's Series) (2001)
A small but great Johnny Depp performance takes this rather odd movie in a good direction. A chocolate maker (Juliette Binoche) comes to town and wreaks playful romantic havoc. Judi Dench also adds solidity to the cast. Quirky but good.
Simply Irresistible (1999)This was a sleeper. Sarah Michelle Gellar in the lead as a cooking witch. Light fun. We rather enjoyed it.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)Joanne wasn’t a big fan of this movie. Still, it has to be included in the food movies list. (Thumbs up from Jack.)
What's Cooking? (2000)Mercedes Ruhl stars in this Thanksgiving food movie looking at 4 Los Angeles families with lots of conflict and skeletons in the closet. Also starring Joan Chen, Julianna Marguiles and Kyra Sedgewick.
Spanglish (2004)Wow, what a surprise food movie! We really enjoyed it’s quirkiness. Adam Sandler is a top chef/restaurant owner. I can almost taste that ill-fated breakfast sandwich.
Jet Lag (2001)A worn-out businessman (who is also a cook) and a beautician on the run meet in a Paris airport and clash - they end up having to share a room. We loved the food scene at the airport. Very surprising - the movie is endearing. An unusual role for Juliette Binoche. Very fun!
The Wedding Banquet (1993)
We found this movie (directed by Ang Lee) to be pretty unwatchable. We never made it to the "food scene" at the wedding banquet.
OUT OF PRINT
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1990) Not for the faint of heart or on standard foodie DVD lists – and there is tons of offensive violence among other turn-offs (including cannibalism) in this movie. But the costumes are gorgeous (Jean-Paul Gaultier) and it’s set in a restaurant - it also stars Helen Mirren. Director Peter Greenaway tends to the bizzare and unpalatable and this movie is classic in that way. The feast finale is not for the queasy - viewer beware. It’s currently out-of-print – but used copies are still around.
Babette's Feast (1988)
The classic foodie movie. Except for the last 30 minutes - we find it a huge snore, but you have to see the feast at least once.
Tales from the Vineyard - First Taste (2000)
Sideways (Widescreen Edition) (2005)
John Cleese’s Wine for the Confused
Slight negatives: Recommends pump-type wine preservation, which I believe does nothing positive (use the refrigerator instead). I would not recommend Riesling from the US.
In the scheme of things, though, these two don’t really count. Also, the wineries visited are all in the Santa Ynez Valley (near Santa Barbara, CA), which is, well, not the place for sauvignon blanc, merlot, cabernet sauvignon and riesling.
The Future of Food (2005)
Super Size Me (2003)
