Top 20 Food and Drink Films on DVD
Enjoy Dinner and a Movie at Home with the Help of These Tasty Flicks
Apr 7, 2009
More and more people today acknowledge cooking as one of the creative arts. Same goes for cinema. So why not combine the two by planning an evening at home starting with a meal inspired by one of the following movies, followed by a showing of the film itself? Look for everything on this admittedly arbitrary list at the local video store or on Netflix.
Babette’s Feast (1988). In this adaptation of an Isak Dinesen story, French maid Stéphane Audran comes into a fortune and cooks a spectacular farewell supper for the two stern Danish sisters who employed her.
Big Night (1996). Stanley Tucci, co-director with Campbell Scott, stars as the ambitious co-owner with brother/chef Tony Shalhoub of a New Jersey Italian restaurant planning a gala meal for an anticipated visit by jazz legend Louis Prima.
“Sometimes, spaghetti just likes to be alone.”
—screenplay by Joseph Tropiano and Stanley Tucci
Chocolat (2001). Chocolatier Juliette Binoche shakes up the residents of a provincial 1950s French town, including Lena Olin, Johnny Depp, Judi Dench, Alfred Molina, and Carrie-Anne Moss.
Diner (1982). Steve Guttenberg, Daniel Stern, Mickey Rourke, Kevin Bacon, Timothy Daly, and Paul Reiser come of age in 1950s Baltimore diner.
Eat Drink Man Woman (1994). Ang Lee explores the lives and loves of a present-day Taipei master chef and his three unmarried daughters.
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991). Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Mary Louise Parker bring to life author Fannie Flagg’s offbeat tale of friendship, love, and Southern cooking.
“Secret’s in the sauce…or so I’ve been told.”
—screenplay by Fannie Flagg and Carol Sobieski
God of Cookery (1996). An hilarious Hong Kong action movie about a famous chef, Stephen Chow, who falls disastrously down on his luck.
La Grande Bouffe (1973). Not for delicate sensibilities, this French film features Marcello Mastroianni, Ugo Tognazzi, Michel Piccoli, and Philippe Noiret as four friends who decide to eat themselves to death, along with other indulgences.
Life is Sweet (1991). In a story improvised by its cast—including Jim Broadbent and Alison Steadman—and director Mike Leigh, the action spins around a chaotic restaurant run by Timothy Spall.
Like Water for Chocolate (1993). The enchanting screen adaptation of Mexican author Laura Esquivel’s magical, passionate novel linking love and food.
Moonstruck (1987). Italian-American widow Cher falls for one-handed baker Nicolas Cage.
“They say bread is life. So I bake bread, bread, bread. And the years go by! By, by!”
—screenplay by John Patrick Shanley
Mostly Martha (2001). An independent young German chef copes with her sister’s death and her grieving niece while falling for an Italian chef.
Mystic Pizza (1988). A family-run pizzeria in Mystic, Connecticut, is the focal point for the love stories of sisters played by Annabeth Gish, Lili Taylor, and Julia Roberts.
“Do you think we’ll get that pizza served while it’s still hot?”
—screenplay/story by Amy Holden Jones, Peter Howze, Randy Howze, and Alfred Uhry
Ratatouille (2007). A gourmet rat from the provinces finds Parisian culinary fame in this Disney Pixar animated film.
“If you are what you eat, then I only want to eat the good stuff.”
—from the screenplay/story by Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava, and Jim Capobianco
Tampopo (1987). An offbeat contemporary Japanese look at the pleasures of food, centered on a sweet widow who runs a struggling Tokyo noodle shop and her ramen-loving truck driver mentor.
Tom Jones (1963). Albert Finney plays the rollicking title character, Susannah York his true love, in this adaptation of the Henry Fielding novel set in early-18th-century England, complete with over-the-top eating scenes.
“It is not true that drink alters a man’s character. It may reveal it more fully.”
—screenplay by John Osborne
Tortilla Soup (2001). Hector Elizondo stars as the widower chef and father to three unmarried daughters in this Mexican-American resetting of Eat Drink Man Woman (see above).
“I love toppings. I’ve always loved toppings. Sometimes I got to restaurants and I just ask for toppings. You know, I say, the more toppings the merrier.”
—screenplay by Vera Blasi, Ramon Menendez, and Tom Musca
The Wedding Banquet (1993). Director Ang Lee explores love in modern-day society, set against elaborate preparations for a grand traditional Chinese wedding banquet.
Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978). George Segal and Jacqueline Bisset try to solve the mystery in a romantic comedy adaptation of the novel Someone is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe by Nan and Ivan Lyons.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971). Gene Wilder brings the fabled factory owner to life in this adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s classic. Or go for the 2005 version, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp.
Rent one today and savor the experience! (Want to learn about more great themed films? Check out the Top 20 Romantic Movies on DVD!)
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