Today is Bastille Day, which is not just a massive jam by awesome Canadian Rock Gods Rush, but it is also French National Day, celebrating the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille in 1789.
While I was hosting radio shows for all those many years, this day also became associated with food. I remember talking about great food, and celebrating cool cuisine with my listeners every year on this day.
The food stuff was so commonplace on July 14th in my radio world, that I often think that this is an actual food holiday, and not the day that actually marks the beginning of The French Revolution (or the beginning of Side 1 of Rush's magnificent album "Caress of Steel").
So, in honor of my belief that Bastille Day is all about food, I have decided to share my list of my five favorite movies about food (or movies with incredible food scenes and mouthwatering moments).
I must preface this by saying that I love food....all kinds of food, from fancy cuisine, to fast casual, to the McRib...I love it all.
I also LOVE to cook, and I actually fancy myself a pretty good chef. Along with my lovely girlfriend Julie, I cook and prepare meals, try brand new recipes, and create art in the kitchen regularly (and I watch A LOT of cooking shows on TV).
So, combining my knowledge of food and film has always been a favorite pastime for me.
Anyway, here are my TOP 5 FOOD MOVIES:
1) BIG NIGHT
In my opinion, the best food movie ever made.
Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott's lovely film is about two immigrant brothers who run a restaurant in New Jersey. The fate and future of this restaurant are suddenly decided upon by a scheduled visit from bandleader Louis Prima. A hilarious, warm, and beautifully acted comedy loaded with wonderful characters and a compelling story. It also has one of the best final shots in film history....and, oh my God, the food.
The special meal prepared by the brothers for Prima is astonishingly gorgeous and mouthwatering, and presented by directors Scott and Tucci with incredible detail (of course, Tucci would go on to immense fame as a food/travel author and television host).
There was a time in the late 90's when you could go to "Brew and View" at The Vic Theater in Chicago, watch "Big Night," and go to the Italian restaurant across the street and have the exact meal you just saw in the movie. Yeah, I did that a few times.
2) GOODFELLAS
Yeah, it's the best mobster movie ever made, and it's about heists, drugs, killing, hits, prison, the mafia...but, the food! I mean, come on!
The movie's real subtext is about how Italian American mob life is forever connected to food. From walking through the kitchen of a nightclub to get to that great stage-side table, to the countless celebrations and holidays that focus on the chow, to laying low at your mom's house (eating) while there is a body in the trunk of your car, to making sure that the gravy gets stirred during a big drug run.....it's all about the food.
I will never forget the first time I saw "Goodfellas." I went with my friend Scott OKen to a press screening, and we were running late, and couldn't stop for a bite before the film, so we were a bit peckish.
By the time the almost three-hour movie was over, we were STARVING.
3) EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN
An early effort from director Ang Lee, this wonderful, funny, heartbreaking comedy/drama about a banquet chef and his three daughters is impossible to watch without getting very, very hungry.
It's loaded with terrific food scenes, and a major plot point that changes the entire perspective of the movie, and makes you really think how horrible it would be if you couldn't appreciate the taste of good food. A lovely film.
4) TAMPOPO
The best movie ever made about noodles is this 1985 Japanese satire about two truck drivers who try to teach a ramen shop owner the real joy of noodles.
It's funny, weird, and original, and if you like noodles, you will adore this movie....did I mention it was weird? Because, it's weird. Really weird. Just wait for the love scene (involving an egg).
5) THE MENU
I know a lot of people weren't crazy about this 2022 mystery/comedy, but I loved it's dark tone and the nasty attitude, and the cast is remarkable.
It's about a group of privileged strangers from different walks of life who travel to a remote island to eat a meal prepared by a decorated chef at an exclusive restaurant.
What the guests don't know, is that the chef has a bone to pick with everyone in the room, and is planning on knocking them off one by one.
It's hilarious, twisted and mean (written by a couple of former Onion writers and directed by one of the main directors of "Succession"), and filled with surprises.
The cast is incredible: Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Judith Light, and a hilarious John Leguizamo (doing his version of Steven Seagal), and it completely rips apart pretentious "foodies" with brutal satirical force.
The food is presented in gorgeous style, and it may just contain the greatest burger scene in the history of film.
Here are some runners up:
"Babette's Feast"
"Like Water for Chocolate"
"Waitress"
"The Trip"
"Phantom Thread"
"Pig"
And, of course, "Harold and Kumr Go to the White House."
Happy Bastille Day...it's a food holiday for me.
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