Fifty Movies for Foodies (Plus My Top Five Favs)
News — By Jessie on October 9, 2009 at 8:44 pm
With the colder weather well on its way up here in the Northeast, The Angry Chef and I will likely be spending more evenings curled up on the couch in front of the tube. (Buttered popcorn and toasty drinks in hand.)
We’re more apt to pop in a DVD then channel surf these days, so I thought I’d put together a list of movies where food plays a starring role. I wasn’t sure how many I’d find. Turns out, I came up with 50.
Before we get to the big list, here are five that are near and dear to my heart.
The Hungry Mouse’s top five food movies
1. Eat Drink Man Woman
I know, it’s on the top of so many food-movie lists. But there’s a reason. So many folks I know just love this one.
Directed by Ang Lee, the movie tells the tale of a master chef, his three daughters, and their love lives. The scenes with his kitchen in Taipei and the family’s elaborate Sunday dinner ritual are absolutely enchanting.
I first saw it at a little indie theater years ago, and it’s still one of my favorite movies today. If I get my way, someday, I’ll have an indoor/outdoor kitchen like old Chu has (not very practical for the weather here in Salem, but a girl can dream).
Here, take a look at what I mean.
A word of warning: It’s subtitled.
2. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
No offense to Johnny Depp, but the 1971 Gene Wilder version of Wonka beats the pants off of the 2005 remake.
I grew up with this one—and the magical Roald Dahl book that inspired the film. Here’s the original trailer.
3. Chocolat
A woman and her daughter open a chocolate shop in a stodgy French village right before Lent—much to the chagrin of the prim and proper townsfolk.
I’m not sure, but I think that this may be when I first got it into my head to grind my own hot chocolate mix from cacao beans.
4. Tampopo
I have three words for you: Japanese Noodle Western. For that phrase alone, you should see this flick if you haven’t. Juzo Itami’s 1985 film has become something of a cult classic.
It’s the story of a widowed noodle chef and her adventures setting up a ramen shop with the help of a truck driver. This one is also subtitled (and full of sex).
Here’s the original trailer. (I couldn’t find it with subtitles, but you’ll get the picture.)
Plus the scene with the noodle master (which does have subtitles):
5. Ratatouille
Last but not least, a movie about a rat who’s a seriously good cook. (For a food movie starring a bona fide mouse, check out the Tale of Despereaux, about a brave little mouse and a kingdom’s epic love of soup.)
Here’s an extended trailer:
50 Movies for Foodies
So that’s my top five list, but there are a ton of great movies that have food—or eating—as a main ingredient. Here are 50.
Some I’ve seen, some are still on my list. They range from comedy to drama, and from chocolate to cannibalism—with just about everything in between.
- Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
- Babette’s Feast
- Bad Taste
- Big Night
- The Chinese Feast
- Chocolat
- Chungking Express
- Comfort and Joy
- The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover
- Delicatessan
- Diner
- Dinner Rush
- Eat Drink Man Woman
- Eating Raoul
- Eat Your Heart Out
- Fast Food Nation
- Fried Green Tomatoes
- God of Cookery
- Heavy
- How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman
- James and the Giant Peach
- The Last Supper (directed by Stacy Title)
- The Last Supper (directed by Osamu Fukutani)
- Le Grande Bouffe
- Like Water for Chocolate
- My Dinner with Andre
- Mostly Martha
- My Big Fat Greek Wedding
- Mystic Pizza
- Nina’s Heavenly Delights
- No Reservations
- The Orange Thief
- The Ramen Girl
- Ratatouille
- Ravenous
- The Scent of Green Papaya
- Soul Food
- Super Size Me
- The Tale of Despereaux
- Tampopo
- Tortilla Soup
- Vatel
- Waiting…
- Waitress
- The Wedding Banquet
- What’s Cooking
- When Do We Eat?
- Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?
- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
- Woman on Top
Oh, and Julie & Julia, of course. 
How about you? What are your favorite food movies?
Leave a comment and let me know! Did I hit them on the list above? Am I missing one?
Oh, and what about your favorite movie scene featuring food?
I can tell you mine, and it’s not from food-themed movie. (Though that opening sequence in Eat Drink Man Woman is close.) It’s the Lady and the Tramp spaghetti scene. Call me a softie, but it’s the truth.
Cheers!
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26 Comments
Not a bad list. I blogged about “A night at the Movies” on my food & wine blog back in July. Give it a look. I left off all the obvious, and my only criteria was a great food scene had to be included.
Me too, me too! I love the spaghetti scene in Lady & the Tramp! And what a great list you’ve compiled. I kept thinking – oh, I’ve got one she missed, and there it was. That happened several times and I finally gave up. Lots to see. (And I love the wino scene in Tampopo.)
OK. Just thought of a couple that are not on your list. Not happy tales, but beautifully told: 1) King Corn and 2) The Future of Food. OH! And how about Julie & Julia??!!
Wheee! Thanks!
And I added Julie & Julia. Glaring sin of omission, and totally unintentional.
+Jessie
The spaghetti scene in Lady and the Tramp is my favorite, too. Though not a movie about food, Moonlight (with Cher & Nicolas Cage) has wonderful shots of toad in a hole – frying an egg in the hole cut out of a piece of bread. Don’t know why I love it, but I do. Quite a few on your list that I haven’t seen. Thanks.
Great list!
My favorite foodie movies (in order of preference) are Tampopo, Vatel, Waitress, Mostly Martha, and Eat Drink Man Woman.
Summarizing 2 of the more obscure choices…
Vatel is a romp through the culinary (and other) excesses of King Louis XIV’s French court and Mostly Martha features (yet another) amazing performance from the star of The Lives of Others.
great list! some of them such as chocolat and ratatouille are my fave movies. I think it’s great that you added some HK and Asian classics =D
Fine list! I was just tweeting about Tampopo, here’s the amazing omelet scene.
Great list, Jessie…I’d add Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands and Tom Jones. Thanks for your entirely enjoyable and useful blog!
great list of movies! I have to check netflix and see if they have “Eat Drink Man Woman” Hurley and I love Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory!
That scene from Lady and The Tramp is just too precious
Awesome list of movies! Eat Drink Man Woman is in my DVD player now. And I worship Chocolat. Maria Antoinette with Kirsten Dunst is another good one – for those scenes with the ‘pretty’ platters of sweets that make me swoon.
I love Tale of Despereaux and Ratatouille. We just watched them in the last couple of months. Then “No Reservations” is good.
What a great idea, Jessie! Another charming film, not so much about food but in which food plays a big role, is a French film from the late sixties, The Two of Us. Absolutely worth tracking down. I tweeted this post, BTW. Thought even more people should know about it.
Babette’s Feast is definitely my favorite – Netflix it for sure if you haven’t seen it! I watched it while taking a gastronomy & communications course and it was a very strong influence on the way I approach food and culture in my writing. All the themes are there – religion, history, culture, cuisine, nostalgia, love and loss… through the medium of food.
How about Like Water for Chocolate? It’s such a beautiful, sensuous movie, focused around food.
Thanks for putting this together!! I’m always racking my brain for foodie movies to watch and can never think of any beyond like 5. Big thanks!
I think Ratatouille is still my favorite so far but I have to start watching some more of these movies on this list!
Kungfu chef , on the top for sure!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR2VkVaDSKY
You really must see Eden, a german film on the seductive art of cooking. Romance, food, it’s all included!
Oh, fabulous! I’ll add it to my list. Thanks so much!
+Jessie
Hello from Russia!
Can I quote a post in your blog with the link to you?
udon is an amazing japanese film (not documentary) on the very topic.
The first scene of Irma La Douce with Shirley McLaine and Jack Lemmon is at Les Halles in Paris and makes you hungry.
The prep work with that cleaver, in the first movie is remarkable! Nice post! My NY Giants are out so there is little interest in this years Super Bowl. I’m going to check this movie out and a couple of others, Ha!