Pulp Fiction (1994)
a couple of weeks ago my lovely friend Alison brought me to dinner. we went to an AMAZING restaurant she knows and loves called Bistro Seven Seven in Alliston, Ontario. OMG. so. good.
all the food is fresh and homemade and the ingredients are organic and local and the whole experience was delicious. we got a beautiful carmenère from Chile, and since it's like a proper restaurant (and the servers are PROFESSIONAL, like totally on the ball), of course they decanted our bottle. it was f-cking divine. then for appetizers we had this goat cheese thing served in little ceramic spoons that made me moan, like, i MOANED, and then this crispy little fish ball that made me happy. then we split the gourmet poutine. then for my entree i had the gnocchi with sundried tomato sauce, and wild boar bacon.
:b... (that's me drooling)
and then the chef (who my lovely friend knows) made us spoonfuls of this buttery fresh peanut butter fudge. and our waiter (who happened to also be very cute!) made me a wonderful espresso machiatto. it was the perfect cherry on my fudge.
as i was lying in bed last night, i started to relive that dinner, and then my mind started to wander and i began to think about movies i love that i associate with food.
1. Goodfellas (1990)
there are SO many great eating and cooking scenes in this movie. like when they kill Billy Batts and they go to Tommy's mom's house (played by Scorsese's REAL mom) and they're having dinner at 3 am (see the clock?). or the dinner scene in prison, how Pauly Cicero (played by Paul Sorvino) is slicing that garlic with the razor blade... the look of concentration on his face is priceless. i also like how he yells at the old man to not put too many onions in the sauce - i hate that, too! then when Henry's having that f-cker of a helicopter day and he's gonna have that family dinner? how he keeps yelling at his little brother to keep stirring the sauce so that it won't stick? and how he talks about the beautiful veal cutlets that are cut just right? or when Karen goes to visit Henry in jail and she smuggles in a SALAMI?
c'mon. apart from being the best mob movie - outside of The Godfather(s) - it's the best mob-food movie ever, too.
2. Big Night (1996)
i love this movie so much. and it's ALL FOOD. italian food. goood italian food. it's probably the first movie i think of if i think about food (which i do pretty often).
brothers Primo (Stanley Tucci) and Secondo (Tony Shalhoub - who's a dead ringer for the Soup Nazi in this!) are two brothers from Italy who have opened an Italian restaurant in the States. Primo is a brilliant chef with a temper - don't you DARE order meatballs "on the side"! the final dinner, the brothers' "big night" is just incredible. years ago, after watching this film in the theatre, i slaved to make a timpano.
it was delicious.
3. Jaws (1975)
we're gonna need a bigger blog.
seriously? do i need to explain this connection?
HE EATS.
but this fish is misunderstood. a lot of people think that Jaws is a hungry alpha predator with 300 serrated teeth made to rip apart and eat Richard Dreyfuss, the drunk sailor man, most of Rhode Island, and that boat, but really... Jaws is just a toothy grin that makes me smile.
when me and my brother (hi bro, love you!) were kids, my dad would often bring us to the public library. my brother would disappear, my dad would go straight to those orange chairs to take a nap, and i'd go straight to the shark books.
and i would sniff (not read) the shark books, CONVINCED those pages smelled like sharks.
so, if you wanna smell a shark, seriously, go to the library, go to the shark section, choose a book on the shelf with glossy shark pictures, and sniff a shark. i promise you it will smell like a shark.
4. Delicatessen (1991)
this little french amuse-bouche is really quirky and cool. it's a post apocalyptic romance with a lot on the menu.
the apartment is super cool. and ahhh, that butcher meat...
the film is dark, and strange, and odd, and funny, and hillarious - especially the failed suicide attempt lady - she's my favourite.
5. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
"Applebee's has rats! I found a whole rat in my Cobb salad!"
the scenes of food in this movie are epic. hilarious. so funny they make me cry. the scene when Ricky Bobby meets Jean Girard for the first time is all about food and intimidation. Cal (i LOVE John C. Reilly - crush!) and Ricky start naming off all good things "American" - "Chinese food, pizza, chimichangas..."
but it's here where Bobby's foolish pride and his refusal to admit that he loves "really thin pancakes" that is the trigger for the entire story arc of this film.
the best saying of grace in a movie ever...
p.s. shake and bake!
6. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
did you ever realize how food is a central theme in this movie? it's EVERYWHERE! proof is in the pudding, so to speak - just watch the intro again - it's a montage of all these colourful foods (all of the dishes actually appear in the movie!).
and the tater tots in his pockets! and then that stupid bully kicks Napoleon in the pocket and squished his tots. what a jerk.
i also love how Napoleon feeds his grandmother's llama, Tina. chucking heaping spoonfuls of casserole at her: "TINA!!! You fat lard, come get some dinner!"
why is that, like, SO FUNNY?
or when uncle Rico throws Kip's steak at Napoleon's head while he's riding his bike? classic.
and how they pronounce the word quesadilla - kay-suh-dill-uh!
but it's also sad when Napoleon goes to work at that chicken coop to earn some cash (a handful of nickles!) and all he is offered to eat on his break are egg sandwiches and that funky jar of hard-boiled eggs. gross.
and at the fair... when we see Napoleon's sophisticated palate when he's competing in the milk-tasting competition... i mean, it's just... please.
Napoleon: [drinks first glass] The defect in that one is bleach.
Judge: That's right.
Napoleon: Yessssssssss. [drinks second glass] This tastes like the cow got into an onion patch.
Judge: Correct.
Napoleon: Yessssssssss.
Napoleon: Yessssssssss.
7. National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985)
"Do you want to go scarf some grimace proportions?”
has there EVER been a better pick-up line in an 80s movie?
please, Moon Unit Zappa was ready to wrap her lips around more than Rusty's gelato right there.
this is one of the funniest movies ever. period.
my brother and i have seen it so many times over the last 26 years... we know it by heart. it's a real happy place. so nostalgic to watch, especially because we were two ungrateful kids dragged around Europe by our parents in a desperate attempt to "give us culture..."
the "fountains" scene in Rome? how the kids are "all fountain-ed out"? YES!
so my brother and i can totally relate to Audrey (Dana Hill) as well as the unsung STAR of this film, Rusty "The European Tour" Griswold (played by the gassy-smiling Jason Lively). pure awesomeness.
LOVE HIM SO MUCH.
*sidenote: by far, Dana and Jason are the best Audrey and Rusty in any of the Vacation movies.
every scene in this movie has either a great line, and/or a great small detail...and not the least of which are the food scenes.
like the bbq scene at the beginning - with the lighter fluid gag. how Audrey won't eat, but will suck the face off her boyfriend Jack. ahh, young pervy love.
or when they're in France and Audrey and Rusty are desperate to watch anything on TV: "Whaddaya wanna watch, cheese or snow?" (SNORT. oh, i've sooo been there.)
i love how the family's treated in Paris by that great asshole waiter. such a funny stereotype movie...
or when Audrey's dreaming about eating all that food and ballooning up like Augustus Gloop! tee hee.
or when the English innkeeper discovers a sandwich between the pages of the hotel registry - and takes a bite!
or my favourite, how when Audrey sees that swollen, mouth-watering sausage in Germany, she sighs, "God, I miss Jack..."
!
it's so important to love this movie. i won't date anyone who doesn't. hmm, i really should make it a first date deal-breaker question...
8. Pulp Fiction (1994)
out of respect for Tarantino - it's all about the dialogue...
royale with cheese
big kahuna burger
that's a pretty f-cking good milkshake. i don't know if it's worth five dollars but it's pretty f-cking good.
hamburgers! the cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast.
i don't need you to tell me how f-cking good my coffee is, okay? i'm the one who buys it. i know how good it is. when Bonnie goes shopping she buys SHIT. i buy the gourmet expensive stuff because when i drink it, i want to taste it.
le big mac
why not? nobody ever robs restaurants. bars, liquor stores, gas stations... you get your head blown off sticking up one of them. restaurants on the other hand, you catch with their pants down. they're not expecting to get robbed.
garçon! coffee!
bacon tastes gooood. pork chops taste gooood.
hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I'd never know 'cause I wouldn't eat the filthy motherf-cker. pigs sleep and root in sh-t. that's a filthy animal. i ain't eat nothin' that ain't got sense enough to disregard its own feces.
eatin' a bitch out, and givin' a bitch a foot massage ain't even the same f-ckin' thing.
...
thank you, Quentin.
9. The Great Outdoors (1988)
classic Candy.
and Dan Aykroyd as Roman (Chet's brother-in-law) is the perfect antagonist.
and with John Candy in the movie, of course they're gonna be a ton of great food gags.
"lips and assholes!"
but the best food scene of all time?
is the ol' 96'er.
the scene is legendary. and i don't think i've EVER eaten a steak without thinking about it... but it's Roman's line at the end of it that's really the cherry on top... (click here to view, you must if you've never seen - click back, as link will open in this page): http://movieclips.com/LQNG-the-great-outdoors-movie-the-old-96er/
nb. see the kids wearing the hats? awesome.
10. Hannibal (2001)
i don't think this movie makes me very hungry, per se, but i do love the scenes when Dr. Lecter goes shopping for the fancy dinner party.
and i loooove the dress he buys Clarice to wear and the Gucci shoes. no question Dr. Lecter has exquisite taste...
especially when he gives Paul (Ray Liotta) a piece of his mind...
food for thought.
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