PA Eats staff had lunch recently and the subject of favorite foodie films was thrown out on the table. Over an enjoyable meal, we recalled several movies set around… enjoyable meals, and other films where food and drink becomes a key ingredient in the story. Here’s the list we hashed out over lunch. We did not include documentaries, because that will be a whole list unto itself, and probably will be soon! Here’s a list of our favorite foodie films. Is yours on the list?
Julie and Julia
This foodie favorite focuses on a food blogger’s obsession with cooking every recipe in Julia Child’s classic cookbook, but also weaves in the story of Julia Child’s trials and tribulations along the path to greatness. Meryl Streep is simply awesome as the Grand Dame of French cooking. This was also Nora Ephron’s last project before her death. — Jim Breslin
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
I absolutely love the 1971 version… Gene Wilder is brilliantly eccentric, and the film is full of fun one-liners, like “Invention, my dear friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple.” Not sure what I made of this as a kid… “Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker.” And what foodie doesn’t dream of a room where “almost everything you’ll see is eatable, edible. I mean, you can eat almost everything.” — Jason Tremblay
Sideways
Wine, friendship and food. This Alexander Payne movie is uproariously funny and moving. Paul Giamatti plays Miles, a wine-loving writer who takes his friend (Thomas Haden Church) for a week long bachelors’ trip to wine country. Look for the scene where Miles, in describing why he loves Pinot, reveals his own nature. There’s also the classic line where he yells, “No, I’m not drinking merlot. If anyone orders Merlot, I’m leaving. I am not drinking any #%*^ Merlot!” — Jim Breslin
Waitress
Holding pie on a pedestal since 1985, I’m a sucker for watching—and rewatching—this 2007 diner-themed release, a film that recharges my creative juices for future pie-making sessions. As the main character (Jenna, played by Keri Russell) hardships may not be something to write home about, she takes to emotional baking to ease her through it—and frankly, who doesn’t need a therapeutic baking session every now and again. My favorite of her pies was the Marshmallow Mermaid Pie, one identified by her love interest as “biblically good.” How sweet. — Amy Strauss
Soylent Green
This dystopian movie has made a resurgence recently and is known as a cult classic for sci-fi fans. Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson star in this dark movie uncovering the source of food which is served to most of the population. The final lines of the movie are classic. “Soylent Green is people!” — Jim Breslin
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
I always longed to call Chewandswallow my home, the town from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. When my favorite childhood book was made a movie in 2009 I was right in line with hundreds of 8 to 10 year olds for the first showing. I “oooo’ed” at the spaghetti tornadoes and “ahhed” at the giant falling donuts. A world of food is perfect for any age. — Angela Corrado
Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
This ridiculous comedy is about stoners in pursuit of fast food, and it is a classic. After getting high, Harold and Kumar come to the conclusion only one place can satisfy their hunger, and they spend the entire night on a quest to satisfy their craving. Along the way, they pick up a tripping, foul mouthed hitchhiker named Neil Patrick Harris, played by Neil Patrick Harris, who is downright hilariously rude. The escapades continue until daybreak, when they literally see the light. — Jim Breslin
Ratatouille
Another classic for the kids. Pixar’s animated film follows the culinary adventures of a young rat obsessed with French cooking. Shannon Smith chose this as a favorite, supplying this exchange:
Gusteau: What are you doing?!
Rémy: I’m hungry! I don’t know where I am, I don’t know when I’ll find food again!
Gusteau: Rémy, you are better than that. You are a cook! A cook makes. A thief takes. You’re not a thief.
Rémy: But I am hungry.
Gusteau: Rémy, food will come. Food always comes to those who love to cook.
Babette’s Feast
A low key but memorable celebration of food that won best Best Foreign Language Oscar when it came out in 1987. “I remember watching this in the theatre. The final scene is quite moving when everyone in the village comes out for the feast – and it reminded me of the ending of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. I leaned into my date and whispered, ‘it’s Whoville.’ She didn’t understand, and repeated rather loudly, ‘Whoville?’ It was quite funny and embarrassing.” — Jim Breslin
Amélie
J’adore this award-winning movie about an imaginative and shy waitress, living in Montmartre who finds love while bettering the lives of those around her. Every second of this film is crushworthy but I especially dig the many culinary references and brilliant narratives describing each quirky character. Vibrant, artistic shots showcase relatable moments like a young Amelie playfully eating bright raspberries perched upon each of her fingertips. We later learn that as an adult “…she cultivates a taste for small pleasures: dipping her hand into sacks of grain, cracking creme brulee with a teaspoon and skipping stones at St. Martin’s canal.” She frequents her local produce stand, makes witty, comments like “…you’ll never be a vegetable — even artichokes have hearts” and performs random acts of kindness like assisting a blind man cross the street while recapping the happenings in their Parisian neighborhood. She allows him to see through her eyes telling him “… that’s the florist laughing. He has crinkly eyes. In the bakery window, lollipops. Smell that? They’re giving out melon slices! Sugarplum ice cream! We’re passing the park butcher. Ham, 79 francs. Spareribs, 45! Now the cheese shop… A baby’s watching a dog that’s watching the chickens. Now we’re at the kiosk by the metro. I’ll leave you here. Bye!” French foods, romance and a dash of charming awkwardness — my, oh, my, I just want to eat up each and every subtitle in this adorably delicious flick. — Mary Bigham
Our wildcard pick below, coming in at eleven!
Elf
Okay, so this isn’t technically a foodie movie, but Dish’s Shannon Smith reminded us of how the food scenes in this classic make this comedy even sweeter during the holidays. Shannon noted the scene where Elf creates spaghetti and syrup.
Emily: You sure like sugar, huh?
Buddy: Is there sugar in syrup?
Emily: Yes.
Buddy: Then YES! We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup.
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