I enjoy food/dining related films and somehow I missed ‘Burnt’ when it first came out. Finally caught it on Showtime and it made for good viewing on a frosty night. Actor Bradley Cooper plays a bad boy chef trying to make a comeback. Marvelous food prep scenes. Emotionally exploding chefs. The movie goes down with such personal favorites as: Big Night, Chocolate, Babette’s Feast, Julia, Jon Favreau’s Chef, and the animated Ratatouille…
What have been your favorite movies revolving around the culinary?
“Eat Drink, Man Woman”
“Today’s Special”
“Chef” was one of the better movies I’ve seen revolving around food. “The 100 Foot Journey” was cheesy in terms of plot, but wonderful in terms of food.
I’m struggling to recall the title of a movie surrounding the delivery of lunches in India and the effect on a married woman/single man. It was fascinating (and not so cheesy).
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My Top 5:
Tampopo
Eat Drink Man Woman
Babbette’s Feast
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Big Night
My vote for the worst food-based movie ever:
Simply Irrestible. Absolutely horrible.
The film is called “The Lunchbox.”
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“Babette’s Feast” has a permanent spot on my DVR. I am one of the few people I know who just does not care for “Big Night”.
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“The Lunchbox”! That’s it. I only saw it once when t was at the local theater, but I think I’ll have to DVR-hunt it and watch again.
I think I especially identify with the cooking-related stress in Big Night.
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I didn’t love Big Night, I think it was the soundtrack but it’s been a while.
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That’s 'The Lunch Box". It was good I thought.
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Eh - I thought Burnt was kinda tedious & predictable and I didn’t want to eat any of the food. I liked Chef & The Hundred Foot Journey better. How about “Who’s Killing The Great Chefs Of Europe”? I’d cook with Jaqueline Bisset any day…
I loved Big Night . The two brothers from Abruzzo to lay claim to their riches promised in America,. opening a restaurant . Staneley Tucci plays a great part as the business man . His brother , I don’t remember the actors name plans to keep the tradition alive in his cooking . Customers don’t understand the food while across the street there is a successful non traditional red sauce Italian / American restaurant that is booming . Some romance with Minnie Driver , the timbali , family quarrels . End the end they … Not going to spoil it
This article perfectly encapsulated all the reasons I hated Burnt. And I thought it was just me. 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/middlebrow-bradley-cooper-burnt_us_561662ffe4b0e66ad4c68509
“There’s no chance a movie like this with a woman or minority as its protagonist would survive past likability testing.”
P.S. I’ve always loved Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
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I like your list, haven’t seen Eat Drink Man Woman though. Tampopo is my favorite movie related to food, and one of my favorite movies period. The main ramen shop plot, as well as the little vignettes scattered throughout the movie about food and our relationship with it, are very funny. There was a restored version of the film in theaters recently.
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Kim, what you call cheesy I simply call a full blown double love affair. The 100 Foot Journey was a fine film, beautifully executed…
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I unfortunately missed the return. We are going to try to show it to a big ramen fan this weekend.
Though the cooking in Eat Drink Man Woman is done by an actual chef in faceless shots rather than an actor pretending to cook, the shots are wonderful. We saw it again a few weeks ago on an HDTV and were blown away. Don’t watch it hungry.
We were lucky enough to see a screening of Willie Wonka accompanied by Veruca Salt (Julie Dawn Cole) and Mike TeeVee (Paris Themmen). They were lovely, especially Ms. Cole. The theater provided bags of candy for everyone, autographed posters and a meet-and-greet. It was a Willie Wonka lover’s dream. Just don’t mention Tim Burton’s remake.
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Without googling, I think the brothers were Primo and Secondo, perfect names for Italian chef brothers. It was Tucci and Tony Shalhoub, whom I thought was particularly terrific. Mark Anthony was their waiter. I never was that interested in actually eating the timbale because I imagine that the pasta would be overcooked, but I can relate to their desire for perfection and the acceptance of their culinary vision.
Tony Shalhoub plays the other brother.
Maybe cheesy was the wrong word . . . predictable? Regardless, I saw it in the theater and at least twice on FiOS since. So apparently “cheesy” or “predictable” don’t adversely affect my enjoyment of a movie 
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