Silly Subject: Tastiest depiction of food - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

balderdash111 · 11-23-2004, 10:30 AM

This is an exceedingly silly discussion thread, but I was struck by a food-related movie moment the other day and wanted to share.

"Empire of the Sun," the much maligned Spielberg film about an English boy (a young Christian Bale) who is sent to a Japanese concentration camp in WWII, has what I think is among the best "oh my god I want to eat that food" moments I've seen.

The main character is abandoned by his parents (a Spielberg cliche) in Shanghai after the Japanese invasion. After surving in his parents' lavish house for months, he runs out of food and is left roaming the streets of Shanghai trying to survive. There, he is picked up by Joe Pantoliano (spelling?), who takes him to the hidden hideout of John Malcovitch.

When the little boy enters the hideout, the camera cuts to Malcovich frying some plain white rice in frying pan.

So help me, when you see the moment, you would swear that fried white rice is the greatest food on God's green earth. You want to grab handfuls of it and stuff it in your face.

Of course, that is the point. The little boy is starving and the rice looks like heaven to him (and when he gets some, he does indeed shovel it into his face like there is no tomorrow). Speilberg makes it seem more delicious by cranking up the volume on the frying crackle of the rice to make it even more appealing.

My mouth is watering just thinking about that scene.

Anyone else have food moments like this from a film?

(and FYI, no I do not have a food fetish, and no I am not obese. In short, I don't think this reflects a strange obsession with food on my behalf)

shakran · 11-23-2004, 05:09 PM

The only good scene in an otherwise horrible movie: The steak and eggs frying in Twister.

Also, the "Celie cooks breakfast after Mister fucks it up" scene from Color Purple.

Nothin' like good southern cooking.

yellowchef · 11-23-2004, 11:28 PM

mmmmmmmmmm steak n eggs from twister..

mmmm

Derwood · 11-24-2004, 05:39 AM

How good do ice cubes taste after "9 1/2 weeks"?

Nancy · 11-24-2004, 06:33 AM

Food always looks so fucking yummy in cartoon movies - even mushrooms which I hate IRL!

but as far as the tastiest depiction of food in a regular movie goes I dunno at the moment. I'm gonna have to think about that.

Fremen · 11-26-2004, 05:20 PM

Yeah, I always liked the look of those plate-sized steaks in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence".

Architeuthis · 11-27-2004, 04:29 AM

Babettes Feast .. Danish movie, reasonably easy to get hold on since it got an Oscar though. This movie is brilliant and it definitely proves that you dont have epic material ( Alexander ) to make an awesome movie..

The food in this is incredible.

Slightly OT, food in Robin Hobbs books always makes my mouth water...and it goes a long way towards creating the right atmosphere..

djflish · 11-27-2004, 04:50 AM

When Cypher is talking to Agent Smith in the restaurant in The Matrix, he is eating an amazing looking steak. mmmmmm...... steeeak......

Also, a scene that put me off fry-ups for a little while is the breakfast scene in Trainspotting when Spud fights over his dirty sheets and.....splat!

maleficent · 11-27-2004, 08:27 AM

Coffee and a Cinnamin bun, to go, from Breakfast at Tiffany's.
-----------------

Toast, or at least the way it is ordered from Five Easy Pieces

Bobby: I'd like an omelet, plain, and a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast, no mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce. And a cup of coffee.
Waitress: A #2, chicken salad sand. Hold the butter, the lettuce, the mayonnaise, and a cup of coffee. Anything else?
Bobby: Yeah, now all you have to do is hold the chicken, bring me the toast, give me a check for the chicken salad sandwich, and you haven't broken any rules.
Waitress: You want me to hold the chicken, huh?
Bobby: I want you to hold it between your knees.

indigochild111 · 11-28-2004, 06:52 PM

Mmm Twister is a good choice. But I'd have to say the movie that never fails to make me hungry is....HOOK. I mean c'mon people when he actually imagines the food is there, it's a feast. Mmm turkey

Kostya · 12-01-2004, 04:12 AM

Look, hands down, it has got to be the credit sequence of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory...

I mean holy CRAP.

Also, Empire of the Sun is much maligned, which I never understood because it's so damn good!

Other highlights, the crazy spread in Goodfellas that all the wives cook, or the food in the prison scene where Paulie cuts the garlic with a razor blade.

When I was a kid, I thought that the food fight in Hook was the greatest...

Stug · 12-01-2004, 04:19 AM

That's a great shout Kostya, with the Willy Wonka credit sequence...

Personally, I love the opening breakfast sequence in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!

There is a whole intricate breakfast machine frying off the bacon and cracking the eggs and then delivering it all to the table on a little train, complete with salt and pepper! YUM!

roachboy · 12-01-2004, 07:20 AM

the first half of the cook the thief his wife and her lover--the restaurant kitchen sequences--before you see the truck full of rotting meat, that is.

i am not much moved by images of food, for some reason. they end up reminding me of the shellac-coated dinners i remember seeing in a japanese resto window in boston before i got used to seeing that sort of thing. maybe it was the shellac. maybe it was that it was the dead of winter and i was looking through a window at a steak on a plastic plate that kind of glowed. maybe it was the absence of smell.

i find recipes the best descriptions of food.

Fremen · 12-01-2004, 11:53 AM

The sensual dinner scene in Lady Chatterly's Lover was pretty arousing to a few of my various senses.

pocon1 · 12-02-2004, 03:36 PM

The road to wellville, where john cusack is in that gritty restaurant and the cook is slapping down big pieces of fatty meat rough cut for steaks and the fire is sizzling.
hhmmm, meat.

11-23-2004, 10:30 AM	#1 (permalink)
balderdash111 Psycho	Silly Subject: Tastiest depiction of food This is an exceedingly silly discussion thread, but I was struck by a food-related movie moment the other day and wanted to share. "Empire of the Sun," the much maligned Spielberg film about an English boy (a young Christian Bale) who is sent to a Japanese concentration camp in WWII, has what I think is among the best "oh my god I want to eat that food" moments I've seen. The main character is abandoned by his parents (a Spielberg cliche) in Shanghai after the Japanese invasion. After surving in his parents' lavish house for months, he runs out of food and is left roaming the streets of Shanghai trying to survive. There, he is picked up by Joe Pantoliano (spelling?), who takes him to the hidden hideout of John Malcovitch. When the little boy enters the hideout, the camera cuts to Malcovich frying some plain white rice in frying pan. So help me, when you see the moment, you would swear that fried white rice is the greatest food on God's green earth. You want to grab handfuls of it and stuff it in your face. Of course, that is the point. The little boy is starving and the rice looks like heaven to him (and when he gets some, he does indeed shovel it into his face like there is no tomorrow). Speilberg makes it seem more delicious by cranking up the volume on the frying crackle of the rice to make it even more appealing. My mouth is watering just thinking about that scene. Anyone else have food moments like this from a film? (and FYI, no I do not have a food fetish, and no I am not obese. In short, I don't think this reflects a strange obsession with food on my behalf) __________________ A little silliness now and then is cherished by the wisest men. -- Willy Wonka Last edited by balderdash111; 11-23-2004 at 11:35 AM..

11-24-2004, 05:39 AM	#4 (permalink)
Derwood Who You Crappin? Location: Everywhere and Nowhere	How good do ice cubes taste after "9 1/2 weeks"? __________________ "You can't shoot a country until it becomes a democracy." - Willravel

11-24-2004, 06:33 AM	#5 (permalink)
Nancy Femme Fatale Location: Elysium	Food always looks so fucking yummy in cartoon movies - even mushrooms which I hate IRL! but as far as the tastiest depiction of food in a regular movie goes I dunno at the moment. I'm gonna have to think about that. __________________ I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside of me and I don't know why. My nightly bloodlust has overflown into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy. I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.

11-26-2004, 05:20 PM	#6 (permalink)
Fremen With a mustache, the cool factor would be too much Location: left side of my couch, East Texas	Yeah, I always liked the look of those plate-sized steaks in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence". __________________ Google

11-27-2004, 04:50 AM	#8 (permalink)
djflish The Mighty Boosh Location: I mostly come out at night, mostly...	When Cypher is talking to Agent Smith in the restaurant in The Matrix, he is eating an amazing looking steak. mmmmmm...... steeeak...... Also, a scene that put me off fry-ups for a little while is the breakfast scene in Trainspotting when Spud fights over his dirty sheets and.....splat! __________________ Europes two great narcotics, Alcohol and Christianity. I know which one I prefer.

11-23-2004, 05:09 PM	#2 (permalink)
shakran Tone.	The only good scene in an otherwise horrible movie: The steak and eggs frying in Twister. Also, the "Celie cooks breakfast after Mister fucks it up" scene from Color Purple. Nothin' like good southern cooking.

11-23-2004, 11:28 PM	#3 (permalink)
yellowchef Addict Location: Shalimar, FL	mmmmmmmmmm steak n eggs from twister.. mmmm

11-27-2004, 04:29 AM	#7 (permalink)
Architeuthis Upright	Babettes Feast .. Danish movie, reasonably easy to get hold on since it got an Oscar though. This movie is brilliant and it definitely proves that you dont have epic material ( Alexander ) to make an awesome movie.. The food in this is incredible. Slightly OT, food in Robin Hobbs books always makes my mouth water...and it goes a long way towards creating the right atmosphere..

11-27-2004, 08:27 AM	#9 (permalink)
maleficent Junkie Moderator Emeritus Location: Chicago	Coffee and a Cinnamin bun, to go, from Breakfast at Tiffany's. ----------------- Toast, or at least the way it is ordered from Five Easy Pieces Bobby: I'd like an omelet, plain, and a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast, no mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce. And a cup of coffee. Waitress: A #2, chicken salad sand. Hold the butter, the lettuce, the mayonnaise, and a cup of coffee. Anything else? Bobby: Yeah, now all you have to do is hold the chicken, bring me the toast, give me a check for the chicken salad sandwich, and you haven't broken any rules. Waitress: You want me to hold the chicken, huh? Bobby: I want you to hold it between your knees. __________________ Free your heart from hatred. Free your mind from worries. Live simply. Give more. Expect less.

11-28-2004, 06:52 PM	#10 (permalink)
indigochild111 Crazy	Mmm Twister is a good choice. But I'd have to say the movie that never fails to make me hungry is....HOOK. I mean c'mon people when he actually imagines the food is there, it's a feast. Mmm turkey

12-01-2004, 04:12 AM	#11 (permalink)
Kostya Little known... Location: Brisbane, Australia	Look, hands down, it has got to be the credit sequence of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory... I mean holy CRAP. Also, Empire of the Sun is much maligned, which I never understood because it's so damn good! Other highlights, the crazy spread in Goodfellas that all the wives cook, or the food in the prison scene where Paulie cuts the garlic with a razor blade. When I was a kid, I thought that the food fight in Hook was the greatest...

12-01-2004, 04:19 AM	#12 (permalink)
Stug Crazy Location: UK	That's a great shout Kostya, with the Willy Wonka credit sequence... Personally, I love the opening breakfast sequence in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! There is a whole intricate breakfast machine frying off the bacon and cracking the eggs and then delivering it all to the table on a little train, complete with salt and pepper! YUM! __________________ and so ends the thought process for another day...

12-01-2004, 07:20 AM	#13 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	the first half of the cook the thief his wife and her lover--the restaurant kitchen sequences--before you see the truck full of rotting meat, that is. i am not much moved by images of food, for some reason. they end up reminding me of the shellac-coated dinners i remember seeing in a japanese resto window in boston before i got used to seeing that sort of thing. maybe it was the shellac. maybe it was that it was the dead of winter and i was looking through a window at a steak on a plastic plate that kind of glowed. maybe it was the absence of smell. i find recipes the best descriptions of food. __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite

12-01-2004, 11:53 AM	#14 (permalink)
Fremen With a mustache, the cool factor would be too much Location: left side of my couch, East Texas	The sensual dinner scene in Lady Chatterly's Lover was pretty arousing to a few of my various senses. __________________ Google

12-02-2004, 03:36 PM	#15 (permalink)
pocon1 Banned	The road to wellville, where john cusack is in that gritty restaurant and the cook is slapping down big pieces of fatty meat rough cut for steaks and the fire is sizzling. hhmmm, meat.