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This week, I take a look at science-fiction's best food movie, Soylent Green. Because nothing says delicious like an agrarian apocalypse, am I right?
In a near-apocalyptic, globally-devastated society where beef can only be bought on the black market and soylent tablets are the only thing between the masses and starvation, food has never been more important. So, come and look into the future with me! …and then get completely drunk to drown your sorrows , because wow, will you need it. Read more...
Food in movies is always a symbolic shortcut, and regardless of what other meanings it may have in a given setting, one of food's unchanging signifiers is the implied work inherent in making the meal. We all saw Babette's Feast. The chef is a martyr, and the food is the sacrifice. Food is draining. Food is toil. Unless that food is chocolate, and you're Juliette Binoche. Then food is just a party, and you're in Chocolat
Hi, Fair Food Fighters! I'm a film nerd who's been invited to talk about movies: movies about food, movies featuring food, and movies featuring people as food (what? We taste like chicken!).
Despite the sensory loss, movies are still suited to gastronomy; food's so symbolic it's easy to plot around it. Some food movies manage more plot than others, and some do food more justice than others, but even in movies where food isn't crucial, there's meaning behind the meal.
Take the mother of all food films: Babette's Feast. Read more...
I saw Where the Wild Things Are yesterday -- loved it. And I love Maurice Sendak, too, by the by (he wrote the kid's book). When a reporter asked Sendak what he'd tell parents who thought the movie was too scary for kids, he said: "I'd tell them to go to hell."
My kind of guy.
I like TreeHugger's list a lot. I've only seen three of the five movies mentioned -- one is just now slowly edging its way across the country (Food Fight) -- but I'd recommend the three I've seen.
Here is TreeHugger's list and a few thoughts from El Dragón.
