We talked about the awesome things movies inspired in this world, from rock bands to board – games, we almost skipped the fact that sometimes, in the lack of a better topic or plot, movies themselves got inspired by…food. Don’t let yourself be fooled by their titles or the main action trigger (which is food), not even delights – inspired movies didn’t manage to break the pattern of the ten – twelve (somebody should really decide if they are ten or twelve, the uncertainty is a killer) ever heavy rotating plots. But given the fact that some movies became memorable only because they were somehow (even loosely) food related, we will see how the entertainment industry paid a visit to the kitchen and produced some unforgettable food inspired movies.
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!
It may have been one of the worst movies to ever terrify the audience, but it was so bad, it became a classic. Yes, mutant tomatoes attack the world, which, of course, needs to be saved. It was so bad, that the 1978 horror science – fiction comedy was blessed 10 years later with a sequel, The Return of the Killer Tomatoes, equally poorly rated on IMDB, but with human – looking invading tomatoes for a squeeze of public entertainment.
Wasabi
Boy was this movie entertaining, with a bad ass Jean Reno who needed one bowl of Japanese wasabi to eat with his bare finger to prove the movie’s whole point: you can be the most powerful Yakuza boss, when Reno takes the scene, you better run, because mayhem is on your way. This 2001 masterpiece evidently wears Luc Besson’s signature, which proves once again that you don’t need to invent mutant tomatoes to entertain people. Add some Jean Reno with a dash of Besson action, sprinkle with hardcore wasabi and Michel Muller’s grins and faces and you have the perfect dinner recipe.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
If you didn’t have munchies and raided the fridge four times during this animation movie, it was all for naught. This “main character’s journey from loser to hero” plot is ignited and maintained by a universal desire of having food falling out from the sky. And when a steak the size of a Cadillac lands on your house roof top, you know some things went wrong with this recipe. Mutant food? You bet your vegetarian salad on it, as the sequel released last year took where the first meatballs left off and offered yet another colorful feast. Among all the food inspired movies, these two can easily fall into the “disaster movie” category, but instead of tsunamis and waves of zombies, you have pasta and burgers. It can’t be watched without large quantities of nom – noms by your side.
Ratatouille
World’s favorite chef, this animation, besides getting a much deserved Oscar, also proved that when it comes to smart created food inspired movies, you can achieve a box office hit. The little guy is awesome and full of passion and the movie actually presents us with very studied, common sense and usable cooking tips, tricks and recipes, so you might add “educational” right there where you thought “entertaining”.
Chocolat
Nothing like chocolate to shake things up a bit. This sweet delight was the culprit for other movies too, and yes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is what pops to our minds, not to mention you have Johnny Depp in both, so… this may actually be about Depp and less about chocolate, but let’s not get into details right now. Chocolate is quite the movie character (Like Water for Chocolate from 1992 proves this point) and is just irresistible when you come to think of it, as all chocolate inspired movies had something memorable to them, intriguing, delicious, intoxicating.
Burgers, pies, bacon, yes, there are a lot of other food inspired movies out there, movies about food, movies that revolve around the concept of cooking or owning a restaurant and so on. Some are classics and some are just very low rated, but they are a nice change from alien – inspired movies or your regular boy meets girl and then 2 hours of cheesy lines. Cheesy. Nice!
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