In today's Click List, we share with you a round-up of our all-time favorite gourmand films that made our mouths water and/or sent us rushing to the kitchen. If you're like us, who are suckers for both good movies and great food, then we can guarantee that you'll enjoy watching these flicks.
A friendly warning though. These films are rated NPG (Not for Patay Gutoms). They contain themes and scenes which are not suitable for watching on an empty stomach. Viewer discretion (and a well-stocked pantry) is advised.
1. Chef (2014)
Why we love this: This gave us a week-long craving for grilled cheese sandwich and sent us searching for Cuban restaurants in Manila.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Jon Favreau
Cast: Jon Favreau, John Leguizamo, Dustin Hoffman, Scarlett Johansson, Sofia Vergara, Robert Downey, Jr., Emjay Anthony
Synopsis: Chef Carl is in a creative rut. He's been working with the same menu for years, and the restaurant he works for won't let him experiment with his food. A bad review from the city's biggest food critic sends him on a spiral that gets him fired and turns him into a public spectacle. With no real prospects, he ends up getting a food truck. He goes on a cross-country road trip, rediscovering his love for cooking and reconnecting with his ten year old son along the way.
2. Ratatouille (2007)
Why we love this: Remy made us forget all that we know about leptospirosis. And Anton Ego's flashback? A Pixar gem.
Genre: Comedy, Animation
Director: Brad Bird
Cast: Ian Holm, Brian Dennehy, Brad Garrett, Janeane Garofalo, Will Arnett
Synopsis: A rat named Remy dreams of becoming a chef. Fate places him in the sewers of Paris, beneath a restaurant made famous by his culinary idol: Auguste Gusteau. Remy meets the resto's garbage boy, Linguine, and together, they cook up a series of extraordinary events that will change their culinary fate.
3. Julie and Julia (2009)
Why we love this: Mostly because of Meryl Streep and the moral of the story: "eat French food, every single day." That was it, right?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Director: Nora Ephron
Cast: Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, Amy Adams, Chris Messina
Synopsis: Decades ago in France, Julia Child took the culinary world by storm as she mastered the techniques of French cuisine. In present day, a young man looking for direction in her life and inspired by Julia Child's example, sets out to cook every recipe in Child's book Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
4. Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)
Why we love this: UNCENSORED SUSHI PORN
Genre: Documentary
Director: David Gelb
Cast: Jiro Yoshino
Synopsis: Jiro Ono, an 85-year-old sushi master and owner of 3-Michelin star Sukiyabashi Jiro, continues his quest to perfect the art of sushi.
5. Tampopo (1985)
Why we love this: 3:33 minute-long blow-by-blow instruction on how to eat ramen
Genre: Comedy
Director: Juzo Itami
Cast: Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Ken Watanabe, Kōji Yakusho
Synopsis: A trucker helps a desperate lady who wants to open the best ramen restaurant in town.
6. Waitress (2007)
Why we love this: Oh how we wish Jenna's PIEmoticons existed in real life! Some of her best works are: I Hate My Husband Pie, I Can't Have No Affair Because It's Wrong and I Don't Want Earl to Kill Me' Pie, Baby Screaming Its Head Off in the Middle of the Night and It's Ruining My Life Pie, Horny Pie, and Kick in the Pants Pie. Genius!
Genre: Comedy – Drama
Director: Adrienne Shelly
Cast: Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines, Jeremy Sisto, Andy Griffith Synopsis: A waitress in a pie diner cooks up cleverly named pies while she battles an unhappy marriage.
7. No Reservations (2007)
Why we love this: That short instructional video on how-not-to-piss-off-a-chef-by-complaining-about-her-rare-steak and the blindfold taste test scene
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Director: Scott Hicks
Cast: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, and Abigail Breslin
Synopsis: Chef Kate Armstrong (Catherine Zeta-Jones) lives her life like she runs her kitchen at a trendy Manhattan eatery—with a no-nonsense intensity that both captivates and intimidates everyone around her. Kate's perfectionist nature is put to the test when she "inherits" her nine-year-old niece Zoe (Abigail Breslin), while contending with a brash new sous-chef who joins her staff.
8. Eat, Drink, Man, Woman (1994)
Why we love this: The opening scene is one of the best food montages we've ever seen in a movie. We're pretty sure this film made many a Chinese restaurant richer.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Ang Lee
Cast: Sihung Lung, Yu-wen Wang, Chien-lien Wu, and Kuei-mei Yang
Synopsis: A slice of life comedy featuring the family life of a traditional Chinese chef who and his modern daughters.
9. Chocolat (2000)
Why we love this: It's not hard to relate to a film about chocolates changing lives. And oh, pony-tailed , guitar wielding Johnny Depp in a normal person role.
Genre: Drama, Romance
Director: Lasse Hallström
Cast: Johnny Depp, Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, Alfred Molina, Carrie-Anne Moss
Synopsis: A mysterious woman, with her young daughter, movies into a small French village and opens up a chocolate shop that will change the towns people's lives forever.
10. Babette’s Feast (1987)
Why we love this: A classic. Every self-proclaimed foodie must watch this.
Genre: Drama
Director: Gabriel Axel
Cast: Stéphane Audran, Gudmar Wivesson, Jean-Philippe Lafont
Synopsis: Babette, a political refugee seeks shelter in a remote town. Two sisters were kind enough to take her in as a housekeeper. When Babette wins the lottery, she decides to repay the sisters' kindness by throwing them a feast of a lifetime.
11. The Ramen Girl (2008)
Why we love this: It's a more contemporary take on Tampopo.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Robert Allan Ackerman
Cast: Brittany Murphy, Toshiyuki Nishida, Sohee Park
Synopsis: An American girl,abandoned by her boyfriend, finds herself lost in Tokyo. While meandering, she chances upon a ramen shop that inspires her to take a new craft.
12. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Why we love this: Never fails to make us crave chocolate
Genre: Fantasy, Musical
Director: Mel Stuart
Cast: Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum, Roy Kinnear
Synopsis: Charlie Bucket receives a Golden Ticket and visits Willy Wonka's chocolate factory with four other children from around the world.
13. Like Water for Chocolate (1992)
Why we love this: Food porn, literally
Genre: Romance
Director: Alfonso Arau
Cast: Marco Leonardi, Lumi Cavazos, Regina Torné
Synopsis: A woman, bound by tradition to remain unmarried, expresses her feelings through cooking.
14. Namets (2008)
Why we love this: The comedic vignettes within the film, like the instructional video on how to eat Chicken Inasal
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Director: Jay Abello
Cast: Christian Vazquez, Angel Jacob, Peque Gallaga, Dwight Gaston, and Monsour del Rosario
Synopsis: Jacko (Christian Vasquez) is the chef/owner of Puccini’s, an Italian restaurant in Bacolod. But his cockfighting debts have caught up with him, and he’s forced to cede ownership of his beloved restaurant to Dolpo (Peque Gallaga), a local gambling lord/foodie. But Dolpo likes Jacko’s food enough to give him a chance, making him the chef and a partner in the restaurant that he just gave away. But his chance comes with a condition: Jacko must work with Cassie (Angel Jacob), a consultant and Jacko’s ex-girlfriend. Cassie wants Jacko to abandon Italian food and cook Negrosanon food instead, a suggestion that rubs Jacko the wrong way, but sends him on a journey to discover his roots and what his heart really wants.
15. Kailangan Kita (2002)
Why we love this: Signature Pinoy romance movie, flavored with plenty of hunger pang-inducing cooking scenes
Genre: Romance, Drama
Director: Rory B. Quintos
Cast: Aga Muhlach, Claudine Barretto, Johnny Delgado
Synopsis: A New York-based Pinoy chef returns to the country to fix his marriage with his supermodel fiancee. The bride-to-be is delayed in Europe, and as Carl makes wedding plans with her family, he finds himself falling for Chrissy’s sister Lena.
Did we miss your favorite foodie film? Recommend your best bets in the comments section!
