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smaxmo
Reviews
Les saveurs du Palais (2012)
Learn French cuisine in 90 minutes. I like the movie, I love the food a lot!
This is a real movie foodie's movie. Warning, after watching this movie you may think that you have culinary skills that you do not have. Or if you are like me, perhaps you do. I learned so much from this movie about cooking and plating. With all of the major food scenes time lapsed, all I had to do is play and pause on the recipes I wanted to create, and it worked out well for me. I think you could do it too. The story line is a bit fuzzy for me. The food was so captivating until I really didn't miss the story at all. The kitchens will make you drool as well if you are into high quality cookware and china, you will again love the movie.
Let's talk food. The food is as the title says, haute cuisine which in French mean High Cooking as in higher status folks eat this, high calorie, high cholesterol and high priced food making it the luxury gourmet food we all want to try at least once. The food stylist for this lovely romp through food land is Gérard Besson and to him I say, "Merci."
Eat Pray Love (2010)
When in Rome, India or Bali, eat as the Romans, Indians and Balinese do. I like the movie and love the food!
This is not a new movie so you may ask why I feel the need to review it now. It's because it is a really good foodie movie and anyone who is into food in movies should be sure to see this one.
Any who, I get this movie because I understand fully the inner angst one experiences when one does not have a defined personal path to peace and happiness. It's funny because no matter how far we travel by plane train or car, we never leave the ballast of our own brains. So until we learn how to find inner peace and lightness, we do the next best thing
eat! And eat our main character does in this post card from peace-of-mind movie. If you have read any of my reviews, you know that I love food and cinematography, this movie is teeming with both. Julia Roberts with those signature pucker-face lips of hers, wields them artfully around Italian language and food. She travels to paradise in Bali and the opposite in India but also destinations lead back to her inner world.
Let's talk food. The food scenes in Italy were the delectable creations of food stylist Susan Spungen. There is nothing in the big food scene that I would not eat. As a matter of fact, I want all of it right now. This is a testament to the food styling genius that is Susan Spungen. I hope to see much, much more of her delicious work in films. Heck, I would like to see her work in person, Lol.
Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
The most delicious divorce ever. A beautiful and fun movie to watch, worth a viewing or twenty. I love the movie and I love the food!
I believe every movie that resonates with me has its own perfect place in my life. This is a down-in-the-mouth, pick-me-up favorite of mine. I find it perfectly comforting on those ho-hum / woe-is-me days when I could really use a hug or a drink or both. I have to report that I have watched this movie at least twenty times, both alone and with friends (misery loves company). I have even gone to the extreme of having the same food and wine as shown in the movie ready to partake when I /we get to the scene (which really makes it fun by the way). The big news here is that no matter how bad I feel when I hit the play button, I always feel much better by the time credits roll at the end
Always!
What I love most about the movie (spoiler alert) is the wistful yet posthumous advice Frances (Diane Lane) is constantly given from Federico Fellini (the late great movie director). He sends his advice through his medium, a classic blonde beauty (seriously classic) named Katherine (played by Lindsay Duncan), who claims to have been il Maestro's muse. Aside from the amazing cinematography that will make you want to purchase a one way ticket to Tuscany, the lovely and captivating acting, and the fun, move- your-body soundtrack, it is the foodie scene that may really capture your heart, it captured mine. I can make all of the dishes in the big foodie scene at this point, and I share this with great pride. Lol
When compared to the rainy-day, page-turner by Audrey Wells, well I should say, there is no comparison to the book really other than the location and the title. This story has lovely merit all its own. If you try to compare it to the book, as so many have, you will not find the same story. I have enjoyed both the book and the movie. In my mind they are Audrey Wells' fraternal twins and I love the both!
Burnt (2015)
Will sizzle and fire be replaced by boiled and painted?
Ironically, this movie is a classic case of great ingredients being ruined by a lack of stunning storytelling. As gorgeous as Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller are, I found the movie anti-climatic in every way. This is in spite of the sensual descriptions of culinary copulation spilling from Cooper's lovely lips. Movies (foodie movies in particular) in my humble opinion are a perfect balance of show, tell and smell. They should satisfy a little part of you, yet leave you hungry and yearning for more. They should captivate the eye, the ear and the imagination, this movie did not. I did not crave the food, I did not long for the romance shared by the couple, and I did not feel excited about the down-played triumph. It was set in London and even London was underwhelming and distant in this jerk-about film. This movie experience was like being served an overcooked Turbot drowning in an undeveloped Brown Butter Sauce with way too many capers, and knowing that the chef had to be aware. All of the good stuff (relationship, location, motivation, fantasy, and creativity) must have found itself on the cutting room floor. Even the lovely and immensely talented Emma Thompson could not save this overly complicated dish from ruin. Sorry,I really wanted to love it.
With all of that said, it may be that I am somewhat jaded by the idea of (spoiler alert) French cooking being asserted as passé. Perhaps my lack of connection with the movie is because like, silk lined wool trousers, Brooks Brothers Cashmere Cardigans, Beluga caviar and single malt scotch; As a late bloomer, I am only now in a place in life where I can understand, enjoy and yes,afford these classic pleasures. The minimalist artsy staging approach to gastronomy that may be the way of Now, is not appealing to me. Maybe for desert where less is more, but my plea to culinary prodigies is this, please do not mess with Haute Cuisine; it took a long time for me to get here, and I am still savoring my amuse buche.