Movie Bites: Films That Tempt Our Cinematic Taste Buds

Certain movies are feasts for a foodie’s eyes, like Chocolat, Julie & Julia and Ratatouille. But in many other films, food is a smaller movie morsel, a tidbit to a bigger story, flavoring that adds texture to plot and character. Here are 15 movies that tempt our cinematic taste buds without overstuffing our movie belly.

The Godfather (1972)

Francis Ford Coppola’s mafifia epic gives us a nearly perfect mantra about the importance of good food relative to other things, even in the dirty work of a mob capo: “Leave the gun, take the cannoli.”

Five Easy Pieces (1970)

Jack Nicholson inventively fifigures out how to place a side order of toast with a grumpy waitress trying to hold him strictly to the menu.

Cool Hand Luke (1967)

Paul Newman’s blue eyes gave everyone the sweaty swoons, and when he boasted he could eat 50 eggs, he really could!

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

A walk-and-eat staple gets a cameo in the opening scene as Tony Manero ( John Travolta) struts in Brooklyn to the tune of “Stayin’ Alive” while scarfifing down some iconic Italian street food: pizza!

A Christmas Story (1983)

There’s a boy, a bully, a Red Ryder BB gun and a sexy leg lamp—and also a dad (Darren McGavin) whose quest for tasty Christmas turkey becomes a recurring theme.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

The diner “date” of gangster Vince Vega (John Travolta) with a mob wife (Uma Thurman) includes their memorably mundane discussion of overpriced milkshakes.

Lady and the Tramp (1955)

Disney’s animated classic—a canine love story about two dogs from difffferent sides of town—features an unforgettably romantic spaghetti-sharing scene at an Italian restaurant.

It’s Complicated (2009)

Rolling up their sleeves and making croissants from scratch in a restaurant kitchen helps bring together Steve Martin and Meryl Streep in this Nancy Meyers romcom.

The Help (2011)

It has an eye-watering cast of actors, including Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain and Sissy Spacek. But one of its most memorable scenes stars a slice of chocolate pie... with a very special ingredient.

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Getting to-go from a California fast-food institution—the In-And-Out Burger on Camrose—makes a bad night easier to swallow in the Coen Brothers’ cult favorite about a slacker dude, bowling, a fake kidnapping and nihilists.

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Don’t you wish every deli sandwich came with a side of Meg Ryan’s faked orgasm?

Elf (2003)

In the comedy Christmas favorite Elf (2003), we learn part of the foundation of a North Pole sugar-rush diet is syrup... and lots of it!

Forrest Gump (1994)

A box of chocolates—and how life is like it—provides one of the most oftft-quoted movie lines in history, as Tom Hanks’ character explains his mama’s sage advice.

The Gold Rush (1925)

Charlie Chaplin’s penniless “Little Tramp” makes dinner rolls “dance” in a silent-movie scene that’s become part of cinematic history—and even copied by Johnny Depp in Benny & Joon.

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Milk never looked so pure and white—and sinister—as in Quentin Tarantino’s bloody rewrite of Nazi history, when an offifficious SS commandant (Christoph Waltz) relishes a glass just before murdering a farmhouse family of Jews.