Five Favorite Foodie Flicks

Fried Green Tomatoes(1991) PG-13

In this adaptation of Fanny Flagg's novel, flashbacks reveal the remarkable and mysterious story of soul mates Idgie (Mary Stuart Masterson) and Ruth Jamison (Mary-Louise Parker), whose antics cause an uproar in their rural Southern town during the 1920s. Feisty Ninny Threadgoode (Jessica Tandy) tells the tale to a repressed Alabama housewife (Kathy Bates), who becomes obsessed with Idgie and Ruth, and ultimately finds inspiration in their story.

 Julie & Julia(2009) PG-13

Amy Adams stars in this truth-inspired tale as Julie Powell, who decides to enliven her uneventful life by cooking all 524 recipes outlined in Julia Child's culinary classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Based on Powell's book Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, director Nora Ephron's heartwarming dramedy also stars Meryl Streep as legendary chef Child, for which she won a Golden Globe.

Ratatouille(2007) G

Brad Bird (The Incredibles) co-directs this Oscar-winning Pixar offering about a passionate rat named Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt) who thirsts for a sip of the good life, despite the questionable tastes of his rodent relatives. Growing up beneath a five-star Parisian restaurant, Remy inherits a taste for fine food. But his culinary ambitions only anger his practical father, who wishes his son could just eat garbage like everyone else.

Mystic Pizza(1988) R

Reality rudely intrudes on the plans of three blue-collar, New England teens who share their dreams while slinging hash at the local pizzeria. Daisy (Julia Roberts) entertains visions of marrying into the upper crust, while levelheaded sister Kat (Annabeth Gish) wants to go to Yale. Meanwhile, wisecracking Jojo (Lili Taylor) has a man on the hook but finds that commitment cramps her style. A quirky linchpin of 1980s cinema, Mystic Pizza delivers.

Chocolat(2000) PG-13

Blown in by the north wind, an iconoclastic single mother (Oscar nominee Juliette Binoche) and her young daughter move into a peaceful French village and open an uncommon chocolate shop during the height of Lent -- directly across the street from a church. At first, the shop's rich, sensuous desserts scandalize the town. But the villagers (including Judi Dench, Lena Olin and Johnny Depp) soon learn to savor the sweetness.

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In the Queue:

Babette's Feast Babettes gæstebud(1987) G

Philippa (Hanne Stensgaard) and Martina (Vibeke Hastrup ) turn down a chance to leave their Danish town, instead staying to care for their pastor father and his small church. Thirty-five years later, a French woman (Stéphane Audran) seeks refuge, and Philippa and Martina (now Bodil Kjer and Birgitte Federspie) take her in. The feast the woman prepares in gratitude is eclipsed only by her secret in director Gabriel Axel's Oscar-winning drama.

Eat Drink Man WomanYin shi nan nu(1994) NR

Distracted by their complicated love lives and secret ambitions, three adult sisters reluctantly humor their widower father (Sihung Lung) by enduring the elaborate, traditional Taiwanese dinners he insists on having every Sunday. Ang Lee directs this charming tale that humorously examines the clash between modernity and tradition within the contemporary Taiwanese family. Yu-Wen Wang, Chien-lien Wu and Kuei-Mei Yang co-star.

Christmas in Connecticut(1945) NR

In this welcome addition to the canon of mandatory yuletide viewing, Barbara Stanwyck plays Elizabeth Lane, a magazine columnist who touts herself as a blissful wife, mother and expert homemaker living on an idyllic Connecticut farm. Trouble is, it's all a lie. When her pudgy publisher (Sydney Greenstreet) cooks up a scheme to boost circulation by having Elizabeth entertain a war veteran (Dennis Morgan) on Christmas Eve, will her charade unravel?