Film and food are completely wrapped up in each other. Think how we use the term 'taste' when discussing our interests in culture. When someone suggests that they have a refined taste in film, you can almost imagine the classy individual licking a Stanley Kubrick boxset. We like to intelligently consume the world around us, learning our preferences for things and wanting more of the same, building up an understanding of the formula (or 'recipe') that we most desire. What of the reverse, of 'bad taste'? We all have interests that others would probably dislike. John Waters puts it well in declaring 'you can't have fun with bad taste unless you know the rules to break.' Brillat-Savarin, the French gourmet once said Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are and this is doubly true when it comes to film. What is eaten on screen, how the food is presented and spoken about are meticulously considered and tell us as much about the character's identity as they do the writer and directors tastes. From the nostalgic knees-up in the Christmas movie that make us hungry for home-cooked family dinners (often inverted in comedies like Home Alone and Elf) to the meticulous dissection of both the man and his lush cuisine in the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi, we see just how much we are what we eat. While theres satisfaction to be found in the whimsical and tasteful films about food, there is also delight in the weirder realms of film and cuisine; the swampy nadir of scenes that leave a bad taste in the mouth after watching and hit us where it really hurts - our stomachs. Join us for this nosedive into nausea and picnic of repugnance. Needless to say, this banquet contains both spoiled foods and film spoilers.
