Most Wednesdays, KinoMonda organizer John Singleton shows a foreign film and serves food appropriate to the movie’s country of origin. This week, though, he’s doing the same with four movies, so whether your taste runs to Italian, Chinese, Japanese, or Mexican cuisine, there’ll be something here for you. This year’s festival includes two entries from last year’s event. Alfonso Arau’s fizzy magical-realist fable from 1987, Like Water for Chocolate, is fascinating to watch now that Mexico has become a major player on the international film scene. Meanwhile, Stephen Chow’s 1996 comedy, God of Cookery, is a hallucinatory parody of Iron Chef, made when that show had just become popular in the Far East. (Chow tried to get the movie remade in Hollywood with Jim Carrey starring, but it never came off.)
The other films being shown this year are Juzo Itami’s Tampopo and Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott’s Big Night, both unimpeachable as food movies and as pieces of cinematic art. Feel free to sample the edibles and offer suggestions about which movies to show in the future. Meanwhile, if you’re interested in some really disgusting food films that should be kept miles away from this festival, log onto our new blog, Blotch.
TCU Food and Film runs 6pm and 8:30pm Wed at TCU, Lecture Halls Nos. 1-2, Sid Richardson Bldg, 2955 S University Dr, FW. Admission is free. Call 817-257-7292.
