The Breakfast Club

John Bender: [pointing to Claire's lunch] What's that?
Claire Standish: Sushi.
John Bender: Sushi?
Claire Standish: Rice, raw fish, and seaweed.
John Bender: You won't accept a guy's tongue in your mouth, and you're going to eat that?
Claire Standish: Can I eat?
John Bender: I don't know. Give it a try.

Contrary to expectations, The Breakfast Club is not about a group that meets for breakfast, nor does it feature any breakfast food. It is about five high school kids who are assigned to detention in the school library one Saturday. The students are a motley crew, and over the course of the day they become acquainted by sharing their stories, manipulating the detention monitor, and commenting on the contents of one another’s lunches: Claire, the rich kid, lays out sushi with soy sauce; Andy, the wrestler, unpacks three sandwiches, potato chips, milk, a banana, an apple, and chocolate cookies; Brian, the geek, feasts on soup, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and apple juice; Allison, the freak, makes a “sandwich” of Cap’n Crunch cereal topped with Pixie Stix; and John, the “bad boy,” has nothing. Such a menu begs the question “Are we really what we eat?” – or do we, perhaps, eat what we already are.

John Bender: Well, Brian, this is a very nutritious lunch. All the food groups are represented. Did your mom marry Mr. Rogers?

Brian Johnson: Uh, no. Mr. Johnson.

Released February 15, 1985

Written and directed by John Hughes

Starring Molly Ringwald as Claire Standish, Emilio Estevez as Andrew Clark, Anthony Michael Hall as Brian Johnson, Ally Sheedy as Allison Reynolds, Judd Nelson as John Bender, Paul Gleason as Richard Vernon, and John Kapelos as Carl

Fun Fact:
“The Breakfast Club” was the name of one of the longest-running radio shows in U.S. history, broadcast in Chicago from 1933 to 1968. It was, perhaps, the inspiration for the nickname of the group of students assigned to detention at Chicagoland’s New Trier High School, attended by the son of one of John Hughes’ friends.

The Birdcage

Armand: Pull yourself together!
Agador: Why?
Armand: Because you have to start cooking dinner, OK?…. [Exits]
Val: Can you ... you can cook, right?
Agador: Your father seems to think so.


The Birdcage doesn’t feature much in the way of food—some toast and butter, a cup of coffee, a catch-all stew—but it does have that infamous dinner scene with naked Greek boys playing in the soup bowls! To be clear: when Armand (Williams), Albert (Lane), and Val (Futterman) sit down to dinner with their future in-laws the Keeleys (Hackman, Wiest, and Flockhart), the table is set with what is probably very expensive china, of a “pattern” portraying nude young men at play, in scenes reminiscent of the decorations on ancient Greek pottery. Neither the viewer nor the guests ever really get to see the young Greeks—by the time the Keeleys find their reading glasses, Armand has filled the bowls with Agador’s (Azaria) Guatemalan peasant soup (though without the shrimps). Both the spiciness of the soup and the hosts’ desire to disguise their identity as a gay couple drive the diners from the table before they can even empty their bowls—or glimpse the gaiety of their Greek table companions.

Louise Keeley: What interesting china! Why, it looks like young men playing leapfrog. Is it Greek?
Albert: (squeals) I … I … I have no idea. I’ve never seen these bowls before….
Senator Keeley: It is Greek. Greek boys, actually. Uh, naked Greek boys.
Albert: And girls. Don’t you have any girls on your bowl
Val: I have one.
Albert: So do I! Oh, look! Senator Keeley, there. I think that’s a girl.
Senator Keeley: Then it’s been a long time since you’ve seen one. That’s a boy. I may need glasses, but I can see that.

Fun Facts:
When Armand (Williams) is trying to teach Albert (Lane) how to comport himself in a more masculine manor, they practice buttering a piece of toast—and Albert shrieks when he presses too hard and breaks the toast in pieces. The hilarious scene caused director Mike Nichols to laugh so loudly that he had to be covered with a sound blanket in order for filming to continue.

Armand: What the hell is this?

Agador: Sweet-and-sour peasant soup. Why’d you say it was seafood chowder?

Armand: What the hell is that?

Agador: I don't know, I made it up! I made it up!

Released March 8, 1966
Directed by Mike Nichols
Play La Cage Aux Folles by Jean Poiret; earlier screenplay by Francis Veber, Edouard Molinaro, Marcello Danon, and Jean Poiret; screenplay by Elaine May
Starring Robin Williams as Armand Goldman, Nathan Lane as Albert Goldman, Hank Azaria as Agador, Gene Hackman as Senator Kevin Keeley, Dianne Wiest as Louise Keeley, Dan Futterman as Val Goldman, Calista Flockhart as Barbara Keeley, Christine Baranski as Katherine Archer, and Tom McGowan as Harry Radman
Awards: 1997 American Comedy Awards for Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture (Leading Role) for Nathan Lane and Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for Dianne Wiest; 1997 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards for Favorite Supporting Actor-Comedy for Gene Hackman and Favorite Supporting Actress-Comedy for Dianne Wiest; 1997 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast (Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane, Dianne Wiest, Hank Azaria, Christine Baranski, Dan Futterman)

If you look closely during the dinner scene, you can catch a really quick glimpse of the Greek boys before Armand covers the illustration with the soup. The scene portrayed on the bowls is quite explicit, in a homoerotic way. But finding a photo of the bowls has proven impossible. To get an idea of the type of scene covered over, take a look at these reproductions of ancient Greek pottery:

"Vatel" and the Excesses of the French Court

The film Vatel features one of my favorite witty put-downs, spoken by the queen's lady-in-waiting Anne de Montausier to the king's steward Lauzun:

Lauzun: The king sends you his compliments. And he begs the favor of taking a cup of chocolate with you in your room at midnight.
Anne: With me?
Lauzun: May I offer you my congratulations? Although, as you can imagine, this came as a great blow to me. After tonight, I cannot hope for deliverance from the pain of my own desires. So, may I suggest … my rooms at 10:00?

Anne: Alas, monsieur. Ten o’clock, I have an even more attractive offer. Her Majesty has asked me to delouse her spaniel.

But that's not why we've included Vatel in our research for Cooking with the Movies. Based on a true story, Vatel is a film that not only features some astonishing cooking, but it is a testament to the human spirit of ingenuity, not to mention the striving for freedom that would eventually bring down the French monarchy.

François Vatel (Depardieu) is the master steward of the debt-ridden Prince de Condé (Glover), who plans to use Vatel’s culinary and theatrical talents to win a commission as General of the French Army in the war against the Dutch. The scheme works all too well for the prince, who receives the post he desires but wagers, and loses, Vatel’s services in a card game with the Sun King (Sands).

The film is sumptuous in every detail, from the costumes to the elaborate “stage” sets to the astonishing variety of food: fish and goose and lobster, oranges and pears and apricots, custards and chocolates and candied grapes and spun-sugar confections. A “magician” in the kitchen and elsewhere, Vatel makes up for what his prince cannot afford with amazing feats of improvisation: lacking beef for the meat pies, he creates a mushroom filling that fools the most discerning palates; when the eggs for the custard spoil, he beats sugar into cream to create a fluffy “Chantilly”; upon receiving a shipment of broken glass lanterns, he replaces them by cutting geometric designs into melons to make charming candleholders. He also wins the admiration of the queen’s lady in waiting, Anne (Thurman), inspiring her to abandon her shallow life at court, though he is not able himself to make the same escape.

Vatel: On Friday, the fish banquet will be presented on a sea of ice—Neptune’s tribute to Helios, the sun god.
De Condé: The king will catch cold.
Vatel: No, my prince. The braziers will be lit one hour before the banquet.
De Condé: Then the ice will melt.
Vatel: I have forbidden it to melt, my prince.
De Condé: (laughing) Well, our fate is in your hands.

Released (U.S.A.) December 25, 2000
Directed by Roland Joffé
Written by Jeanne Labrune; English adaptation by Tom Stoppard
Starring Gérard Depardieu as François Vatel, Uma Thurman as Anne de Montausier, Tim Roth as Marquis de Lauzun, Timothy Spall as Gourville, Julian Glover as Prince de Condé, Julian Sands as Louis XIV, Murray Lachlan Young as Philippe d’Orleans, Hywel Bennett as Colbert, Richard Griffiths as Dr. Bourdelot, Sébastien Davis as Demaury, and Nathalie Cerda as The Queen Marie-Thérèse

Awards: 2000 Camerimage Silver Frog for Robert Fraisse (Cinematographer); 2001 César Award for Best Production Design (Jean Rabasse)

Demaury: More than half the eggs are addled. We can’t make the custard.

Vatel: Watch. (beating sugar into cream) The sugar will come out like beaten egg whites. If they ask you what it is, tell them it’s an old recipe from Chantilly.

Vatel: Harmony and contrast. All beauty comes from those two things. … Few objects are beautiful or ugly in themselves. To know that is the beginning of being an artist.

Breakfast of Champions

Another "food" film that has nothing to do with food:

Waitress: Breakfast of Champions!
Hoover: You said that the last time you brought me my martini.
Waitress: I say it every time I serve a martini, Mr. Hoover.
Hoover: Oh, that’s probably why God invented these little small towns, so people could keep saying the same stupid jokes over and over again.

Waitress: I just like to cheer people up, that’s all.

Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Breakfast of Champions has little if anything to do with breakfast or food of any type. It is an outrageous story about Dwayne Hoover (Willis), owner of a landmark car dealership, and his quest for the meaning of life. Simultaneously, it is the tale of Kilgore Trout (Finney), a washed up science-fiction novelist, and his search for an audience who appreciates his writing. Hoover and Trout collide in Midland City, where Trout provides Hoover with a reason to continue living, and Hoover provides Trout with a “leak” (mirror) into a younger, more beautiful existence.

Cook Lottie: Mr. Hoover! Breakfast of champions! (calling up to Hoover, who is about to “eat” a bullet for breakfast) Breakfast of champions, Mr. Hoover! (serving a plate of pancakes, bacon, fried eggs, tomatoes, and strawberries)

Hoover: Great news, people, today’s not the day.

Below: Bruce Willis as Dwayne Hoover and Glenne Headly as Francine Pefko.

Fun Facts
Kurt Vonnegut makes an appearance in the film as the director of the commercial for the car dealership. He also created the self-portrait hanging in Rosewater’s office and drew the illustrations featured in the opening credits and notes.

Below: Bruce Willis as Dwayne Hoover, with Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (left) and Alan Rudolph (right).

Below: Albert Finney as Kilgore Trout.

Released (USA) May 15, 1999
Screenplay by Alan Rudolph; based on the book by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Directed by Alan Rudolph

Starring Bruce Willis as Dwayne Hoover, Albert Finney as Kilgore Trout, Nick Nolte as Harry Le Sabre, Barbara Hershey as Celia Hoover, Glenne Headly as Francine Pefko, Lukas Haas as George “Bunny” Hoover, Omar Epps as Wayne Hoobler, Vicki Lewis as Grace Le Sabre, Buck Henry as Fred T. Barry, Ken Hudson Campbell as Eliot Rosewater, Jake Johannsen as Bill Bailey, Will Patton as Moe the Truck Driver, Chip Zien as Andy Wojeckowzski, Owen Wilson as Monte Rapid, Alison Eastwood as Maria Maritimo, Michael Clarke Duncan as Eli, and Kurt Vonnegut Jr. as Commercial Director

Like Water for Chocolate

Doctor John Brown: I see you didn't touch your dinner. Sue Ellen is a horrible cook, but my son and I put up with her food. Of course, *you* don't have to.

Doctor John Brown: My aunt is as deaf as a post.
Tita: Then how can she carry on conversations?
Doctor John Brown: She reads lips, but when she is eating, she is too preoccupied to notice anything else. Watch. [shouts] Tia Mary, I’m marrying Tita because the poor girl is crazy. [Tia Mary continues eating.]

Gertrudis: Sergeant, can you cook cream fritters?
Sargento Treviño: To be honest ... no. But if you want, I will try.
Gertrudis: You have never let me down before. I hope this will not be the first time.
Sargento Treviño: Yes, my general

So for New Year's Eve, we decided to do recipes from the film "Like Water for Chocolate," based on the book of the same name that comes from the Mexican "magical realism" writing tradition. The movie is a bit strange, but the food is amazing: Tortas de Navidad, Sopa de Fideos, Caldo de Colita de Res, Mole de Quajolote con Almendra y Ajonjolí, Champandongo, Chocolate y Rosca de Reyes, Frijoles Gordos con Chile a la Texcucana, and more. One thing we learned that's very important: when converting from grams to cups, the conversion for flour is different from the conversion for sugar is different from the conversion for nuts is different from.... Our mistake turned the wedding cake into an egg frittata--which was very good with salsa, but not what we had intended! But we made the correction, and the cake was a splendid success. Here it is:

This is the Three Kings' Bread, also delicious:

Ox-Tail Soup:

Beans with chile:

Wedding Capons:




Released February 17, 1993
Starring Marco Leonardi as Pedro Muzquiz, Lumi Cavazos as Tita, Regina Torné as Mamá Elena, Mario Iván Martínez as Doctor John Brown, Ada Carrasco as Nacha, Yareli Arizmendi as Rosaura, Claudette Maillé as Gertrudis, Pilar Aranda as Chencha, Farnesio de Bernal as Cura, Joaquín Garrido as Sargento Treviño, Rodolfo Arias as Juan Alejándrez, Margarita Isabel as Paquita Lobo, Sandra Arau as Esperanza Muzquiz, Andrés Garcia Jr. as Alex Brown, and Regino Herrera as Nicolás
Directed by Alfonso Arau
Screenplay by Laura Esquivel, based upon the book of the same title by Laura Esquivel
Awards:
--1992 Ariel Awards, Mexico: Gold Ariel for Alfonso Arau; Silver Ariel for Best Actor (Mario Iván Martínez), Best Actress (Regina Torné), Best Actress in Minor Role (Margarita Isabel), Best Cinematography, Best Direction (Alfonso Arau), Best Production Design, Best Screenplay (Esquivel), Best Set Design, and Best Supporting Actress (Claudette Maillé)
--1993 Gramado Film Festival Audience Award (Arau) and Golden Kikito for Best Actress (Cavazos) and Best Supporting Actress (Maillé)
--1992 Guadalajara Mexican Film Festival Audience Award (Arau)
--1994 Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Film
--1993 Premios ACE for Best Actor (Martínez), Best Director (Arau), and Best Film
--1992 Sudbury Cinéfest Best International Film (Arau)
--1992 Tokyo International Film Festival: Best Actress (Cavazos) and Best Artistic Contribution (Cinematographers)

Champagne and Strawberries

Edward: You should try a strawberry.

Vivian: Why?

Edward: It brings out the flavor of the champagne.

Vivian: Oh. Groovy.

Edward: Are you hungry? You must be. Why don't you sit and have something to eat. I took the liberty of ordering everything on the menu. I didn't know what you'd like.

A "fairy tale" of a romantic comedy, Pretty Woman is more famous for the love scenes between screen idols Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, but the film does have two important food scenes that many moviegoers remember with great fondness. In the first, Edward (Gere) orders champagne and strawberries for Vivian (Roberts), the prostitute he hires. Unused to fine dining, Vivian downs the champagne before Edward can offer her the plate of fruit; only slightly embarrassed, Vivian takes and tastes one berry, so red and large and luscious to symbolize both the sexual basis of their business arrangement and the vast romantic potential underlying their liaison. It's a humorous exchange that is at once awkward and self-conscious, yet sexy and romantic, and viewers who have ever had "stars in their eyes" immediately relate to what the characters are feeling. In the second scene, which takes place the morning after their first night together, Edward orders everything on the menu for breakfast--orange juice, croissants, toast, peaches, pancakes and strawberries, scrambled eggs with bacon and kiwi, muffins--because he wants Vivian to have something she'd enjoy, and he doesn't know what her preference is. It's a touching moment, revealing how much he cares for her--but then, wouldn't anyone want to be treated so richly?

Released March 23, 1990

Written by J. F. Lawton

Directed by Garry Marshall

Starring Julia Roberts as Vivian Ward, Richard Gere as Edward Lewis, Jason Alexander as Philip Stuckey, Laura San Giacomo as Kit De Luca, Hector Elizondo as Barney Thompson

Awards: 1991 BMI Film Music Award (James Newton Howard) and Most Performed Song from a Film ("It Must Have Been Love" by Per Gessle), 1991 Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture-Comedy/Musical for Julia Roberts, 1991 German Golden Screen Award, 1991 Kids' Choice Blimp Award for Favorite Movie Actress (Roberts), 1991 People's Choice Award for Favorite Comedy Motion Picture

What a Birthday Cake!

Buck Russell [to young Miles, who is gawking at his birthday breakfast]: You should see the toast. I couldn't even get it through the door.

Uncle Buck is a fun movie that shows what can happen when a bachelor uncle has to babysit his brother's rebellious teenage daughter and her younger brother and sister. But the film is worth mentioning because of the amazing birthday breakfast. To celebrate his nephew's birthday, Buck (John Candy) decides to prepare a special breakfast treat: a huge cake made out of five enormous pancakes. Each flapjack is about three feet in diameter, and to make them, Buck flips them over on the griddle with a snow shovel. He places a thick slab of butter on top of the stack, drenches everything in maple syrup, and lights a single candle in the middle. When birthday boy Miles (Macaulay Culkin) enters the kitchen and takes in this wonderful creation, he grins with absolute delight. It's an oh-too-sweet feast that only the young (and the young at heart) can fully appreciate.

Released: August 16, 1989

Written and directed by John Hughes

Starring John Candy as Buck Russell, Macaulay Culkin as Miles Russell, Jean Louisa Kelly as Tia Russell, Amy Madigan as Chanice Kobolowski, Gaby Hoffman as Maizy Russell, Elaine Bromka as Cindy Russell, Garrett M. Brown as Bob Russell

Buck Russell: How many times a day does the dog eat? Cindy Russell: How many times do you think? Buck Russell: I don't know, four or five. Cindy Russell: He eats once a day.

Fun fact: For the scene in which Miles interrogates Uncle Buck in rapid-fire fashion, John Candy pasted the dialogue on top of his head so that Macaulay Culkin could read his lines quickly and not trip over his own words.