Thursday Movie Picks is a weekly blogfest hosted by Wandering Through The Shelves. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week, pick three to five movies and tell us why you chose them. For further details and the schedule, visit the series main page HERE►.
This week’s theme is the second of the Seven Deadly Sins:
*GLUTTONY*
I found this category challenging compared to the previous one, LUST. There’s the obvious classic movie choice, The Private Life of Henry VIII, starring Charles Laughton. Others will likely be showcasing that one, so I went a different way:
WHO IS KILLING THE GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE
(1978)Director: Ted Kotcheff | Writers: Nan Lyons (novel), Ivan Lyons (novel) |1 more credit »
Stars: George Segal, Jacqueline Bisset, Robert MorleyFood critic Max Vandeveer (Robert Morley) is a gluttonous gourmand whose appetite is killing him. His doctor tells him he needs to lay off the fine dining, or else.
That prescription gets a little easier to follow when a highly unusual killing spree hits the fine restaurants of Europe: a murderer is knocking off four-star chefs.
At the same time, the murders make the invitation to prepare dessert at a lavish dinner less than auspicious for famous pastry chef Natasha (Jacqueline Bisset).
This is a fun comedy/murder mystery with an interesting twist. The chefs are each killed in a manner reflecting their most famous dishes (for example, the lobster chef is drowned).I’ve seen this movie a few times and thoroughly enjoyed it, including the soundtrack by Henry Mancini.
It was co-produced by the U.S., Italy, France and West Germany. The film received critical acclaim and has a fresh 70% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
📽📽📽📽📽📽📽📽
FATSO
(1980)Director and Writer: Anne Bancroft
Stars: Dom DeLuise, Anne Bancroft, Ron Carey, Candice AzzaraIn this dark and sometimes sad comedy, Dominick (DeLuise), an obese man, is pushed by his sister Antoinette (Bancroft) to shed a few pounds lest he ends up dead like his cousin.
To do so, she helps him enroll in the fanatical weight-loss group, the Chubby Checkers, who will do anything to keep fellow members from over-eating.
Another incentive for Dominick is his love for Lydia (Azzara), a woman whom Dominick fears has deserted him because of his obesity.
Anyone who has struggled wtih weight issues (myself included) can likely relate to this movie. It’s a lesson in self-acceptance. Dom learns to be happy as he is, marries Lydia and they have five children.
There’s a photo montage at the end, showing a family portrait after each child’s birth. Only the last one shows Dom as being somewhat slimmer. Must be from chasing after all those kids!
Mostly lambasted by critics, this movie did receive some positive reviews. Peter Wu described the film as “A very humorous and yet serious movie about obesity,” going on to write: “Maybe being overweight isn’t the best thing for a person’s health, but being one’s self and being happy is all that really matters in life. ”
The film has a rating of 33% on Rotten Tomatoes based on six reviews.
📽📽📽📽📽📽📽📽
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
(1991)Director: Jonathan Demme | Writers: Thomas Harris (novel), Ted Tally (screenplay)
Stars: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Lawrence A. BonneyClarice Starling, (Foster) a young FBI trainee, seeks the advice of the imprisoned Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer to apprehend another serial killer, known only as “Buffalo Bill”, who skins his female victims’ corpses.
The Silence of the Lambs was released on February 14, 1991, and grossed $272.7 million worldwide against its $19 million budget, becoming the fifth-highest grossing film of 1991 worldwide.
it became only the third film to win Academy Awards in all the top five categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The movie is also the first (and so far only) Best Picture winner widely considered to be a horror film and one of only six such films to be nominated in the category.
Silence of the Lambs has a fresh 96% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based on over 800,000 reviews.
What does this have to do with gluttony? Here’s what came to mind. Yummy! 😉
Did you know there’s a medical joke in that speech? No? Here’s the scoop!
Lecter could be treated with drugs called monoamine oxidase inhibitors – MAOIs.
As a psychiatrist, he knows this. The three things you can’t eat with MAOIs?Liver, beans, wine!
Lecter is a) cracking a joke for his own amusement, and b) saying he’s not taking his meds.
😆
To view all the entries and/or add your own, click on the image.
(opens in a new window)
Have you seen any of these?
If yes, like/dislike?
What movies would you pick for this topic?
Looking forward to your input!
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Monday, March 9th
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Dog Mom and (retired) Canine Innkeeper in suburban Toronto, Canada, known as The Doglady. Former corporate workaholic. Writer, photographer, digital creator. Animal lover, music fanatic, inveterate traveller. Eternal hippie/rockchick. History, literature and cinema buff. Hockey and soccer fan. Dedicated night owl. German/Canadian binational, multilingual. Let me entertain you!
28 thoughts on “GLUTTONY! #ThursdayMoviePicks”
I haven’t seen any of them. Silence of the Lambs just looks scary so I never got around to seeing it.
I’ve seen all 3 of these films. 🙂 Of the 3 I liked Silence of the Lambs even tho in some parts it grossed me out so bad… What about Brad Pitt in Se7en? That one is haunting…
Oh, I’ve only seen the last one and it’s a very nice pick for this week! Seen Fatso twice now but I don’t think I’ve seen it.
No, I haven’t seen them (never been much on movies), but the topic makes my mind go right to Seven, a movie I can never again watch the end of…
I’m not one for movies but I did see Silence of the Lambs. Good acting but too creepy for me. I like movies that are fast moving and musical.
The Silence of the Lambs is such a great pick!
Thanks! I couldn’t resist. 😀
I’ve heard of the first two movies but haven’t seen them. I think your inclusion of Silence of the Lambs is brilliantly funny. I’m afraid I can’t think of an addition.
Love,
Janie
You’re one of the few who knows the first two movies, Janie. 🙂 The fava beans line is perfect; I couldn’t resist. Thanks for the compliment! 😀
I’ve only seen Silence of the Lambs from your picks. That’s a great movie, I haven’t heard of the other two.
You’re not alone. 🙂 The first two movies are fairly obscure. Thanks for coming by!
Hmmm… I haven’t heard of these films, except for Silence of the Lambs, which I really need to watch! Great list!
The first two movies are not well-known. I think most people are familiar with Silence of the Lambs, as it was a huge hit. 🙂 Thanks for coming by and for the follow on KoFi.
These films are ones I have not yet viewed. I feel now, as though I know them well, Debbie.
I also feel that I am in need of a doughnut or two, or maybe a box of a dozen. Thanks!
A box of doughnuts would be very filling! 😀 The first two movies are not well known and the last one is too gory for some. Thanks for coming by!
This is a tough one, but I’m sure there are many we could come up with if enough thought were given. You managed some good ones.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Thanks! 🙂 This was a bit of a difficult subject.
I loved the movie Fatso. That was so fun.
Have a fabulous day, Debbie. ♥
I have always wanted to see your first movie pick because it sounds so funny and I love these types of films. Fatso is a great choice and I saw this in the theatre and thought it was pretty good especially with Dom Deluise as the centre role. I love it that Anne Bancroft wrote and directed it and I always felt this film was blasted because she was a woman director and writer not just a film star. I almost chose Silence of the lambs but I am holding back for another time to use this film.
I tried to find Great Chefs online, but, no luck. Too bad! It is a fun movie. Unlike the critics, I liked Fatso and agree with you about Ann Bancroft. She was judged unfairly. The fava beans line is a natural! 🙂
I haven’t seen it in decades but I did enjoy Great Chefs of Europe. It wasn’t perfect but a fun conception well produced.
Despite my love of Anne Bancroft I wasn’t too fond of Fatso.
Silence of the Lambs is an outstanding film with top flight performances but like its source book nothing I have any desire to return to.
Also Private Life of Henry VIII is a fantastic picture but I can see not using it. Still what a cast surrounds Laughton but he always retains center stage.
Gluttony is a tough one and I struggled a bit with this week’s theme too but then happened upon my first pick, which until now I hadn’t known existed. It’s a series of vignettes for each of the sins and it’s provided me with at least one title for each transgression for the rest of the year!
The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins (1971)-Gluttony: The manufacturer of dietary biscuits Slimmo exhorts that you can exist on 8 of them a day while being a closet glutton with rich food hidden throughout his office. When he inevitably starts to gain weight the company doctor limits him to two biscuits a day but everywhere he looks he sees food! We follow his comic adventures as he tries to sneak whatever tidbits he can. But he pays for it in the end. Co-written by Monty Python’s Graham Chapman.
The Big Feast (aka La Grande Bouffe) (1973)-Four middle aged disenchanted French men of the bourgeoisie (including Marcello Mastroianni and Philippe Noiret) gather at the villa of one of their number with the express goal of eating themselves to death. Looking to indulge to the utmost they include three prostitutes in the party and from then on its food then sex, sex and food, sex while eating food and finally just food and more food. You might never want to eat again once it ends.
Cool Hand Luke (1967)-Non conformist Luke Jackson (Paul Newman) is behind bars on a Florida chain gang but his spirit isn’t imprisoned. While he is a thorn in the side of the guards he becomes a source of inspiration to the other inmates particularly after accepting a spur of the moment bet to eat 50 hard-boiled eggs in an hour. After he achieves the gluttonish goal he lays on a table splayed Christ like suffering but venerated.
Oddly enough, nobody used The Private Lives of Henry VIII. 🙂 I agree, it was a superb performance by Laughton.
Your first choice is new to me, but it sounds like a fun comedy! I’ve heard of La Grand Bouffe but didn’t see it. What you’d call a real orgy in every sense. 🙂 Cool Hand Luke was a good movie. I can’t imagine how he managed to eat all of those eggs – kind of nauseating. LOL
Thanks so much for sharing your picks and commenting on mine! Do you have a blog I could pay a return visit to? There’s no link, I see.
I don’t have a blog. I think about it sometimes but have never gotten around to starting one. I just include my picks in my comment the week’s I participate.
That works too and is less time-consuming. 🙂 Thanks!
Loved the first two, hated Silence of the Lambs. I know, I know, it was great acting, etc. Just don’t care for that genre. Good post, I love how you do this. Have a wonderful day.
Silence of The Lambs is intense and not to everyone’s liking. You’re one of the few who knows the first two movies. Cool! I’m glad you enjoyed the post. Thanks for stopping in! 🙂
I have seen Silence and enjoyed it. So much so I read the books the Lecter movies were based on. I vaguely remember seeing the chefs movie that is would have been ages ago.
First movie that came to mind was the documentary, Supersize Me.
Silence of the Lambs deserved all the awards it received, I think. Supersize me is the perfect choice for this! Thanks. 🙂