Food Processing Movie Reviews

Being a fan of the Baby Gourmet DVDs, my nephew quickly took to the Food Safari series. Not only is this DVD interesting to kids it more than kept my attention with the tours and the Unwrapped style behind orange Juice and Maple Syrup. We both LOVED it! Buy This DVD!

These movies are great! The thing i like the most about them is that you can watch them over and over and not get tired. If you don't have this package you should get it but i will warn you they will be more enjoyable for women.

Normally, I have to be tied to a chair to watch this sort of movie. But my girlfriend at the time made me watch it and it really got to me.

Unlike the sappy drivel you find Sandra Bullock or Julia Roberts starring in, this movie is very depressing (in a good way) and painfully realistic. There is no hunky guy to sweep the heroine off her feet at the end. These girls and their mother have a hard time throughout and the bleak landscape of New Mexico only adds to the sadness. Bergman would have a hard time making such a melancholy film. The best man AVAILABLE (at the end, you'll know why I emphasized that word) in the movie is a nerdy satellite TV installer. The others are deadbeats, drunks, lechers. When Shade finds a boyfriend from the other side of the tracks, you can't blame her since the boys and men from her part of town are such lowlifes.

The language and emotions in this movie are VERY raw and no punches are pulled.

A few scenes stand out from all the sadness. When Shade (Fairuza Balk) is with her new boyfriend, it seems so sweet and innocent. First love is usually the cruelest, but this time it's the one really good thing to happen. The mother's courtship by the satellite guy is also a break from the bleak scenery.

Most of all, it's two scenes with Trudi (Ione Skye) that stand out. In one there is no dialogue, just the sound of a guitar being strummed. Trudi is waiting and longing for her boyfriend to come back for her. She is holding a fluorescent rock he gave her. Her face is lit by the afternoon sun as a train passes by in the background. This scene is a reflection of love and anticipation, since she is obviously thinking of him. However, it is also sad because you get the feeling he may never come back.

The other scene takes place in a cave lined with fluorescent rocks. Trudi and her geologist boyfriend drive out to look for some sort of rare rock. In the cave the two grow closer and in an almost psychedelic sequence, Trudi bares her breasts in a way that "offers" them to her lover. He seems hesitant at first but then makes love to her. The scene is primeval, almost Adam and Eve-like, as though they are the first man and woman on Earth. It is also very erotic! Ione Skye never looked more beautiful and the weird bluish light reflected in her face and on her breasts from the cave wall is hauntingly beautiful and dreamlike. Afterward, she tells him a painful personal secret. It's amazing how many emotions are conveyed in such a short scene.

So much of the movie reflects sorrow, regret, longing and anger that these scenes stand out all the more.

Allison Anders is a true artist.

There is quite a bit of artistry here for such a low-budget film. Both the widescreen and pan-and-scan versions have their faults as well as their good points.

The widescreen version shows much more of the brilliant cinematography. The dreary desert, the railroad station, even the trailer park really come alive here. On the other hand, during the famous sex scene in the acid-trip cavern, the picture is cropped right above Ione Skye's breasts, whereas in the pan-and-scan, there is a full view.

This has led me to wonder if this is a "false" widescreen -i.e., the film was shot with standard, @16:9 cameras and cropped to make it look widescreen even if it never was, as Disney did with Peter Pan. It would be nice if standardized and accurate information about aspect ratio was printed clearly on all DVDs.

By the way, the MOVIE is one of the best tearjerkers I've ever seen. The performances are perfect, as is the script. The picture is beautiful. Of course if I actually had to live in a desert trailer park, I don't think I'd be so impressed with the scenery.

I am so excited this is coming on DVD!!This has been one of my fav movies for years. I have seen it like a 100 times. I remember stumbling on this video when I was 17 and thought independent movies were the best. This movie dealt with real life teenage issues, unlike the new teenage wave of movies. Ione Skye is so good in this film, as well as Faruza Bulk. They face the hidden pain, of not having a father, in their own ways. One acts out for attention of boys, and the other searches for a mate for their mother while on the sly looking for their real father.
Allison Anders is such a unique filmaker, I thank her for making this film. People think its a little depressing but I think it's the opposite. The mother may always look bleak but she is a struggling single mother, how is she suppose to look? I think its refreshing and very familiar to many young people with dreams. Like Shade she loves Spanish movies and dreams of so many things. I think most people can relate to her when they were that age.

I live in England and the series has yet to make it's way here. I had seen 1 or 2 episodes whilst in NYC before purchasing this item and I thought interesting.
After watching the entire series I think it is great and everybody should own a copy. I get all into it when it's playing, getting angry at Terry's audacity and meaness to the other members of the family then getting sympathetic when she shows her insecurities.

I highly recommend this product and only hope that Showtime release the other series sometime soon.

This season has truly been a inspiration to me, I'm 19 years old and right now I'm majoring in Fashion Marketing , and I really have alot going for myself ,I can sing, dance, and write poetry, so I have plenty talents from God. After seeing this season, I plan on changing my major in college , I want to become a big time lawyer, God just showed me that light after viewing this season, and I really like how the family goes through there trials and tribulations, but when it balls down to the end there is love, peace, and harmony within the family. Now I even cried on the last show"Take Me To The Water" , I cried, because it was so sad, and I just felt bad for Dameon because he felt so bad , I would have to. In the next season I hope that Teri and Dameon gets married and have a baby, I also want to see that Kenny still have feelings for Teri again to, now that would be real good, but I dont want to see the family go crazy. I want to see whole new level of Soul Food, and again I thank the producers and everyone who put there heart into this season, because it really has change me, and I can't wait until season 2. Oh yeah, everybody will soon know me because I'm working on a demo , just me and I'm about to blow up and I'm calling my demo " Divine Soul" . Just look out . Thanks again , Soul Food.

I love SoulFood, by purchasing this series I am experiencing over and over again the emotions exchanged from watching this dynamic show! I feel that this is an historic show for our people and we should support it by buying it! It shows a different aspect of Black America that is not represented on main stream media.

Thank goodness someone made a good, warm-hearted film about a family--that's pretty much what I thought when I first saw "Soul Food" in the theater in 1997. Like many Americans, I was starved for a movie that didn't portray the American family as broken or malignant, which appears to be the Hollywood standard. "Soul Food" works primarily because it never loses sight of the importance of family, even as its members may bicker or transgress. The plot focuses on the lasting impact of the family matriarch--Big Mama (played wonderfully by Irma P. Hall)--whose kind heart and wise soul holds the family of mostly younger couples together, despite their foibles. When she passes away from complications due to diabetes, her daughters must overcome their differences to uphold the family traditions, best embodied by Sunday dinners that go beyond simple meals. The cast is generally superb, though Vivica Fox and Brandon Hammond (as grandson Ahmad, through whose eyes we are told the story), sometimes try too hard, making their characters border on caricature in a film that otherwise seems so lifelike. There is a subplot involving a hidden family fortune that also gets in the way--writer and director George Tillman, Jr., seems to want to jam as much into the story as possible when he really doesn't have to, as the main plot is interesting enough. These flaws are oddly more apparent on the small screen than they were on the big screen. Nonetheless, "Soul Food," despite its "R" rating, is an effective family film, one with a sense of authenticity that Hollywood seems to have mostly forgotten.

I love this movie! This is a movie that I never get tired of because it tells such a compelling story about three sisters struggling with their family issues. The story is mostly narrated by Ahmad who himself is trying to put the family back together after his grandma goes into a coma. All of the actors and actresses give magnificent performances. This movie is definitely worth adding to your personal collection.

If you really love this movie then you might enjoy the series, but I personally think the series ruined the whole dynamic of the movie. The famous actors and actresses who created the roles in the movie are not in series and to me that's a negative. I fell in love with just about all of the characters in the movie (except cousin Faith) and was really cheering for them from the beginning to the end, but in the series I just don't care for the characters they are just not the same characters they once were. I believe that they should have just stopped with the movie because there is only so far you can go with Soul Food the series, so I predict and hope that it will end soon because I really think it's messing up the memory of the movie.

Great movie, three of the most beautiful women in the world, what else could you ask for?

Thank goodness someone made a good, warm-hearted film about a family--that's pretty much what I thought when I first saw "Soul Food" in the theater in 1997. Like many Americans, I was starved for a movie that didn't portray the American family as broken or malignant, which appears to be the Hollywood standard. "Soul Food" works primarily because it never loses sight of the importance of family, even as its members may bicker or transgress. The plot focuses on the lasting impact of the family matriarch--Big Mama (played wonderfully by Irma P. Hall)--whose kind heart and wise soul holds the family of mostly younger couples together, despite their foibles. When she passes away from complications due to diabetes, her daughters must overcome their differences to uphold the family traditions, best embodied by Sunday dinners that go beyond simple meals. The cast is generally superb, though Vivica Fox and Brandon Hammond (as grandson Ahmad, through whose eyes we are told the story), sometimes try too hard, making their characters border on caricature in a film that otherwise seems so lifelike. There is a subplot involving a hidden family fortune that also gets in the way--writer and director George Tillman, Jr., seems to want to jam as much into the story as possible when he really doesn't have to, as the main plot is interesting enough. These flaws are oddly more apparent on the small screen than they were on the big screen. Nonetheless, "Soul Food," despite its "R" rating, is an effective family film, one with a sense of authenticity that Hollywood seems to have mostly forgotten.

I love this movie! This is a movie that I never get tired of because it tells such a compelling story about three sisters struggling with their family issues. The story is mostly narrated by Ahmad who himself is trying to put the family back together after his grandma goes into a coma. All of the actors and actresses give magnificent performances. This movie is definitely worth adding to your personal collection.

If you really love this movie then you might enjoy the series, but I personally think the series ruined the whole dynamic of the movie. The famous actors and actresses who created the roles in the movie are not in series and to me that's a negative. I fell in love with just about all of the characters in the movie (except cousin Faith) and was really cheering for them from the beginning to the end, but in the series I just don't care for the characters they are just not the same characters they once were. I believe that they should have just stopped with the movie because there is only so far you can go with Soul Food the series, so I predict and hope that it will end soon because I really think it's messing up the memory of the movie.

Great movie, three of the most beautiful women in the world, what else could you ask for?

This movie was filled with stereotypes and characters that just didn't make me care. The editing was self-indulgent and slow and there were several scenes that should have ended up on the cutting room floor. It is an uncomfortable movie with little warmth and an overdose of angst. The quirks that they tried to work in for the characters to make them human were very contrived and made me conscious I was watching a movie rather than allowing me to get involved in the story and characters as people. The actors did their best - but couldn't overcome the flaws in directing, editing and story line.

The video cover said this is like the show "Friends if it actually were in New York" -- except no one is really friends with anyone. That said, it follows the interesting path of Bella, a diner waitress approaching her 35th birthday who has been in an affair with a married man since she was 23. (Bella is way skinny and attractive in that guppy-faced way most 1990s models had, but then it's an independent film.) Also no one ever dates anyone their own age. That's fine but EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER in the entire movie??? Please.

The loneliness in an urban space, coupled with ther fact that you actually know a lot of people, you just are not close to them, is very true. the stuttering streetwalker from Poland is an especially gripping charcater. The fact that the elderly gentleman Seymour wants to have coffee with Wanda from the live girl show and treat her to an old-fashioned date is way trite.

But what happens to Bella is interesting, varied and will hold your attention to the end. You end up feeling good by the time the closing credits roll.

Louise Lasser is as brilliantly funny in this movie as she was in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman over 25 years ago. Although she has a supporting role, she fills the screen with her familiar style of comedy and sweetness. I recommend this film just because of her.

This movie was filled with stereotypes and characters that just didn't make me care. The editing was self-indulgent and slow and there were several scenes that should have ended up on the cutting room floor. It is an uncomfortable movie with little warmth and an overdose of angst. The quirks that they tried to work in for the characters to make them human were very contrived and made me conscious I was watching a movie rather than allowing me to get involved in the story and characters as people. The actors did their best - but couldn't overcome the flaws in directing, editing and story line.

The video cover said this is like the show "Friends if it actually were in New York" -- except no one is really friends with anyone. That said, it follows the interesting path of Bella, a diner waitress approaching her 35th birthday who has been in an affair with a married man since she was 23. (Bella is way skinny and attractive in that guppy-faced way most 1990s models had, but then it's an independent film.) Also no one ever dates anyone their own age. That's fine but EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER in the entire movie??? Please.

The loneliness in an urban space, coupled with ther fact that you actually know a lot of people, you just are not close to them, is very true. the stuttering streetwalker from Poland is an especially gripping charcater. The fact that the elderly gentleman Seymour wants to have coffee with Wanda from the live girl show and treat her to an old-fashioned date is way trite.

But what happens to Bella is interesting, varied and will hold your attention to the end. You end up feeling good by the time the closing credits roll.

Louise Lasser is as brilliantly funny in this movie as she was in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman over 25 years ago. Although she has a supporting role, she fills the screen with her familiar style of comedy and sweetness. I recommend this film just because of her.

I caught part of this film on pay-per-view and was so intrigued I ended up buying the DVD. It is a very complex coming-of-age story about a young pianist, Paul Porterfield (Kevin Bishop), who falls in love with his idol and mentor.

Certainly NOT a typical gay-themed film filled with quirky, offbeat sidekicks. What a relief!

Shot entirely in Spain, which stands in for San Francisco and New York, the first half of the film is very visual. Some of the stilted dialogue can be attributed to the all-European cast and their "American" accents.

The DVD transfer is a little grainy, but it is in letterbox format. Some great interviews with the cast and director are included as extras on the DVD.

The odd little film is about secrets and lies. With the exception of aspiring young concert pianist Paul, not one of its characters displays even an ounce of honesty. Paul is duped by every one of them.

Secret and Lie No. 1. Eighteen-year-old Paul is turning pages for turning-forty pianist Richard (played by ghoulish Paul Rhys). Sparks fly. Richard suggests they go out 'for a drink' after the concert, but the two are thwarted by Paul's hyper mother hovering about and shrieking. Paul was asked out 'for a drink' by Richard's manager Joseph prior to the concert. The viewer does not yet know that Richard and Joseph are lovers -- and neither does the hapless Paul.

S&L No. 2. Paul is vacationing with his mother in Barcelona and meets Richard once again. The older man has him in bed within five minutes by way of the obligatory back-rub. Afterwards, in a rare moment of truth, Richard asks Paul if he made a mistake by hopping into the sack with him so quickly, but spoils it by adding that he assumed Paul just wanted sex when he came to visit! Richard does not tell Paul that he has a lover back home, even when it is obvious the inexperienced boy is falling in love with him.

S&L No. 3. Richard and Paul begin a one-week stand. They have dinner each evening with Paul's histrionic mother (Juliet Stevenson doesn't leave an ounce of scenery anywhere). She has also taken a shine to Richard and, having sent Paul out sightseeing, sets out to seduce him. It doesn't work, of course, but her ghastly flirtation does succeed in making the pianist flee the country. He returns to Joseph in New York without a word of explanation to poor Paul.

S&L No. 4. Paul is in New York attending Juilliard. He has begun an affair with yet another older man, Alden (even more troll-like than the others), who just happens to live in Joseph's building. Joseph spots Paul in the elevator and immediately begins to seduce him with an invitation to a party, a treasured LP, and a date to the Berlin Philharmonic. But, even when questioned about all the pictures of Richard in his apartment, Joseph still does not let on that they are lovers.

S&L No. 5. One surmises, from all the hemming and hawing going on, that Alden and Joseph have been involved in the past. So, by now (mind you, we're less than half-way through the film) all four male protagonists have slept with at least two of the others! Paul and Joseph have slept with all three. Only the neurotic mother has been excluded from this sexual merry-go-round, not that she didn't try. A rather savory Freudian stew, I'd say -- ever mindful of mixing my metaphors unduly.

S&L No. 6. Paul, while sleeping with every man over forty in the film, is totally closeted as far as his mother is concerned. Unfortunately for him, she happens on some private reading matter while snooping through his suitcase at Christmas, promptly hops on a plane to New York to save him, and acosts Richard and Joseph. The cat's finally out, but don't think the lies stop there. Ever clever, Joseph assures Richard that shameless Paul came on to HIM, that he's probably in cahoots with his mother, and they must be gold-diggers! Quick thinking is an invaluable asset to a good agent. After this final fiasco, Paul's mother fills him in on Richard's marital status, which at last explains the whole film -- and his needless suffering for the last hour and a half -- to the luckless lad.

The best part of this high-flutin' pot-boiler, to be sure, is beautiful Kevin Bishop as Paul: collegiate, adorably preppy (in Burberry from head to toe), lovely body, and sweet -- most of the time. When confused by the inexplicable behavior of everyone around him, he can become a tad truculent. I mean, who wouldn't?! Deserves but three stars. The extra is for pretty, put-upon Paul. He really earns it.

Put together glorious Barcelona, wonderful chamber music, and a great score, and the stage is beautifully set for an intimate story that, no matter how hard it tries, does not measure up to its promise.

Manipulation and secrecy drive "Food of Love". Everyone has his (or her) own agenda of desires and uses everything to get what he wants. No one is up front with anyone. Caught in the middle is semi-hunky 18-year-old Paul (perfectly played by Kevin Bishop, an aspiring concert pianist who turns pages for turning-forty pianist Richard Kennington (tall, ghoulish Paul Rhys). Sparks fly across the keyboard during the performance, but they are thwarted by the young man's hyper mother hovering about.

They meet again in Barcelona. For Richard it's lust at first sight. He seduces Paul with the obligatory back-rub leading to bed inside of five minutes. Even so, the love scenes are intimate, quiet, and well-done. Paul announces that he is in love on the spot, and gazes at Richard with his startling eyes. He gets his first lesson in life when Richard suddenly and coldly abandons him without a word of explanation, and returns to his lover/manager, Joseph, in New York. It was, apparently, just a one-week stand for Richard. Paul's wise old Russian piano teacher tries to cheer him up by telling him that great artists are like vampires. Oh, I almost forgot: Paul's mother falls for Richard, too. It is, perhaps, her ghastly flirtation that drives him away.

Their orbits collide again six months later when Paul attends Juilliard. He's pretty busy in New York. He watches a classmate get a big manager (Joseph). He has an affair with one older man and sex with another (Joseph). It is suggested by their evasive demeanor that Paul's older man and the ubiquitous Joseph have a history, too! Paul's mother shows up to 'save' him from Richard's clutches. But nobody ever fills poor Paul in on the machinations that are driving his life, and affecting his music.

As a graduate of Juilliard in piano, I found Ventura Pons' film (his first in English) a vivid reminder of the musical demi-monde in New York with its thinly veiled artistic Darwinism.

The photography throughout is stunning, but the disc itself has some strange flaws. The soundtrack is ever-so-slightly out of synch, and is at times overly loud while at others barely audible. Still, it's a nice little movie. Should probably get one less star, but I had to throw in an extra for the Three B's: (beautiful Kevin) Bishop, Barcelona, and Brahms.