Did your weekend involve watching a movie? Perhaps it was one taken from the choices of famous Spanish wine producing company Torres,  which released its top five films for wine lovers towards the end of last week. Glancing quickly through the list, we found among them,  Hannibal – featuring the movie going world’s favourite cannibal, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, whom we first met in The Silence of the Lambs. Dr. Lecter made Chanti famous, when he suggested pairing it with a human liver and fava beans! Spine chilling stuff.

On a more lighthearted note, Autumn Tale is the lovely story of a female winemaker, left alone after her children are grown, and whose friend who is trying to find her a new husband.  A beautiful French movie to enjoy with a glass of your favourite French wine.

These two and three other wine orientated film classics  got us thinking which movies would be good for food lovers. So here’s a few we think are worth a watch.

We had  to include The Cook, The Thief, His Wife,  and Her Lover. (1989) An iconic tale with a backdrop of a sumptuous French restaurant. Helen Mirren does an amazing job as the wife in  this adult story of love, lust and murder.  Nude scenes and Mirren’s costumes caused quite a stir at the time. She was considered to be sex on legs then, and she still is, aged 70! (see our third choice!)

Babbette's Feast. (1987 subtitles). This award winning film spans 49 years,  charting the lives of  two beautiful young sisters,  sought by many suitors, but whose pastor father will not let them marry. The sisters grow old together  in religious austerity,   in the remote Danish village where they have lived all their lives. It’s all about to change though, when a Parisian refugee,  sent by a former suiter of one of the sisters, turns up at the door,  offering to be their housekeeper and cook ,  in return for free accommodation.  The dull and simple meals she is forced to make each day for the two sisters do not reflect her skills. Until she wins the lottery. You’ll  have to watch to find out what happens next!

The 100 Foot Journey. (2014) La Mirren at her best yet again as a the chic  French Michelin starred restrauteur,  feuding with an Indian man and his family, who  have moved from their homeland to set up their own restaurant right across the road, in the heart of rural France. A magical tale and one you should watch while tucked up with your favourite person and some delicious cheeses and wine or a curry and a beer if you prefer! 

Kids and adults have loved Walt Disney’s computer animated movie Ratatouille, since the little Parisian gutter rat burst onto the screen in 2007. We follow the likeable fellow  on his quest to be a chef, and you can imagine how well that goes down,  given the creature he is!  Who wants a rat in the kitchen?! A colourful and heartwarming movie  for a rainy afternoon, kids or no kids in tow! Get plenty of nibbles in.