Advertisement But popcorn doesn’t have to be your only culinary option. Television programs have been suggesting food and movie pairings for years, and it’s an easy idea to bring into your own kitchen.
To help you stage a homebound Hollywood bash, we’ve asked top chefs and food personalities to team each Oscar-winning “Best Picture” from the past 20 years with meals designed to take you behind the scenes.
“No Country for Old Men” (2007)
Watch: Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem chase each other through the West Texas desert in a battle over drug money as sheriff Tommy Lee Jones stands by helplessly.
Eat: Bloody Mary Gazpacho, a chilled roasted tomato and vegetable soup splashed with vodka, Worcestershire and Tabasco sauce, then sprinkled with chopped celery leaves. “The chilled soup represents the cold-hearted, emotionless killer that is Javier Bardem’s character,” says Danny Boome, host of Food Network’s “Rescue Chef.” “The color of the soup — deep red — reflects the blood shed throughout the film.”
Note: This is a Coen Brothers film. You’ll probably want to finish dinner before the killing starts.
“The Departed” (2006)
Watch: Police and Irish mobsters (headed by Jack Nicholson) tangle with each other in South Boston. As a bonus, Martin Sheen’s character takes a header off a building.
Eat: Steak tips with hot pickled cherry peppers and
A1 Steak Sauce, thick French fries and an ice-cold Budweiser.
“There’s a bar on every corner in South Boston, and that’s what they serve,” says lifelong Boston resident and James Beard award-winning chef Barbara Lynch.
“Crash” (2005)
Watch: Collisions, carjackings, shootings and other trademark Los Angeles happenings connect more than a dozen characters over a 36-hour period.
Eat: A “double-double” burger — double meat, double cheese, a signature car consumable from In-N-Out Burger, the city’s iconic fast-food joint. If you can’t make it to Los Angeles, let McDonald’s stand in or make your own. Wash it down with a chocolate milkshake.
“Million Dollar Baby” (2004)
Watch: Aging trainer Clint Eastwood reluctantly makes a boxer out of Hilary Swank, an Appalachian refugee who says boxing is the only thing standing between her and a trailer park life with “a deep fryer and some Oreos.”
Eat: Yup. They’re great. Honest. Dip the cookies in funnel cake batter, then drop them in the fryer. Eat while hot and gooey.
“Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” (2003)
Watch: Hobbits Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) travel to Mount Doom with that weird little creature Gollum to destroy a ring and save Middle Earth.
Eat: Hobbits eat multiple breakfasts, so set out a buffet of pancakes, eggs, toast, oatmeal, muffins. ... You get the idea.
“Chicago” (2002)
Watch: Richard Gere, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger sing and dance their way through celebrity, scandal, prison and the Jazz Age in the Windy City.
Eat: A Chicago Red Hot (a Windy City-style hot dog) on a poppy seed bun with yellow mustard, a good sprinkle of celery salt and “salad on top” — tomato wedges, green relish, pickle spear, “sport” peppers and chopped onion.
“A Beautiful Mind” (2001)
Watch: Russell Crowe plays Nobel Laureate John Forbes Nash, whose gift for mathematics is overshadowed by paranoid delusions of Cold War-style spying.
Eat: A 5-pound bone-in pork loin. Roast for 15 minutes at 450 degrees, then cut the heat to 250 degrees for about another hour, or until it hits 160 degrees. Serve with roasted potatoes for true 1960s comfort food.
See MOVIE NIGHT MENU, I-4
“Gladiator” (2000)
Watch: Russell Crowe battles bad guys in the Colosseum in service of the Emperor.
Eat: Gladiator’s Caesar Salad, a la Aimie’s Dinner and Movie theater in Glen Falls, N.Y. It’s unlikely any gladiator ever ate a salad, but theater co-owner Sandy Metivier thinks a massive Caesar (and its nod to the Roman emperor) is a good fit.
“American Beauty” (1999)
Watch: Kevin Spacey covets his teenage daughter’s friend in a tale of suburban malaise.
Eat: Meatloaf and mashed potatoes, because nothing says middle-class Americana better. But Spacey’s ennui doesn’t have to infiltrate your dinner. Diane Werner, food director for Taste of Home magazine, says great meatloaf starts with flavorful ground chuck, a comfy starch, such as oatmeal or rice, and accents including onions, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper.
“Shakespeare in Love” (1998)
Watch: The Bard (Joseph Fiennes) falls for Gwyneth Paltrow even though she’s masquerading as a man.
Eat: Roasted lamb shank, suggests Anne Burrell, host of Food Network’s “Secrets of a Restaurant Chef.” “The lamb shank seems very Shakespearean and lusty — big piece of meat, big bone,” she says. Use your hands.
“Titanic” (1997)
Watch: Leonardo DiCaprio declare himself “king of the world” just before the iceberg hits, leaving him and love interest Kate Winslet bobbing precariously in the North Atlantic.
Eat: Jumbo shrimp cocktail on ice and caviar like the cruise ship elite. Drink a bottle of Veuve Clicquot.
“The English Patient” (1996)
Watch: An intricate tale of love, deception and spying during World War II starring Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas that plays out in the North African desert.
Eat: Combine lamb stew with flatbread, hummus and a couscous salad, a meal that highlights the foods and flavors of North Africa.
“Braveheart” (1995)
Watch: Mel Gibson leads the Scots against England, then gets disemboweled for his troubles.
Eat: Haggis, the Scottish national dish consisting of minced sheep’s organs with oatmeal, onions and spices that uses the sheep’s stomach as a casing. Just do it before the aforementioned climax.
“Forrest Gump” (1994)
Watch: A slow-witted but endearingly upbeat protagonist (Tom Hanks) overcomes life’s difficult moments to become a national inspiration.
Eat: Isn’t is obvious? A box of chocolates. And don’t cheat by reading the card that says what’s inside each one.
“Schindler’s List” (1993)
Watch: Liam Neeson in the true story of a German businessman who saves more than 1,000 Jews from the Nazis by giving them refuge in his factory.
Eat: Nothing. Just raise a glass to the men and women who had the courage to do the right thing.
“Unforgiven” (1992)
Watch: A band of gunslingers that includes Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman rides into a town called Big Whiskey to inflict some frontier justice.
Eat: Beans, bacon and corn pone, or just about anything you can cook over a campfire in a cast-iron skillet. Drink: Whiskey. From the bottle.
“Silence of the Lambs” (1991)
Watch: Hannibal the Cannibal (Anthony Hopkins) plays intellectual cat-and-mouse with FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodi Foster) as she tries to track down a like-minded killer.
Eat: For the strong of stomach, try liver, fava beans and a nice Chianti, the meal that Hannibal made of a census taker.
“Dances with Wolves” (1990)
Watch: Kevin Costner evolves from U.S. lieutenant into honorary Sioux after helping the tribe find a herd of life-sustaining buffalo.
Eat: Alexandra Guarnaschelli, host of Food Network’s “The Cooking Loft,” suggests a hunter-gatherer theme — smoked trout salad and a grilled elk chops or buffalo burgers.
“Driving Miss Daisy” (1989)
Watch: Morgan Freeman drives Jessica Tandy around the post-war American South, an arrangement that lets the two grow to love and respect each other as fellow outsiders.
Eat: Fried chicken, collard greens and sweet tea. If you don’t want to make a mess, let Col. Sanders cater. Just make sure to finish with a piece of pie — preferably sweet potato — capturing the final scene in which Hoke (Freeman) feeds Miss Daisy.
“Rain Man” (1988)
Watch: Self-absorbed dandy Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) eventually comes to love Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), the autistic brother he never knew existed.
Eat: Fish sticks — but only if it’s Wednesday. “Wednesday is fish sticks. Green lime Jell-O for dessert,” Raymond tells Charlie. If it’s not Wednesday — or you hate fish sticks — skirt the issue with a plate of pancakes, the food that finally unites the two brothers.
